bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mitochondrial phylogeny and taxonomic revision of Italian and Slovenian fluvio-lacustrine barbels, Barbus sp. (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae)
Authors: Rossi Giovanni , Plazzi Federico , Zuffi Gianluca , Marchi Andrea , De Bonis Salvatore , Valli Marco , Marinšek Petra , Falconi Rosanna
Published: April 2021

Background

Barbels are ray finned cyprinid fishes of the Old-World with partially unresolved, intricate taxonomy. Within the Barbus sensu lato paraphyletic assemblage, Barbus sensu stricto is a monophyletic tetraploid lineage of Europe, northern Africa and Middle East, including two monophyletic sibling genera: Barbus and Luciobarbus. Italy, Slovenia and northern Croatia are natively inhabited by several entities of the genus Barbus, whose relationships and taxonomic ranks are still unclear. Aim of the present work is to focus on phylogeography of Italian and Slovenian barbels, with an appraisal of their current taxonomy.

Results

One hundred fifty specimens were collected in 78 sampling sites from 33 main watersheds, widely distributed along Italian and Slovenian ichthyogeographic districts. We amplified two mitochondrial markers, cytochrome b (cytb) and control region (D-loop), to infer a robust phylogeny for our sample and investigate on species delimitation.

Our results strongly indicate all Italian and Adriatic Slovenian fluvio-lacustrine barbels to be comprised into at least three distinct species. We provide a proposal of taxonomic revision and a list of synonymies for two of them and a new description under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature rules for the third one.

Conclusions

If nuclear data will confirm our findings, at least three specific entities should be acknowledged across our sampling area. Namely, the three species are (i) Barbus plebejus, in the Padano-Venetian district; (ii) Barbus tyberinus, in the Tuscany-Latium district; (iii) Barbus oscensis Rossi & Plazzi sp. nov., in the Tyrrhenian and southernmost-Adriatic parts of Apulia-Campania district. Finally, we briefly discuss the implications of such a taxonomic scenario on conservation policies.
Design and development of semi-automatic concept map authoring support tool
Authors: Pinandito Aryo , Prasetya Didik D. , Hayashi Yusuke , Hirashima Tsukasa
Published: April 2021

This research, to design and develop a concept map authoring support tool, adopts a semi-automatic concept mapping approach to help teachers create concept maps from English readings. A concept map is widely regarded as a useful teaching and learning tool. It offers many potential advantages apart from representing the students’ knowledge and understanding during learning. Students’ engagement in using and creating concept maps with a computer-enabled concept mapping tool raises concept maps’ potential benefits. It contributes to the learning process and improves the students’ meaningful learning. The Kit-Build concept map framework, which incorporates a technology-enabled concept mapping tool, uses concept map recomposition as its essential learning activity. In learning with Kit-Build, teachers compose concept maps that they want the students to achieve. The teachers’ maps are then decomposed into components from which the students recompose and reflect deeply on their understanding. The difference between teacher’s and students’ concept maps depicts the gap between teachers’ expected understanding and students’ actual understanding. Hence, the teachers’ concept map becomes an essential part of learning with Kit-Build. For some teachers, creating a good concept map for learning is difficult and time-consuming. Hence, support to improve teachers’ productivity in creating concept maps is essential. The findings suggest that the support tool yields better concept mapping efficiency while maintaining concept maps of similar quality. Teachers also found that the support tool was useful. Therefore, semi-automatic concept mapping with the supported Kit-Build concept map authoring tool has been shown to be a better approach.
Post-stroke fatigue: an exploratory study with patients and health professionals to develop a patient-reported outcome measure
Authors: Skogestad Ingrid Johansen , Kirkevold Marit , Larsson Petra , Borge Christine Råheim , Indredavik Bent , Gay Caryl L. , Lerdal Anners
Published: April 2021

Background

Post-stroke fatigue (PSF) is commonly reported and described as disabling by patients recovering from stroke. However, a major challenge is how to accurately diagnose and assess PSF. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore PSF as it is experienced by stroke survivors and described by health professionals to guide future development of a PSF-specific PROM.

Methods

Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with stroke survivors experiencing PSF (n = 9) and three focus groups were conducted with health professionals (n = 16). Data were analyzed through inductive content analysis.

Results

The analysis revealed four themes illustrating the experience and descriptions of PSF: 1) PSF characteristics, 2) interfering and aggravating factors, 3) management, and 4) PSF awareness, which refers to stroke survivors first becoming aware of PSF after their initial hospital admission.

Conclusion

This study highlights the complexity and multidimensionality of PSF. The results from this study will guide future development of a PSF-PROM and support its content validity.
Dysregulation of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha (CEBPA) expression in the bone marrow of acute myeloid leukemia patients
Authors: Hassan Naglaa M. , Said Fadwa , Shafik Roxan E. , Abdellateif Mona S.
Published: April 2021

Background

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous malignant disease characterized by accumulation of different types of mutations commonly the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha (CEBPA). However, the dysregulations of CEBPA expression in AML is still a debatable issue. The aim of the current study was to assess CEBPA gene expression in bone marrow (BM) aspiration specimens of 91 AML patients, compared to 20 control donors of bone marrow transplantation (BMT), using RT-PCR. Data were correlated with patients’ clinico-pathological features, response to treatment, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) rates.

