bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of potassium borate as a volatility-reducing agent for dicamba
Authors: Castner Mason C. , Norsworthy Jason K. , Roberts Trenton L.
Published: September 2022

Dicamba was labeled in dicamba-resistant cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in 2017, resulting in a record number of off-target complaints. To address off-target movement via volatilization, experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of potassium tetraborate tetrahydrate (KBo) as a volatility-reducing agent (VRA) with dicamba. Low-tunnel experiments examined: (1) whether KBo functions as a dicamba VRA, (2) the relationship between KBo concentration and dicamba volatilization, (3) the effectiveness of KBo compared with potassium acetate as a VRA, and (4) the impact of KBo on dicamba volatilization with and without glufosinate. In a large-scale trial (0.4-ha plots), the effectiveness of KBo in reducing dicamba volatilization was quantified relative to a commercial dicamba application labeled for use in 2020. The addition of KBo to dicamba reduced volatility over dicamba alone and a dicamba plus potassium acetate premix. As KBo concentration increased in the dicamba spray solution, volatilization was exponentially reduced. Dicamba volatilization with the addition of KBo at 0.01 M was comparable to dicamba plus potassium acetate at 0.05 M. Potassium tetraborate tetrahydrate was more effective than potassium acetate at reducing volatility of a dicamba plus glufosinate mixture. In large-scale experiments over a 30-h period, the addition of KBo to a diglycolamine plus glyphosate mixture lowered dicamba volatilization 82% to 89% over the herbicide mixture alone. Overall, the addition of KBo to dicamba appears promising as a VRA compared with what is commercially available.
Evaluating Gender Differences in Problematic Smartphone	Use
Authors: Salerno Laura , Alquitran Analyn , Alibrahim Noor , Lo Coco Gianluca , Di Blasi Maria , Giordano Cecilia
Published: September 2022

Abstract: The Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) is widely used to measure problematic smartphone use (PSU). Although the SPAI has been translated and validated in different countries, its measurement invariance across gender has received little research attention. This study aimed to examine whether men and women interpreted the Italian version of the SPAI (SPAI-I) similarly and, consequently, whether the observed gender differences in SPAI scores, which have been shown in previous studies, could be due to true differences, rather than to differences in measurement. Six hundred nineteen Italian young adults ( Mage = 22.02 ± 2.63; 55.7% women) took part in the study and completed the SPAI-I. Multigroup CFA was applied to test the measurement invariance across gender, and the item parameter invariance was investigated with the item-response theory (IRT) differential item functioning (DIF) method for multidimensional models. Evidence of measurement invariance across gender was found. Only one item (i.e., item 14, “The idea of using smartphone comes as the first thought on mind when waking up each morning”) out of 24 items of the SPAI-I showed DIF with a large effect size. Gender-related differences found with the SPAI-I reflect true differences in smartphone overuse rather than specific characteristics of the measure.
Beyond Carbon: The Contributions of South American Tropical Humid and Subhumid Forests to Ecosystem Services
Authors: Borma L. S. , Costa M. H. , da Rocha H. R. , Arieira J. , Nascimento N. C. C. , Jaramillo‐Giraldo C. , Ambrosio G. , Carneiro R. G. , Venzon M. , Neto A. F. , van der Hoff R. , Oliveira B. F. A. , Rajão R. , Nobre C. A.
Published: September 2022

Tropical forests are recognized for their role in providing diverse ecosystem services (ESs), with carbon uptake the best recognized. The capacity of tropical forests to provide ESs is strongly linked to their enormous biodiversity. However, causal relationships between biodiversity and ESs are poorly understood. This may be because biodiversity is often translated into species richness. Here, we argue that focusing on multiple attributes of biodiversity—structure, composition, and function—will make relationships between biodiversity and ESs clearer. In this review, we discuss the ecological processes behind ESs from tropical humid and subhumid forests of South America. Our main goal is to understand the links between the ESs and those three biodiversity attributes. While supporting and regulating services relate more closely to forest structure and function, provisioning services relate more closely to forest composition and function, and cultural services are more related to structure and composition attributes. In this sense, ESs from subhumid forests (savannas) differ from those provided by the Amazon Forest, although both ecosystems are recognized as harboring tremendous biodiversity. Given this, if anthropogenic drivers of change promote a shift in the Amazon Forest toward savanna—the savannization hypothesis—the types of services provided will change, especially climate regulating services. This review emphasizes the importance of deeply understanding ecosystem structure, composition, and function to better understand the services ecosystems provide. Understanding that anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity occur through these three main attributes, it becomes easier to anticipate how humans will impact ESs.
Flood Seasonality Over the Third Pole Region Modulated by Upper Level Moisture Transport
Authors: Yang Long , Li Kunbiao , Shen Ye , Tian Fuqiang
Published: September 2022

The nexus between atmospheric moisture transport and basin‐scale flood response is still lacking over the Third Pole (TP) region, despite projected increases in extreme rainfall under a changing climate. Based on long‐term daily streamflow observations, we show that peaks‐over‐threshold floods over the Yarlung Zangbo River (YZR) basin show two temporal clusters, that is, July and late August, with the flood magnitudes of the second cluster larger than the first by 20%. These floods are resultant from a mixture of flood‐producing storms with contrasting storm motion and moisture transport pathways. A suite of coupled atmospheric‐hydrological modeling experiments further quantify the impacts of different moisture transport pathways on the space‐time rainfall structure and flood response. A 50% reduction of upper level moisture transport (i.e., through the upslope of the Himalayas) leads to decreased flood peak magnitudes by 30% at the basin outlet for the August 1998 floods over the YZR basin. Upper‐level moisture transport is associated with the notable low pressure over the central‐east India and westward extension of West Pacific Subtropical High that enhances convergence of water vapor fluxes from Bay of Bengal toward TP. The magnitude of impact can potentially alter the seasonal clustering of high‐flow events over TP. Our analyses contribute to improved characterization of flood risk over TP, and advances in flood frequency hydrology.
Alaskan Glaciers Advance and Retreat in Satellite Imagery
Authors: Kornei Katherine
Published: September 2022

