bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ligand-induced structural changes analysis of ribose-binding protein as studied by molecular dynamics simulations
Authors: Li Haiyan , Cao Zanxia , Hu Guodong , Zhao Liling , Wang Chunling , Wang Jihua
Published: March 2021

BACKGROUND: The ribose-binding protein (RBP) from Escherichia coli is one of the representative structures of periplasmic binding proteins. Binding of ribose at the cleft between two domains causes a conformational change corresponding to a closure of two domains around the ligand. The RBP has been crystallized in the open and closed conformations. OBJECTIVE: With the complex trajectory as a control, our goal was to study the conformation changes induced by the detachment of the ligand, and the results have been revealed from two computational tools, MD simulations and elastic network models. METHODS: Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to study the conformation changes of RBP starting from the open-apo, closed-holo and closed-apo conformations. RESULTS: The evolution of the domain opening angle θ clearly indicates large structural changes. The simulations indicate that the closed states in the absence of ribose are inclined to transition to the open states and that ribose-free RBP exists in a wide range of conformations. The first three dominant principal motions derived from the closed-apo trajectories, consisting of rotating, bending and twisting motions, account for the major rearrangement of the domains from the closed to the open conformation. CONCLUSIONS: The motions showed a strong one-to-one correspondence with the slowest modes from our previous study of RBP with the anisotropic network model (ANM). The results obtained for RBP contribute to the generalization of robustness for protein domain motion studies using either the ANM or PCA for trajectories obtained from MD.
Reconstruction and optimization of the 3D geometric anatomy structure model for subject-specific human knee joint based on CT and MRI images
Authors: Niu Junlong , Qin Xiansheng , Bai Jing , Li Haiyan
Published: March 2021

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, the total knee arthroplasty (TKA) technique plays an important role in surgical treatment for patients with severe knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, there are still several key issues such as promotion of osteotomy accuracy and prosthesis matching degree that need to be addressed. OBJECTIVE: It is significant to construct an accurate three-dimensional (3D) geometric anatomy structure model of subject-specific human knee joint with major bone and soft tissue structures, which greatly contributes to obtaining personalized osteotomy guide plate and suitable size of prosthesis. METHODS: Considering different soft tissue structures, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning sequences involving two-dimensional (2D) spin echo (SE) sequence T1 weighted image (T1WI) and 3D SE sequence T2 weighted image (T2WI) fat suppression (FS) are selected. A 3D modeling methodology based on computed tomography (CT) and two sets of MRI images is proposed. RESULTS: According to the proposed methods of image segmentation and 3D model registration, a novel 3D knee joint model with high accuracy is finally constructed. Furthermore, remeshing is used to optimize the established model by adjusting the relevant parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The modeling results demonstrate that reconstruction and optimization model of 3D knee joint can clearly and accurately reflect the key characteristics, including anatomical structure and geometric morphology for each component.
Temporal changes of quantitative CT findings from 102 patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: A longitudinal study
Authors: Chen Xiaohui , Sun Wenbo , Xu Dan , Ma Jiaojiao , Xiao Feng , Xu Haibo
Published: March 2021

BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) imaging combined with artificial intelligence is important in the diagnosis and prognosis of lung diseases. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate temporal changes of quantitative CT findings in patients with COVID-19 in three clinic types, including moderate, severe, and non-survivors, and to predict severe cases in the early stage from the results. METHODS: One hundred and two patients with confirmed COVID-19 were included in this study. Based on the time interval between onset of symptoms and the CT scan, four stages were defined in this study: Stage-1 (0 ∼7 days); Stage-2 (8 ∼ 14 days); Stage-3 (15 ∼ 21days); Stage-4 (> 21 days). Eight parameters, the infection volume and percentage of the whole lung in four different Hounsfield (HU) ranges, ((-, -750), [-750, -300), [-300, 50) and [50, +)), were calculated and compared between different groups. RESULTS: The infection volume and percentage of four HU ranges peaked in Stage-2. The highest proportion of HU [-750, 50) was found in the infected regions in non-survivors among three groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate rapid deterioration in the first week since the onset of symptoms in non-survivors. Higher proportion of HU [-750, 50) in the lesion area might be a potential bio-marker for poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19.
Global patent statistical analysis for drug testing technology
Authors: Wang Ling , Zhi Xu , Ke Haokun , Lv Sainan , He Ning , Zhou Hong , Hao Hongxia
Published: March 2021

BACKGROUND: In recent decades, illicit drug testing has become a high priority area in law enforcement and forensic analysis. OBJECTIVE: Since patents are the largest source of technical information in the world, patent database analysis for illicit drug testing is extremely important to effectively promote the development and protection of the related intellectual property rights. METHODS: In the present study, we first retrieve a database of 1732 drug detection patents using keywords and logical expressions related to the title, abstract, and claims, and subsequently discuss the current global patent statistics in detail. RESULTS: The relevant patent information is presented, including patent application quantity, filing country, ownership, and technical field. CONCLUSIONS: Finally, we summarize the current development trend in drug testing and propose several suggestions focused on the bottleneck of analytical techniques.
The therapeutic mechanism of epilepsy seizures in different target areas: Research on a theoretical model
Authors: Hu Bing , Wang Zhizhi , Xu Minbo , Zhu Luyao , Wang Dingjiang
Published: March 2021