Results

There was overexpression of CEBPA gene in AML patients compared to normal control [1.7 (0.04–25.6) versus 0.17 (0–4.78), respectively, P < 0.001]. Upregulation of CEBPA expression associated significantly with increased BM hypercellularity, total leucocyte counts, peripheral blood blast cell count, and poor PFS (P < 0.001, 0.002, 0.001, and 0.013, respectively). There was no significant association between CEBPA expression and any other relevant clinico-pathological features or OS rates (P = 0.610) of the patients. ROC analysis for biological relevance of CEBPA expression with AML showed that sensitivity and specificity of CEBPA expression at a cut-off value of 0.28 are 92.3% and 78.6%, respectively (P < 0.001). All patients who had CEBPA overexpression and mutant FLT3 showed BM hypercellularity, adverse cytogenetic risk, increased TLC, and PB blast cells count (P = 0.007, P < 0.001, 0.016, and 0.002, respectively).

Conclusion

CEBPA overexpression could be used as a genetic biological marker for AML diagnosis, as well as a poor prognostic factor for disease progression. It has no impact on OS rates of the patients.
Perceived parenting attitudes in relation to ADHD symptoms and aggressive behaviors in a sample of Egyptian children with ADHD
Authors: Azzam Hanan , Hasan Haytham , Elhabiby Mahmoud , El Ghamry Reem , Mansour Mona , Elhamshary Mohammed
Published: April 2021

Background

Externalizing behaviors are common in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study was aiming to investigate the perceived parenting attitudes in children with ADHD and their correlates to the severity of symptoms and associated aggressive behaviors in those children. Accordingly, 140 children with ADHD were assessed using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children; Conners’ Parent Rating Scale-Revised, Long Version; the problem scale of the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 4–18; and the Perceived Parenting Attitude Scale.

Results

Assessment of associated behavioral problems in the participants revealed the presence of significant aggressive and externalizing problems. The participants perceived a similar attitude between their mothers and fathers. No significant association is found between severity of ADHD symptoms and perceived parenting attitudes, while consistency in parenting in both mothers and fathers was positively correlated to the aggressive behaviors of the participants.

Conclusions

Aggression is a common symptom associated with ADHD that should be identified and addressed. Although the current study has revealed that consistency in parenting is positively correlated to the aggression in ADHD children, yet children with ADHD might have a positive illusory bias in their social self-perceptions making it difficult to account for the reliability of their perceived parenting attitudes; hence, it remains to be clarified whether perceived parents’ attitudes are attributed to children’s aggression or to children’s perception caused by the previously mentioned illusory bias. For future research, it is highly recommended to assess parenting from the parents’ and their children’s points of view.
Stop! Go! What Can We Learn About Family Planning From Birth Timing in Settler South Africa, 1835–1950?
Authors: Cilliers Jeanne , Mariotti Martine
Published: April 2021

We revisit the discussion on family limitation through stopping and spacing behavior before and during the fertility transition with a sample of 12,800 settler women's birth histories in nineteenth- and twentieth-century South Africa. Using cure models that allow us to separate those who stop childbearing from those who continue, we find no evidence of parity-specific spacing before the transition. We do find evidence of non-parity-based birth postponement before the transition. Increased stopping and parity-independent postponement characterized the beginning of the fertility transition, with increased parity-specific spacing following later in the transition phase.
Phosphagen and Creatine in Frog’s Eggs
Authors: Andrzej Zielinski Mirosław
Published: April 2021

In most papers on phosphagen published to date, its presence has been considered to be connected with the function of motion. This point of view is no longer tenable, since phosphocreatine has been found not only in every muscular tissue of the Vertebrata and in spermatozoa, but also in nerves, brain and tumours; labile phosphorus has recently been found in the eggs of Amphibia (Zieliński, 1935).
How Polarization-Sensitive Interneurones of Crickets Perform at Low Degrees of Polarization
Authors: Labhart T.
Published: April 2021

In crickets, polarized-light information from the blue sky is processed by polarization-opponent interneurones (POL-neurones). These neurones receive input from the polarization-sensitive blue receptors found in the specialized dorsal rim area of the compound eye. Even under optimal conditions, the degree of polarization d does not exceed 0.75 in the blue region of the spectrum and it is normally much lower. The aim of this study is to assess how POL-neurones perform at low, physiologically relevant degrees of polarization. The spiking activity of POL-neurones is a sinusoidal function of e-vector orientation with a 180 ° period. The modulation amplitude of this function decreases strongly as the degree of polarization decreases. However, our data indicate that POL-neurones can signal e-vector information at d-values as low as 0.05, which would allow the polarization-sensitive system of crickets to exploit polarized light from the sky for orientation even under unfavourable meteorological conditions.
Design of the Oxygen and Substrate Pathways: VII. Different Structural Limits for Oxygen and Substrate Supply to Muscle Mitochondria
Authors: Weibel Ewald R. , Taylor C. Richard , Weber Jean-Michel , Vock Ruth , Roberts Thomas J. , Hoppeler Hans
Published: April 2021

This paper integrates the results of a series of studies on the supply of O2 and substrates for oxidative muscle metabolism and draws conclusions on the role of structural design in partitioning and limiting substrate supply. The studies compared dogs and goats exercising at different intensities and combined physiological, biochemical and morphometric investigations. In both species, the rate of fatty acid oxidation reached an upper limit at low exercise intensities, and only glucose consumption was increased at higher exercise intensities. The supply of both glucose and fatty acids from the capillaries reached maximal rates at low exercise intensities; this limitation is related to the design of the sarcolemma as calculations suggest that the endothelium introduces only a small resistance to substrate flux. From these findings, it appears that the capillaries are designed to satisfy O2 supply up to maximal O2 demand. The increase in substrate supply to the mitochondria at higher exercise intensities is achieved by drawing on intracellular stores of glycogen and lipids. The size of these stores is larger in dogs than in goats, providing the athletic species with twice the fuel reserves. These findings are interpreted on the basis of a network model with fluxes partitioned between direct and indirect pathways and with some structures shared by more than one function. Whereas O2 is supplied through a direct pathway, the supply of both substrates is split temporally to allow, during exercise, immediate fuel supply to the mitochondria from intracellular stores; these are replaced from the vasculature, during periods of rest, to a size commensurate with high rates of combustion. Considering this complexity, we conclude that the results are compatible with the principle of symmorphosis applied to a network structure and that the adjustment of design to functional demand involves different structures for O2 and for substrates.
Vitamin E Administration Attenuates the Tri-Iodothyronine-Induced Modification of Heart Electrical Activity in The Rat
Authors: venditti Paola , Leo Teodoro De , Meo Sergio Di
Published: April 2021

