bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CRISPR-Cas12a genome editing at the whole-plant level using two compatible RNA virus vectors
Authors: Uranga Mireia , Vazquez-Vilar Marta , Orzáez Diego , Daròs José-Antonio
Published: April 2021

The use of viral vectors that can replicate and move systemically through the host plant to deliver bacterial clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) components enables genome editing at the whole-plant level and avoids the requirement for labor-intensive stable transformation. However, this approach usually relies on previously transformed plants that stably express a CRISPR-associated (Cas) nuclease. Here we describe successful DNA-free genome editing ofNicotiana benthamianausing two compatible RNA virus vectors, derived from tobacco etch virus (TEV; genusPotyvirus) and potato virus X (PVX; genusPotexvirus), which replicate in the same cells. The TEV and PVX vectors respectively express a Cas12a nuclease and the corresponding guide RNA. This novel two-virus vector system improves the toolbox for transformation-free virus-induced genome editing in plants and will advance efforts to breed more nutritious, resistant, and productive crops.
Triggered reversible disassembly of an engineered protein nanocage
Authors: Jones Jesse A. , Cristie-David Ajitha S. , Andreas Michael P. , Giessen Tobias W.
Published: April 2021

Protein nanocages play crucial roles in sub-cellular compartmentalization and spatial control in all domains of life and have been used as biomolecular tools for applications in biocatalysis, drug delivery, and bionanotechnology. The ability to control their assembly state under physiological conditions would further expand their practical utility. To gain such control, we introduced a peptide capable of triggering conformational change at a key structural position in the largest known encapsulin nanocompartment. We report the structure of the resulting engineered nanocage and demonstrate its ability to on-demand disassemble and reassemble under physiological conditions. We demonstrate its capacity forin vivoencapsulation of proteins of choice while also demonstratingin vitrocargo loading capabilities. Our results represent a functionally robust addition to the nanocage toolbox and a novel approach for controlling protein nanocage disassembly and reassembly under mild conditions.
Geographical bias in physiological data limits predictions of global change impacts
Authors: White Craig R. , Marshall Dustin J. , Chown Steven L. , Clusella‐Trullas Susana , Portugal Steven J. , Franklin Craig E. , Seebacher Frank
Published: April 2021

Climate affects all aspects of biology. Physiological traits play a key role in mediating these effects, because they define the fundamental niche of each organism.

Climate change is likely to shift environmental conditions away from physiological optima. The consequences for species are significant: they must alter their physiology through plasticity or adaptation, move, or decline to extinction. The ability to understand and predict such organismal responses to global change is, however, only as good as the geographical coverage of the data on which these predictions are based.

Geographical biases in the state of physiological knowledge have been identified, but it has not been determined if these geographical biases are likely to limit our capacity to predict the outcomes of global change. We show that current knowledge of physiological traits is representative of only a limited range of the climates in which terrestrial animals will be required to operate, because data for animals from only a limited range of global climates have been incorporated in existing compilations.

We conclude that geographical bias in existing datasets limits our capacity to predict organismal responses in the vast areas of the planet that are unstudied, and that this geographical bias is a much greater source of uncertainty than the difference between the current climate and the projected future climate. Addressing this bias is urgent to understand where impacts will be most profound, and where the need for intervention is most pressing.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Blue consequences of the green bioeconomy: Clear‐cutting intensifies the harmful impacts of land drainage on stream invertebrate biodiversity
Authors: Rajakallio Maria , Jyväsjärvi Jussi , Muotka Timo , Aroviita Jukka
Published: April 2021

Growing bioeconomy is increasing the pressure to clear‐cut drained peatland forests. Yet, the cumulative effects of peatland drainage and clear‐cutting on the biodiversity of recipient freshwater ecosystems are largely unknown.

We studied the isolated and combined effects of peatland drainage and clear‐cutting on stream macroinvertebrate communities. We further explored whether the impact of these forestry‐driven catchment alterations to benthic invertebrates is related to stream size. We quantified the impact on invertebrate biodiversity by comparing communities in forestry‐impacted streams to expected communities modelled with a multi‐taxon niche model.

The impact of clear‐cutting of drained peatland forests exceeded the sum of the independent effects of drainage and clear‐cutting, indicating a synergistic interaction between the two disturbances in small streams. Peatland drainage reduced benthic biodiversity in both small and large streams, whereas clear‐cutting did the same only in small streams. Small headwater streams were more sensitive to forestry impacts than the larger downstream sites.

We found 11 taxa (out of 25 modelled) to respond to forestry disturbances. These taxa were mainly different from those previously reported as sensitive to forestry‐driven alterations, indicating the context dependence of taxonomic responses to forestry. In contrast, most of the functional traits previously identified as responsive to agricultural sedimentation also responded to forestry pressures. In particular, taxa that live temporarily in hyporheic habitats, move by crawling, disperse actively in water, live longer than 1 year, use eggs as resistance form and obtain their food by scraping became less abundant than expected, particularly in streams impacted by both drainage and clear‐cutting.

