bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The dynamics of scarlet fever in The Netherlands, 1906–1920: a historical analysis
Authors: McDonald Scott A. , van Wijhe Maarten , de Gier Brechje , Korthals Altes Hester , Vlaminckx Bart J. M. , Hahné Susan , Wallinga Jacco
Published: November 2022

Background.Scarlet fever, an infectious disease caused byStreptococcus pyogenes, largely disappeared in developed countries during the twentieth century. In recent years, scarlet fever is on the rise again, and there is a need for a better understanding of possible factors driving transmission.Methods.Using historical case notification data from the three largest cities in The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague) from 1906 to 1920, we inferred the transmission rate for scarlet fever using time-series susceptible-infected-recovered (TSIR) methods. Through additive regression modelling, we investigated the contributions of meteorological variables and school term times to transmission rates.Results.Estimated transmission rates varied by city, and were highest overall for Rotterdam, the most densely populated city at that time. High temperature, seasonal precipitation levels and school term timing were associated with transmission rates, but the roles of these factors were limited and not consistent over all three cities.Conclusions.While weather factors alone can only explain a small portion of the variability in transmission rates, these results help understand the historical dynamics of scarlet fever infection in an era with less advanced sanitation and no antibiotic treatment and may offer insights into the driving factors associated with its recent resurgence.
Shifts in evolutionary balance of phenotypes under environmental changes
Authors: Kleshnina Maria , McKerral Jody C. , González-Tokman Cecilia , Filar Jerzy A. , Mitchell James G.
Published: November 2022

Environments shape communities by driving individual interactions and the evolutionary outcome of competition. In static, homogeneous environments a robust, evolutionary stable, outcome is sometimes reachable. However, inherently stochastic, this evolutionary process need not stabilize, resulting in a dynamic ecological state, often observed in microbial communities. We use evolutionary games to study the evolution of phenotypic competition in dynamic environments. Under the assumption that phenotypic expression depends on the environmental shifts, existing periodic relationships may break or result in formation of new periodicity in phenotypic interactions. The exact outcome depends on the environmental shift itself, indicating the importance of understanding how environments influence affected systems. Under periodic environmental fluctuations, a stable state preserving dominant phenotypes may exist. However, rapid environmental shifts can lead to critical shifts in the phenotypic evolutionary balance. This might lead to environmentally favoured phenotypes dominating making the system vulnerable. We suggest that understanding of the robustness of the system’s current state is necessary to anticipate when it will shift to a new equilibrium via understanding what level of perturbations the system can take before its equilibrium changes. Our results provide insights in how microbial communities can be steered to states where they are dominated by desired phenotypes.
Severe inbreeding, increased mutation load and gene loss-of-function in the critically endangered Devils Hole pupfish
Authors: Tian David , Patton Austin H. , Turner Bruce J. , Martin Christopher H.
Published: November 2022

Small populations with limited range are often threatened by inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity, which can reduce fitness and exacerbate population decline. One of the most extreme natural examples is the Devils Hole pupfish (
Cyprinodon diabolis
), an iconic and critically endangered species with the smallest known range of any vertebrate. This species has experienced severe declines in population size over the last 30 years and suffered major bottlenecks in 2007 and 2013, when the population shrunk to 38 and 35 individuals, respectively. Here, we analysed 30 resequenced genomes of desert pupfishes from Death Valley, Ash Meadows and surrounding areas to examine the genomic consequences of small population size. We found extremely high levels of inbreeding (
F
ROH
= 0.34–0.81) and an increased amount of potentially deleterious genetic variation in the Devils Hole pupfish as compared to other species, including unique, fixed loss-of-function alleles and deletions in genes associated with sperm motility and hypoxia. Additionally, we successfully resequenced a formalin-fixed museum specimen from 1980 and found that the population was already highly inbred prior to recent known bottlenecks. We thus document severe inbreeding and increased mutation load in the Devils Hole pupfish and identify candidate deleterious variants to inform management of this conservation icon.
Deep phylotaxonogenomic revision of the genus Xanthomonas within family Xanthomonadaceae and proposal of novel family Frateuriaceae within order Xanthomonadales
Authors: Bansal Kanika , Kumar Sanjeet , Singh Anu , Chaudhary Arushi , Patil Prabhu B.
Published: November 2022

Genus Xanthomonas is primarily comprise phytopathogenic species. In a recent study by carrying out deep phyto-taxonogenomics, we reported that even the genera Xylella, Stenotrophomonas and Pseudoxanthomonas are miss-classified and belong to genus Xanthomonas. Hence to understand the breadth of the genus, we carried out deep phylo-taxonogenomics of the order Xanthomonadales. Such investigation revealed that at least four more genera belong to genus Xanthomonas with prominent being Lysobacter. Further order level deep phylo-taxonogenomics revealed two major families. One being the original family Xanthomonadaceae and other is proposed as Frateuriaceae fam. nov. as synonym of family Rhodanobacteraceae with novel genus Frateuria gen. nov.
Duped by dumping syndrome: Non-Endemic Vibrio cholerae bacteremia in an immunocompetent host with gastric bypass surgery, a case report
Authors: Reyes Fabiola , Pecora Nicole , Weiss Zoe F
Published: November 2022