This work was designed to determine whether the thyroid-hormone-induced modifications of heart electrical activity are, at least in part, due to increased free radical production. For this study, 60-day-old euthyroid, hyperthyroid and hyperthyroid vitamin-E-treated rats were used. Hyperthyroidism, elicited by a 10 day treatment with tri-iodothyronine, induced an increase in lipid peroxidation without changing the level of antioxidants. Intraperitoneal vitamin administration to hyperthyroid rats led to a reduction in lipid peroxidation and a non-significant increase in antioxidant level.

The hyperthyroid state was also associated with an increase in heart rate measured in vivo and a decrease in the duration of the ventricular action potential recorded in vitro. Administration of vitamin E attenuated the thyroid-hormone-induced changes in heart rate and action potential duration, which were, however, significantly different from those of the control euthyroid rats. These results suggest that vitamin E protects hyperthyroid heart against lipid peroxidation by mechanisms that may be independent of the changes in antioxidant systems. Moreover, the reduction in the tri-iodothyronine effects on heart electrophysiological properties indicates that such effects are mediated, at least in part, through a membrane modification, probably related to increased lipid peroxidation, involving a free radical mechanism.
Effect of treatment planning system parameters on beam modulation complexity for treatment plans with single-layer multi-leaf collimator and dual-layer stacked multi-leaf collimator
Authors: Quintero Paulo , Cheng Yongqiang , Benoit David , Moore Craig , Beavis Andrew
Published: April 2021

Objective:

High levels of beam modulation complexity (MC) and monitor units (MU) can compromise the plan deliverability of intensity-modulated radiotherapy treatments. Our study evaluates the effect of three treatment planning system (TPS) parameters on MC and MU using different multi-leaf collimator (MLC) architectures.

Methods:

192 volumetric modulated arc therapy plans were calculated using one virtual prostate phantom considering three main settings: (1) three TPS-parameters (Convergence; Aperture Shape Controller, ASC; and Dose Calculation Resolution, DCR) selected from Eclipse v15.6, (2) four levels of dose-sparing priority for organs at risk (OAR), and (3) two treatment units with same nominal conformity resolution and different MLC architectures (Halcyon-v2 dual-layer MLC, DL-MLC & TrueBeam single-layer MLC, SL-MLC). We use seven complexity metrics to evaluate the MC, including two new metrics for DL-MLC, assessed by their correlation with γ passing rate (GPR) analysis.

Results:

DL-MLC plans demonstrated lower dose-sparing values than SL-MLC plans (p<0.05). TPS-parameters did not change significantly the complexity metrics for either MLC architectures. However, for SL-MLC, significant variations of MU, target volume dose-homogeneity, and dose spillage were associated with ASC and DCR (p<0.05). MU were found to be correlated (highly or moderately) with all complexity metrics (p<0.05) for both MLC plans. Additionally, our new complexity metrics presented a moderate correlation with GPR (r<0.65). An important correlation was demonstrated between MC (plan deliverability) and dose-sparing priority level for DL-MLC.

Conclusions:

TPS-parameters selected do not change MC for DL-MLC architecture, but they might have a potential use to control the MU, PTV homogeneity or dose spillage for SL-MLC. Our new DL-MLC complexity metrics presented important information to be considered in future pre-treatment quality assurance programs. Finally, the prominent dependence between plan deliverability and priority applied to OAR dose sparing for DL-MLC needs to be analyzed and considered as an additional predictor of GPRs in further studies.

Advances in knowledge:

Dose-sparing priority might influence in modulation complexity of DL-MLC.
Μεταμόσχευση νεφρού υπερευαισθητοποιημένων ασθενών με το πρόγραμμα των αποδεκτών ασύμβατων αντιγόνων
Authors: Δαρεμά Μαρία
Published: April 2021