BACKGROUND: The selection of optimal target areas in the surgical treatment of epilepsy is always a difficult problem in medicine. OBJECTIVE: We employed a theoretical calculation model to explore the control mechanism of seizures by an external voltage stimulus acting in different nerve nuclei. METHODS: Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation were combined. RESULTS: The globus pallidus, excitatory pyramidal neurons, striatal D1 neurons, thalamic reticular nucleus and specific relay nuclei were selected, we analyzed that the electrical stimulation has different effects in these target areas. CONCLUSIONS: The data selected were reasonable in study, the results may give a theoretical support for similar studies in clinical.
Щодо розуміння основних термінів Закону України «Про запобігання корупції».
Authors:   Alfred Nobel University, Легеза Є.О.
Published: March 2021

Висвітлено розуміння основних термінів Закону України «Про запобігання корупції». Дано тлу- мачення таким правовим категоріям, як «пряме підпорядкування», «безпосереднє підпорядкуван- ня», «відносно постійне підпорядкування», «непряма правова залежність», «спільне проживання». Визначення змісту поняття «пряме підпорядкування» має значення для правильного застосування ст. 27 Закону щодо обмеження спільної роботи близьких осіб. Це поняття слід відрізняти від суміж- них понять. У деяких законах визначено правила: начальником (керівником) є особа, яка має всю по- вноту розпорядчої влади стосовно підлеглих, повноваження втручатися в законну діяльність підле- глих, одноособово приймати рішення, віддавати (видавати) накази та розпорядження, забезпечу- вати їх виконання та скасовувати їх, застосовувати заохочення і накладати дисциплінарні стягнення або порушувати клопотання про це перед старшим прямим начальником (керівником), усувати під- леглого від виконання службових обов’язків у разі вчинення грубого порушення ним службової дис- ципліни, контролювати стан службової дисципліни серед підлеглих та вживати заходів із запобіган- ня вчиненню дисциплінарних правопорушень.
Актуальні проблеми застосування строків звернення до адміністративного суду у спорах, що виникають із пенсійних правовідносин.
Authors:   Alfred Nobel University, Макарова Т.П.
Published: March 2021

У статті розглянуто питання застосування строків звернення до адміністративного суду у спо- рах, що виникають із пенсійних правовідносин, правильності їх визначення. З’ясовано, що право на доступ до правосуддя не є абсолютним і обмежене встановленим строком звернення до суду. Поло- ження КАС України не містять граничні межі, у яких адміністративні суди можуть приймати рішення про поновлення строку звернення до суду, а також не містить конкретні підстави та критерії, за яки- ми суд має оцінити поважність причин пропуску відповідного строку. Визначення критеріїв, за якими можна вважати причини пропуску строку поважними, а підстави для його поновлення виправдани- ми, покладається на суд, який за своїм власним суб’єктивним переконанням має прийняти рішення. Сутність права на пенсійне забезпечення як складової конституційного права на соціальний захист не може бути порушена, а законодавче регулювання у цій сфері має відповідати принципам соціаль- ної держави. Проаналізовано критерії для поновлення адміністративним судом пропущеного з по- важних причин строку на звернення до суду, права на доступ до правосуддя з урахуванням принципу правової визначеності у процесі прийняття судом рішення про поновлення пропущеного з поважних причин строку на звернення до суду та надано їх оцінку. Висвітлено один із визначальних критеріїв для прийняття адміністративним судом рішення про поновлення чи не поновлення строку – досяг- нення справедливого балансу між загальними інтересами суспільства та вимогами захисту осново- положних прав окремої особи.
Lighting and Marking of Agricultural Equipment on Highways: Summary of ASAE Standard S279.18
Authors: Gorucu Serap , Brown Charles , Lehtola Carol
Published: March 2021

Agricultural vehicles on public roads can pose risks to their drivers and to drivers of other vehicles. Proper lighting and marking increase visibility of the farm equipment. This 6-page publication summarizes agricultural equipment lighting and marking standards. Written by Serap Gorucu, Charles Brown, and Carol Lehtola, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, revised February 2021.
Florida Solid and Hazardous Waste Regulation Handbook: Residual Waste Disposal
Authors: Olexa Michael T. , Leviten Aaron , Samek Kelly
Published: March 2021

This is EDIS document FE461, a publication of the Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, UF/IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published December 2003.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe461
The Current Restructuring of Cuba's Sugar Agroindustry
Authors: Alvarez José
Published: March 2021

After remaining a leading world sugar producer for most of the twentieth century, Cuba's sugar agroindustry is currently undergoing a radical transformation. In spite of the interest that the process has generated outside of Cuba, very few details about its scope and impacts are known. The objective of this fact sheet is to partially fill that gap. This is EDIS document FE472, a publication of the Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, UF/IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published January 2004. 