Extra-intestinal infection with non-O1/non-O139 strains of Vibrio cholerae (NOVC) is rare, though bacteremia and hepatobiliary manifestations have been reported. Reduced stomach acid, or hypochlorhydria, can increase risk of V. cholerae infection. We describe a 42-year-old woman with hypochlorhydria due to untreated Helicobacter pylori infection, gastric-bypass surgery, and chronic proton pump inhibitors (PPI) exposure, who developed acute diarrhea following raw oyster consumption. Her symptoms were attributed to dumping syndrome after a negative limited stool work-up. She had persistent diarrhea, weight loss, and after five months was admitted with acute cholecystitis and NOVC bacteremia, requiring cholecystectomy. This is the first reported case of NOVC bacteremia and cholecystitis in a patient with gastric bypass. This case highlights the role of hypochlorhydria as a risk factor for Vibrio infection and the importance of excluding infectious diarrhea in patients with new onset of symptoms compatible with dumping syndrome and a relevant travel history.
Pseudomonas californiensis sp. nov. and Pseudomonas quasicaspiana sp. nov., isolated from ornamental crops in California
Authors: Carvalho Renato , Albu Sebastian , Timilsina Sujan , Minsavage Gerald V. , Paret Mathews L. , Jones Jeffrey B.
Published: November 2022

Five bacterial strains were isolated from symptomatic leaves of Achillea millefolium, Delphinium sp. and Hydrangea sp. in California. Colonies isolated on King’s medium B (KMB) appeared white, mucoid and round, similar to

Pseudomonas

species. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA, rpoB, rpoD and gyrB genes placed the bacteria into three distinct groups within

Pseudomonas

that were most closely related to

Pseudomonas viridiflava

,

Pseudomonas cichorii

or

Pseudomonas caspiana

. To further characterize the strains, phenotypic analyses and the following tests were performed: fatty acid methyl ester composition, LOPAT, fluorescence on KMB, Biolog assay, and transmission electron microscopy. Finally, whole genome sequencing of the strains was conducted, and the sequences were compared with reference genomes of

Pseudomonas

species based on average nucleotide identity (ANI). The first group, which consists of three strains isolated from delphinium, hydrangea and achillea, had 95.6–96.9 % pairwise ANI between each other; the second group consists of two strains isolated from delphinium that had 100 % pairwise ANI. Although comparisons of the two groups with publicly available genomes revealed closest relationships with

P. viridiflava

(91.6 %),

P. caspiana

(88.3 %) and

P. asturiensis

(86.7 %), ANI values were less than 95 % compared to all validly published pseudomonads. Combining genomic and phenotypic data, we conclude that these strains represent two new species and the names proposed are Pseudomonas quasicaspiana sp. nov. (type strain DSMZ 11 30 42T=LMG 32 434T) for the strains isolated from delphinium, achillea and hydrangea and Pseudomonas californiensis sp. nov. (DSMZ 11 30 43T=LMG 32 432T) for the two strains isolated from delphinium. The specific epithets quasicaspiana and californiensis were selected based on the close phylogenetic relationship of strains with

P. caspiana

and on the geographic location of isolation, respectively.
FULL-SCALE DEEPLY SUPERVISED ATTENTION NETWORK FOR SEGMENTING COVID-19 LESIONS
Authors: Dutta Pallabi , Mitra Sushmita
Published: November 2022

Automated delineation of COVID-19 lesions from lung CT scans aids the diagnosis and prognosis for patients. The asymmetric shapes and positioning of the infected regions make the task extremely difficult. Capturing information at multiple scales will assist in deciphering features, at global and local levels, to encompass lesions of variable size and texture. We introduce the Full-scale Deeply Supervised Attention Network (FuDSA-Net), for efficient segmentation of corona-infected lung areas in CT images. The model considers activation responses from all levels of the encoding path, encompassing multi-scalar features acquired at different levels of the network. This helps segment target regions (lesions) of varying shape, size and contrast. Incorporation of the entire gamut of multi-scalar characteristics into the novel attention mechanism helps prioritize the selection of activation responses and locations containing useful information. Determining robust and discriminatory features along the decoder path is facilitated with deep supervision. Connections in the decoder arm are remodeled to handle the issue of vanishing gradient. As observed from the experimental results, FuDSA-Net surpasses other state-of-the-art architectures; especially, when it comes to characterizing complicated geometries of the lesions.
Phase-wise Impact Analysis of the Indian National Lockdown against COVID-19 Outcomes
Authors: Mhasawade Vishwali , Zadey Siddhesh , Nair Aatmika
Published: November 2022