Στην παρούσα μελέτη, αξιολογήσαμε τα αποτελέσματα της μεταμόσχευσης υπερευαισθητοποιημένων ασθενών (ΥΕΑ) οι οποίοι μεταμοσχεύθηκαν με το πρόγραμμα προτεραιότητας στην επιλογή των υποψήφιων ληπτών προς μεταμόσχευση από αποβιώσαντα δότη σε συνδυασμό με την εφαρμογή του πρωτοκόλλου των μη αποδεκτών ασυμβατοτήτων. Στη μελέτη, συμπεριλήφθηκαν 97 ΥΕΑ ασθενείς, με Panel Reactive Antibodies -PRA τάξης Ι ή τάξης ΙΙ > 70%, οι οποίοι υπεβλήθησαν σε μεταμόσχευση νεφρού στη Μονάδα Μεταμόσχευσης Νεφρού του ΓΝΑ «ΛΑΪΚΟ» τη χρονική περίοδο 1ος/2004 έως και 12ος/ 2016. Οι ασθενείς αυτοί συγκρίθηκαν με 96 ασθενείς με χαμηλή ή καθόλου ευαισθητοποίηση και PRA 0(0-5)%, διάμεσος (ενδοτ. εύρος) που μεταμοσχεύθηκαν την ίδια χρονική περίοδο και απετέλεσαν την ομάδα ελέγχου (OE).Σε δεύτερη ανάλυση της μελέτης, οι 97 ΥΕΑ χωρίστηκαν σε δύο υπο-ομάδες: 35 (36.08%) ασθενείς με παρουσία DSAs (ΥΕΑ/DSA+) με διάμεση MFI=3332 (IQR:1656-4842) την ημέρα της μεταμόσχευσης και σε 62 (63.9%) ασθενείς χωρίς DSA(YEA/DSA-) κατά τη μεταμόσχευση. Όλοι μεταμοσχεύθηκαν με αρνητικά CDC/ T/BFCXM. Στους ΥΕΑ DSA+ διενεργήθηκε επιπλέον, virtual crossmatch κατά την επιλογή. Όλοι οι ασθενείς έλαβαν θεραπεία επαγωγής με Basiliximab. Στην ομάδα των ΥΕΑ/DSA+ χορηγήθηκε Rituximab σε 18 ασθενείς και υπεβλήθησαν σε συνεδρίες πλασμαφαίρεσης 11 ασθενείς. Η επταετής επιβίωση των ασθενών ήταν 95.3% (SE=2,3%) στους ΥΕΑ και 91,7% (SD=3,0) στην ΟΕ, (p=0,274) και των μοσχευμάτων 90,1% (SE=3,2%) στους ΥΕΑ και 95,3% (SE=2,3%) στην ΟΕ (p=0,253). Παρατηρήθηκαν περισσότερα επεισόδια οξείας απόρριψης στους ΥΕΑ, αλλά χωρίς σημαντική διαφορά με τους ασθενείς της ΟΕ (p=0,523). Παρατηρήθηκε ωστόσο διαφορά στα επεισόδια απόρριψης μεταξύ των ΥΕΑ/DSA+ και YEA/DSA-, 22,9% έναντι 6,5%, αντίστοιχα (p=0,025). Δεν παρατηρήθηκε σημαντική διαφορά στα επεισόδια λοιμώξεων, νεοπλασιών και μειζόνων επιπλοκών, σε όλες τις ομάδες. Συμπερασματικά, η μεταμόσχευση των ΥΕΑ με το πρόγραμμα προτεραιότητας στην επιλογή σε συνδυασμό με την εφαρμογή του πρωτοκόλλου της μη αποδεκτής ασυμβατότητας είναι ασφαλής, με εξαιρετικά μακροπρόθεσμα αποτελέσματα, ισοδύναμα με αυτά των μη ευαισθητοποιημένων ασθενών.
Η διοικητική εκτέλεση για φορολογικές οφειλές
Authors: Κανάβας Βασίλειος
Published: April 2021

Σκοπός της διατριβής ήταν να παράσχει μία κάτοψη της διαδικασίας εισπράξεως των δημοσίων εσόδων, να παραθέσει τα πορίσματα της ελληνικής Θεωρίας και Νομολογίας επί των κρίσιμων ζητημάτων που ανέκυψαν από την εν λόγω θεματική τα τελευταία χρόνια, να εκθέσει τους προσωπικούς προβληματισμούς του γράφοντος ως προς την είσπραξη των δημοσίων εσόδων τόσο εν γένει, όσο και σε ό,τι αφορά ιδιαίτερες πτυχές της και τέλος να καταλήξει σε ορισμένα χρήσιμα συμπεράσματα και να διατυπώσει προτάσεις ως προς τον εξορθολογισμό των κακώς κειμένων της ισχύουσας νομοθεσίας. Εξετάσαμε την προαπαιτούμενα της διοικητικής εκτέλεσης και τις προϋποθέσεις εκκίνησης της διοικητικής εκτέλεσης. Στη συνέχεια παρουσιάσαμε αναλυτικά τη διαδικασία της εκτέλεσης που περιλαμβάνει μεταξύ άλλων την κατάσχεση. Ακόμη αναφερθήκαμε αναλυτικά στην διαδικασία του πλειστηριασμού και καταλήξαμε σε μια σειρά προβληματισμών και προτάσεων.
Ground-based measurements of atmospheric trace gases using differential optical absorption spectroscopy and comparisons with satellite observations
Authors: Δρόσογλου Θεανώ
Published: April 2021