FE472/FE472: The Current Restructuring of Cuba's Sugar Agroindustry (ufl.edu)
University of Florida Potato Variety Trials Spotlight: 'Snowden'
Authors: Andrade Mario H. M. L. , Mwatuwa Rodrick Z. , Christensen Christian T. , Zotarelli Lincoln
Published: March 2021

‘Snowden’ is a potato variety that is commonly grown for the potato chip market. It was selected from a cross of ‘Le-nape’ and ‘Wischip’ by Dr. Stan Peloquin and Mr. Donald Kichefski at the University of Wisconsin. It was named and released in 1990 from the University of Wisconsin’s Lelah Starks Potato Breeding Farm in Rhinelander, WI. Tuber production and quality results are summarized from various variety trials conducted by the University of Florida’s Hastings Agricultural and Extension Center from 1998 to 2019.
This is a minor revision with an added author. Originally published 10/2016.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1286
University of Florida Potato Variety Trials Spotlight: ‘Fabula’
Authors: Andrade Mario H. M. L. , Mwatuwa Rodrick Z. , Christensen Christian T. , Solano Pam , Zotarelli Lincoln
Published: March 2021

‘Fabula’ is a potato variety that is commonly grown for the fresh potato market. The variety was selected from progeny of a cross between ‘Monalisa’ and ‘Hudson’. It was released in 2005 by D. Biedmond B.V. of the HZPC in the Netherlands. In Florida, ‘Fabula’ demonstrates good tuber characteristics and high yield superior to its commercial standard ‘LaChipper’. Tuber production and quality results  are summarized from various trials conducted by the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural and Extension Center from 2001 to 2016.This is a minor revision with a new author added. Originally published 5/2017.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1294
University of Florida Potato Variety Trials Spotlight: ‘Harley Blackwell’
Authors: Andrade Mario H.M.L. , Mwatuwa Rodrick Z. , Christensen Christian T. , Solano Pam , Haynes Kathleen G. , Zotarelli Lincoln
Published: March 2021

‘Harley Blackwell’ is a potato variety that is commonly grown for the potato chip market. It was selected from the progeny of a cross between B0155-24 and B9935-8 and tested under the pedigree B0564-8. It was released and named jointly by the Agricultural Research Service, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Research Service of North Carolina, the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York, and the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station in 2000. Tuber production and quality results provided in this spotlight are summarized from various variety trials conducted at the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural Extension Center between 1998 and 2019.This is a minor revision with an author addition, last updated 5/2017. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1298
Factors to Consider in Serologic Testing for Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS)
Authors: Butcher Gary D.
Published: March 2021

Serologic testing for MG and MS infections in commercial poultry is often confusing and difficult to interpret. However, it is imperative to know the Mycoplasma infection status of poultry flocks as this will influence decisions related to use of antibiotics, vaccination programing and biosecurity planning. Some factors to consider when testing for MG and MS infections are discussed in this document. This document is VM126, one of a series of the Veterinary Medicine-Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date May 1, 2002.

VM126/VM093: Factors to Consider in Serologic Testing for Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) (ufl.edu)
PENINGKATAN KETERAMPILAN SOSIAL SISWA MENGGUNAKAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN KOOPERATIF TIPE JIGSAW DALAM PEMBELAJARAN ILMU PENGETAHUAN SOSIAL KELAS V SD NEGERI GEDONGTENGEN YOGYAKARTA
Authors: Radiqdiyan Radiqdiyan , Arief Ardian
Published: March 2021

Purpose of this research is to improve student's Social ability using cooperative learning type of jigsaw in studying Social class 5 gedongtengen elementary school Yogyakarta. The subject of this research is take from one class students in grade fifth which is consisten of 29 students. Data taking technique using observation, questionnare, and documentation. Average score of questionnaire in Social ability is 69%. After completition of cycle 1, average score improve and become 75%. In the second cycle questionnaire having a improvement 83%. Results of this research showing that learning process of social science having a improvement after implement of JIGSAW model of cooperative learning.
The Effect of Pozzolans and Mineral Wastes on Alkali-silica Reaction in Recycled Aggregated Mortar
Authors: Külekçi Gökhan
Published: March 2021

In this study, it was aimed to examine recycled aggregates (RA), which are considered as aggregates, in terms of alkali-silica reaction (ASR) before being used in concrete, to determine the risk status and to reduce the ASR value. In order to reduce and stop the ASR, the cement was replaced with clay brick and fly-ash by 10–40 %. Marble waste and Pb-Zn mine waste were used instead of RA in order to reduce aggregate reactivity. At the end of 28 days, compared to the control sample, it was observed that mortar bar samples containing tailings instead of fine RA has 18 % less expansion and marble waste (MW) added samples again instead of fine RA has 34 % less expansion. Furthermore, 40 % fly ash (FA) added samples decreased the level of ASR for 96 %, and in 10 % clay brick mixed samples ASR formation is decreased to 85 %. As a result, recycled aggregates were determined to be reactive for ASR. It has been determined that marble and lead-zinc mine facility wastes added as replace with to RA reduce the expansion effect by ASR in the cement paste. With this study, it has contributed to the safe use of the increasing use of RA in the world.
Challenges of Scene Management in Traffic Collisions from the Perspective of Road Emergency Responders in East Azerbaijan, Iran
Authors: Babaie Javad , Mostafanejad Reyhaneh , Ali Janati Ali , Sadeghi-Bazargani Homayon
Published: March 2021

Introduction

Thousands of traffic collisions occur each year on Iran's roads. This study aimed to investigate the challenges of scene management in road traffic collisions in the East Azerbaijan Province of Iran.