India was one of the most vulnerable countries to the COVID-19 pandemic considering the high transmissibility of the virus, exploding population, and fragile healthcare infrastructure. As an early counter, India implemented a country-wide lockdown and we aimed to study the impact of 4 lockdowns and 2 unlock phases on 6 outcomes: case growth, death count, effective reproduction number, mobility, hospitalization, and infection growth by two methods: interrupted time series (ITR) analysis and Bayesian causal impact analysis (BCIA) for nationals and sub-national levels. We observed that the effects are heterogeneous across outcomes and phases. For example, ITR revealed the effect to be significant for all the outcomes across all phases except for case growth in phase 1. BCIA revealed that the causal effect of all four lockdown phases was positive for deaths. At the state level, Maharashtra benefited from the lockdown in comparison to Tripura. Effects of lockdown phases 3 and 4 on death count were correlated (R=0.70, p<0.05) depicting the ‘extended impact’ of phase-wise interventions. We observed the highest impact on mobility followed by hospitalization, infection growth, effective reproduction number, case growth, and death count. For optimal impact, lockdown needs to be implemented at the sub-national level considering various demographic variations between states.
Safety and Immunogenicity of a Booster SARS-Cov-2 Vaccination in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease
Authors: Qianqian Li , Jing Chen , Kai Sun , Ruixin Song , Jiayin Wang , Hongmin Lv , Yankai Yang , Jing Liang , Qing Ye , YanYing Gao , Jun Li , Ying Li , Junqing Yan , Chao Yang , Ying Liu , Tao Wang , Changen Liu , Fei Wang , Huiling Xiang
Published: November 2022

This article is aim to investigate the safety and immunogenicity of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine booster in patients with chronic liver disease(CLD). A total of 114 patients with CLD who received a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster were enrolled in this study. Serum samples were collected from enrolled patients at least 14 days after the booster dose and tested for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody (novel coronavirus neutralizing antibody, nCoV NTAb) and IgG antibody against SARS-CoV-2 spike binding domain (novel coronavirus spike receptor-binding domain antibody, nCoV S-RBD antibody) levels. The positive rates of nCoV NTAb and nCoV S-RBD in patients with CLD were 87.72% and 91.23%, respectively, after the booster injection of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. The booster injection resulted in the production of nCov NTAb in 66.7% of patients and nCov-SRBD antibody in 71.43% of patients with CLD who failed basic immunization. After basic SARS-CoV-2 immunization, the booster SARS-CoV2 vaccine increased the serum conversion rate and the level of nCov NTAb and nCov-SRBD antibodies in patients with CLD (including patients with cirrhosis). The severity of the liver disease is related to the immune response to COVID-19 vaccine.
Disparities in spatially variable gene calling highlight the need for benchmarking spatial transcriptomics methods
Authors: Charitakis Natalie , Salim Agus , Piers Adam T. , Watt Kevin I. , Porrello Enzo R. , Elliott David A. , Ramialison Mirana
Published: November 2022

Identifying spatially variable genes (SVGs) is a key step in the analysis of spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) data. SVGs provide biological insights by defining transcriptomic differences within tissues, which was previously unachievable using RNA-sequencing technologies. However, the increasing number of published tools designed to define SVG sets currently lack benchmarking methods to accurately assess performance. This study compares results of 6 purpose-built packages for SVG identification across 9 public and 5 simulated datasets and highlights discrepancies between results. Additional tools for generation of simulated data and development of benchmarking methods are required to improve methods for identifying SVGs.
Knowledge Discovery with Electrocardiography Using Interpretable Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Lu Lei , Zhu Tingting , H. Ribeiro Antônio , Clifton Lei , Zhao Erying , Ribeiro Antonio Luiz P. , Zhang Yuan-Ting , Clifton David A.
Published: November 2022

Despite the potentials of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, very little work focuses on the extraction of clinical information or knowledge discovery from clinical measurements. Here we propose a novel deep learning model to extract characteristics in electrocardiogram (ECG) and explore its usage in knowledge discovery. Utilising a 12-lead ECG dataset (nECGs= 2,322,513) collected from unique subjects (nSubjects= 1,558,772) in primary care, we performed three independent medical tasks with the proposed model: (i) cardiac abnormality diagnosis, (ii) gender identification, and (iii) hypertension screening. We achieved an area under the curve (AUC) score of 0.998 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.995-0.999), 0.964 (95% CI, 0.963-0.965), and 0.839 (95% CI, 0.837-0.841) for each task, respectively; We provide interpretation of salient morphologies and further identified key ECG leads that achieve similar performance for the three tasks: (i) AVR and V1 leads (AUC=0.990 (95% CI, 0.982-0.995); (ii) V5 lead (AUC=0.900 (95% CI, 0.899-0.902)); and (iii) V1 lead (AUC=0.816 (95% CI, 0.814-0.818)). Using ECGs, our model not only has demonstrated cardiologist-level accuracy in heart diagnosis with interpretability, but also shows its potentials in facilitating clinical knowledge discovery for gender and hypertension detection which are not readily available.
Neural basis of melodic learning explains cross-cultural regularities in musical scales
Authors: Pelofi Claire , Rezaeizadeh Mohsen , Farbood Morwaread M. , Shamma Shihab
Published: November 2022