Κύριο αντικείμενο αυτής της διατριβής είναι ο υπολογισμός της κατακόρυφης στήλης ατμοσφαιρικών αερίων με εστίαση στο διοξείδιο του αζώτου (ΝΟ2) χρησιμοποιώντας την τεχνική της φασματοσκοπίας διαφορικής οπτικής απορρόφησης (DOAS) και συγκρίσεις με δορυφορικά δεδομένα. Η διατριβή αποτελείται από δύο κύρια μέρη. Το πρώτο μέρος περιλαμβάνει την τεχνική περιγραφή και τον χαρακτηρισμό των τριών συστημάτων Multi-Axis DOAS που αναπτύχθηκαν στο Εργαστήριο Φυσικής της Ατμόσφαιρας (ΕΦΑ) στη Θεσσαλονίκη, καθώς και μια αξιολόγηση της λειτουργίας και της ποιότητας των μετρήσεων του συστήματος στο πλαίσιο της εκστρατείας CINDI-2 που πραγματοποιήθηκε στο Cabauw της Ολλανδίας τον Σεπτέμβριο του 2016. Στο δεύτερο μέρος, παρουσιάζονται μετρήσεις της τροποσφαιρικής και στρατοσφαιρικής στήλης NO2, καθώς και συγκρίσεις τους δορυφορικές παρατηρήσεις. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, εξετάζεται η επίδραση της χωρικής μεταβλητότητας του ΝΟ2 κοντά στην επιφάνεια στις συγκρίσεις επίγειων και δορυφορικών μετρήσεων. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, τα τρία όργανα MAX-DOAS του ΕΦΑ εγκαταστάθηκαν σε διαφορετικές τοποθεσίες στην ευρύτερη περιοχή της Θεσσαλονίκης που χαρακτηρίζονται από διαφορετικά επίπεδα ρύπανσης και υπολογίστηκαν συντελεστές διόρθωσης με τη βοήθεια ενός μοντέλου ποιότητας αέρα, οι οποίοι εφαρμόστηκαν σε δορυφορικά δεδομένα προκειμένου να προσαρμοστούν στη χωρική ανάλυση των επίγειων μετρήσεων. Επιπλέον, παρουσιάζονται τα αποτελέσματα των μετρήσεων της τροποσφαιρικής στήλης του ΝΟ2 στη ρυπασμένη περιοχή της Guangzhou της Κίνας και συγκρίνονται με αντίστοιχες δορυφορικές μετρήσεις. Διερευνήθηκε επίσης η επίδραση των κριτηρίων αντιστοίχισης των επίγειων και των δορυφορικών τροσφαιρικών στηλών του NO2. Τέλος, υπολογίστηκαν οι συγκεντρώσεις του στρατοσφαιρικού NO2 για πρώτη φορά στη Θεσσαλονίκη από την ανάλυση DOAS των φασματικών μετρήσεων ακτινοβολίας που πραγματοποιήθηκαν στο ζενίθ κατά το λυκόφως για μια περίοδο 7 ετών (Απρίλιος 2011 - Απρίλιος 2018).
Isothermal drying characteristics and kinetics of human faecal sludges
Authors: Somorin Tosin , Getahun Samuel , Septien Santiago , Mabbet Ian , Kolios Athanasios , Buckley Chris
Published: April 2021

Background: Drying is an important step for the thermochemical conversion of solid fuels, but it is energy-intensive for treating highly moist materials.

Methods: To inform the thermal treatment of faecal sludge (FS), this study investigated the drying characteristics and kinetics of various faecal wastes using thermogravimetric analysis and isothermal heating conditions.

Results: The findings show that FS from the anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) and ventilated improved pit latrines (VIP) exhibit similar drying characteristics, with maximum drying rates at 0.04 mg/min during a constant rate period that is followed by a distinct falling rate period. On the contrary, fresh human faeces (HF) and FS from urine diversion dry toilets (UDDT) exhibited a falling rate period regime with no prior or intermittent constant rate periods. The absence of a constant rate period in these samples suggested limited amounts of unbound water that can be removed by dewatering and vice versa for VIP and ABR faecal sludges. The activation energies and effective moisture diffusivity for the sludges varied from 28 to 36 kJ/mol and 1.7·10-7 to 10·10-7 m2/s at 55°C and sludge thickness of 3mm. The Page model was consistent in modelling the different sludges across all temperatures.

Conclusions: These results presented in this study can inform the design and development of innovative drying methods for FS treatment.
An automated approach to identify scientific publications reporting pharmacokinetic parameters
Authors: Gonzalez Hernandez Ferran , Carter Simon J , Iso-Sipilä Juha , Goldsmith Paul , Almousa Ahmed A. , Gastine Silke , Lilaonitkul Watjana , Kloprogge Frank , Standing Joseph F
Published: April 2021

Pharmacokinetic (PK) predictions of new chemical entities are aided by prior knowledge from other compounds. The development of robust algorithms that improve preclinical and clinical phases of drug development remains constrained by the need to search, curate and standardise PK information across the constantly-growing scientific literature. The lack of centralised, up-to-date and comprehensive repositories of PK data represents a significant limitation in the drug development pipeline.In this work, we propose a machine learning approach to automatically identify and characterise scientific publications reporting PK parameters from in vivo data, providing a centralised repository of PK literature. A dataset of 4,792 PubMed publications was labelled by field experts depending on whether in vivo PK parameters were estimated in the study. Different classification pipelines were compared using a bootstrap approach and the best-performing architecture was used to develop a comprehensive and automatically-updated repository of PK publications. The best-performing architecture encoded documents using unigram features and mean pooling of BioBERT embeddings obtaining an F1 score of 83.8% on the test set. The pipeline retrieved over 121K PubMed publications in which in vivo PK parameters were estimated and it was scheduled to perform weekly updates on newly published articles. All the relevant documents were released through a publicly available web interface (https://app.pkpdai.com) and characterised by the drugs, species and conditions mentioned in the abstract, to facilitate the subsequent search of relevant PK data. This automated, open-access repository can be used to accelerate the search and comparison of PK results, curate ADME datasets, and facilitate subsequent text mining tasks in the PK domain.
The Profitability of Revenue-Based Quotas Under Price Negotiation
Authors: Jindal Pranav , Newberry Peter
Published: April 2021

We study how the presence of a monthly revenue-based quota impacts a retailer’s profits when prices are negotiated by a salesperson. Using transaction level data for refrigerators, we first provide reduced-form evidence that prices are impacted by the quota: the negotiated discounts are approximately 3.8% higher if the salesperson is 10% closer to reaching the quota in the final week of the month. Guided by this result, we specify and estimate a demand model that identifies the impact of the quota through two forces: the effort salespeople expend in order to sell the product and their bargaining position. Results indicate that, as salespeople get closer to reaching their quota, their effort increases regardless of the week, and their bargaining position weakens (i.e., they offer lower prices), but only in the final week of the month. We use these results to analyze the impact of the quota and find that, holding salespeoples’ total compensation fixed, eliminating quotas results in 8% lower profit for the retailer. This decrease stems primarily from the reduction in effort that outweighs any benefit from strengthening the salespeoples’ bargaining position. The change in profit is economically meaningful because eliminating both price negotiation (i.e., moving to fixed pricing) and the quota results in an up to 36% reduction in profit.