Researchers tracked 19 maritime glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park over several decades and found that tidewater glaciers tended to experience less ice loss than other types of glaciers.
First Measurements of Low‐Medium Frequency Magnetic Radiation for an Altitude‐Triggered Lightning Flash
Authors: Fan Yanfeng , Zhang Yang , Lu Gaopeng , Lyu Weitao , Liu Hengyi , Xu Liangtao , Zheng Dong
Published: September 2022

An altitude‐triggered lightning flash was conducted on the Field Experiment Base on Lightning Sciences, China Meteorological Administration, in the summer of 2021. The low‐medium frequency magnetic field (B‐field) of altitude‐triggered lightning was measured for the first time with a sensitive magnetic sensor. The B‐field waveforms of precursors and sustained upward positive leader (UPL) show the obvious damped‐oscillatory waveform, which is caused by propagation losses and reflections of lightning current at both extremities of steel wire. The propagation of UPL during the inception of attempted downward negative leader (DNL) is revealed by B‐field signals with microsecond resolution, showing that the bidirectional leaders develop in an uncoordinated manner. The sustained DNL occurs about 5.5 ms after the inception of sustained UPL in our observations, and the measurements indicate that the stepping of DNL was much more frequent than that of UPL during the stage of sustained propagation.
GPS Determined Asymmetric Deformation Across Central Altyn Tagh Fault Reveals Rheological Structure of Northern Tibet
Authors: Ge Wei‐Peng , Shen Zheng‐Kang , Molnar Peter , Wang Min , Zhang Pei‐Zhen , Yuan Dao‐Yang
Published: September 2022

We establish a continuous GPS transect crossing the central Altyn Tagh fault at 90°E with eight years of observations. GPS velocities along this profile and another one crossing the fault at 86°E suggest a fault slip rate of 12.4 ± 0.7 mm/yr, but with asymmetric straining of adjacent terrain. On the south side, ∼8.2 mm/yr of left‐lateral shear is absorbed across a region ∼210 km from the fault, but only ∼4.2 mm/yr is found on the north side. This estimate of slip rate is ∼30% larger than the consensus estimate of previous models. By treating the deforming regions as elastic plates with different thicknesses overlying a substrata that obeys a linear Maxwell viscoelastic constitutive relationship, we infer a viscosity of ∼5.1 × 1019 Pa s (between 3.5 and 9.1 × 1019 Pa s at 1‐σ) on the south side, beneath northern Tibetan Plateau. This low viscosity, compared to some estimates for the asthenosphere, concurs with the Tibetan Plateau being underlain by a relatively hot and weak lower crust and upper mantle. The effective elastic thickness on the south side is 16.5–20 km, which is significantly smaller than that of the Tarim Basin of >60 km.
Experimental Constraint on Ca‐Rich Carbonatite Melt‐Peridotite Interaction and Implications for Lithospheric Mantle Modification Beneath the North China Craton
Authors: Wang X. , Zhang J. , Wang C. , Zong K. , Xu H.
Published: September 2022

Melt‐peridotite interaction is the key process causing lithological and mineralogical modification in the lithospheric mantle beneath the North China Craton (NCC). However, the lithology, kinetic, mineral, and melt compositional variations of carbonatite melt‐peridotite reaction are poorly constrained relative to those of silicate melt‐peridotite reaction. Here we report Ca‐rich carbonatite melt‐harzburgite reaction experiments at 3 GPa and 1100–1300°C. The experimental results show that the Ca‐rich carbonatite melt‐harzburgite reaction proceeds by diffusion‐governed rapid infiltration of melt into the harzburgite along grain boundaries, simultaneous dissolution of orthopyroxene and olivine, and precipitation of clinopyroxene. These processes lead to the formation of clinopyroxenite at the melt‐rock interface and melt‐impregnated lherzolite/harzburgite. The reactive infiltration of the melt inside the harzburgite matrix is much faster than the harzburgite dissolution and the growth of the clinopyroxene‐rich layer. The extrapolation of experimental melt infiltration rate to natural conditions suggests that carbonatite‐melt peridotite interaction results in large‐scale mantle metasomatism with various extents of clinopyroxene enrichment, whereas silicate melt‐peridotite interaction forms restricted pyroxenite/garnetite veins. Clinopyroxenes produced by silicate and carbonatite melt‐peridotite reactions show two distinct compositional variation trends. The comparison of published clinopyroxene compositions from 433 natural peridotite samples with the experimentally determined compositional variation trends indicates that carbonatite metasomatism was prevailing in the ancient lithospheric mantle of the NCC before its destruction in the early Cretaceous, while silicate metasomatism was predominant in the juvenile lithospheric mantle since the late Cretaceous. Prolonged ubiquitous carbonatite mantle metasomatism may have led to the destruction of the eastern NCC.
Self-assembled liquid crystal architectures for soft matter photonics
Authors: Ma Ling-Ling , Li Chao-Yi , Pan Jin-Tao , Ji Yue-E. , Jiang Chang , Zheng Ren , Wang Ze-Yu , Wang Yu , Li Bing-Xiang , Lu Yan-Qing
Published: September 2022

