bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lactulose may reduce Clostridium difficile‐related diarrhea among patients receiving antibiotics
Authors: Maltz Charles , Miskovitz Paul F , Hajifathalian Kaveh
Published: July 2020

Background and Aim

Prebiotics are nondigestible oligosaccharides that are metabolized by colonic bacteria, resulting in a change in the pH of the colonic milieu as well as modifying the microbiome of the colon. The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine whether concomitant lactulose administration affected the Clostridium difficile infection rate among hospitalized adult patients receiving antibiotics.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed inpatient medical records of patients in a large teaching hospital admitted during a one‐year period. Individuals treated with antibiotic therapy during the course of their hospitalization were considered for inclusion in the study. Patients were evaluated for development of C. difficile infection, as well as concomitant lactulose therapy for hepatic encephalopathy. The incidence of C. difficile infection among patients who received lactulose and antibiotic therapy was compared with that among those who received antibiotic therapy alone.

Results

Patients who received lactulose and antibiotic therapy were slightly older (n = 87, mean age 67) than patients who received antibiotic therapy alone (n = 103, mean age 60). Similar numbers of patients were males in both groups (male/female: 50/53 and male/female: 46/41). Two (2.3%) patients who received lactulose and antibiotic therapy developed C. difficile infection during the course of hospitalization, compared with 10 (9.7%) patients who received antibiotic therapy alone (P = 0.04, Fisher exact test).

Conclusion

Administration of lactulose may reduce the incidence of C. difficile‐related diarrhea among hospitalized adult patients receiving antibiotics.
Daily and seasonal variation of the surface temperature lapse rate and 0°C isotherm height in the western subtropical Andes
Authors: Ibañez María , Gironás Jorge , Oberli Christian , Chadwick Cristián , Garreaud René D.
Published: July 2020

The spatial distribution of surface air temperatures is essential for understanding and modelling high‐relief environments. Good estimations of the surface temperature lapse rate (STLR) and the 0°C isotherm height (H0) are fundamental for hydrological modelling in mountainous basins. Although STLR changes in space and time, it is typically assumed to be constant leading to errors in the estimation of direct‐runoff volumes and flash‐floods risk assessment. This paper characterizes daily and seasonal temporal variations of the in‐situ STLR and H0 over the western slope of the subtropical Andes (central Chile). We use temperature data collected during 2 years every 10 min by a 16 sensors network in a small catchment with elevations ranging between 700 and 3,250 m. The catchment drains directly into Santiago, the Chilean capital with more than seven million inhabitants. Resulting values are compared against those obtained using off‐site, operational data sets. Significant intra‐ and inter‐day variations of the in‐situ STLR were found, likely reflecting changes in the low‐level temperature inversion during dry conditions. The annual average in‐situ STLR is −5.9°C/km during wet‐weather conditions. Furthermore, STLR and H0 estimations using off‐site gauges are extremely sensitive to the existence of gauging stations at high elevations.
Sources of expertise in social enterprises
Authors: Allen Robert Anthony
Published: July 2020

Social enterprises draw upon multifarious sources of expertise in pursuit of their social and business goals. The social enterprise's first source of expertise is that of their own relational experience derived from their previous employment or experiences and context expertise developed from a deep understanding of their own business. They seek advice from a wide expert‐support network favoring those associated with business acumen more than any other. The expert‐support network consists of eight distinct categories that are described in a comprehensive model.
Sub3 inhibits Aspergillus flavus growth by disrupting mitochondrial energy metabolism, and has potential biocontrol during peanut storage
Authors: Zhang Wei , Lv Yangyong , Lv Ang , Wei Shan , Zhang Shuaibing , Li Cuixiang , Hu Yuansen
Published: July 2020

Background

Aspergillus flavus, a saprophytic fungus, is regularly detected in oil‐enriched seeds. During colonization, this organism releases aflatoxins that pose a serious risk to food safety and human health. Therefore, an eco‐friendly biological approach to inhibit the pathogen is desirable.

Results

Experimental results indicated that A. flavus spores could not germinate in potato dextrose broth culture medium, when the concentration of Sub3 exceeded 0.15 g L−1. Morphological evaluation performed by flow cytometry and scanning electron microscopy indicated that spores were shrunken and pitted following Sub3 exposure. Physiological assessment using propidium iodide, 5,5′,6,6′‐tetrachloro‐1,1′,3,3′‐tetraethylbenzimidazolocarbocyanine iodide, 2,7‐dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate and 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole staining revealed damaged cell membranes, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species levels, and elevated large nuclear condensation and DNA fragmentation. Moreover, mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity was reduced by 29.42% and 45.48% after treatment with 0.1 and 0.15 g L−1 Sub3, respectively. Additionally, colonization capacity in peanut was significantly decreased, and the number of spores on seeds treated with Sub3 was decreased by 26.86% (0.1 g L−1) and 77.74% (0.15 g L−1) compared with the control group.