Synthesis and applications. Drained peatland forests in boreal areas are reaching maturity and will soon be harvested. Clear‐cutting of these forests incurs multiple environmental hazards but previous studies have focused on terrestrial ecosystems. Our results show that the combined impacts of peatland drainage and clear‐cutting may extend across ecosystem boundaries and cause significant biodiversity loss in recipient freshwater ecosystems. This information supports a paradigm shift in boreal forest management, whereby continuous‐cover forestry based on partial harvest may provide the most sustainable approach to peatland forestry.
Genomic and proteomic profiles of biofilms on microplastics are decoupled from artificial surface properties
Authors: Oberbeckmann Sonja , Bartosik Daniel , Huang Sixing , Werner Johannes , Hirschfeld Claudia , Wibberg Daniel , Heiden Stefan E. , Bunk Boyke , Overmann Jörg , Becher Dörte , Kalinowski Jörn , Schweder Thomas , Labrenz Matthias , Markert Stephanie
Published: April 2021

Microplastics in marine ecosystems are colonized by diverse prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities. How these communities and their functional profiles are shaped by the artificial surfaces remains broadly unknown. In order to close this knowledge gap, we set up an in situ experiment with pellets of the polyolefin polymer polyethylene (PE), the aromatic hydrocarbon polymer polystyrene (PS), and wooden beads along a coastal to estuarine gradient in the Baltic Sea, Germany. We used an integrated metagenomics/metaproteomics approach to evaluate the genomic potential as well as protein expression levels of aquatic plastic biofilms. Our results suggest that material properties had a minor influence on the plastic‐associated assemblages, as genomic and proteomic profiles of communities associated with the structurally different polymers PE and PS were highly similar, hence polymer‐unspecific. Instead, it seemed that these communities were shaped by biogeographic factors. Wood, on the other hand, induced the formation of substrate‐specific biofilms and served as nutrient source itself. Our study indicates that, while PE and PS microplastics may be relevant in the photic zone as opportunistic colonization grounds for phototrophic microorganisms, they appear not to be subject to biodegradation or serve as vectors for pathogenic microorganisms in marine habitats.
Desulfovibrio diazotrophicus sp. nov., a sulfate‐reducing bacterium from the human gut capable of nitrogen fixation
Authors: Sayavedra Lizbeth , Li Tianqi , Bueno Batista Marcelo , Seah Brandon K. B. , Booth Catherine , Zhai Qixiao , Chen Wei , Narbad Arjan
Published: April 2021

Sulfate‐reducing bacteria (SRB) are widespread in human guts, yet their expansion has been linked to colonic diseases. We report the isolation, sequencing and physiological characterization of strain QI0027T, a novel SRB species belonging to the class Desulfovibrionia. Metagenomic sequencing of stool samples from 45 Chinese individuals, and comparison with 1690 Desulfovibrionaceae metagenome‐assembled genomes recovered from humans of diverse geographic locations, revealed the presence of QI0027T in 22 further individuals. QI0027T encoded nitrogen fixation genes and based on the acetylene reduction assay, actively fixed nitrogen. Transcriptomics revealed that QI0027T overexpressed 42 genes in nitrogen‐limiting conditions compared to cultures supplemented with ammonia, including genes encoding nitrogenases, a urea uptake system and the urease complex. Reanalyses of 835 public stool metatranscriptomes showed that nitrogenase genes from Desulfovibrio bacteria were expressed in six samples suggesting that nitrogen fixation might be active in the gut environment. Although frequently thought of as a nutrient‐rich environment, nitrogen fixation can occur in the human gut. Animals are often nitrogen limited and have evolved diverse strategies to capture biologically active nitrogen, ranging from amino acid transporters to stable associations with beneficial microbes that provide fixed nitrogen. QI0027T is the first Desulfovibrio human isolate for which nitrogen fixation has been demonstrated, suggesting that some sulfate‐reducing bacteria could also play a role in the availability of nitrogen in the gut.
A meta‐analysis of the effects of fragmentation on the megadiverse herpetofauna of Brazil
Authors: Teixido Alberto L. , Sehn Heivanice , Quintanilla Luis G. , Gonçalves Stela R. A. , Férnandez‐Arellano Gilberto J. , Dáttilo Wesley , Izzo Thiago J. , Layme Viviane M. G. , Moreira Leonardo F. B.
Published: April 2021