Self-assembled architectures of soft matter have fascinated scientists for centuries due to their unique physical properties originated from controllable orientational and/or positional orders, and diverse optic and photonic applications. If one could know how to design, fabricate, and manipulate these optical microstructures in soft matter systems, such as liquid crystals (LCs), that would open new opportunities in both scientific research and practical applications, such as the interaction between light and soft matter, the intrinsic assembly of the topological patterns, and the multidimensional control of the light (polarization, phase, spatial distribution, propagation direction). Here, we summarize recent progresses in self-assembled optical architectures in typical thermotropic LCs and bio-based lyotropic LCs. After briefly introducing the basic definitions and properties of the materials, we present the manipulation schemes of various LC microstructures, especially the topological and topographic configurations. This work further illustrates external-stimuli-enabled dynamic controllability of self-assembled optical structures of these soft materials, and demonstrates several emerging applications. Lastly, we discuss the challenges and opportunities of these materials towards soft matter photonics, and envision future perspectives in this field.
Hyperspectral imaging and pulse characterization
Authors: Jolly Spencer W.
Published: September 2022

An advanced method for hyperspectral imaging was combined with phase retrieval and standard pulse characterization techniques to characterize ultrashort laser pulses and ultrashort processes to a new level of precision in a single shot.
Demonstration of 85% pump depletion and 10−6 noise content in quasi-parametric chirped-pulse amplification
Authors: Ma Jingui , Xiong Kainan , Yuan Peng , Tu Xiaoniu , Wang Jing , Xie Guoqiang , Zheng Yanqing , Qian Liejia
Published: September 2022

Full pump depletion corresponds to the upper limit of the generated signal photons relative to the pump pulse; this allows the highest peak power to be produced in a unit area of ultraintense laser amplifiers. In practical systems based on optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification, however, the typical pump depletion is only ~35%. Here, we report quasi-parametric chirped-pulse amplification (QPCPA) with a specially designed 8-cm-thick Sm:YCOB crystal that highly dissipates the idler and hence improves pump depletion. We demonstrate 56% QPCPA energy efficiency for an 810-nm signal converted from a 532-nm pump, or equivalently 85% pump depletion. As another advantage, such a record high depletion greatly suppresses the parametric superfluorescence noise in QPCPA to only ~1.5 × 10−6 relative to the amplified signal energy. These results pave the way to beyond the ten-petawatt peak power of the currently most intense lasers.
Repeated stress exposure leads to structural synaptic instability prior to disorganization of hippocampal coding and impairments in learning
Authors: Chenani Alireza , Weston Ghabiba , Ulivi Alessandro F. , Castello-Waldow Tim P. , Huettl Rosa-Eva , Chen Alon , Attardo Alessio
Published: September 2022

Stress exposure impairs brain structure and function, resulting in cognitive deficits and increased risk for psychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. In particular, stress exposure affects function and structure of hippocampal CA1 leading to impairments in episodic memory. Here, we applied longitudinal deep-brain optical imaging to investigate the link between changes in activity patterns and structural plasticity of dorsal CA1 pyramidal neurons and hippocampal-dependent learning and memory in mice exposed to stress. We found that several days of repeated stress led to a substantial increase in neuronal activity followed by disruption of the temporal structure of this activity and spatial coding. We then tracked dynamics of structural excitatory connectivity as a potential underlying cause of the changes in activity induced by repeated stress. We thus discovered that exposure to repeated stress leads to an immediate decrease in spinogenesis followed by decrease in spine stability. By comparison, acute stress led to stabilization of the spines born in temporal proximity to the stressful event. Importantly, the temporal relationship between changes in activity levels, structural connectivity and activity patterns, suggests that loss of structural connectivity mediates the transition between increased activity and impairment of temporal organization and spatial information content in dorsal CA1 upon repeated stress exposure.
Forest expansion dominates China’s land carbon sink since 1980
Authors: Yu Zhen , Ciais Philippe , Piao Shilong , Houghton Richard A. , Lu Chaoqun , Tian Hanqin , Agathokleous Evgenios , Kattel Giri Raj , Sitch Stephen , Goll Daniel , Yue Xu , Walker Anthony , Friedlingstein Pierre , Jain Atul K. , Liu Shirong , Zhou Guoyi
Published: September 2022

Carbon budget accounting relies heavily on Food and Agriculture Organization land-use data reported by governments. Here we develop a new land-use and cover-change database for China, finding that differing historical survey methods biased China’s reported data causing large errors in Food and Agriculture Organization databases. Land ecosystem model simulations driven with the new data reveal a strong carbon sink of 8.9 ± 0.8 Pg carbon from 1980 to 2019 in China, which was not captured in Food and Agriculture Organization data-based estimations due to biased land-use and cover-change signals. The land-use and cover-change in China, characterized by a rapid forest expansion from 1980 to 2019, contributed to nearly 44% of the national terrestrial carbon sink. In contrast, climate changes (22.3%), increasing nitrogen deposition (12.9%), and rising carbon dioxide (8.1%) are less important contributors. This indicates that previous studies have greatly underestimated the impact of land-use and cover-change on the terrestrial carbon balance of China. This study underlines the importance of reliable land-use and cover-change databases in global carbon budget accounting.
High-fluence and high-gain multilayer focusing optics to enhance spatial resolution in femtosecond X-ray laser imaging
Authors: Yumoto Hirokatsu , Koyama Takahisa , Suzuki Akihiro , Joti Yasumasa , Niida Yoshiya , Tono Kensuke , Bessho Yoshitaka , Yabashi Makina , Nishino Yoshinori , Ohashi Haruhiko
Published: September 2022