Conclusion

Sub3 likely inhibits A. flavus by crossing the cell wall and targeting the cell membrane, disrupting mitochondrial energy metabolism, and inducing DNA damage, leading to spore death. Thus, Sub3 may provide a useful biocontrol strategy to control A. flavus growth in peanuts. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry
Characterization of virgin olive oils from Spanish olive varieties introduced in Mendoza, Argentina, and their comparison with the autochthonous variety
Authors: Banco Adriana , Trentacoste Eduardo , Monasterio Romina P
Published: July 2020

BACKGROUND

The aim of this work was to evaluate and compare oil production and its quality in three Spanish olive varieties (Genovesa, Villalonga, and Nevadillo blanco) growing outside the Mediterranean basin with the Argentine autochthonous variety (Arauco). Fruit parameters and oil characteristics were evaluated using samples collected from the germplasm collection of Mendoza province and elaborated in the same place.

RESULTS

The levels of phenolic compounds and the fatty acid composition of the samples were comparable with those previously published for these Spanish varieties, grown in the Mediterranean basin, showing the adaptability of olive trees. Observing the levels of phenolic compounds and oxidative stability, a strong correlation between oxidative stability and oleocanthal was observed.

CONCLUSION

The characteristics of the fruit and oil differed according to variety and season. The inter‐harvest stability was different depending on the variety. Genovesa was observed to be the most stable variety according to its fruit and oil characteristics – even more stable than the autochthonous variety, Arauco. However, in terms of the composition of phenolic compounds, Arauco was the most stable between harvests, this characteristic being more important for the taste and uniformity of the product. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry
Initial Effects of Wildfire on Freshwater Turtle Nesting Habitat
Authors: Markle Chantel E. , Wilkinson Sophie L. , Waddington James M.
Published: July 2020

Natural wildfire regimes are important for ecosystem succession but can have negative ecological effects depending on fire characteristics. A portion of a granite rock barrens landscape that extends along the eastern shoreline of Georgian Bay, Lake Huron to eastern Ontario, Canada, burned in 2018 during a wildfire that affected >11,000 ha. This landscape is a biodiversity hotspot providing habitat for many species at risk where freshwater turtles nest in soil deposits in cracks and crevices in the bedrock dominated by moss (Polytrichumspp.) and lichen (Cladoniaspp.) cover. To assess the initial effect of wildfire on freshwater turtle nesting habitat, we measured soil depths and estimated moss, lichen, and vascular plant cover at 2 morphology types (crevice, flat) in burned and unburned areas of the landscape. The probability that burned flat plots supported soil was near zero; the burned flat plots had 98% less soil volume compared to unburned flat plots. Although crevices were more resistant to soil loss, burned crevices still had a 15% lower probability of having soil and 35% less soil volume compared to unburned crevice plots. We estimated nest site availability by calculating the number of locations with shallow (5–10 cm), intermediate (10–20 cm), and deep (>20 cm) soils required for a small (5 cm × 5 cm) or medium (10 cm × 10 cm) nest chamber. Overall, the burned open rock barrens had 71–73% fewer sites with suitable soil depth and volume for a nest chamber of either size. Furthermore, burned plots had almost no lichen and moss cover but were dominated by bare soil, forbs, and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) seedlings. Although the loss of tree cover in previously forested areas may increase nest site availability for freshwater turtles in newly open areas, we suggest that organic soil combustion and soil erosion may require restoration activities in the post‐fire landscape to support successful nesting of at‐risk turtles. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.
In situ study of the deep sea electrochemical performance of aluminum‐based galvanic anodes
Authors: Xing Shaohua , Hou Jian , Sun Mingxian , Guo Weimin , Xu Likun , Li Weili , Wharton Julian
Published: July 2020

The galvanic performance of Al–Zn–In–Mg–Ti–Ga–Mn and Al–Zn–In–Si anodes was studied in situ in the South China Sea at a depth of 1,420 m when coupled to E355DD structural carbon steel. Deep‐sea field tests showed that Al–Zn–In–Mg–Ti–Ga–Mn anode surface degradation mainly occurred via uniform corrosion accompanied by some minor evidence of pitting and intergranular corrosion, whereas the Al–Zn–In–Si anode was subject to extensive intergranular corrosion. Pitting and intergranular corrosion were primary reasons for degrading the galvanic anode performance, and overall the Al–Zn–In–Mg–Ti–Ga–Mn performed better than the Al–Zn–In–Si in the deep‐sea environment. There was no evidence that calcareous sediments were deposited on the protected steel surface and the protection current density in the deep sea was 72% higher than that required at the ocean surface.
Clinical features and genetic characteristics of homozygous spinocerebellar ataxia type 3
Authors: Li Quan-Fu , Cheng Hao‐Ling , Yang Lu , Ma Yin , Zhao Jing‐Jing , Dong Yi , Wu Zhi‐Ying
Published: July 2020

Background

Homozygous spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) patients, which have an expanded cytosine‐adenine‐guanine (CAG) repeat mutation in both alleles of ATXN3, are extremely rare. Clinical features and genetic characteristics of them were seldom studied.

Methods

We analyzed seven newly homozygous SCA3 patients from five families and 14 homozygotes reported previously. An additional cohort of 30 heterozygous SCA3 patients were analyzed to compare age at onset (AAO).