Seeking exposure to unfamiliar experiences constitutes an essential aspect of the human condition, and the brain must adapt to the constantly changing environment by learning the evolving statistical patterns emerging from it. Cultures are shaped by norms and conventions and therefore novel exposure to an unfamiliar culture induces a type of learning that is often described as implicit: when exposed to a set of stimuli constrained by unspoken rules, cognitive systems must rapidly build a mental representation of the underlying grammar. Music offers a unique opportunity to investigate this implicit statistical learning, as sequences of tones forming melodies exhibit structural properties learned by listeners during short- and long-term exposure. Understanding which specific structural properties of music enhance learning in naturalistic learning conditions reveals hard-wired properties of cognitive systems while elucidating the prevalence of these features across cultural variations. Here we provide behavioral and neural evidence that the prevalence of non-uniform musical scales may be explained by their facilitating effects on melodic learning. In this study, melodies were generated using an artificial grammar with either a uniform (rare) or non-uniform (prevalent) scale. After a short exposure phase, listeners had to detect ungrammatical new melodies while their EEG responses were recorded. Listeners’ performance on the task suggested that the extent of statistical learning during music listening depended on the musical scale context: non-uniform scales yielded better syntactic learning. This behavioral effect was mirrored by enhanced encoding of musical syntax in the context of non-uniform scales, which further suggests that their prevalence stems from fundamental properties of learning.
Differential effects of multiplex and uniplex affiliative relationships on biomarkers of inflammation
Authors: Vandeleest Jessica , Wooddell Lauren J. , Nathman Amy C. , Beisner Brianne A. , McCowan Brenda
Published: November 2022

Social relationships profoundly impact health in social species. Much of what we know regarding the impact of affiliative social relationships on health in nonhuman primates (NHPs) has focused on the structure of connections or the quality of relationships. These relationships are often quantified by comparing different types of affiliative behaviors (e.g., contact sitting, grooming, alliances, proximity) or pooling affiliative behaviors into an overall measure of affiliation. The influence of the breadth of affiliative behaviors (e.g., how many different types or which ones) a dyad engages in on health and fitness outcomes remains unknown. Here we employed a social network approach to explicitly explore whether the integration of different affiliative behaviors within a relationship can point to the potential function of those relationships and their impact on health-related biomarkers (i.e., pro-inflammatory cytokines) in a commonly studied non-human primate model system, the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). Being well connected in multiplex grooming networks (networks where individuals both contact sat and groomed), which were more modular and kin biased, was associated with lower inflammation (IL-6, TNF-alpha). In contrast, being well connected in uniplex grooming networks (dyad engaged only in grooming and not in contact sitting), which were more strongly linked with social status, was associated with greater inflammation. Results suggest that multiplex relationships may function as supportive relationships that promote health. In contrast, the function of uniplex grooming relationships may be more transactional and may incur physiological costs. This complexity is important to consider for understanding the mechanisms underlying the association of social relationships on human and animal health.
Small Molecule Inducers of Neuroprotective miR-132 Identified by HTS-HTS in Human iPSC-derived Neurons
Authors: Nguyen Lien D. , Wei Zhiyun , Silva M. Catarina , Barberán-Soler Sergio , Rabinovsky Rosalia , Muratore Christina R. , Stricker Jonathan M. S. , Hortman Colin , Young-Pearse Tracy L. , Haggarty Stephen J. , Krichevsky Anna M.
Published: November 2022

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNAs that regulate fundamental biological processes. miR-132, a key miRNA with established functions in Tau homeostasis and neuroprotection, is consistently downregulated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other tauopathies. miR-132 overexpression rescues neurodegenerative phenotypes in several AD models. To complement research on miRNA-mimicking oligonucleotides targeting the central nervous system, we developed a high-throughput-screen coupled high-throughput-sequencing (HTS-HTS) in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons to identify small molecule inducers of miR-132. We discovered that cardiac glycosides, which are canonical sodium-potassium ATPase inhibitors, selectively upregulated miR-132 in the sub-μM range. Coordinately, cardiac glycoside treatment downregulated total and phosphorylated Tau in rodent and human neurons and protected against toxicity by glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartate, rotenone, and Aβ oligomers. In conclusion, we identified small-molecule drugs that upregulated the neuroprotective miR-132 and ameliorated neurodegenerative phenotypes. Our dataset also represents a comprehensive resource for discovering small molecules that modulate specific miRNAs for therapeutic purposes.
Making waves: Comparative analysis of gene drive spread characteristics in a continuous space model
Authors: Pan Mingzuyu , Champer Jackson
Published: November 2022

With their ability to rapidly increase in frequency, gene drives can be used to modify or suppress target populations after an initial release of drive-containing individuals. Recent advances in this field have revealed many possibilities for different types of drives, and several of these have been realized in experimental demonstrations. These drives all have unique advantages and disadvantages related to their ease of construction, confinement, and capacity to act as a modification or suppression system. While many properties of these drives have been explored in modelling studies, assessment of these drives in continuous space environments has been limited, often focusing on outcomes rather than fundamental properties. Here, we conduct a comparative analysis of many different gene drive types that have the capacity to form a wave of advance against wild-type alleles in one-dimensional continuous space. We evaluate the drive wave speed as a function of drive performance and ecological parameters, which reveals substantial differences between drive performance in panmictic versus spatial environments. In particular, we find that suppression drive waves are uniquely vulnerable to fitness costs and undesired CRISPR cleavage activity that can form resistance alleles in embryos by maternal deposition. Some drives, though, retain robust characteristics even with widely varying performance characteristics. To gain a better understanding of drive waves, we compare panmictic performance of drives across the full range of drive frequencies. We find that rates of wild-type allele removal in panmictic setting is correlated with drive wave speed, though this is also affected by a range of other factors. Overall, our results provide a useful resource for understanding the performance of drives in continuous spatial environments, which may be most representative of potential drive deployment in many relevant scenarios.
Retinitis pigmentosa associated mutations in mouse Prpf8 cause misexpression of circRNAs and degeneration of cerebellar granule neurons
Authors: Krausová Michaela , Kreplová Michaela , Banik Poulami , Kubovčiak Jan , Modrák Martin , Zudová Dagmar , Lindovský Jiří , Kubik-Zahorodna Agnieszka , Pálková Marcela , Kolář Michal , Prochazka Jan , Sedlacek Radislav , Staněk David
Published: November 2022