With the emergence of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) has acquired a capability for single-particle imaging (SPI) of non-crystalline objects under non-cryogenic conditions. However, the single-shot spatial resolution is limited to ~5 nanometres primarily because of insufficient fluence. Here, we present a CDI technique whereby high resolution is achieved with very-high-fluence X-ray focusing using multilayer mirrors with nanometre precision. The optics can focus 4-keV XFEL down to 60 nm × 110 nm and realize a fluence of >3 × 105 J cm−2 pulse−1 or >4 × 1012 photons μm−2 pulse−1 with a tenfold increase in the total gain compared to conventional optics due to the high demagnification. Further, the imaging of fixed-target metallic nanoparticles in solution attained an unprecedented 2-nm resolution in single-XFEL-pulse exposure. These findings can further expand the capabilities of SPI to explore the relationships between dynamic structures and functions of native biomolecular complexes.
Paternal imprinting of dosage-effect defective1 contributes to seed weight xenia in maize
Authors: Dai Dawei , Mudunkothge Janaki S. , Galli Mary , Char Si Nian , Davenport Ruth , Zhou Xiaojin , Gustin Jeffery L. , Spielbauer Gertraud , Zhang Junya , Barbazuk W. Brad , Yang Bing , Gallavotti Andrea , Settles A. Mark
Published: September 2022

Historically, xenia effects were hypothesized to be unique genetic contributions of pollen to seed phenotype, but most examples represent standard complementation of Mendelian traits. We identified the imprinted dosage-effect defective1 (ded1) locus in maize (Zea mays) as a paternal regulator of seed size and development. Hypomorphic alleles show a 5–10% seed weight reduction when ded1 is transmitted through the male, while homozygous mutants are defective with a 70–90% seed weight reduction. Ded1 encodes an R2R3-MYB transcription factor expressed specifically during early endosperm development with paternal allele bias. DED1 directly activates early endosperm genes and endosperm adjacent to scutellum cell layer genes, while directly repressing late grain-fill genes. These results demonstrate xenia as originally defined: Imprinting of Ded1 causes the paternal allele to set the pace of endosperm development thereby influencing grain set and size.
Enhanced Arctic sea ice melting controlled by larger heat discharge of mid-Holocene rivers
Authors: Dong Jiang , Shi Xuefa , Gong Xun , Astakhov Anatolii S. , Hu Limin , Liu Xiting , Yang Gang , Wang Yixuan , Vasilenko Yuri , Qiao Shuqing , Bosin Alexander , Lohmann Gerrit
Published: September 2022

Arctic sea ice retreat is linked to extrapolar thermal energy import, while the potential impact of pan-Arctic river heat discharge on sea-ice loss has been unresolved. We reconstructed the Holocene history of Arctic sea ice and Russian pan-Arctic river heat discharge, combining ice-rafted debris records and sedimentation rates from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf with a compilation of published paleoclimate and observational data. In the mid-Holocene, the early summer (June–July) solar insolation was higher than that during the late Holocene, which led to a larger heat discharge of the Russian pan-Arctic rivers and contributed to more Arctic sea ice retreat. This intensified decline of early-summer sea ice accelerated the melting of sea ice throughout the summertime by lowering regional albedos. Our findings highlight the important impact of the larger heat discharge of pan-Arctic rivers, which can reinforce Arctic sea-ice loss in the summer in the context of global warming.
Collecting critically endangered cliff plants using a drone-based sampling manipulator
Authors: La Vigne Hughes , Charron Guillaume , Rachiele-Tremblay Julien , Rancourt David , Nyberg Ben , Lussier Desbiens Alexis
Published: September 2022

Kauaʻi, an island within the Hawaiʻi archipelago, is home of a unique flora that contains 250 single-island endemic plant species. Threats have led to a significant population decrease where 97% of these plant species are now listed as endangered, critically endangered, or extinct. Vertical cliff habitats on Kauaʻi work as refugia to protect plants from their stressors. However, this habitat makes conservation work particularly difficult, forcing scientists, and botanists to use risky and time-consuming methods such as abseiling to access remote plant populations. Here we present the Mamba, the first aerial system capable of sampling plants on cliffs. This system is operated by two pilots and consists of an actively controlled platform suspended by a long cable under a lifting drone. Eleven otherwise inaccessible samples from five critically endangered species were collected during the first field trials on Kauaʻi Island. The samples are currently surviving in nurseries, demonstrating that the Mamba can be used to complete the conservation life cycle for organisms located in difficult areas, from location to collection, then cultivation and outplanting.
Research on recognition method of leaf diseases of woody fruit plants based on transfer learning
Authors: Wu Zhao , Jiang Feng , Cao Rui
Published: September 2022