Results

Two out of seven SCA3 homozygotes had the minimum CAG repeats reported so far (55/56 and 56/58). Five patients appeared peripheral neuropathy and two had mild cognitive impairment. The AAO was significantly inversely correlated with both the large and small expanded CAG repeats (r = −.7682, p < .0001). The AAO was significantly earlier in homozygous SCA3 than heterozygous ones (32.81 ± 11.86 versus. 49.90 ± 9.73, p < .0001). In addition, the AAO of our seven homozygotes is elder compared to those reported previously (41.29 years vs. 28.57 years), which may be related to the fewer CAG repeats in our seven patients.

Conclusion

Gene dosage effect may play an important role in the AAO and severity of disease, and homozygosity for ATXN3 enhances phenotypic severity. Our findings expand clinical features and genetic characteristics of homozygous SCA3 patients.
Distance‐based topological descriptors for measuring the π‐electronic energy of benzenoid hydrocarbons with applications to carbon nanotubes
Authors: Hayat Sakander , Khan Suliman , Khan Asad , Imran Muhammad
Published: July 2020

In this paper, we provide efficient regression models for correlating the π‐electronic energies of carbon nanotubes and nanocones. First, a computational technique for determining distance‐based, eccentricity‐based, degree‐distance‐based, and degree‐based molecular descriptors is proposed. Then, the application of our technique has been explained for the family of fibonacenes. Importantly, we use the proposed computational technique to determine commonly occurring distance‐based molecular descriptors and generate regression models to determine their correlation with the π‐electronic energies of lower polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Unlike its reputation among chemical graph theorists and reticular chemists, the fourth version of the geometric–arithmetic index outperforms all the distance‐based descriptors having the correlation coefficient 0.999. This warrants further usage of the fourth geometric–arithmetic index in quantitative structure‐activity relationship models. To ensure the applicability of our proposed study, we use the proposed computational technique to compute analytically explicit expressions for certain distance‐based molecular descriptors for certain infinite families of carbon nanotubes and carbon nanocones. Our results assist in correlating the π‐electronic energies of underlying chemical structures of these nanotubes and nanocones.
Miniaturized ultra‐wideband printed dipole array for electronic warfare applications in unmanned aerial vehicle systems
Authors: Kumari A. N. Meena , Varughese Suma , Rao P. Venkatesh
Published: July 2020

The advances in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and their applications in various areas of military, communications made the researchers focus on the design of compact, wide beam, lightweight antennas. In this article, a novel miniaturized printed dipole antenna with quasi rhombus shape exhibiting an Impedance bandwidth of 113% (within 2:1 VSWR for the frequency range from 6.3 to 23 GHz) is presented. The length and width of the antenna element in terms of λ6.5 considered at the resonant frequency of 6.5 GHz is 0.347λ6.5 × 0.369λ6.5 (16 mm × 17 mm). Design equations are included to carefully match the impedance at every segment of the antenna. The optimized element is fabricated to confirm the finding from the analysis. The wideband characteristics of the antenna with good cross‐polarization levels, stable radiation patterns and matching performance of element makes it suitable for various EW applications in UAV systems. The optimized linear antenna array with eight elements is fabricated and tested to evaluate its suitability for broadband applications. Various antenna parameters such as reflection coefficients, bandwidth, radiation patterns are measured and compared with computed results to validate its suitability for EW applications. Miniaturization of antenna size finds the suitability of antenna to be used for smaller platforms having smaller surface similar to UAV. The wideband performance from a single antenna/array is useful for multitude applications. Some of the areas of application are shared aperture; communication support measure; SATCOM; data link; electronic support measure; radar warning receiver applications.
A geometric approach to separate the effects of magnetic susceptibility and chemical shift/exchange in a phantom with isotropic magnetic susceptibility
Authors: Eun Hyunsung , Jeong Hwihun , Lee Jingu , Shin Hyeong‐Geol , Lee Jongho
Published: July 2020

Purpose

To separate the effects of magnetic susceptibility and chemical shift/exchange in a phantom with isotropic magnetic susceptibility, and to generate a chemical shift/exchange‐corrected QSM result.

Methods

Magnetic susceptibility and chemical shift/exchange are the properties of a material. Both are known to induce the resonance frequency shift in MRI. In current QSM, the susceptibility is reconstructed from the frequency shift, ignoring the contribution of the chemical shift/exchange. In this work, a simple geometric approach, which averages the frequency shift maps from three orthogonal B0 directions to generate a chemical shift/exchange map, is developed using the fact that the average nullifies the (isotropic) susceptibility effects. The resulting chemical shift/exchange map is subtracted from the total frequency shift, producing a frequency shift map solely from susceptibility. Finally, this frequency shift map is reconstructed to a susceptibility map using a QSM algorithm. The proposed method is validated in numerical simulations and applied to phantom experiments with olive oil, bovine serum albumin, ferritin, and iron oxide solutions.

Results

Both simulations and experiments confirm that the method successfully separates the contributions of the susceptibility and chemical shift/exchange, reporting the susceptibility and chemical shift/exchange of olive oil (susceptibility: 0.62 ppm, chemical shift: −3.60 ppm), bovine serum albumin (susceptibility: −0.059 ppm, chemical shift: 0.008 ppm), ferritin (susceptibility: 0.125 ppm, chemical shift: −0.005 ppm), and iron oxide (susceptibility: 0.30 ppm, chemical shift: −0.039 ppm) solutions.