Methods

Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews and analysed by content coding and merging. Subcategories and themes were then extracted after integrating similar codes. Participants were selected using the purposive sampling method, and interviews continued until data saturation was reached.

Results

Twenty participants were interviewed; nine categories were extracted from the collected data: infrastructure problems, lack of responders’ preparedness, triage challenges, deficiencies and limitations, management of special (hazardous) incidents, communication problems with casualties, lack of coordination, lack of psychosocial support from responders, and cultural and social challenges.

Conclusion

Each traffic collision requires an immediate and effective response; however, this involves several challenges as its process is an inter-sectoral issue. The major challenge is the lack of coordination among different responders. Accordingly, these challenges need to be addressed by developing a comprehensive plan, designing a leading organisation, and developing a comprehensive trauma system.
Theoretical Substantiation of the Parameters of the Centrifugal Spreader Working Bodies
Authors:   Institute for Technical Support of Agriculture – a branch of VIM, Kostenko M.Yu. , Gaibaryan M.A. ,   Institute for Technical Support of Agriculture – a branch of VIM, Teterin V.S. ,   Institute for Technical Support of Agriculture – a branch of VIM, Panferov N.S. ,   Institute for Technical Support of Agriculture – a branch of VIM, Mitrofanov S.V. ,   Institute for Technical Support of Agriculture – a branch of VIM, Gapeeva N.N.
Published: March 2021

The processes of movement of granules of solid mineral fertilizers on the surface of the spreading disc blade are described, and the main parameters at the moment of their descent from the blades are determined. It was found that the main factors that determine the speed of a fertilizer particle when it moves along a horizontal disc along a rectilinear blade are the blade length and the angular velocity of the spreading disc.
Creating an Integrated System of Potato Harvesters and Transport Vehicles
Authors:   Ryazan State Agrotechnological University Named after P.A. Kostychev, Uspensky I.A. , Yukhin I.A. ,   Ryazan State Agrotechnological University Named after P.A. Kostychev, Machnev A.V. ,   Moscow State University of Food Production, Golikov A.A. ,   Academy of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia
Published: March 2021

The results of studies of some aspects of machine potato production, such as effectiveness of interaction between individual elements of the integrated system, are presented. A system has been developed that characterizes the smooth operation of potato harvesting and transport equipment. Some examples of domestic and foreign technology are analyzed, e.g. elevator-type harvesters and tractor dump trailers and semitrailers.
Determination of the Probability of Penetration of Manure Particles Through the Layers of Ferromagnetic Elements in the Vortex Layer Devices
Authors:   Institute of Livestock Mechanization – a branch of VIM, Gridnev P.I. , Gridneva T.T. ,   Institute of Livestock Mechanization – a branch of VIM
Published: March 2021

Theoretical dependences are presented for determining the probability of penetration of manure particles through the layers of rotating ferromagnetic elements in the vortex layer device taking into account their number and geometrical dimensions, and parameters of the working area.
Desvelando a violência no cotidiano das pessoas com deficiência que vivem no rural: (in) visibilidade, aproximações e desafios
Authors: Defendi Thaylane , Costa Yasmin Sabrina , Arboit Jaqueline , Costa Marta Cocco da , Silva Ethel Bastos da , Bandeira Carmem Layana Jadischke
Published: March 2021

Objetivo: Relatar as experiências de estudantes de graduação em enfermagem vivenciadas durante a coleta de dados de projeto que buscou conhecer as situações de violência no cotidiano das pessoas com deficiência que vivem no contexto rural. Metodologia: Estudo descritivo do tipo relato de experiência, desenvolvido a partir de uma pesquisa qualitativa realizada por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas com pessoas com deficiência ou seus cuidadores principais, no caso de menores de 18 anos ou de pessoas com deficiência intelectual. A coleta de dados do projeto que subsidiou este relato ocorreu no período de julho de 2018 a agosto de 2019. Resultados: A experiência permitiu desvelar os desafios vivenciados pelas pessoas com deficiência que vivem em cenário rural e suas famílias no que se refere às dificuldades financeiras, distância geográfica e acesso aos serviços. Ainda, permitiu identificar as diferentes formas de violência vivenciadas pelas pessoas com deficiência como a violência física, sexual, psicológica e a exclusão social. Conclusão: A experiência de desenvolver um estudo com pessoas com deficiência no contexto rural possibilitou a compreensão da magnitude do fenômeno da violência e permitiu a percepção da relevância de estudar seus impactos junto a diferentes populações e cenários. Ainda, trouxe à tona a urgência de um olhar diferenciado no que tange as pessoas com deficiência que vivem neste contexto singular no sentido de proporcionar a atenção integral a saúde dessa população.
Recent update on reading disability (dyslexia) focused on neurobiology
Authors: Kim Sung Koo
Published: March 2021