Fruit leaf diseases have a significant impact on the later development and maturity of fruits, so rapid and accurate identification of fruit leaf diseases plays an important role in the development of fruit production. In this paper, the leaf disease data set of 6 kinds of fruits is divided into 25 categories according to the species—the type of the disease—the severity, and we propose an improved model based on ResNet101 to identify woody fruit plant leaf diseases, in which a global average pooling layer is used to reduce model training parameters, layer normalization, dropout and L2 regularization are used to prevent model overfitting, SENet attention mechanism is used to improve the model's ability to extract features. At the same time, transfer learning is used to reduce training time and training parameters. Experimental results show that the overall accuracy of woody fruit plant leaf recognition based on this model can reach 85.90%. Compared with the classic ResNet network, the accuracy is increased by 1.20%, and the model parameters are reduced by 98.14%. Therefore, the model proposed in this paper provides a better solution for the identification of leaf diseases of woody fruit plants and has a higher accuracy rate.
Numerical investigation of effects of tongue articulation and velopharyngeal closure on the production of sibilant [s]
Authors: Lu HsuehJui , Yoshinaga Tsukasa , Li ChungGang , Nozaki Kazunori , Iida Akiyoshi , Tsubokura Makoto
Published: September 2022

A numerical simulation of sibilant /s/ production with the realistically moving vocal tract was conducted to investigate the flow and acoustic characteristics during the articulation process of velopharyngeal closure and tongue movement. The articulation process was simulated from the end of /u/ to the middle of /s/ in the Japanese word /usui/, including the tongue elevation and the velopharyngeal valve closure. The time-dependent vocal tract geometry was reconstructed from the computed tomography scan. The moving immersed boundary method with the hierarchical structure grid was adopted to approach the complex geometry of the human speech organs. The acoustic characteristics during the co-articulation process were observed and consistent with the acoustic measurement for the subject of the scan. The further simulations with the different closing speeds of the velopharyngeal closure showed that the far-field sound during the co-articulation process was amplified with the slower closing case, and the velum closure speed was inverse proportional to the sound amplitude with the slope value of − 35.3 dB s/m. This indicates possible phonation of indistinguishable aeroacoustics sound between /u/ and /s/ with slower velopharyngeal closure.
The roles of APOBEC-mediated RNA editing in SARS-CoV-2 mutations, replication and fitness
Authors: Kim Kyumin , Calabrese Peter , Wang Shanshan , Qin Chao , Rao Youliang , Feng Pinghui , Chen Xiaojiang S.
Published: September 2022

During COVID-19 pandemic, mutations of SARS-CoV-2 produce new strains that can be more infectious or evade vaccines. Viral RNA mutations can arise from misincorporation by RNA-polymerases and modification by host factors. Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 sequence from patients showed a strong bias toward C-to-U mutation, suggesting a potential mutational role by host APOBEC cytosine deaminases that possess broad anti-viral activity. We report the first experimental evidence demonstrating that APOBEC3A, APOBEC1, and APOBEC3G can edit on specific sites of SARS-CoV-2 RNA to produce C-to-U mutations. However, SARS-CoV-2 replication and viral progeny production in Caco-2 cells are not inhibited by the expression of these APOBECs. Instead, expression of wild-type APOBEC3 greatly promotes viral replication/propagation, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 utilizes the APOBEC-mediated mutations for fitness and evolution. Unlike the random mutations, this study suggests the predictability of all possible viral genome mutations by these APOBECs based on the UC/AC motifs and the viral genomic RNA structure.
Spin-textures of medium-body boson systems with trapped spin-f cold atoms
Authors: He Y. Z. , Bao C. G. , Li Z. B.
Published: September 2022

The spin-textures of bound medium-body systems with spin-$$\mathfrak {f}$$
f
atoms ($$\mathfrak {f}\ge 3$$

f
≥
3

) have been studied. The Hamiltonian is assumed to be dominated by the two-body interaction favoring parallel spins. The system with particle number $$N=8$$

N
=
8

and $$\mathfrak {f}=3$$

f
=
3

is first chosen, and the Hamiltonian is exactly diagonalized by using Fock-states as basis-states, thereby all the eigenenergies and eigenstates are obtained and a detailed analysis is made. Then the cases with $$N=13$$

N
=
13

and $$\mathfrak {f}=4$$

f
=
4

are further studied. Since the total spin S is conserved, the eigenstates having the same S form an S-group. Let the lowest (highest) energy state of an S-group be called a bottom-state (top-state). We found that all the bottom-states are bipartite product states with constituent states describing fully polarized subsystems containing $$N_1$$

N
1

and $$N_2$$

N
2

($$\le N_1$$

≤

N
1

) particles, respectively. For two bottom-states different in $$N_2$$

N
2

, the one with a larger $$N_2$$

N
2

is higher. For two having the same $$N_2$$

N
2

, the one with a smaller S is higher. Whereas all the top-states are found to be essentially a product state of the pairs, in each pair the two spins are coupled to $$\lambda$$
λ
if the strength of the $$\lambda$$
λ
-channel is more repulsive than the others. For the states belonging to an S-group, the higher one would contain more pieces. As the energy goes up, larger pieces (those containing more than two particles) will disappear.
Deep learning-based quantitative estimation of lymphedema-induced fibrosis using three-dimensional computed tomography images
Authors: Son Hyewon , Lee Suwon , Kim Kwangsoo , Koo Kyo-in , Hwang Chang Ho
Published: September 2022