Habitat loss and fragmentation are the primary causes of global population decline of amphibians and reptiles. In Brazil, that hosts an extraordinary herpetofaunal richness, amphibians and reptiles are clearly undersampled among vertebrate groups in fragmentation research. This bias may underestimate the effects of fragmentation on herpetofauna in this megadiverse country. Here, we conducted an exhaustive literature review to evaluate the effects and patterns of fragmentation on amphibians and reptiles in Brazil. We analyzed 55 papers between 1994 and 2020, comprising 350 cases of the effect (positive, negative, or neutral) of a given fragmentation metric on a particular biological response. Forest biomes (Amazon and Atlantic Forest) were largely overrepresented in relation to non‐forest biomes, comprising 82% of studies. We also found a disproportional prevalence of fragmentation articles on amphibians (75%). Among lower taxonomic groups, Anura and Testudines were significantly overrepresented, whereas Caudata and Crocodylia were neglected. Fragment size reduction, habitat degradation, habitat loss, and matrix contrast were the most studied metrics (70% of studies), while single‐species abundance was the most considered response (59%). The effects of fragmentation were not statistically different between amphibians and reptiles. In general, the impacts were predominantly negative or neutral, while positive effects were infrequent or even non‐existent. Our findings suggest that amphibians and reptiles respond similarly and may not be as vulnerable to fragmentation. We call future research to consider non‐forest biomes and less‐studied taxonomic groups (e.g., Squamata) to fully understand the effects of fragmentation on the megadiverse Brazilian herpetofauna and to take well‐informed conservation actions.
Preoperative oral antibiotics with versus without mechanical bowel preparation to reduce surgical site infections following colonic resection: Protocol for an international randomized controlled trial (ORALEV2)
Authors: Pellino Gianluca , Solís‐Peña Alejandro , Kraft Miquel , Huguet Bernat Miguel , Espín‐Basany Eloy
Published: April 2021

Aim

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are common after colonic surgery. SSIs can cause relevant morbidity and increase costs of care. Preoperative oral antibiotics can reduce the incidence of SSIs after resection of the colon, but the role of mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) is debated. This study aims to assess the impact of a combined regimen of oral antibiotics and MBP on SSIs after colonic surgery.

Methods

An international, multicentre, pragmatic, adaptive, parallel‐group, randomized controlled trial will be conducted across Europe. Adult patients scheduled to undergo elective colonic resection will be assessed for inclusion. Patients will be randomized into one of two treatment arms: (1) preoperative oral antibiotics without MBP (control); (2) preoperative oral antibiotics with MBP (experimental). All patients will receive intravenous antibiotics at anaesthetic induction. The primary aim will be 30‐day SSI, assessed by a blinded nurse. Additional end‐points include safety, morbidity and mortality, satisfaction with the preparation, time to return of bowel function, time to complete recovery and time to discharge, long‐term results. Analyses will be performed with a modified intention‐to‐treat approach. Interim analyses are planned.

Discussion

This will be the first randomized clinical trial to assess the efficacy and safety of preoperative oral antibiotics plus MBP versus preoperative oral antibiotics only, before colonic surgery. The knowledge obtained could help to establish the ideal preparation for patients scheduled to undergo resection of the colon. Full protocol NCT04161599.
Word Senses as Clusters of Meaning Modulations: A Computational Model of Polysemy
Authors: Li Jiangtian , Joanisse Marc F.
Published: April 2021

Most words in natural languages are polysemous; that is, they have related but different meanings in different contexts. This one‐to‐many mapping of form to meaning presents a challenge to understanding how word meanings are learned, represented, and processed. Previous work has focused on solutions in which multiple static semantic representations are linked to a single word form, which fails to capture important generalizations about how polysemous words are used; in particular, the graded nature of polysemous senses, and the flexibility and regularity of polysemy use. We provide a novel view of how polysemous words are represented and processed, focusing on how meaning is modulated by context. Our theory is implemented within a recurrent neural network that learns distributional information through exposure to a large and representative corpus of English. Clusters of meaning emerge from how the model processes individual word forms. In keeping with distributional theories of semantics, we suggest word meanings are generalized from contexts of different word tokens, with polysemy emerging as multiple clusters of contextually modulated meanings. We validate our results against a human‐annotated corpus of polysemy focusing on the gradedness, flexibility, and regularity of polysemous sense individuation, as well as behavioral findings of offline sense relatedness ratings and online sentence processing. The results provide novel insights into how polysemy emerges from contextual processing of word meaning from both a theoretical and computational point of view.
Question Design Affects Students' Sense‐Making on Mathematics Word Problems
Authors: Kirkland Patrick K. , McNeil Nicole M.
Published: April 2021

Mathematics word problems provide students with an opportunity to apply what they are learning in their mathematics classes to the world around them. However, students often neglect their knowledge of the world and provide nonsensical responses (e.g., they may answer that a school needs 12.5 buses for a field trip). This study examined if the question design of word problems affects students' mindset in ways that affect subsequent sense‐making. The hypothesis was that rewriting standard word problems to introduce inherent uncertainty about the result would be beneficial to student performance and sense‐making because it requires students to reason explicitly about the context described in the problem. Middle school students (N = 229) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In the standard textbook condition, students solved a set of six word problems taken from current textbooks. In the modified yes/no condition, students solved the same six problems rewritten so the solution helped answer a “yes” or “no” question. In the disfluency control condition, students solved the standard problems each rewritten in a variety of fonts to make them look unusual. After solving the six problems in their assigned condition, all students solved the same three “problematic” problems designed to assess sense‐making. Contrary to predictions, results showed that students in the modified yes/no condition solved the fewest problems correctly in their assigned condition problem set. However, consistent with predictions, they subsequently demonstrated more sense‐making on the three problematic problems. Results suggest that standard textbook word problems may be able to be rewritten in ways that mitigate a “senseless” mindset.
The Effect of Cognitive Load on Intent‐Based Moral Judgment
Authors: Martin Justin W. , Buon Marine , Cushman Fiery
Published: April 2021

