bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Structural and optical characterizations of Ce3+‐doped YSO phosphors via the addition of TEOS
Authors: Rafiaei Seyed Mahdi , Shokouhimehr Mohammadreza
Published: December 2020

In this work, Y2O3 phosphors were synthesized utilizing facile sol–gel, combustion, and solid‐state techniques. The tested synthesis processes provided various particle sizes from nano to submicron. To synthesize YSO:Ce3+ via a sol–gel method, tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) was used as the precursor for SiO2. Crystal structure, microstructure, and optical behaviour of the synthesized nanostructured phosphors were studied using X‐ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform‐infrared (FT‐IR) spectrometry, and photoluminescence (PL) analyses. FT‐IR analysis showed that hydrolysis of TEOS gave rise to the generation of Si–O–Si asymmetrical stretching vibrations. Addition of specific amounts of TEOS resulted in the formation of Y2SiO5/Y2Si2O7 phosphors with different crystal structures. Upon excitation of the phosphors under 354 nm radiation, there were two strong emission peaks at 395.6 and 424.1 nm, attributed respectively to 5d–2F5/2 and 5d–2F7/2 electron transitions of Ce3+. It was concluded that the most intense PL characteristics belonged to the combination of Y4.67(SiO4)3O, Y2Si2O7, and Y2SiO5 phosphors.
Engineering soluble artificial epidermal growth factor receptor mimics capable of spontaneous in vitro dimerization
Authors: Sunderhaus Allison , Imran Ramsha , Goudelock Amanda , Nassar Manon , Cooper Kendall , Patterson Dustin , Abdel Aziz May H.
Published: December 2020

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a clinically validated target for a multitude of human cancers. The receptor is activated upon ligand binding through a critical dimerization step. Dimerization can be replicated in vitro by locally concentrating the receptor kinase domains on the surface of lipid‐based vesicles. In this study we investigated the use of coiled coils to induce spontaneous receptor kinase domain dimerization in vitro to form non‐membrane‐bound artificial receptor mimics in solution. Two engineered forms of EGFR kinase domain fused to coiled coil complementary peptides were designed to self‐associate upon mixing. Two fusion protein species (P3‐EGFR and P4‐EGFR) independently showed the same activity and polymerization profile known to exist with EGFR kinase domains. Upon mixing the two species, coiled coil heterodimers were formed that induced EGFR association to form dimers of the kinase domains. This was accompanied by 11.5‐fold increase in the phosphorylation rate indicative of kinase domain activation equivalent to the levels achieved using vesicle localization and mimicking in vivo ligand‐induced activation. This study presents a soluble tyrosine kinase receptor mimic capable of spontaneous in vitro activation that can facilitate functional and drug discovery studies for this clinically important receptor class.
Pandemic Teaching: Creating and teaching cell biology labs online during COVID‐19
Authors: Delgado Tracie , Bhark Shun‐Je , Donahue Joshua
Published: December 2020

The year 2020 will forever be remembered as a season of pandemic teaching due to rising COVID‐19 infections. Institutions of higher learning abruptly changed from in‐person to online in attempts to minimize COVID‐19 spread. Due to this, we created and taught online cell biology labs in response to the COVID‐19 campus shutdown. Our virtual cell biology lab course emphasized molecular and cellular biology methods that can be used to study cells. Our report includes cell biology lab descriptions, learning outcomes, skills learned, lab set up and format, virtual tools used, lab sources, and lessons learned. We show how creative online lab alternatives can provide students valuable scientific learning experiences when in‐person learning is not possible.
Physiological measurement of emotion from infancy to preschool: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Sacrey Lori‐Ann R. , Raza Sarah , Armstrong Vickie , Brian Jessica A. , Kushki Azadeh , Smith Isabel M. , Zwaigenbaum Lonnie
Published: December 2020

Introduction

Emotion regulation, the ability to regulate emotional responses to environmental stimuli, develops in the first years of life and plays an important role in the development of personality, social competence, and behavior. Substantial literature suggests a relationship between emotion regulation and cardiac physiology; specifically, heart rate changes in response to positive or negative emotion‐eliciting stimuli.

Method

This systematic review and meta‐analysis provide an in‐depth examination of research that has measured physiological responding during emotional‐evoking tasks in children from birth to 4 years of age.

Results

The review had three main findings. First, meta‐regressions resulted in an age‐related decrease in baseline and task‐related heart rate (HR) and increases in baseline and task‐related respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Second, meta‐analyses suggest task‐related increases in HR and decreases in RSA and heart rate variability (HRV), regardless of emotional valence of the task. Third, associations between physiological responding and observed behavioral regulation are not consistently present in children aged 4 and younger. The review also provides a summary of the various methodology used to measure physiological reactions to emotional‐evoking tasks, including number of sensors used and placement, various baseline and emotional‐evoking tasks used, methods for extracting RSA, as well as percentage of loss and reasons for loss for each study.