In lymphedema, proinflammatory cytokine-mediated progressive cascades always occur, leading to macroscopic fibrosis. However, no methods are practically available for measuring lymphedema-induced fibrosis before its deterioration. Technically, CT can visualize fibrosis in superficial and deep locations. For standardized measurement, verification of deep learning (DL)-based recognition was performed. A cross-sectional, observational cohort trial was conducted. After narrowing window width of the absorptive values in CT images, SegNet-based semantic segmentation model of every pixel into 5 classes (air, skin, muscle/water, fat, and fibrosis) was trained (65%), validated (15%), and tested (20%). Then, 4 indices were formulated and compared with the standardized circumference difference ratio (SCDR) and bioelectrical impedance (BEI) results. In total, 2138 CT images of 27 chronic unilateral lymphedema patients were analyzed. Regarding fibrosis segmentation, the mean boundary F1 score and accuracy were 0.868 and 0.776, respectively. Among 19 subindices of the 4 indices, 73.7% were correlated with the BEI (partial correlation coefficient: 0.420–0.875), and 13.2% were correlated with the SCDR (0.406–0.460). The mean subindex of Index 2 $$\left( {\frac{{P_{Fibrosis\, in\, Affected} - P_{Fibrosis\, in\, Unaffected} }}{{P_{Limb\, in\, Unaffected} }}} \right)$$

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presented the highest correlation. DL has potential applications in CT image-based lymphedema-induced fibrosis recognition. The subtraction-type formula might be the most promising estimation method.
Towards robust in vivo quantification of oscillating biomagnetic fields using Rotary Excitation based MRI
Authors: Gram Maximilian , Albertova P. , Schirmer V. , Blaimer M. , Gamer M. , Herrmann M. J. , Nordbeck P. , Jakob P. M.
Published: September 2022

Spin-lock based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has the potential for direct spatially-resolved detection of neuronal activity and thus may represent an important step for basic research in neuroscience. In this work, the corresponding fundamental effect of Rotary EXcitation (REX) is investigated both in simulations as well as in phantom and in vivo experiments. An empirical law for predicting optimal spin-lock pulse durations for maximum magnetic field sensitivity was found. Experimental conditions were established that allow robust detection of ultra-weak magnetic field oscillations with simultaneous compensation of static field inhomogeneities. Furthermore, this work presents a novel concept for the emulation of brain activity utilizing the built-in MRI gradient system, which allows REX sequences to be validated in vivo under controlled and reproducible conditions. Via transmission of Rotary EXcitation (tREX), we successfully detected magnetic field oscillations in the lower nano-Tesla range in brain tissue. Moreover, tREX paves the way for the quantification of biomagnetic fields.
Transfontanelle photoacoustic imaging for in-vivo cerebral oxygenation measurement
Authors: Manwar Rayyan , McGuire Laura S. , Islam Md. Tarikul , Shoo Anthony , Charbel Fady T. , Pillers De-Ann M. , Avanaki Kamran
Published: September 2022

The capability of photoacoustic (PA) imaging to measure oxygen saturation through a fontanelle has been demonstrated in large animals in-vivo. We called this method, transfontanelle photoacoustic imaging (TFPAI). A surgically induced 2.5 cm diameter cranial window was created in an adult sheep skull to model the human anterior fontanelle. The performance of the TFPAI has been evaluated by comparing the PA-based predicted results against the gold standard of blood gas analyzer measurements.
Self-supervised classification of subcellular morphometric phenotypes reveals extracellular matrix-specific morphological responses
Authors: Wong Kin Sun , Zhong Xueying , Low Christine Siok Lan , Kanchanawong Pakorn
Published: September 2022

Cell morphology is profoundly influenced by cellular interactions with microenvironmental factors such as the extracellular matrix (ECM). Upon adhesion to specific ECM, various cell types are known to exhibit different but distinctive morphologies, suggesting that ECM-dependent cell morphological responses may harbour rich information on cellular signalling states. However, the inherent morphological complexity of cellular and subcellular structures has posed an ongoing challenge for automated quantitative analysis. Since multi-channel fluorescence microscopy provides robust molecular specificity important for the biological interpretations of observed cellular architecture, here we develop a deep learning-based analysis pipeline for the classification of cell morphometric phenotypes from multi-channel fluorescence micrographs, termed SE-RNN (residual neural network with squeeze-and-excite blocks). We demonstrate SERNN-based classification of distinct morphological signatures observed when fibroblasts or epithelial cells are presented with different ECM. Our results underscore how cell shapes are non-random and established the framework for classifying cell shapes into distinct morphological signature in a cell-type and ECM-specific manner.
Longitudinal investigation of a xenograft tumor zebrafish model using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography
Authors: Lichtenegger Antonia , Tamaoki Junya , Licandro Roxane , Mori Tomoko , Mukherjee Pradipta , Bian Lixuan , Greutter Lisa , Makita Shuichi , Wöhrer Adelheid , Matsusaka Satoshi , Kobayashi Makoto , Baumann Bernhard , Yasuno Yoshiaki
Published: September 2022