When making a moral judgment, people largely care about two factors: Who did it (causal responsibility), and did they intend to (intention)? Since Piaget's seminal studies, we have known that as children mature, they gradually place greater emphasis on intention, and less on mere bad outcomes, when making moral judgments. Today, we know that this developmental shift has several signature properties. Recently, it has been shown that when adults make moral judgments under cognitive load, they exhibit a pattern similar to young children; that is, their judgments become notably more outcome based. Here, we show that all of the same signature properties that accompany the outcome‐to‐intent shift in childhood characterize the “intent‐to‐outcome” shift obtained under cognitive load in adults. These findings hold important implications for current theories of moral judgment.
What Is the Buzz About Iconicity? How Iconicity in Caregiver Speech Supports Children's Word Learning
Authors: Perry Lynn K. , Custode Stephanie A. , Fasano Regina M. , Gonzalez Brittney M. , Savy Jordyn D.
Published: April 2021

One cue that may facilitate children's word learning is iconicity, or the correspondence between a word's form and meaning. Some have even proposed that iconicity in the early lexicon may serve to help children learn how to learn words, supporting the acquisition of even noniconic, or arbitrary, word–referent associations. However, this proposal remains untested. Here, we investigate the iconicity of caregivers’ speech to young children during a naturalistic free‐play session with novel stimuli and ask whether the iconicity of caregivers’ speech facilitates children's learning of the noniconic novel names of those stimuli. Thirty‐four 1.5‐2‐year‐olds (19 girls; half monolingual English learners and half bilingual English‐Spanish learners) participated in a naturalistic free‐play task with their caregivers followed by a test of word‐referent retention. We found that caregivers’ use of iconicity, particularly in utterances in which they named the novel stimuli, was associated with the likelihood that children learned that novel name. This result held even when controlling for other factors associated with word learning, such as the concreteness and frequency of words in caregiver speech. Together, the results demonstrate that iconicity not only can serve to help children identify the referent of novel words (as in previous research) but can also support their ability to retain even noniconic word‐referent mappings.
A Model‐Data‐Fit‐Informed Approach to Score Resolution in Performance Assessments
Authors: Wind Stefanie A. , Walker A. Adrienne
Published: April 2021

Many large‐scale performance assessments include score resolution procedures for resolving discrepancies in rater judgments. The goal of score resolution is conceptually similar to person fit analyses: To identify students for whom observed scores may not accurately reflect their achievement. Previously, researchers have observed that rater‐agreement methods and person fit analyses result in similar conclusions about which students’ achievement estimates warrant additional investigation, and that score resolution generally improves person fit. We consider the implications of using person fit analysis as an initial step to identify performances for score resolution, and of using fit indices to identify raters to provide additional ratings. We simulated student responses to multiple‐choice items and a writing task. We simulated various types of person misfit in the writing task and identified the persons who needed resolution using a person‐fit index. Results indicate larger improvements in person fit after resolution when the person fit approach was used compared to a rater‐agreement approach. With the fit‐informed approach, person fit improved for of the misfitting students; with the rater‐agreement approach, person fit improved for around one third of these students. We consider the implications of our findings for mixed‐format assessments.
Antihyperlipidemic effect of selected pyrimidine derivatives mediated through multiple pathways
Authors: Irshad Nadeem , Khan Arif‐ullah , Shah Fawad Ali , Nadeem Humaira , Ashraf Zaman , Tipu Muhammad Khalid , Li Shupeng
Published: April 2021

Hyperlipidemia is worth‐mentioning risk factor in quickly expanding atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and stroke. This study attempted to determine effectiveness of selected pyrimidine derivatives: 5‐(3‐Hydroxybenzylidene)‐2, 4, 6(1H, 3H, 5H)‐pyrimidinetrione (SR‐5), 5‐(4‐Hydroxybenzylidene)‐2, 4, 6(1H, 3H, 5H)‐pyrimidinetrione (SR‐8), 5‐(3‐Chlorobenzylidene)‐2, 4, 6(1H, 3H, 5H)‐pyrimidinetrione (SR‐9), and 5‐(4‐Chlorobenzylidene)‐2, 4, 6(1H, 3H, 5H)‐pyrimidinetrione (SR‐10) against hyperlipidemia. In silico results revealed that SR‐5, SR‐8, SR‐9, and SR‐10 exhibited high affinity with 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMGCoA) possessing binding energy values of −8.2, −8.4, −8.6, and −9.5 Kcal/mol, respectively, and moderate (<−8 Kcal/mol) against other selected targets. In vivo findings showed that test drugs (25 and 50 mg/Kg) significantly decreased HFD rat total cholesterol, triglycerides, low‐density lipoprotein, very‐low‐density lipoprotein, atherogenic index, coronary risk index, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, and bilirubin and increased high‐density lipoprotein (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001 vs HFD group). In animal liver tissues, SR‐5, SR‐8, SR‐9, and SR‐10 inhibited HMGCoA reductase enzyme, enhanced glutathione‐s‐transferase, reduced glutathione, catalase levels, improved cellular architecture in histopathological examination, and decreased expression of inflammatory markers: cyclo‐oxygenase 2, tumor necrosis factor alpha, phosphorylated c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase, and phosphorylated‐nuclear factor kappa B, evidenced in immunohistochemistry and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay molecular investigations. This study indicates that SR‐5, SR‐8, SR‐9, and SR‐10 exhibit antihyperlipidemic action, mediated possibly through HMGCoA inhibition, hepatoprotection, antioxidant, and anti‐inflammatory pathways.
Role of physical therapists and aromatherapy for fall prevention in older people: A narrative review
Authors: Ebihara Satoru , Otsubo Yuta , Miyagi Midori
Published: April 2021