Conclusion

The proposed method successfully separates the susceptibility and chemical shift/exchange in phantoms with isotropic magnetic susceptibility.
Validation of T2‐based oxygen extraction fraction measurement with 15O positron emission tomography
Authors: Jiang Dengrong , Deng Shengwen , Franklin Crystal G. , O'Boyle Michael , Zhang Wei , Heyl Betty L. , Pan Li , Jerabek Paul A. , Fox Peter T. , Lu Hanzhang
Published: July 2020

Purpose

To evaluate the accuracy of T2‐based whole‐brain oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) estimation by comparing it with gold standard 15O‐PET measurements.

Methods

Sixteen healthy adult subjects underwent MRI and 15O‐PET OEF measurements on the same day. On MRI, whole‐brain OEF was quantified by T2‐relaxation‐under‐spin‐tagging (TRUST) MRI, based on subject‐specific hematocrit. The TRUST OEF was compared to the whole‐brain averaged OEF produced by 15O‐PET. Agreement between TRUST and 15O‐PET whole‐brain OEF measurements was examined in terms of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and in absolute OEF values. In a subset of 10 subjects, test‐retest reproducibility of whole‐brain OEF was also evaluated and compared between the two modalities.

Results

Across the 16 subjects, the mean whole‐brain OEF of TRUST and 15O‐PET were 36.44 ± 4.07% and 36.45 ± 3.65%, respectively, showing no difference between the two modalities (P = .99). TRUST whole‐brain OEF strongly correlated with that of 15O‐PET (N = 16, ICC = 0.90, P = 4 × 10−7). The coefficient‐of‐variation of TRUST and 15O‐PET whole‐brain OEF measurements were 1.79 ± 0.67% and 2.06 ± 1.55%, respectively, showing no difference between the two modalities (N = 10, P = .64). Further analyses on the effect of hematocrit revealed that correlation between PET OEF and TRUST OEF with assumed hematocrit remained significant (ICC = 0.8, P < 2 × 10−5).

Conclusion

Whole‐brain OEF measured by TRUST was in excellent agreement with gold standard 15O‐PET, with highly comparable accuracy and reproducibility. These findings suggest that TRUST MRI can provide accurate quantification of whole‐brain OEF noninvasively.
qMTNet: Accelerated quantitative magnetization transfer imaging with artificial neural networks
Authors: Luu Huan Minh , Kim Dong‐Hyun , Kim Jae‐Woong , Choi Seung‐Hong , Park Sung‐Hong
Published: July 2020

Purpose

To develop a set of artificial neural networks, collectively termed qMTNet, to accelerate data acquisition and fitting for quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) imaging.

Methods

Conventional and interslice qMT data were acquired with two flip angles at six offset frequencies from seven subjects for developing the networks and from four young and four older subjects for testing the generalizability. Two subnetworks, qMTNet‐acq and qMTNet‐fit, were developed and trained to accelerate data acquisition and fitting, respectively. qMTNet‐2 is the sequential application of qMTNet‐acq and qMTNet‐fit to produce qMT parameters (exchange rate, pool fraction) from undersampled qMT data (two offset frequencies rather than six). qMTNet‐1 is one single integrated network having the same functionality as qMTNet‐2. qMTNet‐fit was compared with a Gaussian kernel‐based fitting. qMT parameters generated by the networks were compared with those from ground truth fitted with a dictionary‐driven approach.

Results

The proposed networks achieved high peak signal‐to‐noise ratio (>30) and structural similarity index (>97) in reference to the ground truth. qMTNet‐fit produced qMT parameters in concordance with the ground truth with better performance than the Gaussian kernel‐based fitting. qMTNet‐2 and qMTNet‐1 could accelerate data acquisition at threefold and accelerate fitting at 5800‐ and 4218‐fold, respectively. qMTNet‐1 showed slightly better performance than qMTNet‐2, whereas qMTNet‐2 was more flexible for applications.

Conclusion

The proposed single (qMTNet‐1) and two joint neural networks (qMTNet‐2) can accelerate qMT workflow for both data acquisition and fitting significantly. qMTNet has the potential to accelerate qMT imaging for clinical applications, which warrants further investigation.
Flow‐induced microchannel structure of the graphene‐based aerogel microspheres and their use as superabsorbents
Authors: Zhang Chunmei , Zhu Jiazhan , Cao Ziting , Song Ping , Zhai Tianliang
Published: July 2020

The graphene‐based aerogel microspheres (GAMs) with a flow‐induced microchannel structure were prepared by a combination of emulsification method with the in situ freeze‐drying process, followed by thermal reduction. A uniform orientation microchannel structure can be found on the surface of the large GAMs. While, multi‐orientation microchannels were observed on the small GAMs. The effective reduction of the GAMs was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X‐ray photoemission spectroscopy. The hydrophobic GAMs were highly porous with a bulk density ranging from 4.30 to 7.74 mg/cm3 and exhibited excellent absorption performance for various types of organic solvent and oils. The absorption capacities of the GAMs for oil/solvent ranged from 67 to 133 times to their initial weight, showing great potential applications in oil and chemical spill/leak cleanup.
Exomphalos without other prenatally detected anomalies: Perinatal outcomes from 22 years of population‐based data
Authors: Grover Rose , Collins Amanda L. , Wellesley Diana
Published: July 2020

Objective

To ascertain the perinatal outcomes for an apparently isolated exomphalos detected by prenatal ultrasound.