Breast cancer is a leading cause of death in female patients worldwide. Further research is needed to get a deeper insight into the mechanisms involved in the development of this devastating disease and to find new therapy strategies. The zebrafish is an established animal model, especially in the field of oncology, which has shown to be a promising candidate for pre-clinical research and precision-based medicine. To investigate cancer growth in vivo in zebrafish, one approach is to explore xenograft tumor models. In this article, we present the investigation of a juvenile xenograft zebrafish model using a Jones matrix optical coherence tomography (JM-OCT) prototype. Immunosuppressed wild-type fish at 1-month post-fertilization were injected with human breast cancer cells and control animals with phosphate buffered saline in the tail musculature. In a longitudinal study, the scatter, polarization, and vasculature changes over time were investigated and quantified in control versus tumor injected animals. A significant decrease in birefringence and an increase in scattering signal was detected in tumor injected zebrafish in comparison to the control once. This work shows the potential of JM-OCT as a non-invasive, label-free, three-dimensional, high-resolution, and tissue-specific imaging tool in pre-clinical cancer research based on juvenile zebrafish models.
Factors, associated with elevated concentration of soluble carbonic anhydrase IX in plasma of women with cervical dysplasia
Authors: Grincevičienė Švitrigailė , Vaitkienė Daiva , Kanopienė Daiva , Vansevičiūtė Rasa , Tykvart Jan , Sukovas Artūras , Celiešiūtė Joana , Ivanauskaitė Didžiokienė Ernesta , Čižauskas Arvydas , Laurinavičienė Aida , Král Vlastimil , Hlavačková Anna , Zemanová Jitka , Stravinskienė Dovilė , Sližienė Aistė , Petrošiūtė Agnė , Petrauskas Vytautas , Balsytė Renata , Grincevičius Jonas , Navratil Vaclav , Jahn Ullrich , Konvalinka Jan , Žvirblienė Aurelija , Matulis Daumantas , Matulienė Jurgita
Published: September 2022

Precancerous lesions of human cervix uteri have a tendency for regression or progression. In cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CINII) case there is an uncertainty if a lesion will progress or regress. The carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) enzyme is overexpressed in cervical cancer which is more sensitive to radiotherapy. CAIX is associated with poor prognosis in solid hypoxic tumors. The aim of this study was to determine factors related to elevated soluble CAIX (s-CAIX) in high-grade intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) cases. Methods. Patients diagnosed with HSIL (N = 77) were included into the research group whereas without HSIL (N = 72)—the control group. Concentration of the soluble CAIX (s-CAIX) in plasma was determined by the DIANA ligand-antibody-based method. C. trachomatis was detected from cervical samples by PCR. Primary outcomes were risk factors elevating s-CAIX level in HSIL group. Non-parametric statistical analysis methods were used to calculate correlations. Results. The s-CAIX level in patients with HSIL was elevated among older participants (rs = 0.27, p = 0.04) and with C. trachomatis infection (p = 0.028). Among heavy smokers with HSIL, the concentration of s-CAIX was higher in older women (rs = 0.52, p = 0.005), but was not related to the age of heavy smokers’ controls (τ = 0.18 p = 0.40). Conclusion. The concentration of s-CAIX was higher among older, heavy smoking and diagnosed with C. trachomatis patients. All these factors increased the risk for HSIL progression.
Impact of diurnal temperature range on hospital admissions for cerebrovascular disease among farmers in Northwest China
Authors: Zhai Guangyu , Zhang Jing , Zhang Kuan , Chai Guorong
Published: September 2022

Diurnal temperature range (DTR) is an appropriate indicator for reflecting climate change. Many previous studies have examined the relationship between DTR and mortality. Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) have a higher mortality than other diseases, with mortality from CVD higher in rural areas than in urban areas. A distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used to analyze the exposure-effect relationship between DTR and hospital admissions for CVD from 2018 to 2020 in the population living in rural areas of Tianshui, Gansu Province, China. We investigated the effects of extreme DTR in groups stratified according to gender and age. A U-shape relationship was observed between DTR and hospital admissions for CVD. Both high DTR (19 °C) and low DTR (3 °C) were significantly associated significantly with CVD hospital admissions. When the lag period was 0–21 days, the impact of high DTR (1.595 [95% CI 1.301–1.957]) was slightly more significant than that of a low DTR (1.579 [95% CI − 1.202 to 2.075]). The effect of DTR on CVD varied in different populations. Males and adults were more sensitive to DTR than females and elderly people. It is necessary to make preventive measures to protect vulnerable populations from the adverse effects of extreme DTR.
Ultra-Rare BRD9 Loss-of-Function Variants Limit the Antiviral Action of Interferon
Authors: Mair Nina K. , Hale Benjamin G.
Published: September 2022

The human type I interferon (IFN) system is central to innate immune defense, and is essential to protect individuals against severe viral disease. Consequently, genetic disruption of IFN signaling or effector mechanisms is extremely rare, as affected individuals typically suffer life-threatening infections at an early age. While loss-of-function (LOF) mutations in canonical JAK-STAT signaling genes (such as IFNAR2, TYK2, STAT1, STAT2 and IRF9) have previously been characterized, little is known about the consequences of mutations in other human factors required for IFN signaling. Here, we studied the impact of rare human genetic variants in the recently identified contributor to IFN-stimulated gene expression and antiviral activity, bromodomain-containing protein 9 (BRD9). Using a cell-based BRD9 knock-out and reconstitution model system, we functionally assessed 12 rare human BRD9 missense variants predicted to impair protein function, as well as 3 ultra-rare human BRD9 LOF variants that lead to truncated versions of BRD9. As compared to wild-type BRD9, none of the 12 BRD9 missense variants affected the ability of exogenous IFN to limit virus replication. In contrast, all 3 truncated BRD9 LOF variants failed to allow exogenous IFN to function efficiently, as evidenced by exacerbated replication of an IFN-sensitive virus and diminished IFN-stimulated gene expression. Thus, while no homozygous BRD9 LOF carriers have yet been identified, our results predict that such extremely rare individuals would exhibit a compromised ability to mount a fully protective IFN-mediated antiviral response. Genetic variation in BRD9 could be considered in future studies to understand the infection susceptibility of some individuals.
Estimating genetics of body dimensions and activity levels in pigs using automated pose estimation
Authors: Gorssen Wim , Winters Carmen , Meyermans Roel , D’Hooge Rudi , Janssens Steven , Buys Nadine
Published: September 2022