Falls among older people are usually the result of several causes combined. Identifying all the fall‐related factors that apply to a particular individual and providing comprehensive multifactorial intervention is recommended for the prevention of falls among older people. However, the overall net benefit of multifactorial intervention in preventing falls is small, and it does not appear to improve fall‐related outcomes, such as the number of fall‐related injuries. Therefore, we might require new perspectives to overcome this situation. Here, we raise two novel strategies for fall prevention among older people. One is using physical therapists more actively. The other is using aromatherapy for stabilization of older people. Physical therapists should carry out detailed gait assessment and caregiver education. Aromatherapy is effective in improving balance and mental stability in older people. To overcome refractory geriatric syndrome, there is no choice but to eliminate all preconceived ideas before choosing the best fall prevention strategies. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 445–450.
Women’s financial well‐being: A systematic literature review and directions for future research
Authors: Gonçalves Virginia Nicolau , Ponchio Mateus Canniatti , Basílio Roberta Gabriela
Published: April 2021

The study of financial well‐being has gained attention in recent years and a number of scholarly articles have pointed to gender‐related differences and their antecedents and consequents. The continuous growth of scholarly literature on women’s financial well‐being and its dispersion impose difficulties for researchers to comprehensively assess the state of knowledge on the topic. In this context, the objectives of this research are to conduct a systematic literature review of women’s financial well‐being and to propose directions for future research. This study comprises a review of 130 articles published in peer‐reviewed journals over the period 1990–2020. Bibliometric analysis was used to identify the year of publication and the countries surveyed, journal of publication, methodologies, concepts, measures and theoretical frameworks utilized; subsequent content analysis allowed us to summarize the main findings. We organized the identified antecedents of women’s financial well‐being into three categories: individual, household and community and societal level elements. The elements that constitute these categories are discussed and our findings point to important gender‐related differences. Based on the identified literature gaps, directions for future research are proposed. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in delivering a comprehensive overview of available evidence on women’s financial well‐being. Its practical and societal implications include the provision of knowledge that may allow better targeting of financial education programmes, economic empowerment interventions and public policies, which may help reduce the financial well‐being gender gap.
How does outmigration behaviour cascade within the community of origin? A socio‐historical approach to migrant network analysis using the Philippines case
Authors: Tabuga Aubrey Duldulao
Published: April 2021

This paper examines network structure and composition in international migration diffusion. Using original data from a rural village in the Philippines, it combines social network analysis and descriptive approach to arrive at a set of propositions about why some initial migration lead to expansion while others do not. It argues that migration diffusion is attributed, in part, to the dispersed distribution and strategic position of pioneers in the network at the beginning, which allowed a seemingly even migration expansion as pioneers facilitated subsequent migration activities. Had the initial context fostered pioneer migration to transpire only among few families, and if pioneers were positioned less centrally, the outcome might have been a less extensive diffusion. Furthermore, the analysis shows that migration is more likely to diffuse among members of a family cluster and might cease to diffuse at the border of their inner social circles.
Efficient near‐infrared pyroxene phosphor LiInGe2O6:Cr3+for NIR spectroscopy application
Authors: Liu Tianyao , Cai Hao , Mao Ning , Song Zhen , Liu Quanlin
Published: April 2021

Broadband near‐infrared phosphors are essential to realize nondestructive analysis in food industry and biomedical areas. Efficient long‐wavelength (>830 nm) phosphors are strongly desired for practical applications. Herein, we demonstrate an efficient broadband NIR phosphor LiInGe2O6:Cr3+, which exhibits a broad NIR emission peaking at ~880 nm with a full width at half maximum of 172 nm upon 460 nm excitation. The internal/external quantum efficiencies of LiInGe2O6:Cr3+are measured to be 81.2% and 39.8%, respectively. The absorption of the phosphor matches well with commercial blue LEDs. Using the fabricated phosphor converted LED illuminating human palm, distribution of blood vessels can be clearly recognized under a NIR camera. These results indicate that LiInGe2O6:Cr3+is a promising candidate to be used in future non‐destructive biological applications.
Murine models of rosacea: a review
Authors: Zhang Hanlin , Zhang Menglu , Wang Yuanzhuo , Zheng Qingyue , Tang Keyun , Liu Runzhu , Li Xianmei , Fang Rouyu , Sun Qiuning
Published: April 2021