Method

Our dataset captures cases from 614 321 births in the Wessex region of England and the Channel Isles on all cases of pre‐ or postnatally diagnosed exomphalos from 1994 to 2015. Ascertainment was >95%.

Results

Three hundred and thirty five cases were reported to the register: 28 (8%) were not detected prenatally, 18 (6%) had already died in utero, 169 (55%) cases were found to have additional anomalies on first tertiary ultrasound scan and one case was lost to follow‐up. Therefore 119 (39%) cases had an apparently isolated exomphalos.

Of the 119 cases with only an exomphalos detected on first tertiary ultrasound scan, 25 (21%) had a chromosome abnormality. Of those with a normal or untested karyotype, 61% were confirmed to be an isolated anomaly after birth, 13% had an additional heart abnormality, 9% had Beckwith‐Wiedemann syndrome and 11% had additional problems diagnosed postnatally.

Conclusion

Our large population‐based dataset with an average of 1 year's postnatal follow‐up suggests that more than one‐third of apparently isolated prenatal cases of exomphalos will have an additional finding detected after birth. These data should help assist clinicians in their prenatal counseling.
Wavelength and angle resolved reflectance measurements of pyramidal textures for crystalline silicon photovoltaics
Authors: Scheul Tudor E. , Khorani Edris , Rahman Tasmiat , Charlton Martin D.B. , Boden Stuart A.
Published: July 2020

Wavelength and angle resolved scattering (WARS) reflectance measurements are attractive to the photovoltaic (PV) industry as a means of characterizing the light‐trapping properties of a textured front surface. Moreover, at the PV module level, where a stack comprising encapsulants and glass is present, large angle scattering can promote total internal reflection at the interfaces and redirect light back towards the solar cell, thus increasing the photocurrent of the device. In this work, we present WARS measurements of a potassium hydroxide (KOH)etched random pyramid surface in the 6°–90° range and identify the main paths the photons experience through reflections from various facets of the pyramids. Our results, combined with ray‐tracing predictions, show that a reassessment of the morphology for simulation inputs is advised for a more comprehensive description of the experimental light paths due to a distribution of power across multiple scattering angles and a lower average pyramid base angle. In addition, we discuss the implications on the total amount of light trapped at the glass‐air interface and show that for a typical encapsulant refractive index of 1.5, approximately 14.5% of the scattered light is predicted to be trapped by the fabricated pyramidal texture. This is a significant increase over the 3.8% calculated to be trapped when assuming a dihedral base angle fixed to 54.74°.
An allosteric pathway explains beneficial fitness in yeast for long‐range mutations in an essential TIM barrel enzyme
Authors: Chan Yvonne H. , Zeldovich Konstantin B. , Matthews Charles R.
Published: July 2020

Protein evolution proceeds by a complex response of organismal fitness to mutations that can simultaneously affect protein stability, structure, and enzymatic activity. To probe the relationship between genotype and phenotype, we chose a fundamental paradigm for protein evolution, folding, and design, the (βα)8 TIM barrel fold. Here, we demonstrate the role of long‐range allosteric interactions in the adaptation of an essential hyperthermophilic TIM barrel enzyme to mesophilic conditions in a yeast host. Beneficial fitness effects observed with single and double mutations of the canonical βα‐hairpin clamps and the α‐helical shell distal to the active site revealed an underlying energy network between opposite faces of the cylindrical β‐barrel. We experimentally determined the fitness of multiple mutants in the energetic phase plane, contrasting the energy barrier of the chemical reaction and the folding free energy of the protein. For the system studied, the reaction energy barrier was the primary determinant of organism fitness. Our observations of long‐range epistatic interactions uncovered an allosteric pathway in an ancient and ubiquitous enzyme that may provide a novel way of designing proteins with a desired activity and stability profile.
Cover Image, Volume 76, Issue 8
Authors: Van den Eynde Renik , Van Leeuwen Thomas , Haesaert Geert
Published: July 2020

The cover image is based on the Review Identifying drivers of spatio‐temporal dynamics in barley yellow dwarf virus epidemiology as a critical factor in disease control by Renik Van den Eynde et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5851.

image
Fitting elephants in the density functionals zoo: Statistical criteria for the evaluation of density functional theory methods as a suitable replacement for counting parameters
Authors: Peverati Roberto
Published: July 2020

Counting parameters has become customary in the density functional theory community as a way to infer the transferability of popular approximations to the exchange‐correlation functionals. Recent work in data science, however, has demonstrated that the number of parameters of a fitted model is not related to the complexity of the model itself, nor to its eventual overfitting. Using similar arguments, here, we show that it is possible to represent every modern exchange‐correlation functional approximations using just one single parameter. This procedure proves the futility of the number of parameters as a measure of transferability. To counteract this shortcoming, we introduce and analyze the performance of three statistical criteria for the evaluation of the transferability of exchange‐correlation functionals. The three criteria are called Akaike information criterion, Vapnik‐Chervonenkis criterion, and cross‐validation criterion and are used in a preliminary assessment to rank 60 exchange‐correlation functional approximations using the ASCDB database of chemical data.
Financial stress spillover across Asian Countries
Authors: Gil‐Alana Luis A. , Abakah Emmanuel Joel Aikins , Abakah Moses Kenneth
Published: July 2020