Pig breeding is changing rapidly due to technological progress and socio-ecological factors. New precision livestock farming technologies such as computer vision systems are crucial for automated phenotyping on a large scale for novel traits, as pigs’ robustness and behavior are gaining importance in breeding goals. However, individual identification, data processing and the availability of adequate (open source) software currently pose the main hurdles. The overall goal of this study was to expand pig weighing with automated measurements of body dimensions and activity levels using an automated video-analytic system: DeepLabCut. Furthermore, these data were coupled with pedigree information to estimate genetic parameters for breeding programs. We analyzed 7428 recordings over the fattening period of 1556 finishing pigs (Piétrain sire x crossbred dam) with two-week intervals between recordings on the same pig. We were able to accurately estimate relevant body parts with an average tracking error of 3.3 cm. Body metrics extracted from video images were highly heritable (61–74%) and significantly genetically correlated with average daily gain (rg = 0.81–0.92). Activity traits were low to moderately heritable (22–35%) and showed low genetic correlations with production traits and physical abnormalities. We demonstrated a simple and cost-efficient method to extract body dimension parameters and activity traits. These traits were estimated to be heritable, and hence, can be selected on. These findings are valuable for (pig) breeding organizations, as they offer a method to automatically phenotype new production and behavioral traits on an individual level.
Performance comparison of three deep learning models for impacted mesiodens detection on periapical radiographs
Authors: Jeon Kug Jin , Ha Eun-Gyu , Choi Hanseung , Lee Chena , Han Sang-Sun
Published: September 2022

This study aimed to develop deep learning models that automatically detect impacted mesiodens on periapical radiographs of primary and mixed dentition using the YOLOv3, RetinaNet, and EfficientDet-D3 algorithms and to compare their performance. Periapical radiographs of 600 pediatric patients (age range, 3–13 years) with mesiodens were used as a training and validation dataset. Deep learning models based on the YOLOv3, RetinaNet, and EfficientDet-D3 algorithms for detecting mesiodens were developed, and each model was trained 300 times using training (540 images) and validation datasets (60 images). The performance of each model was evaluated based on accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity using 120 test images (60 periapical radiographs with mesiodens and 60 periapical radiographs without mesiodens). The accuracy of the YOLOv3, RetinaNet, and EfficientDet-D3 models was 97.5%, 98.3%, and 99.2%, respectively. The sensitivity was 100% for both the YOLOv3 and RetinaNet models and 98.3% for the EfficientDet-D3 model. The specificity was 100%, 96.7%, and 95.0% for the EfficientDet-D3, RetinaNet, and YOLOv3 models, respectively. The proposed models using three deep learning algorithms to detect mesiodens on periapical radiographs showed good performance. The EfficientDet-D3 model showed the highest accuracy for detecting mesiodens on periapical radiographs.
Pile driving repeatedly impacts the giant scallop (Placopecten magellanicus)
Authors: Jézéquel Youenn , Cones Seth , Jensen Frants H. , Brewer Hannah , Collins John , Mooney T. Aran
Published: September 2022

Large-scale offshore wind farms are a critical component of the worldwide climate strategy. However, their developments have been opposed by the fishing industry because of concerns regarding the impacts of pile driving vibrations during constructions on commercially important marine invertebrates, including bivalves. Using field-based daily exposure, we showed that pile driving induced repeated valve closures in different scallop life stages, with particularly stronger effects for juveniles. Scallops showed no acclimatization to repetitive pile driving across and within days, yet quickly returned to their initial behavioral baselines after vibration-cessation. While vibration sensitivity was consistent, daily pile driving did not disrupt scallop circadian rhythm, but suggests serious impacts at night when valve openings are greater. Overall, our results show distance and temporal patterns can support future mitigation strategies but also highlight concerns regarding the larger impact ranges of impending widespread offshore wind farm constructions on scallop populations.
Current knowledge on the tissue distribution of mRNA nanocarriers for therapeutic protein expression
Authors: Zadory Matthias , Lopez Elliot , Babity Samuel , Gravel Simon-Pierre , Brambilla Davide
Published: September 2022

Review on the biodistribution of mRNA-nanocarrier in primary organs highlighting key parameters for optimal protein expression.
Prism-like bimetallic (Ni–Co) alkaline carboxylate-based non-enzymatic sensor capable of exceptionally high catalytic activity towards glucose
Authors: Chu Dandan , Wang Yan , Li Dong , Chu Xue-Qiang , Ge Danhua , Chen Xiaojun
Published: September 2022

The prism-like bimetallic (Ni–Co) alkaline carboxylate was successfully constructed as sensor based on an enzyme-free electrochemical platform towards glucose detection.
CsB3O4(OH)2: a new deep-ultraviolet birefringent crystal with [B3O4(OH)2] anionic group
Authors: Wang Xinyue , Zhang Bingbing , Yang Daqing , Wang Ying
Published: September 2022

A new birefringent crystal CsB3O4(OH)2 has been synthesized for the first time. It consists of a unique [B3O4(OH)2]∞ chain and exhibits a large birefringence with a short UV cutoff edge.