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by facial flushing, erythema, telangiectasia, papules, and pustules. Its pathogenesis has not been fully understood. In 2017, the global ROSacea COnsensus (ROSCO) panel updated the diagnosis, classification, and assessment of rosacea. Phenotype‐based treatments and long‐term managements have also been recommended. Murine models are a powerful tool in unveiling and dissecting the mechanisms of human diseases. Here, we summarized murine models of rosacea developed or used in previous research, including LL‐37 intradermal injection model, KLK‐5‐induced inflammation model, croton oil inflammation model, 12‐O‐Tetradecanoylphorbol‐13‐acetate inflammation model, arachidonic acid inflammation model, RTX‐induced vasodilation model, and UVB‐induced model. LL‐37 injection model has become the most intensively used model in rosacea research. Each model could show the pathophysiological and clinical features of rosacea to some extent. However, no model can show the full picture of the characteristics of rosacea. Improving existed murine models, developing new murine models, and applying them to pathogenesis and treatment research on rosacea are highly warranted in the future.
Trueness and Precision of Economical Smartphone‐Based Virtual Facebow Records
Authors: Li Junying , Chen Zhaozhao , Decker Ann M. , Wang Hom‐Lay , Joda Tim , Mendonca Gustavo , Lepidi Luca
Published: April 2021

Purpose

To investigate the trueness and precision of virtual facebow records using a smartphone as a three‐dimensional (3D) face scanner.

Material and Methods

Twenty repeated virtual facebow records were performed on two subjects using a smartphone as a 3D face scanner. For each subject, a virtual facebow was attached to his/her maxillary arch, and face scans were performed using a smartphone with a 3D scan application. The subject's maxillary arch intraoral scan was aligned to the face scan by the virtual facebow fork. This procedure was repeated 10 times for each subject. To investigate if the maxillary scan is located at the right position to the face, these virtual facebow records were superimposed to a cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) head scan from the same subject by matching the face scan to the 3D face reconstruction from CBCT images. The location of maxillary arch in virtual facebow records was compared with its position in CBCT. The “trueness” of the proposed procedure is defined as the deviation between maxilla arch position in virtual facebow records and the CBCT images. The “precision” is defined as the deviation between each virtual facebow record. The linear deviation at left central incisor (#9), left first molar (#14), and right first molar (#3), as well as angular deviation of occlusal plane were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Differences between two objects were also explored with Mann Whitney U test.

Results

The 20 virtual facebow records using the smartphone 3D scanner deviated from the CBCT measurements (trueness) by 1.14 ± 0.40 mm at #9, 1.20 ± 0.50 mm at #14, 1.12 ± 0.51 mm at the #3, and 1.48 ± 0.56° in the occlusal plane. The VFTs deviated from each other by 1.06 ± 0.50 mm at #9, 1.09 ± 0.49 mm at #14, 1.11 ± 0.58 mm at #3, and 0.81 ± 0.58° in the occlusal plane. When all sites combined, the trueness was 1.14 ± 0.40 mm, and the precision was 1.08 ± 0.52 mm. Out of eight measurements, three measurements were significantly different between subjects. Nevertheless, the mean difference was small.

Conclusions

Virtual facebow records made using smartphone‐based face scan can capture the maxilla position with high trueness and precision. The deviation can be anticipated as around 1 mm in linear distance and 1° in angulation.
English Language Learners’ Comprehension of Logical Relationships in Expository Texts: Evidence for the Confluence of General Vocabulary and Text‐Connecting Functions
Authors: Fraser Christie , Pasquarella Adrian , Geva Esther , Gottardo Alexandra , Biemiller Andrew
Published: April 2021

Conjunctions facilitate text cohesion and comprehension by making explicit the logical relationships between ideas in written language. Conjunctions may be challenging for English language learners (ELLs) because of their novel, abstract, and text‐connecting role. In this longitudinal study we aimed to clarify the connections among comprehension of logical relationships, general vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension in elementary school‐aged ELLs. We assessed these skills—along with decoding, working memory, and nonverbal reasoning—in 74 ELLs in Grades 3 and 4. Path analysis revealed that comprehension of logical relationships was a direct predictor of concurrent reading skills in Grades 3 and 4, and an indirect predictor of reading comprehension in Grade 4, where vocabulary and prior comprehension performance acted as partial mediators. Results point to the confluence of general vocabulary with conjunctions in contributing to individual differences in ELLs’ reading comprehension. Conjunctions represent a specialized form of vocabulary knowledge that should not be subsumed developmentally or instructionally under general vocabulary knowledge.
Moral Knowledge by Deduction
Authors: Smithies Declan
Published: April 2021