This paper was accepted by Matthew Shum, marketing.
Diffusion Approximation for Fair Resource Control—Interchange of Limits Under a Moment Condition
Authors: Ye Heng-Qing , Yao David D.
Published: April 2021

In a prior study [Ye HQ, Yao DD (2016) Diffusion limit of fair resource control–Stationary and interchange of limits. Math. Oper. Res. 41(4):1161–1207.] focusing on a class of stochastic processing network with fair resource control, we justified the diffusion approximation (in the context of the interchange of limits) provided that the pth moment of the workloads are bounded. To this end, we introduced the so-called bounded workload condition, which requires the workload process be bounded by a free process plus the initial workload. This condition is for a derived process, the workload, as opposed to primitives such as arrival processes and service requirements; as such, it could be difficult to verify. In this paper, we establish the interchange of limits under a moment condition of suitable order on the primitives directly: the required order is [Formula: see text] on the moments of the primitive processes so as to bound the pth moment of the workload. This moment condition is trivial to verify, and indeed automatically holds in networks where the primitives have moments of all orders, for instance, renewal arrivals with phase-type interarrival times and independent and identically distributed phase-type service times.
Food Additives In Commercial Cocoa Beverage Products and their Effects on Total Polyphenol Contents, Cellular Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities
Authors: Ling Lena , Loong Claudine , Loke Wai Mun
Published: April 2021

The study evaluated the uses of food additives in commercial cocoa beverages, and examined the effects of the food additives on their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The food additive lists of the cocoa beverage items on the shelves and chillers of ten randomly selected local supermarkets were recorded. The total flavonoid, polyphenol contents, and radical scavenging activity of the beverages were determined using the modified Dowd, Folin-Ciocalteu, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assays, respectively. Cellular experiments examined the inhibition of F2-isoprostanes, lipid hydroperoxides, leukotriene B4 productions, and myeloperoxidase activity by freshly isolated human neutrophils. The effects of food additives on the measured outcomes were evaluated. Food additives were added to 72% of the twenty five cocoa beverage products. Flavorings (60%), antioxidants (56%), pH regulators (40%), emulsifiers (36%), and colorings (4%) were added into these beverages. The cocoa beverages contained significant amounts of flavonoids, polyphenols, and radical-scavenging antioxidants. Their ethanolic extracts inhibited F2-isoprostanes, lipid hydroperoxides, leukotriene B4 productions, and myeloperoxidase activity from freshly isolated human neutrophils. After stratification by different food additive groups, the flavonoids, polyphenols contents, radical scavenging capacity, cellular inhibitions of F2-isoprostanes, lipid hydroperoxides, leukotriene B4, and myeloperoxidase activity were significantly increased by the beverages containing added antioxidants compared to those without. The other additive types did not influence the measured antioxidant and anti-inflammatory outcomes. Commercial cocoa beverages were shown to exert potential nutraceutical properties, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Selective food additives may exert profound effects on these properties by modulating the availability of flavonoids and polyphenols.
Global tip-tilt and high-order aberration correction with plenoptic wavefront sensors in closed-loop AO systems
Authors: Zhang Zhentao , Morris Tim , Bharmal Nazim , Liang Yonghui
Published: April 2021

The plenoptic wavefront sensor (PlWFS) has been proposed as being suitable for operating on extended objects in adaptive optics (AO) systems. We propose a new self-referencing method that uses the cell image of PlWFS as a correlation reference and enables the simultaneous measurement of high-order aberrations and tilt. Simulations have been performed for different operating conditions to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. These show that using the cell image results in better AO performance compared to existing reference generation techniques and allows stable wavefront tilt control with a small residual variance.
In vivo photoacoustic imaging for monitoring treatment outcome of corneal neovascularization with metformin eye drops
Authors: Lui Kwok-Ho , Li Shiying , Lo Wai-sum , Gu Yanjuan , Wong Wing-Tak
Published: April 2021

Corneal neovascularization (CNV) compromises corneal avascularity and visual acuity. Current clinical visualization approaches are subjective and unable to provide molecular information. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging offers an objective and non-invasive way for angiogenesis investigation through hemodynamic and oxygen saturation level (sO2) quantification. Here, we demonstrate the utility of PA and slit lamp microscope for in vivo rat CNV model. PA images revealed untreated corneas exhibited higher sO2 level than treatment groups. The PA results complement with the color image obtained with slit lamp. These data suggest PA could offer an objective and non-invasive method for monitoring CNV progression and treatment outcome through the sO2 quantification.
Electron dynamics in laser-driven atoms near the continuum threshold
Authors: Liu Mingqing , Xu Songpo , Hu Shilin , Becker Wilhelm , Quan Wei , Liu Xiaojun , Chen Jing
Published: April 2021