This paper uses fractional integration techniques to explore the stochastic properties of the Financial Stress Indices (FSIs) of 10 Asian countries, further investigating the bilateral linkages between them to ascertain how financial stress spreads among countries in the region. For the FSIs of each country, the results show that all the estimated orders of integration are in the interval (0, 1) implying fractional integration and a long memory pattern. Thus, shocks will have transitory though long‐lasting effects. For the cross‐country spillovers of the FSIs, we find that convergence is satisfied in all cases with values of the differencing parameter around 0 and thus showing short memory behavior. It is worth noting that for the larger economies in the region, Japan and China, financial stress transmission between Japan and the smaller economies was faster than with respect to China. Overall, the results provide valuable information on the financial market activity of the countries in the region. To check for the robustness of the baseline results we also use systemic risk measures for these countries, CoVaR with the results showing evidence of fractional integration for the individual series, with all values of the differencing parameter in the range (0, 1). For convergence, there is a substantial reduction in the degree of integration, though the results are not as clear as with the FSIs.
Into the dirt: Datasets of sewer networks with aerial and ground platforms
Authors: Alejo David , Chataigner François , Serrano Daniel , Merino Luis , Caballero Fernando
Published: July 2020

This paper presents an unprecedented set of data in a challenging underground environment: the visitable sewers of Barcelona. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first data set involving ground and aerial robots in such scenario: the sewer inspection autonomous robot (SIAR) ground robot and the autonomous robot for sewer inspection aerial platform. These platforms captured data from a great variety of sensors, including sequences of red green blue‐depth (RGB‐D) images with their onboard cameras. The set consists of 14 logs of experiments that were obtained in more than 10 different days and in four different locations. The complete length of the experiments in the data set exceeds 5 km. In addition, we provide the users with a partial ground‐truth and baselines of the localization of the platforms, which can be used for testing their localization and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms. We also provide details on the setup and execution of each mission and a partial labeling of the elements found in the sewers. All the data were recorded by using the rosbag tool from robot operating system framework. Our goal is to make the data available to the scientific community as a benchmark to test localization, SLAM and classification algorithms in underground environments. The data set are available at https://robotics.upo.es/datasets/echord.
Endosomal Escape of Polymer‐Coated Silica Nanoparticles in Endothelial Cells
Authors: Parodi Alessandro , Evangelopoulos Michael , Arrighetti Noemi , Cevenini Armando , Livingston Megan , Khaled Sm Z. , Brown Brandon S. , Yazdi Iman K. , Paradiso Francesca , Campa‐Carranza Jocelyn N. , De Vita Alessandro , Taraballi Francesca , Tasciotti Ennio
Published: July 2020

Current investigations into hazardous nanoparticles (i.e., nanotoxicology) aim to understand the working mechanisms that drive toxicity. This understanding has been used to predict the biological impact of the nanocarriers as a function of their synthesis, material composition, and physicochemical characteristics. It is particularly critical to characterize the events that immediately follow cell stress resulting from nanoparticle internalization. While reactive oxygen species and activation of autophagy are universally recognized as mechanisms of nanotoxicity, the progression of these phenomena during cell recovery has yet to be comprehensively evaluated. Herein, primary human endothelial cells are exposed to controlled concentrations of polymer‐functionalized silica nanoparticles to induce lysosomal damage and achieve cytosolic delivery. In this model, the recovery of cell functions lost following endosomal escape is primarily represented by changes in cell distribution and the subsequent partitioning of particles into dividing cells. Furthermore, multilamellar bodies are found to accumulate around the particles, demonstrating progressive endosomal escape. This work provides a set of biological parameters that can be used to assess cell stress related to nanoparticle exposure and the subsequent recovery of cell processes as a function of endosomal escape.
An empirical study on Green BPM adoption: Contextual factors and performance
Authors: Couckuyt Dries , Van Looy Amy
Published: July 2020

Business process management (BPM) examines how work is performed in organizations. As environmental sustainability and context awareness are important to organizations, this study addresses two BPM calls. First, it focuses on the ecological impact of business processes. Second, this research recognizes the effect of an organization's business context when applying BPM. We have developed hypotheses to statistically analyze the effect of organization location, sector, size, and competitiveness (i.e., as contextual factors) on Green BPM adoption (RQ1). Additionally, the study reveals which BPM capabilities contribute more to an organization's society‐related performance (RQ2). The research questions were examined by means of a correlation analysis, hypothesis testing, and a regression analysis. The data set contained 100 BPM‐related responses from 403 high‐level managers, working in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India. For RQ1, we found a strong dependency between Green BPM adoption and organization size and competitiveness. For RQ2, although all BPM capabilities are positively linked to society‐related performance, four of them are of the highest importance, namely: (1) process‐based external relationships; (2) process‐oriented values, attitudes, and behaviors; (3) process‐oriented organization chart; and (4) process‐oriented governance bodies. We conclude with a discussion of these results, and we offer Green BPM decision‐making advice to practitioners.
Guidelines for cold‐regions groundwater numerical modeling
Authors: Lamontagne‐Hallé Pierrick , McKenzie Jeffrey M. , Kurylyk Barret L. , Molson John , Lyon Laura N.
Published: July 2020