How is moral knowledge possible? This paper defends theanti‐Humean thesisthat we can acquire moral knowledge by deduction from wholly non‐moral premises. According to Hume’s Law, as it has become known, we cannot deduce an ‘ought’ from an ‘is’, since it is “altogether inconceivable how this new relation can be a deduction from others, which are entirely different from it” (1739: 3.1.1). This paper explores the prospects for an inferentialist theory of deductive moral knowledge that rejects Hume’s Law.
Citizens' Willingness to Support New Taxes for COVID‐19 Measures and the Role of Trust
Authors: Lachapelle Erick , Bergeron Thomas , Nadeau Richard , Daoust Jean‐François , Dassonneville Ruth , Bélanger Éric
Published: April 2021

The COVID‐19 public health pandemic has seen governments spend trillions of dollars to limit the spread of the COVID‐19 virus as well as to soften the economic blow from the shutting down of national economies. Subsequent budget shortfalls raise the question of how governments will pay for the direct and indirect costs associated with the COVID‐19 pandemic. In this article, we study the public's willingness to contribute through paying a new tax, with a focus on Canada. We find that both generalized social and political trust are associated with a greater willingness to support a COVID‐related tax and that generalized social trust, in particular, attenuates the negative effect of an experimentally manipulated, specified level of tax burden on policy support. These findings entail important implications for the public opinion and tax policies literature, as well as for policy makers.

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Transshipment Between Overconfident Newsvendors
Authors: Li Jialu , Li Meng , Zhao Xuan
Published: April 2021

This study investigates the impacts of transshipment between overconfident newsvendors who perceive the expected outcome of a random event as more certain than it actually is. The conventional wisdom is that transshipment is a risk‐pooling strategy for improving newsvendors’ performance. However, we find that overconfident newsvendors can be worse off with transshipment as compared to without transshipment. This result remains when overconfident newsvendors possess other behaviors such as fairness, demand‐ and supply‐side thinking, loss aversion, and demand anchoring. We also utilize data from controlled experiments to demonstrate that overconfidence is a robust behavior with transshipment.
Prevalence and prognostic impact of physical frailty in interstitial lung disease: A prospective cohort study
Authors: Farooqi Mohammed A. Malik , O'Hoski Sachi , Goodwin Sarah , Makhdami Nima , Aziz Afia , Cox Gerard , Wald Joshua , Ryerson Christopher J. , Beauchamp Marla K. , Hambly Nathan , Kolb Martin
Published: April 2021

Background and objective

Physical frailty is associated with increased mortality and hospitalizations in older adults. We describe the prevalence of physical frailty and its prognostic impact in patients with a spectrum of fibrotic interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Methods

Patients with fibrotic ILD at the McMaster University ILD programme were prospectively followed up from November 2015 to March 2020. Baseline data were used to classify patients as non‐frail (score = 0), pre‐frail (score = 1–2) or frail (score = 3–5) based on modified Fried physical frailty criteria. The association between physical frailty and mortality was assessed using time‐to‐event models, adjusted for age, sex, lung function and diagnosis using the ILD Gender–Age–Physiology (ILD‐GAP) score.

Results

We included 463 patients (55% male, mean [SD] age 68 [11] years); 82 (18%) were non‐frail, 258 (56%) pre‐frail and 123 (26%) frail. The most common ILD diagnoses were idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (n = 183, 40%) and connective tissue disease‐associated‐ILD (n = 79, 17%). Mean time since diagnosis was 2.7 ± 4.6 years. There were 56 deaths within the median follow‐up of 1.71 (interquartile range [IQR] 1.24, 2.31) years. Both frail and pre‐frail individuals had a higher risk of death compared to those categorized as non‐frail at baseline (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 4.14, 95% CI 1.27–13.5 for pre‐frail and aHR 4.41, 95% CI 1.29–15.1 for frail).

Conclusion

Physical frailty is prevalent in patients with ILD and is independently associated with an increased risk of death. Assessment of physical frailty provides additional prognostic value to recognized risk scores such as the ILD‐GAP score, and may present a modifiable target for intervention.
Moment‐based estimation for the multivariate COGARCH(1,1) process
Authors: do Rêgo Sousa Thiago , Stelzer Robert
Published: April 2021

For the multivariate COGARCH process, we obtain explicit expressions for the second‐order structure of the “squared returns” process observed on an equidistant grid. Based on this, we present a generalized method of moments estimator for its parameters. Under appropriate moment and strong mixing conditions, we show that the resulting estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal. Sufficient conditions for strong mixing, stationarity and identifiability of the model parameters are discussed in detail. We investigate the finite sample behavior of the estimator in a simulation study.
Community‐based participatory research: Suicide prevention for youth at highest risk in Guyana
Authors: Denton Ellen‐ge D.
Published: April 2021

Studied mostly in developed countries, the increased prevalence of suicide among youth, worldwide, is a preventable public health concern. Guyana, a developing country in South America, has the highest rate of youth death by suicide. Based on the diathesis–stress model, this community‐based study aimed to identify both psychiatric and biological factors associated with repeated suicide attempts among high‐risk youth.