A subset of patients suffering from a familial retinitis pigmentosa (RP) carry mutations in several spliceosomal components including PRPF8 protein. Here, we established two novel alleles of murinePrpf8that genocopy or mimic aberrant PRPF8 found in RP patients - the substitution p.Tyr2334Asn and an extended protein variant p.Glu2331ValfsX15. Homozygous mice expressing either of the aberrant Prpf8 variants developed within first 2 months progressive atrophy of the cerebellum due to extensive granule neuron loss. Comparison of transcriptome from pre-degenerative and degenerative tissues revealed a subset of circRNAs that were deregulated in all tissues and both Prpf8-RP mouse strains. To identify potential risk factors that sensitize cerebellum for Prpf8 mutations we monitored expression of several splicing proteins during first eight weeks. We observed downregulation of all selected splicing proteins in wild-type cerebellum, which coincided with neurodegeneration onset. The decrease in splicing protein expression was further pronounced in mouse strains expressing mutated Prpf8. Collectively, we propose a model where physiological reduction of spliceosomal components during postnatal tissue maturation sensitizes cells to expression of aberrant Prpf8 and the subsequent deregulation of circRNAs triggers neuron death.
Association of intrinsic functional connectivity between the locus coeruleus and salience network with attentional ability
Authors: Neal Joshua , Song Inuk , Katz Benjamin , Lee Tae-Ho
Published: November 2022

The LC is a brainstem region associated with broad physiological and neural arousal as part of the release of norepinephrine, but it has increasingly been associated with multiple specific cognitive processes. These include sustained attention, deficits in which are associated with a variety of neuropsychological disorders. Neural models of attention deficits to date have focused on interrupted dynamics between the salience network (SAL) with the fronto-parietal network (FPN), which has been associated with task-switching and processing of external stimuli, respectively. Conflicting findings based on these regions suggest the possibility of upstream signaling leading to attention dysfunction, and recent research suggest the LC may play this role. In this study, resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and behavioral performance on an attention task was examined within 584 individuals. Analysis revealed significant clusters connected to the LC activity in the bilateral insula, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and bilateral ventral striatum, all regions associated with the SAL. Given previous findings that attention deficits may be caused by dysfunctions in network switching by the SAL, our findings here further suggest that dysfunction in LC signaling to the SAL may interfere with attention.
Preservation of prehearing spontaneous activity enables early auditory system development in deaf mice
Authors: Kersbergen Calvin J. , Babola Travis A. , Kanold Patrick O. , Bergles Dwight E.
Published: November 2022

Intrinsically generated neural activity propagates through the developing auditory system to promote maturation and refinement of sound processing circuits prior to hearing onset. This early patterned activity is induced by non-sensory supporting cells in the organ of Corti, which are highly interconnected through gap junctions containing connexin 26 (Gjb2). Although loss of function mutations inGjb2impair cochlear development and are the most common cause of congenital deafness, it is not known if these mutations disrupt spontaneous activity and the developmental trajectory of sound processing circuits in the brain. Here, we show in a new mouse model ofGjb2-mediated congenital deafness that cochlear supporting cells unexpectedly retained intercellular coupling and the capacity to generate spontaneous activity, exhibiting only modest deficits prior to hearing onset. This coordinated activation of IHCs led to coincident bursts of activity in central auditory neurons that will later process similar frequencies of sound. Despite alterations in the structure of the sensory epithelium, hair cells within the cochlea ofGjb2deficient mice were intact and central auditory neurons could be activated within appropriate tonotopic domains by loud sounds at hearing onset, indicating that early maturation and refinement of auditory circuits was preserved. Only after cessation of spontaneous activity following hearing onset did progressive hair cell degeneration and enhanced auditory neuron excitability manifest. This preservation of cochlear spontaneous activity in the absence of connexin 26 may increase the effectiveness of early therapeutic interventions to restore hearing.
PARK15/FBXO7 is dispensable for PINK1/Parkin mitophagy in iNeurons and HeLa cell systems
Authors: Kraus Felix , Goodall Ellen A. , Smith Ian R. , Jiang Yizhi , Paoli Julia C. , Adolf Frank , Zhang Jiuchun , Paulo Joao A. , Schulman Brenda A. , Harper J. Wade
Published: November 2022