Strong-field ionization and Rydberg-state excitation (RSE) near the continuum threshold exhibit two phenomena that have attracted a lot of recent attention: the low-energy structure (LES) just above and frustrated tunneling ionization just below the threshold. The former becomes apparent for longer laser wavelengths, while the latter has been especially investigated in the near infrared; both have been treated as separate phenomena so far. Here we present a unified perspective based on electron trajectories, which emphasizes the very important role of the electron-ion Coulomb interaction as expected in this energy region. Namely, those trajectories that generate the LES can also be recaptured into a Rydberg state. The coherent superposition of the contributions of such trajectories with different travel times (each generating one of the various LES peaks) causes an oscillation in the intensity dependence of the RSE yield, which is especially noticeable for longer wavelengths. The theory is illustrated by RSE experiments at 1800 nm, which agree very well with the theory with respect to position and period of the oscillation. The wavelength scaling of the RSE oscillation is also discussed. Our work establishes a solid relationship between processes below and above the threshold and sheds new light on atomic dynamics driven by intense laser fields in this critical energy region.
Identification, localization and expression of NHE isoforms in the alveolar epithelial cells
Authors: Kinaneh Safa , Knany Yara , Khoury Emad E. , Ismael-Badarneh Reem , Hamoud Shadi , Berger Gidon , Abassi Zaid , Azzam Zaher S.
Published: April 2021

Na+/H+ exchangers (NHEs), encoded by Solute Carrier 9A (SLC9A) genes in human, are ubiquitous integral membrane ion transporters that mediate the electroneutral exchange of H+ with Na+ or K+. NHEs, found in the kidney and intestine, play a major role in the process of fluid reabsorption together via Na+,K+-ATPase pump and Na+ channels. Nevertheless, the expression pattern of NHE in the lung and its role in alveolar fluid homeostasis has not been addressed. Therefore, we aimed to examine the expression of NHE specific isoforms in alveolar epithelial cells (AECs), and assess their role in congestive heart failure (CHF). Three NHE isoforms were identified in AEC and A549 cell line, at the level of protein and mRNA; NHE1, NHE2 and mainly NHE8, the latter was shown to be localized in the apical membrane of AEC. Treating A549 cells with angiotensin (Ang) II for 3, 5 and 24 hours displayed a significant reduction in NHE8 protein abundance. Moreover, the abundance of NHE8 protein was downregulated in A549 cells that were treated overnight with Ang II. NHE8 abundance in whole lung lysate was increased in rats with 1-week CHF compared to sham operated rats. However, lower abundance of NHE8 was observed in 4-week CHF group. In conclusion, we herein show for the first time, the expression of a novel NHE isoform in AEC, namely NHE8. Notably, Ang II decreased NHE8 protein levels. Moreover, NHE8 was distinctly affected in CHF rats, probably depending on the severity of the heart failure.
Long-term medical imaging use in children with central nervous system tumors
Authors: Bowles Erin J. A. , Miglioretti Diana L. , Kwan Marilyn L. , Bartels Ute , Furst Adam , Cheng Stephanie Y. , Lau Cindy , Greenlee Robert T. , Weinmann Sheila , Marlow Emily C. , Rahm Alanna K. , Stout Natasha K. , Bolch Wes E. , Theis Mary Kay , Smith-Bindman Rebecca , Pole Jason D.
Published: April 2021

Background

Children with central nervous system (CNS) tumors undergo frequent imaging for diagnosis and follow-up, but few studies have characterized longitudinal imaging patterns. We described medical imaging in children before and after malignant CNS tumor diagnosis.

Procedure

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children aged 0–20 years diagnosed with CNS tumors between 1996–2016 at six U.S. integrated healthcare systems and Ontario, Canada. We collected computed topography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine examinations from 12 months before through 10 years after CNS diagnosis censoring six months before death or a subsequent cancer diagnosis, disenrollment from the health system, age 21 years, or December 31, 2016. We calculated imaging rates per child per month stratified by modality, country, diagnosis age, calendar year, time since diagnosis, and tumor grade.

Results

We observed 1,879 children with median four years follow-up post-diagnosis in the U.S. and seven years in Ontario, Canada. During the diagnosis period (±15 days of diagnosis), children averaged 1.10 CTs (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09–1.13) and 2.14 MRIs (95%CI 2.12–2.16) in the U.S., and 1.67 CTs (95%CI 1.65–1.68) and 1.86 MRIs (95%CI 1.85–1.88) in Ontario. Within one year after diagnosis, 19% of children had ≥5 CTs and 45% had ≥5 MRIs. By nine years after diagnosis, children averaged one MRI and one radiograph per year with little use of other imaging modalities.

Conclusions

MRI and CT are commonly used for CNS tumor diagnosis, whereas MRI is the primary modality used during surveillance of children with CNS tumors.
Defining mangrove-fisheries: A typology from the Perancak Estuary, Bali, Indonesia
Authors: Seary Rachel , Spencer Tom , Bithell Mike , McOwen Chris , Ota Yoshitaka
Published: April 2021

This study develops a definition of what mangrove-fisheries can encompass, incorporating a broad range of their possible characteristics. A detailed case study was conducted to develop a typology of mangrove-fishing in the Perancak Estuary, Bali, Indonesia, using interview surveys to investigate the fishing activities associated with mangroves. This case study demonstrated the complexity that a mangrove-fishery can entail, where fishing is connected to the mangrove forest by fishers of multiple sectors, functions, locations and temporal scales. Through a comparison with other mangrove-fishing communities in Bali, it also highlighted that mangrove-fisheries are variable even when in close proximity. With particular reference to this case study, a framework was developed as a flexible tool for identifying the multiple dimensions of a mangrove-fishery in a local context. Following this framework should encourage researchers and managers to look outside of the groups of fishers traditionally expected to benefit from mangrove fishing. This will enable the development of a broader definition of mangrove-fisheries in a site specific way. Identifying the full scope of fishers that contribute to or benefit from a mangrove-fishery is the first step towards building management measures that reflect the interests of groups of fishers that may otherwise remain under-represented. This is in line with international efforts for sustainability, especially in promoting small-scale fishers’ access to sustainable resources under the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Artificial intelligence based writer identification generates new evidence for the unknown scribes of the Dead Sea Scrolls exemplified by the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa)
Authors: Popović Mladen , Dhali Maruf A. , Schomaker Lambert
Published: April 2021