Reading disability (dyslexia) refers to an unexpected difficulty with reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. Dyslexia is most commonly caused by a difficulty in phonological processing (the appreciation of the individual sounds of spoken language), which affects the ability of an individual to speak, read, and spell. In this paper, I describe reading disabilities by focusing on their underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Neurobiological studies using functional brain imaging have uncovered the reading pathways, brain regions involved in reading, and neurobiological abnormalities of dyslexia. The reading pathway is in the order of visual analysis, letter recognition, word recognition, meaning (semantics), phonological processing, and speech production. According to functional neuroimaging studies, the important areas of the brain related to reading include the inferior frontal cortex (Broca’s area), the midtemporal lobe region, the inferior parieto-temporal area, and the left occipitotemporal region (visual word form area). Interventions for dyslexia can affect reading ability by causing changes in brain function and structure. An accurate diagnosis and timely specialized intervention are important in children with dyslexia. In cases in which national infant development screening tests have been conducted, as in Korea, if language developmental delay and early predictors of dyslexia are detected, careful observation of the progression to dyslexia and early intervention should be made.
Climate Change and Local Host Availability Drive the Northern Range Boundary in the Rapid Expansion of a Specialist Insect Herbivore, Papilio cresphontes
Authors: Wilson J. Keaton , Casajus Nicolas , Hutchinson Rebecca A. , McFarland Kent P. , Kerr Jeremy T. , Berteaux Dominique , Larrivée Maxim , Prudic Kathleen L.
Published: March 2021

Species distributions, abundance, and interactions have always been influenced by human activity and are currently experiencing rapid change. Biodiversity benchmark surveys traditionally require intense human labor inputs to find, identify, and record organisms limiting the rate and impact of scientific enquiry and discovery. Recent emergence and advancement of monitoring technologies have improved biodiversity data collection to a scale and scope previously unimaginable. Community science web platforms, smartphone applications, and technology assisted identification have expedited the speed and enhanced the volume of observational data all while providing open access to these data worldwide. How to integrate and leverage the data into valuable information on how species are changing in space and time requires new best practices in computational and analytical approaches. Here we integrate data from three community science repositories to explore how a specialist herbivore distribution changes in relation to host plant distributions and other environmental factors. We generate a series of temporally explicit species distribution models to generate range predictions for a specialist insect herbivore (Papilio cresphontes) and three predominant host-plant species. We find that this insect species has experienced rapid northern range expansion, likely due to a combination of the range of its larval host plants and climate changes in winter. This case study shows rapid data collection through large scale community science endeavors can be leveraged through thoughtful data integration and transparent analytic pipelines to inform how environmental change impacts where species are and their interactions for a more cost effective method of biodiversity benchmarking.
Framework for Characterizing Longitudinal Antibody Response in Children After Plasmodium falciparum Infection
Authors: Rogier Eric , Nace Doug , Dimbu Pedro R. , Wakeman Brian , Pohl Jan , Beeson James G. , Drakeley Chris , Tetteh Kevin , Plucinski Mateusz
Published: March 2021

Human Plasmodium infection produces a robust adaptive immune response. Time courses for 104 children followed for 42 days after initiation of Plasmodium falciparum chemotherapy were assayed for antibody levels to the five isotypes of human immunoglobulins (Ig) and 4 subclasses of IgG for 32 P. falciparum antigens encompassing all 4 parasite stages of human infection. IgD and IgE against these antigens were undetectable at 1:100 serum concentration, but other Ig isotypes and IgG subclasses were consistently observed against all antigens. Five quantitative parameters were developed to directly compare Ig response among isotypes and antigens: Cmax, maximum antibody level; ΔC, difference between Cmax and the antibody level at Day 0; tmax, time in days to reach Cmax; t1/2, Ig signal half-life in days; tneg, estimated number of days until complete loss of Ig signal. Classical Ig patterns for a bloodborne pathogen were seen with IgM showing early tmax and IgG production highest among Ig isotypes. However, some unexpected trends were observed such as IgA showing a biphasic pattern for many antigens. Variability among these dynamics of Ig acquisition and loss was noted for different P. falciparum antigens and able to be compared both quantitatively and statistically. This parametrization methodology allows direct comparison of Ig isotypes produced against various Plasmodium antigens following malaria infection, and the same methodology could be applied to other longitudinal serologic studies from P. falciparum or different pathogens. Specifically for P. falciparum seroepidemiological studies, reliable and quantitative estimates regarding the IgG dynamics in human populations can better optimize modeling efforts for serological outputs.
A Database for Learning Numbers by Visual Finger Recognition in Developmental Neuro-Robotics
Authors: Davies Sergio , Lucas Alexandr , Ricolfe-Viala Carlos , Di Nuovo Alessandro
Published: March 2021