The protein kinase PINK1 and ubiquitin ligase Parkin promote removal of damaged mitochondria via a feed-forward mechanism involving ubiquitin (Ub) phosphorylation (pUb), Parkin activation, and ubiquitylation of mitochondrial outer membrane proteins to support recruitment of mitophagy receptors. The ubiquitin ligase substrate receptor FBXO7/PARK15 is mutated in an early-onset parkinsonian-pyramidal syndrome. Previous studies have proposed a role for FBXO7 in promoting Parkin-dependent mitophagy. Here, we systematically examine the involvement of FBXO7 in depolarization andmtUPR-dependent mitophagy in the well-established HeLa and induced-neurons cell systems. We find that FBXO7-/-cells have no demonstrable defect in: 1) kinetics of pUb accumulation, 2) pUb puncta on mitochondria by super-resolution imaging, 3) recruitment of Parkin and autophagy machinery to damaged mitochondria, 4) mitophagic flux, and 5) mitochondrial clearance as quantified by global proteomics. Moreover, global proteomics of neurogenesis in the absence of FBXO7 reveals no obvious alterations in mitochondria or other organelles. These results argue against a general role for FBXO7 in Parkin-dependent mitophagy and point to the need for additional studies to define how FBXO7 mutations promote parkinsonian-pyramidal syndrome.
A reverse Monte Carlo algorithm to simulate two-dimensional small-angle scattering intensities
Authors: Barnsley Lester C. , Nandakumaran Nileena , Feoktystov Artem , Dulle Martin , Fruhner Lisa , Feygenson Mikhail
Published: November 2022

Small-angle scattering (SAS) experiments are a powerful method for studying self-assembly phenomena in nanoscopic materials because of the sensitivity of the technique to structures formed by interactions on the nanoscale. Numerous out-of-the-box options exist for analysing structures measured by SAS but many of these are underpinned by assumptions about the underlying interactions that are not always relevant for a given system. Here, a numerical algorithm based on reverse Monte Carlo simulations is described to model the intensity observed on a SAS detector as a function of the scattering vector. The model simulates a two-dimensional detector image, accounting for magnetic scattering, instrument resolution, particle polydispersity and particle collisions, while making no further assumptions about the underlying particle interactions. By simulating a two-dimensional image that can be potentially anisotropic, the algorithm is particularly useful for studying systems driven by anisotropic interactions. The final output of the algorithm is a relative particle distribution, allowing visualization of particle structures that form over long-range length scales (i.e. several hundred nanometres), along with an orientational distribution of magnetic moments. The effectiveness of the algorithm is shown by modelling a SAS experimental data set studying finite-length chains consisting of magnetic nanoparticles, which assembled in the presence of a strong magnetic field due to dipole interactions.
Euphonic: inelastic neutron scattering simulations from force constants and visualization tools for phonon properties
Authors: Fair Rebecca , Jackson Adam , Voneshen David , Jochym Dominik , Le Duc , Refson Keith , Perring Toby
Published: November 2022

Interpretation of vibrational inelastic neutron scattering spectra of complex systems is frequently reliant on accompanying simulations from theoretical models. Ab initio codes can routinely generate force constants, but additional steps are required for direct comparison with experimental spectra. On modern spectrometers this is a computationally expensive task due to the large data volumes collected. In addition, workflows are frequently cumbersome as the simulation software and experimental data analysis software often do not easily interface to each other. Here a new package, Euphonic, is presented. Euphonic is a robust, easy to use and computationally efficient tool designed to be integrated into experimental software and able to interface directly with the force constant matrix output of ab initio codes.
Effects of nano-SiO2 and trivalent chromium conversion on corrosion resistance of NiZn-plated steel: towards a multilayer coating for steel protection
Authors: Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong , Pham Thi Nam , Le Ba Thang , Uong Van Vy , Le Duc Bao , Nguyen Tuan Anh
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study aims to enhance to corrosion protection of NiZn-plated steel by electroplating multilayer coating.

Design/methodology/approach

The multilayer coating consists of three layers on mild steel substrate, such as Cr3+ chromate conversion layer (CCC), electrodeposited nanosilica zinc-nickel composite layer (ZnNiSi) and electrodeposited zinc-nickel alloy layer (ZnNi). Its morphology, composition and corrosion behaviour were investigated by various methods.

Findings

Polarization curves indicated that polarization resistance and corrosion current density of CCC/ZnNiSi/ZnNi/Fe (6.956 kO.cm2; 2.56 µA.cm−2) were two times higher and five times lower than that of ZnNiSi/ZnNi/Fe (3.42 kO.cm2; 12.52 µA.cm−2), respectively. From electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data, charge transfer resistances were 1.344, 2.550 and 2.312 kO.cm2 for ZnNi, ZnNiSi/ZnNi and CCC/ZnNiSi/ZnNi, respectively. Salt spray test indicated that after 48 h, surface of ZnNi and ZnNiSi was covered by white rust, whereas no white rust was observed on surface of CCC/ZnNiSi/ZnNi. After 600 h, there were red rust spots (1% surface coverage) on surface of Zn-Ni, whereas only white rust was observed on both ZnNiSi/ZnNi (100% surface coverage) and CCC/ZnNiSi/ZnNi (10% surface coverage).