Objective

We measured psychiatric symptoms, childhood traumas, and cortisol to identify correlates with recurrent suicide attempts.

Method

Poisson regression tested the association between psychiatric symptoms, trauma, and cortisol levels on number of suicide attempts among 50 youths from three child welfare orphanages in Guyana. Sixty‐six percent were female, and the average age was 14 years. DSM‐5 symptom measure was administered and saliva samples collected.

Results

Fifty percent of the youth endorsed suicide attempt. Within this subsample, a minimum of one and maximum of five suicide attempts were self‐reported. Participants’ number of suicide attempts was positively associated with number of past traumas, psychosis, and depression symptoms.

Conclusion

Suicide prevention screening among at‐risk youth should target severity of psychosis and depression reports and number of traumatic life experiences.
Depression, suicide risk, and declining to answer firearm‐related survey items among military personnel and veterans
Authors: Bryan Craig J. , Bryan AnnaBelle O. , May Alexis M. , Harris Julia A. , Baker Justin C.
Published: April 2021

Objectives

To describe the characteristics of military personnel and veterans who decline to answer survey items asking about firearm availability at home, and to determine how these characteristics compare to those of military personnel and veterans who answered these items.

Methods

Self‐report surveys were administered to 2025 military personnel and veterans visiting a primary care clinic located at five military installations across the United States for a routine visit. Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify factors that distinguished participants with firearms at home, participants without firearms at home, and participants who declined answering.

Results

In univariate analyses, participants who selected “refuse to answer” in response to an item asking about firearm access at home did not differ demographically from participants who selected “yes,” but were significantly more likely to screen positive for depression and recent thoughts of death or self‐harm. These differences were not statistically significant in multivariate analyses, however. Participants who selected “refuse to answer” or “yes” were significantly more likely than participants who selected “no” to be male, white, and previously deployed.

Conclusions

Military personnel and veterans who decline answering firearm‐related survey items are indistinguishable from those who report having a firearm at home. Declining to answer firearm‐related items is more common among those who screen positive for depression or recent thoughts of death or self‐harm, but this association is statistically accounted for by demographic factors (i.e., male gender, white race).
Suicidal self‐directed violence among gender minority individuals: A systematic review
Authors: Kaniuka Andrea R. , Bowling Jessamyn
Published: April 2021

Objective

Gender minority individuals represent a population at increased risk for suicidal self‐directed violence (SDV). However, traditional models of suicidal SDV fail to consider gender minority population‐specific factors that may buffer or exacerbate risk; further, while sexual and gender minority (SGM) health disparity frameworks may be extended suicidal SDV outcomes among gender minority individuals, little research exists bridging the gap between suicidal SDV research and SGM health disparity research. Thus, the current study sought to identify factors from SGM health disparity models related to suicidal SDV among gender minority individuals.

Method

The current study presents a synthesis of peer‐reviewed publications (n = 11) that were informed by an SGM health framework and specifically examined suicidal SDV among adult gender minority individuals within the United States.

Results

Factors from SGM health disparity models related to suicidal SDV outcomes included the following: 1) gender minority identity‐related factors; 2) gender minority‐related rejection, discrimination, harassment, and victimization; 3) structural stigma; and 4) resilience factors.

Conclusions

Findings support the applicability of SGM health disparity concepts to suicidal SDV outcomes among gender minority individuals. Future longitudinal research with more diverse participants examining the impact of intersectionality of identity and predictive model fit is warranted.
Substance use, current criminal justice involvement, and lifetime suicidal thoughts and behaviors history: The moderating role of thwarted belonging
Authors: Mitchell Sean M. , Brown Sarah L. , Görgülü Tuğba , Conner Kenneth R. , Swogger Marc T.
Published: April 2021

Objective

Criminal justice involvement, substance use, and suicide pose significant public health concerns; however, the unique and synergistic effects of these experiences among high‐risk individuals remain understudied. We hypothesized positive main effects for alcohol‐related severity, drug‐related severity, current criminal justice involvement, and thwarted belonging (TB) on suicide ideation history (SIH) and suicide attempt history (SAH) and that TB would moderate these associations.

Method

We report on cross‐sectional analyses of self‐report assessments completed by 824 adult residential substance use patients.

Results

Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that as alcohol‐ and drug‐related severity increases, the probability of SIH and SAH increases; however, TB was only associated with a higher SIH probability. Significant two‐way interactions (current criminal justice involvement*TB; alcohol‐related severity*TB) indicated that (1) those high in TB with current criminal justice involvement were more likely to report a SIH than those without current criminal justice involvement; and (2) those low in TB and alcohol‐related severity had the lowest SAH probability, whereas those low in TB and high in alcohol‐related severity had the highest SAH probability.

Conclusion

The unique and combined effects of interpersonal and contextual risk factors may improve suicide risk conceptualization and assessment, and allow for tailored treatments for this high‐risk population.