Numerical cognition is a fundamental component of human intelligence that has not been fully understood yet. Indeed, it is a subject of research in many disciplines, e.g., neuroscience, education, cognitive and developmental psychology, philosophy of mathematics, linguistics. In Artificial Intelligence, aspects of numerical cognition have been modelled through neural networks to replicate and analytically study children behaviours. However, artificial models need to incorporate realistic sensory-motor information from the body to fully mimic the children's learning behaviours, e.g., the use of fingers to learn and manipulate numbers. To this end, this article presents a database of images, focused on number representation with fingers using both human and robot hands, which can constitute the base for building new realistic models of numerical cognition in humanoid robots, enabling a grounded learning approach in developmental autonomous agents. The article provides a benchmark analysis of the datasets in the database that are used to train, validate, and test five state-of-the art deep neural networks, which are compared for classification accuracy together with an analysis of the computational requirements of each network. The discussion highlights the trade-off between speed and precision in the detection, which is required for realistic applications in robotics.
Theory of Mind and Its Elusive Structural Substrate
Authors: Lizcano-Cortés Fernando , Rasgado-Toledo Jalil , Giudicessi Averi , Giordano Magda
Published: March 2021

Is brain structure related to function? Can one predict the other? These are questions that are still waiting to be answered definitively. In this paper we seek to investigate these questions, in particular, we are interested in the relation between brain structure and theory of mind (ToM). ToM is defined as the ability to attribute mental states to others. Previous studies have observed correlations between performance on ToM tasks, and gray-matter size/volume in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and precuneus (PCu). Despite these findings, there are concerns about false positive results and replicability issues. In this study we used two different tasks to evaluate ToM, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), and the Short Story Task (SST). Performance in these tasks was correlated to brain anatomy measures including voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and cortical thickness (CT) analysis, from ninety-one neurotypical participants. High-resolution structural brain images were acquired, and whole-brain and region of interest (ROI) analyses were implemented. The analyses did not show statistically significant associations between ToM performance and brain structural measures after correction. Significant associations between performance on ToM tests and a widespread array of regions loosely associated with ToM were observed only for whole brain uncorrected analysis (p < 0.001). These results do not replicate a previous study with neurotypical participants. We tested two different ToM tests, two different softwares for VBM and CT, and we used two samples, one with 91 and a sub-sample with 69 participants. Neither of these conditions made a difference in the results obtained. Consequently, these results suggest that if the population is neurotypical and homogenous, it is unlikely that a reliable association between brain anatomy measures and ToM performance, as measured with these tasks, may be found.
Endothelial Cell Orientation and Polarity Are Controlled by Shear Stress and VEGF Through Distinct Signaling Pathways
Authors: Vion Anne-Clémence , Perovic Tijana , Petit Charlie , Hollfinger Irene , Bartels-Klein Eireen , Frampton Emmanuelle , Gordon Emma , Claesson-Welsh Lena , Gerhardt Holger
Published: March 2021

Vascular networks form, remodel and mature under the influence of multiple signals of mechanical or chemical nature. How endothelial cells read and interpret these signals, and how they integrate information when they are exposed to both simultaneously is poorly understood. Here, we show using flow-induced shear stress and VEGF-A treatment on endothelial cells in vitro, that the response to the magnitude of a mechanical stimulus is influenced by the concentration of a chemical stimulus, and vice versa. By combining different flow levels and different VEGF-A concentrations, front-rear polarity of endothelial cells against the flow direction was established in a flow and VEGF-A dose-response while their alignment with the flow displayed a biphasic response depending on the VEGF-A dose (perpendicular at physiological dose, aligned at no or pathological dose of VEGF-A). The effect of pharmaceutical inhibitors demonstrated that while VEGFR2 is essential for both polarity and orientation establishment in response to flow with and without VEGF-A, different downstream effectors were engaged depending on the presence of VEGF-A. Thus, Src family inhibition (c-Src, Yes, Fyn together) impaired alignment and polarity without VEGF-A while FAK inhibition modified polarity and alignment only when endothelial cells were exposed to VEGF-A. Studying endothelial cells in the aortas of VEGFR2Y949F mutant mice and SRCiEC–KO mice confirmed the role of VEGFR2 and specified the role of c-SRC in vivo. Endothelial cells of VEGFR2Y949F mutant mice lost their polarity and alignment while endothelial cells from SRCiEC–KO mice only showed reduced polarity. We propose here that VEGFR2 is a sensor able to integrate chemical and mechanical information simultaneously and that the underlying pathways and mechanisms activated will depend on the co-stimulation. Flow alone shifts VEGFR2 signaling toward a Src family pathway activation and a junctional effect (both in vitro and in vivo) while flow and VEGF-A together shift VEGFR2 signaling toward focal adhesion activation (in vitro) both modifying cell responses that govern orientation and polarity.
A la tercera va a la vencida
Authors: Solsona Paüls Lluïsa
Published: March 2021