The impacts of ongoing climate warming on cold‐regions hydrogeology and groundwater resources have created a need to develop groundwater models adapted to these environments. Although permafrost is considered relatively impermeable to groundwater flow, permafrost thaw may result in potential increases in surface water infiltration, groundwater recharge, and hydrogeologic connectivity that can impact northern water resources. To account for these feedbacks, groundwater models that include the dynamic effects of freezing and thawing on ground properties and thermal regimes have been recently developed. However, these models are more complex than traditional hydrogeology numerical models due to the inclusion of nonlinear freeze–thaw processes and complex thermal boundary conditions. As such, their use to date has been limited to a small community of modeling experts. This article aims to provide guidelines and tips on cold‐regions groundwater modeling for those with previous modeling experience.

This article is categorized under:

Engineering Water > Methods

Science of Water > Hydrological Processes
The Importance of the Affective Component of Movement in Action Understanding
Authors: Di Cesare Giuseppe
Published: July 2020

Social interactions require the ability to evaluate the attitudes of others according to the way in which actions are performed. For example, a hand gesture can be kind or vigorous or the tone of voice can be pleasant or rude providing information about the attitude of the agent. Daniel Stern called these aspects of social communication vitality forms. Vitality forms continuously pervade the life of individuals and play a fundamental role in social relations. Despite the importance of vitality forms, very little is known on their neural basis. The aim of the present chapter is to provide an overview of the neural substrates underpinning the encoding of these aspects of social communication. This chapter is organized in four sections. Section 6.1 describes the structural and functional domains of the insular cortex. Section 6.2 provides evidence that the dorso-central insula plays a central role in the perception and expression of action vitality forms. Section 6.3 demonstrates that the same insular sector is also involved in the perception of words conveying gentle and rude vitality forms. Finally, Sect. 6.4 discusses the important role of vitality forms in social interactions and proposes some future perspectives.
Pain severity and analgesics use in the community-dwelling older population: a drug utilization study from Germany
Authors: Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai , Laetsch Dana Clarissa , Chen Li-Ju , Haefeli Walter Emil , Meid Andreas D , Brenner Hermann , Schöttker Ben
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Chronic pain is common in the older population and a significant public health concern. However, comprehensive studies on analgesics use in this age group from Germany are scarce. This study aims to give a comprehensive overview on the use of the most common therapeutic groups of analgesics in community-dwelling older adults from Germany.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out using data from a German cohort of 2038 community-dwelling adults aged 63–89 years. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were applied to assess the utilization of analgesics by age, sex, pain severity, pain duration, and locations.

Results

One out of four study participants was suffering from high-intensity or disabling pain. Approximately half of those taking analgesics still reported to suffer from high-intensity or disabling pain. Among analgesics users, occasional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) use was the most frequent pain therapy (in 43.6% of users), followed by metamizole (dipyrone) use (16.1%), regular NSAIDs use (12.9%), strong opioids use (12.7%), and weak opioids use (12.0%). In multivariate logistic regression models, higher age, higher pain severity, longer pain duration, abdominal pain, and back pain were statistically significantly associated with opioids use. Metamizole use was also statistically significantly associated with higher pain severity but inversely associated with pain duration.

Conclusions

A significant number of older German adults are affected by high-intensity and disabling chronic pain despite receiving analgesics. Long-term studies are needed to compare the effectiveness and safety of different treatments for chronic pain in older adults.
Complete Chloroplast Genomes of Anthurium huixtlense and Pothos scandens (Pothoideae, Araceae): Unique Inverted Repeat Expansion and Contraction Affect Rate of Evolution
Authors: Abdullah  , Henriquez Claudia L. , Mehmood Furrukh , Carlsen Monica M. , Islam Madiha , Waheed Mohammad Tahir , Poczai Peter , Croat Thomas B. , Ahmed Ibrar
Published: July 2020

The subfamily Pothoideae belongs to the ecologically important plant family Araceae. Here, we report the chloroplast genomes of two species of the subfamily Pothoideae: Anthurium huixtlense (size: 163,116 bp) and Pothos scandens (size: 164,719 bp). The chloroplast genome of P. scandens showed unique contraction and expansion of inverted repeats (IRs), thereby increasing the size of the large single-copy region (LSC: 102,956 bp) and decreasing the size of the small single-copy region (SSC: 6779 bp). This led to duplication of many single-copy genes due to transfer to IR regions from the small single-copy (SSC) region, whereas some duplicate genes became single copy due to transfer to large single-copy regions. The rate of evolution of protein-coding genes was affected by the contraction and expansion of IRs; we found higher mutation rates for genes that exist in single-copy regions as compared to those in IRs. We found a 2.3-fold increase of oligonucleotide repeats in P. scandens when compared with A. huixtlense, whereas amino acid frequency and codon usage revealed similarities. The ratio of transition to transversion mutations was 2.26 in P. scandens and 2.12 in A. huixtlense. Transversion mutations mostly translated in non-synonymous substitutions. The phylogenetic inference of the limited species showed the monophyly of the Araceae subfamilies. Our study provides insight into the molecular evolution of chloroplast genomes in the subfamily Pothoideae and family Araceae.
Prospective Randomized Study on Stapled Anopexy Height and Its Influence on Recurrence for Hemorrhoidal Disease Treatment
Authors: Hidalgo‐Grau Luis Antonio , Piedrafita‐Serra Encarna , Ruiz‐Edo Neus , Llorca‐Cardeñosa Sara , Heredia‐Budó Adolfo , Estrada‐Ferrer Oscar , Suñol‐Sala Xavier
Published: July 2020

Objectives

To know the influence of the stapled line height (SLH) in the recurrence rate and the postoperative disturbances in stapled anopexy (SA) for the treatment of hemorrhoids.