Originality/value

Multilayer coating enhanced significantly the corrosion protection for steel, as compared to the single-layer coating.
Effects of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on the omega-3 index, and exercise performance among Malaysian football players: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Appukutty Mahenderan , Shyam Sangeetha , Choo Zi Ying , Tan Seok Shin , Chong Hueh Zan Megan , Choong Alston
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The present randomised controlled trial aimed to assess the effects of 8-week supplementation of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFA) on the n-3 index and performance of professional male football players.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 27 professional male football players were randomly assigned into 2 groups: placebo (n = 14) and n-3 LCPUFA (n = 13). n-3 LCPUFA supplements containing 1.5 g eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 600 mg docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were administered as 6 capsules (four in the morning and two in the evening, 30 min after a meal). Anthropometry, body composition, dried-blood spot n-3 LCPUFA levels, exercise performance and dietary intake of football players were measured at week 0, week 4 and week 8.

Findings

n-3 LCPUFA supplementation improved blood levels of EPA and DHA levels, omega-3 index vs placebo (p time*group = 0.010, 0.041 and 0.018, respectively). n-3 LCPUFA supplemented group had significantly higher aerobic capacity than placebo participants, at week 8 (p group = 0.021).

Originality/value

This study shows the effect of n-3 LCPUFA supplementation in Malaysian professional male football players involved in team sports having low dietary intakes of n-3 LCPUFA.
BIM in the Malaysian construction industry: a scientometric review and case study
Authors: Tanko Bruno Lot , Zakka Wyom Paul , Heng Wee Nie
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore existing literature on Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Malaysia and examine the perception of practitioners about the potential of BIM applications in reducing construction waste and enhancing productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

First, using 244 bibliographic data extracted from the Scopus database, the paper used scientometric analysis and VOSviewer mapping technique to assess the most impactful publication literature on BIM in Malaysia to identify the existing research gaps. Second, using a structured questionnaire, a total of 100 questionnaires were distributed to practising practitioners who incorporate BIM in the delivery of their projects. Descriptive analysis using cross-tabulation in SPSS software, radar chart, relative importance index and Pearson’s correlation were used to analyze the data.

Findings

The research gaps are in the fields of construction projects, buildings, energy efficiency, lifecycle and housing. The findings of the survey indicate that quantity take-off, clash detection, site utilization planning, digital fabrication as well as 4D stimulation were the main BIM applications used among the practitioners in Johor and Selangor.

Practical implications

By assessing the state-of-the-art of BIM and BIM applications in this region, the practical implications of this study provide useful insights to construction stakeholders, funding organizations, policymakers, research institutions, professionals, journal editors, reviewers and researchers to understand the overall trend of BIM in Malaysia and its usage.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to use science mapping using scientometrics to reveal the current BIM research in “Malaysia only”. Relying on the identified gaps, the study further examined the usage of BIM applications in Malaysian construction projects.
Contribution of business angel investments: evidence from Estonia
Authors: Kirihata Tetsuya
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the contribution of business angels (BAs), defined as wealthy individuals who provide risk capital to entrepreneurial firms without family connections, in Estonia, an emerging country in Eastern Europe.

Design/methodology/approach

This study compared the data of the financial and non-financial performance of BA-backed firms with that of “twin” non-BA-backed firms, extracted from all Estonian unlisted firms using propensity score matching.

Findings

The results of the comparative analysis showed that BAs were patient enough to allow their investees to spend for future growth rather than squeezing profit from increased sales. This is not patience without options for a BA in a situation in which the investee's sales are deteriorating, but rather deliberate patience in the presence of options for a BA where the investee's sales growth is increasing, contrary to conventional investor behavioral principles. It also showed that BAs' post-investment involvement did not make a direct contribution to their investees' sales, although BAs contributed to the sales increase through BA funding itself.

Originality/value

This study has two unique research contributions. First, it shows that the patience of BAs was not a by-product but was intentional, and adds to the debate on whether BAs are patient investors. Second, there are only a few studies on the contribution of BAs to their investees in emerging countries; this study aims to help fill this research gap using the case of Estonia.
Facile construction of flexible CC/NiS/a-NiS electrode with self-supporting structure by electroplating
Authors: Lin Xiaoping , Li Xiaoyan , Yao Jiming , Li Xianghong , Xu Jianlin
Published: November 2022

Purpose

To develop electrode materials for supercapacitor with superior electrochemical performance and simple preparation process, the purpose of this study is to prepare flexible CC/NiS/a-NiS electrodes with self-supporting structure by loading hydrothermally synthesized a-NiS particles along with nano-NiS on carbon cloth by electroplating method.

Design/methodology/approach

The effects of current densities, temperatures and pH values on the loading amount and uniformity of the active substances during the plating process were investigated on the basis of optimization of surface morphology, crystalline structure and electrochemical evaluation as the cyclic voltammetry curves, constant current charge–discharge curves and AC impedance.