The Dead Sea Scrolls are tangible evidence of the Bible’s ancient scribal culture. This study takes an innovative approach to palaeography—the study of ancient handwriting—as a new entry point to access this scribal culture. One of the problems of palaeography is to determine writer identity or difference when the writing style is near uniform. This is exemplified by the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa). To this end, we use pattern recognition and artificial intelligence techniques to innovate the palaeography of the scrolls and to pioneer the microlevel of individual scribes to open access to the Bible’s ancient scribal culture. We report new evidence for a breaking point in the series of columns in this scroll. Without prior assumption of writer identity, based on point clouds of the reduced-dimensionality feature-space, we found that columns from the first and second halves of the manuscript ended up in two distinct zones of such scatter plots, notably for a range of digital palaeography tools, each addressing very different featural aspects of the script samples. In a secondary, independent, analysis, now assuming writer difference and using yet another independent feature method and several different types of statistical testing, a switching point was found in the column series. A clear phase transition is apparent in columns 27–29. We also demonstrated a difference in distance variances such that the variance is higher in the second part of the manuscript. Given the statistically significant differences between the two halves, a tertiary, post-hoc analysis was performed using visual inspection of character heatmaps and of the most discriminative Fraglet sets in the script. Demonstrating that two main scribes, each showing different writing patterns, were responsible for the Great Isaiah Scroll, this study sheds new light on the Bible’s ancient scribal culture by providing new, tangible evidence that ancient biblical texts were not copied by a single scribe only but that multiple scribes, while carefully mirroring another scribe’s writing style, could closely collaborate on one particular manuscript.
Correlates of variability in endurance shuttle walk test time in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Stoffels Anouk A. F. , van den Borst Bram , Peters Jeannette B. , Klaassen Mariska P. M. , van Helvoort Hanneke A. C. , Meys Roy , Klijn Peter , Burtin Chris , Franssen Frits M. E. , van ‘t Hul Alex J. , Spruit Martijn A. , van Hees Hieronymus W. H. ,   on behalf of the BASES consortium
Published: April 2021

Background

The endurance shuttle walk test (ESWT) is used to evaluate exercise tolerance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The recommended pre-intervention tolerated duration (Tlim) is between 3–8 minutes for optimal interpretation of treatment effects. However, this window may be exceeded and factors determining ESWT Tlim are not completely understood. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether pulmonary function, physical and incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) performance measures are associated with ESWT Tlim in COPD patients.

Methods

Assessment data from patients eligible for pulmonary rehabilitation was retrospectively analyzed. Inclusion criteria were: diagnosis of COPD and complete data availability regarding ESWT and ISWT. Patients performed an ESWT at 85% of ISWT speed and were divided into three groups (ESWT Tlim: <3 minutes, 3–8 minutes, >8 minutes). Subject characteristics, severity of complaints, pulmonary function, physical capacity and activity, exercise tolerance and quadriceps muscle strength were evaluated.

Results

245 COPD patients (FEV1 38 (29–52)% predicted) were included. Median ESWT Tlim was 6.0 (3.7–10.3) minutes, 41 (17%) patients walked <3 minutes and 80 (33%) patients walked >8 minutes. Body mass index, maximal oxygen consumption, Tlim on constant work rate cycle test, physical activity level, maximal ISWT speed, dyspnoea Borg score at rest and increase of leg fatigue Borg score during ISWT independently predicted Tlim in multivariate regression analysis (R2 = 0.297, p<0.001).

Conclusion

This study reported a large variability in ESWT Tlim in COPD patients. Secondly, these results demonstrated that next to maximal ISWT speed, other ISWT performance measures as well as clinical measures of pulmonary function, physical capacity and physical activity were independent determinants of ESWT Tlim. Nevertheless, as these determinants only explained ~30% of the variability, future studies are needed to establish whether additional factors can be used to better adjust individual ESWT pace in order to reduce ESWT Tlim variability.
Optimal allocations for two treatment comparisons within the proportional odds cumulative logits model
Authors: Moerbeek Mirjam
Published: April 2021

This paper studies optimal treatment allocations for two treatment comparisons when the outcome is ordinal and analyzed by a proportional odds cumulative logits model. The variance of the treatment effect estimator is used as optimality criterion. The optimal design is sought so that this variance is minimal for a given total sample size or a given budget, meaning that the power for the test on treatment effect is maximal, or it is sought so that a required power level is achieved at a minimal total sample size or budget. Results are presented for three, five and seven ordered response categories, three treatment effect sizes and a skewed, bell-shaped or polarized distribution of the response probabilities. The optimal proportion subjects in the intervention condition decreases with the number of response categories and the costs for the intervention relative to those for the control. The relation between the optimal proportion and effect size depends on the distribution of the response probabilities. The widely used balanced design is not always the most efficient; its efficiency as compared to the optimal design decreases with increasing cost ratio. The optimal design is highly robust to misspecification of the response probabilities and treatment effect size. The optimal design methodology is illustrated using two pharmaceutical examples. A Shiny app is available to find the optimal treatment allocation, to evaluate the efficiency of the balanced design and to study the relation between budget or sample size and power.