Design

Simple randomized double‐blind controlled clinical trial. Randomization with closed‐envelope technique in two groups with two different SLH.

Setting

Colorectal Surgery Unit. Department of General Surgery. Hospital de Mataró (Barcelona, Spain).

Participants

119 patients with the diagnosis of symptomatic third‐ and fourth‐grade hemorrhoids were included.

Intervention

SA was performed with two different SLH: group A, 4.5 cm (58 patients) and group B, 6 cm (61 patients) from the external anal verge. Postoperative disturbances were evaluated by a colorectal surgeon who was blind for the randomization and pain was measured (visual analogic scale) one week and 3 months after surgery. Mean operative time, number of hemostatic stitches performed and resected mucosal area were considered as well. Mean follow‐up was 11.05 ± 1.6 years.

Results

Differences between the operative time and resected mucosa‐submucosa area were not found. The patients of group A needed a significantly higher number of stitches for intraoperative bleeding control along the stapled line. We did not found differences between both groups in terms of postoperative pain neither anorectal disturbances. At the follow‐up, persistence of symptomatology was 10.41% in group A and 10.71% in group B, without statistically significance. Neither mortality nor undesirable effects occurred in the series.

Conclusions

SLH do not influence the recurrence rate neither the postoperative evolution in SA.

Trial registration

Clinical Trials NCT03383926.
Diversification of CpG-Island Promoters Revealed by Comparative Analysis Between Human and Rhesus Monkey Genomes
Authors: Aoto Saki , Fushimi Mayu , Yura Kei , Okamura Kohji
Published: July 2020

While CpG dinucleotides are significantly reduced compared to other dinucleotides in mammalian genomes, they can congregate and form CpG islands, which localize around the 5ʹ regions of genes, where they function as promoters. CpG-island promoters are generally unmethylated and are often found in housekeeping genes. However, their nucleotide sequences and existence per se are not conserved between humans and mice, which may be due to evolutionary gain and loss of the regulatory regions. In this study, human and rhesus monkey genomes, with moderately conserved sequences, were compared at base resolution. Using transcription start site data, we first validated our methods’ ability to identify orthologous promoters and indicated a limitation using the 5ʹ end of curated gene models, such as NCBI RefSeq, as their transcription start sites. We found that, in addition to deamination mutations, insertions and deletions of bases, repeats, and long fragments contributed to the mutations of CpG dinucleotides. We also observed that the G + C contents tended to change in CpG-poor environments, while CpG content was altered in G + C-rich environments. While loss of CpG islands can be caused by gradual decreases in CpG sites, gain of these islands appear to require two distinct nucleotide altering steps. Taken together, our findings provide novel insights into the process of acquisition and diversification of CpG-island promoters in vertebrates.
A common neural substrate for processing scenes and egomotion-compatible visual motion
Authors: Sulpizio Valentina , Galati Gaspare , Fattori Patrizia , Galletti Claudio , Pitzalis Sabrina
Published: July 2020

Neuroimaging studies have revealed two separate classes of category-selective regions specialized in optic flow (egomotion-compatible) processing and in scene/place perception. Despite the importance of both optic flow and scene/place recognition to estimate changes in position and orientation within the environment during self-motion, the possible functional link between egomotion- and scene-selective regions has not yet been established. Here we reanalyzed functional magnetic resonance images from a large sample of participants performing two well-known “localizer” fMRI experiments, consisting in passive viewing of navigationally relevant stimuli such as buildings and places (scene/place stimulus) and coherently moving fields of dots simulating the visual stimulation during self-motion (flow fields). After interrogating the egomotion-selective areas with respect to the scene/place stimulus and the scene-selective areas with respect to flow fields, we found that the egomotion-selective areas V6+ and pIPS/V3A responded bilaterally more to scenes/places compared to faces, and all the scene-selective areas (parahippocampal place area or PPA, retrosplenial complex or RSC, and occipital place area or OPA) responded more to egomotion-compatible optic flow compared to random motion. The conjunction analysis between scene/place and flow field stimuli revealed that the most important focus of common activation was found in the dorsolateral parieto-occipital cortex, spanning the scene-selective OPA and the egomotion-selective pIPS/V3A. Individual inspection of the relative locations of these two regions revealed a partial overlap and a similar response profile to an independent low-level visual motion stimulus, suggesting that OPA and pIPS/V3A may be part of a unique motion-selective complex specialized in encoding both egomotion- and scene-relevant information, likely for the control of navigation in a structured environment.