Findings

The a-NiS particles on CC/NiS/a-NiS were mostly covered by the plated nano-NiS, which behaved as a bulge and provided a larger specific surface area. The CC/NiS/a-NiS electrode prepared with the optimized parameter exhibited a specific capacitance of 115.13 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g and a Coulomb efficiency of 84% at 5 A/g, which is superior to that of CC/NiS electrode prepared by electroplating at a current density of 10 mA/cm2, a temperature of 55°C and a pH of 4, demonstrating its fast charge response of the electrode and potential application in wearable electronics.

Originality/value

This study provides an integrated solution for the development of specifically structured NiS-based electrode for supercapacitor with simple process, low cost and high electrochemical charge/discharge performance, and the simple and easy-to-use method is also applicable to other electrochemically active composites.
Do TV‐aided model lessons in class improve student performance? Evidence from public primary schools in Papua New Guinea
Authors: Shimizutani Satoshi , Taguchi Shimpei , Yamada Hiroyuki
Published: November 2022

Lack of access to high‐quality education remains a serious concern in many developing countries. This is especially the case for rural areas, including islands suffering from a shortage of skilled teachers and sufficient educational equipment. We examine the impact of introducing TV‐aided model lessons in class to enhance the quality of teaching (the EQUITV project) on the national examination test scores of Mathematics and “Combined Subject” (a comprehensive subject comprising 30% science and 70% social studies and other topics) as well as English in the final year of primary education in Papua New Guinea. We employ a panel event study to capture the different timings of the intervention across schools over multiple time periods. We find that the project significantly and robustly improved test scores for girls only in English 3 years after the introduction of the project, but no improvement was seen for boys.
Research use and publishing diversity: The role of organisation research publishing for policy and practice
Authors: Lawrence Amanda
Published: November 2022

Digital technologies have enhanced the capacity for organisations across many sectors to produce, publish, and disseminate research in a variety of formats, and a great deal of it is sought and used in public policy and practice‐related research, yet this diversity is often overlooked in studies of research use. While the need for diverse research sources and formats for public policy and practice is increasingly acknowledged, there have been few studies which articulate and categorise what this diversity looks like in practice, and how research is filtered and selected based on genre, source, and other facets. This article reports on a large‐scale online survey and semi‐structured interviews with research users across multiple sectors in Australia on the materials they access and use for policy and practice work. The results indicate that research users are active information seekers who require online access to diverse genres and formats produced by a range of sources and sectors. However, respondents also faced many barriers to research use, including the cost of subscriptions for academic journals, discoverability of reports and data, poor management of publications by organisations including government, and the time required for filtering and evaluation. Based on these findings I argue that policy research requires a far greater variety of genres and sources than is generally recognised with implications for the way research use and the research publishing system is understood and managed in Australia.

Points for practitioners

Policy research and implementation requires diverse online sources and resources from multiple sectors, including reports, discussion papers, evaluations, and data, produced by organisations (grey literature), as well as journals and books.

However, this paper finds there are major barriers to discovery, filtering, and access to diverse research publications for practitioners, resulting in poor productivity and policy outcomes.

To improve the use of evidence for policy and practice, we must invest in efficient discovery, access, and management systems for diverse research publications.
Balancing the Books: Valuing Household Work in Weimar Germany
Authors: Taratko Carolyn
Published: November 2022

This article explores the way that bourgeois women academics and social reformers adopted the quantified language of economics to advance their own position in the Weimar Republic. As statistics and indices proliferated as measures of national recovery, women attempted to record and describe their own economic realities within the household. They promoted bookkeeping as an indispensable tool of household rationalisation. This article argues that these bookkeeping practices enabled prominent women, including Henriette Fürth, Alice Salomon and Erna Meyer, to delineate the household – in its role as both economic unit and unit of reproductive and care work – as a site of economic importance and a field of intervention in the nascent social welfare state. Furthermore, the article shows how in the 1920s and 1930s, the market intruded into domestic life to shape notions of value and worth.
Structure, physicochemical properties, antioxidant, and hypoglycemic activities of water‐soluble polysaccharides from millet bran
Authors: Fan Sanhong , Guo Dingyi , Zhang Jinhua , Yang Yukun , Xue Hugui , Xue Tengda , Bai Baoqing
Published: November 2022

This study aimed to investigate the composition, structure, in vitro antioxidant, and hypoglycemic activities of a novel water‐soluble MBP‐1, an extract from millet bran, isolated by DEAE‐52 cellulose and purified by Sephadex G‐100. The results showed that MBP‐1 was mainly composed of xylose, mannose, galactose, rhamnose, and arabinose with a molar ratio of 0.72:0.59:76.26:1.04:0.83 and a molecular weight of 6.6×104 Da, and its purity was 98%, and the yield was 3.76%. MBP‐1 has an irregular granular structure by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and the anomeric carbon in MBP‐1 molecule has α‐configuration and β‐configuration by NMR and FTIR. The in vitro scavenging abilities of MBP‐1 for·OH, DPPH, O2·−, and ABTS+ were 73.5%, 80%, 69.8%, and 75.2%, respectively, and the chelating activity for Fe2+ was 50%, and the inhibition rates of α‐glucosidase and α‐amylase were 78.5% and 74.6%, respectively, which indicated that MBP‐1 possessed strong antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities. The results indicated that MBP‐1 have certain application prospects in food‐related fields.