El presente artículo repasa las supervisiones realizadas a lo largo del proceso de terapia en un caso de maltrato familiar, abuso psicológico y maltrato infantil. Teniendo en cuenta la Teoría del Desarrollo Moral, el crecimiento hacia la autonomía fue impedido por las carencias emocionales y morales sufridas, y fue necesario apoyar la creación de valores personales como base para el desarrollo de un referente propio.
Disfunción eréctil en un contexto de pareja
Authors: Vidal Raventós Albert
Published: March 2021

En el presente artículo, se expone un caso de terapia sexual que se desarrolla en un contexto de pareja. En un inicio, la pareja acude con una demanda de disfunción eréctil de poco más de un año de duración. A lo largo de las sesiones el síntoma mejora de forma significativa, a medida que va aflorando una crisis de pareja de tipo estructural, basada en un desequilibrio cruzado entre simetría y complementariedad.
La libertad a través del ser. Un caso de Anorgasmia
Authors: Castro Grañén Lara
Published: March 2021

La anorgasmia es vista como un efecto de la regulación de la moral heteronómica. La meritocracia narcisista reemplaza a la autoestima ontológica, buscando una validación interpersonal a través de la ejecución sexual. El trabajo en terapia con autoestima y autonomía ha tenido como resultados la liberación de la anorgasmia de los impedimentos narcisistas.
SMOTE-ENC: A Novel SMOTE-Based Method to Generate Synthetic Data for Nominal and Continuous Features
Authors: Mukherjee Mimi , Khushi Matloob
Published: March 2021

Real-world datasets are heavily skewed where some classes are significantly outnumbered by the other classes. In these situations, machine learning algorithms fail to achieve substantial efficacy while predicting these underrepresented instances. To solve this problem, many variations of synthetic minority oversampling methods (SMOTE) have been proposed to balance datasets which deal with continuous features. However, for datasets with both nominal and continuous features, SMOTE-NC is the only SMOTE-based oversampling technique to balance the data. In this paper, we present a novel minority oversampling method, SMOTE-ENC (SMOTE—Encoded Nominal and Continuous), in which nominal features are encoded as numeric values and the difference between two such numeric values reflects the amount of change of association with the minority class. Our experiments show that classification models using the SMOTE-ENC method offer better prediction than models using SMOTE-NC when the dataset has a substantial number of nominal features and also when there is some association between the categorical features and the target class. Additionally, our proposed method addressed one of the major limitations of the SMOTE-NC algorithm. SMOTE-NC can be applied only on mixed datasets that have features consisting of both continuous and nominal features and cannot function if all the features of the dataset are nominal. Our novel method has been generalized to be applied to both mixed datasets and nominal-only datasets.
HER2-/HER3-Targeting Antibody—Drug Conjugates for Treating Lung and Colorectal Cancers Resistant to EGFR Inhibitors
Authors: Yonesaka Kimio
Published: March 2021

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one of the anticancer drug targets for certain malignancies, including nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal cancer (CRC), and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, the grave issue of drug resistance through diverse mechanisms persists, including secondary EGFR-mutation and its downstream RAS/RAF mutation. Since the discovery of the role of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and HER3 in drug resistance, HER2- or HER3-targeting treatment strategies using monoclonal antibodies have been intensively examined and have demonstrated impressive responsiveness and limitations. Finally, an innovative targeted therapy called antibody drug conjugates (ADC) has provided a solution to overcome this resistance. Specifically, a new cleavable linker-payload system enables stable drug delivery to cancer cells, causing selective destruction. HER2-targeting ADC trastuzumab deruxtecan demonstrated promising responsiveness in patients with HER2-positive CRC, in a phase 2 clinical trial (objective response rate = 45.3%). Furthermore, HER3-targeting patritumab deruxtecan, another ADC, exhibited impressive tumor shrinkage in pretreated patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC, in a phase 1 clinical trial. This manuscript presents an overview of the accumulated evidence on HER2- and HER3-targeting therapy, especially ADCs, and discussion of remaining issues for further improving these treatments in cancers resistant to EGFR inhibitors.
Development of a Condensation Model and a New Design of a Condensation Hood—Numerical and Experimental Study
Authors: Tokarski Mieszko , Ryfa Arkadiusz , Buliński Piotr , Rojczyk Marek , Ziarko Krzysztof , Ostrowski Ziemowit , Nowak Andrzej J.
Published: March 2021

The development of a numerical model and design for the innovative construction of a heat exchanger (HE) used in a condensation hood (being a part of the combi-steamer) are described in this work. The model covers an air-steam flow, heat transfer, and a steam condensation process. The last two processes were implemented with the use of an in-house model introduced via User Defined Functions (UDF). As the condensate volume is negligible compared to the steam, the proposed model removes the condensate from the domain. This approach enabled the usage of a single-phase flow for both air and steam using a species transport model. As a consequence, a significant mesh and computation time reduction were achieved. The new heat exchanger is characterised by reorganised fluid flow and by externally finned pipes (contrary to the original construction, where internally finned pipes were used). This allowed a reduction in the number of the pipes from 48 to 5, which significantly simplifies construction and manufacturing process of the HE. The redesigned HE was tested in two cases: one simulating normal working conditions with a combi-steamer, the other with extremely high heat load. Measurement data showed that the numerical model predicted condensate mass flow rate (3.67 g/s computed and 3.56 g/s measured) and that the condensation capability increased at least by 15% when compared to the original HE design.
Post COVID-19 Recovery and 2050 Climate Change Targets: Changing the Emphasis from Promotion of Renewables to Mandated Curtailment of Fossil Fuels in the EU Policies
Authors: Maniatis Kyriakos , Chiaramonti David , van den Heuvel Eric
Published: March 2021

The present work considers the dramatic changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the global economy, with particular emphasis on energy. Focusing on the European Union, the article discusses the opportunities policy makers can implement to reduce the climate impacts and achieve the Paris Agreement 2050 targets. The analysis specifically looks at the fossil fuels industry and the future of the fossil sector post COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis first revises the fossil fuel sector, and then considers the need for a shift of the global climate change policy from promoting the deployment of renewable energy sources to curtailing the use of fossil fuels. This will be a change to the current global approach, from a relative passive one to a strategically dynamic and proactive one. Such a curtailment should be based on actual volumes of fossil fuels used and not on percentages. Finally, conclusions are preliminary applied to the European Union policies for net zero by 2050 based on a two-fold strategy: continuing and reinforcing the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive to 2035, while adopting a new directive for fixed and over time increasing curtailment of fossils as of 2025 until 2050.
Energy Benefit of Liquid Desiccant-Assisted Humidification in Buildings during Winter Operation
Authors: Lee Soo-Jin , Lim Hansol , Jeong Jae-Weon
Published: March 2021

The objective of this study was to modify an existing liquid desiccant and indirect/direct evaporative cooling-assisted 100% outdoor air system (LD-IDECOAS) for humidification operation in winter. The energy benefit of the liquid desiccant-assisted humidification approach during the operation of LD-IDECOAS over the conventional method with a steam humidifier was evaluated through a detailed energy simulation. The humidification and enthalpy effectiveness values of the liquid desiccant humidification measured from laboratory tests were 0.41 and 0.49, respectively, which were applied to the energy simulation for the modified system. Both systems with the proposed and conventional humidification approaches were simulated using an engineering equation solver combined with a TRNSYS 18 energy simulation program. The results demonstrated that the modified LD-IDECOAS consumes less energy for humidification compared to the existing system with a steam humidifier. The proposed system also exhibited considerable heating energy-saving potential. Consequently, modified LD-IDECOAS consumed 42% less primary energy during winter operation after being modified for liquid desiccant-assisted humidification.
Learning to Calibrate Battery Models in Real-Time with Deep Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Unagar Ajaykumar , Tian Yuan , Chao Manuel Arias , Fink Olga
Published: March 2021

Lithium-ion (Li-I) batteries have recently become pervasive and are used in many physical assets. For the effective management of the batteries, reliable predictions of the end-of-discharge (EOD) and end-of-life (EOL) are essential. Many detailed electrochemical models have been developed for the batteries. Their parameters are calibrated before they are taken into operation and are typically not re-calibrated during operation. However, the degradation of batteries increases the reality gap between the computational models and the physical systems and leads to inaccurate predictions of EOD/EOL. The current calibration approaches are either computationally expensive (model-based calibration) or require large amounts of ground truth data for degradation parameters (supervised data-driven calibration). This is often infeasible for many practical applications. In this paper, we introduce a reinforcement learning-based framework for reliably inferring calibration parameters of battery models in real time. Most importantly, the proposed methodology does not need any labeled data samples of observations and the ground truth parameters. The experimental results demonstrate that our framework is capable of inferring the model parameters in real time with better accuracy compared to approaches based on unscented Kalman filters. Furthermore, our results show better generalizability than supervised learning approaches even though our methodology does not rely on ground truth information during training.
On Strongly Continuous Resolving Families of Operators for Fractional Distributed Order Equations
Authors: Fedorov Vladimir E. , Filin Nikolay V.
Published: March 2021

The aim of this work is to find by the methods of the Laplace transform the conditions for the existence of a strongly continuous resolving family of operators for a linear homogeneous equation in a Banach space with the distributed Gerasimov–Caputo fractional derivative and with a closed densely defined operator A in the right-hand side. It is proved that the existence of a resolving family of operators for such equation implies the belonging of the operator A to the class CW(K,a), which is defined here. It is also shown that from the continuity of a resolving family of operators at t=0 the boundedness of A follows. The existence of a resolving family is shown for A∈CW(K,a) and for the upper limit of the integration in the distributed derivative not greater than 2. As corollary, we obtain the existence of a unique solution for the Cauchy problem to the equation of such class. These results are used for the investigation of the initial boundary value problems unique solvability for a class of partial differential equations of the distributed order with respect to time.