Conclusion

Characterizing the physiological reactivity of typically developing children is important to understanding the role emotional regulation plays in typical and atypical development.
FBI reports largest jump in hate crimes in a decade
Authors: Sutton Halley
Published: December 2020

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released its report on hate crimes committed throughout the nation for 2019. The data was collected from 15,588 law enforcement agencies and revealed 7,103 single‐bias incidents involving 8,552 victims in 2019. There were also 211 multiple‐bias hate crime incidents, which involved 260 victims.
Use apps to stay focused and reduce stress while working from home, meeting virtually
Authors: Sutton Halley
Published: December 2020

One of the major challenges almost all sectors have faced during the COVID‐19 pandemic has been the adjustment to working from home and conducting business virtually.
Comparative study of degradation between the carbon black back coat layer and magnetic layer in magnetic audio tapes using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and machine learning techniques
Authors: Ratnasena Nilmini H. , Abraham Alyssa M. , Morgan Stephen L.
Published: December 2020

Most magnetic audio tapes in the industry were initially made with only two layers, the base film with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and the binder layer with polyester polyurethane (PEU). The binder layer seems to undergo degradation from hydrolysis, causing the condition “sticky shed syndrome (SSS).” Hydrolysis is a reversible reaction where atmospheric moisture reacts with weak ester bonds to form degradation products, alcohols, and carboxylic acids, which produce sticky materials, hindering the playability of tapes. Later, another layer called “back coat” was introduced to magnetic audio tapes. This layer consists of carbon black embedded in PEU or polyether polyurethane. Carbon black particles in this layer absorb water, facilitate high‐speed tape winding, and remove static electricity charges. However, due to the ability to absorb water, hydrolysis can occur in the back coat layer as well. For this reason, there is a study claiming that the back coat is responsible for the degradation of magnetic audio tapes, and by removing it, SSS can be overcome. To test the validity of the above claim, this study uses attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FT‐IR) with multivariate statistics to determine the degradation of the back coat layer and compare the results with the magnetic layer of the same tape identities. Results obtained show poor predictability in the back coat test set when compared with the results collected from the magnetic side, which indicates that to determine the playability status of this specific magnetic audio tape collection, the preferred side to obtain spectra is the magnetic layer.
Simulation of sour‐oxic‐nitrite chemical environment in oil and gas facilities
Authors: Ibrahim Abdulhaqq , Hawboldt Kelly , Bottaro Christina , Khan Faisal
Published: December 2020

The nature of the chemical environment in oil and gas fluids such as produced water (PW) and soured oil or low‐oxygen environments plays a vital role in microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). H2S and/or other forms of sulphur species in soured oils and PW are key factors in the corrosion and growth of microorganisms. To mitigate reservoir souring and subsequent corrosion, nitrate is injected to displace sulphate‐reducing bacteria with nitrate reducers. However, nitrates and the associated nitrogen species (eg, nitrite) impact the chemistry and microbial activity, and hence the corrosion potential in the system. This study investigates the PW chemical environment in light of sulphide and nitrite chemistry, and provides information towards understanding the chemical transformations and microbial relationships. The sulphide‐nitrite environment was studied as a function of temperature, pressure, nitrite level, oxygen‐using equilibrium, and kinetic model approaches. Equilibrium simulation predicted the formation of FeS, FeO(OH), and Fe2O3 as the key corrosion products, the amount of which varied depending on the chemistry and operating conditions. In experiments where nitrite was very low or absent, S0 was favoured over as the inlet H2S concentration increased and FeS dominated with an increase in temperature. In the presence of nitrite, Fe2O3 was formed instead of FeO(OH) at temperatures above 50°C. The trend of the kinetic simulation of the sulphide‐oxygen reaction in seawater was in good agreement with the wet‐lab experiment in PW. The models can serve as tools to better understand and describe the chemical environment in PW systems.
Conceptual and Computational DFT‐based In Silico Fragmentation Method for the Identification of Metabolite Mass Spectra
Authors: Cauët Emilie , Vanhaegenborgh Yannick J. , De Proft Frank , Geerlings Paul
Published: December 2020

Metabolomics is recognized as a crucial scientific domain, promising to advance our understanding of cell biology, physiology and medicine. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has strong potential to elucidate the metabolites in complex biological samples and to become a standard tool complementing established techniques. However, despite its potential for answering many key questions, a major challenge in the use of tandem mass spectrometry for characterizing metabolites lies in a lack of computational tools for accurate annotation and structure identification allowing us to turn complex data into molecular knowledge. Chemo‐informatics and related machine‐learning in silico fragmentation tools have already been established and used for different classes of metabolites. For the classes of metabolites where existing chemo‐informatics approaches produce insufficiently accurate predictions a supervised machine learning based strategy can be used to predict possible molecular structures from “unassigned” experimental tandem MS data. Here, we propose a new innovative in silico approach employing quantum mechanical (QM) methods in order to predict ion formation and subsequent fragmentation patterns of arbitrary small molecules and validate putative annotations of tandem mass spectrometry (MS) data. The focus is on the evaluation of a new conceptual density functional theory (CDFT) nuclear reactivity descriptor of the nuclear Fukui function type, that characterizes the forces that the atomic nuclei experience due to proton attachment and captures the onset of the change in the nuclear positions induced by it. A series of test compounds for which high quality experimental data exist and that were investigated before in a more approximate theoretical framework have been examined. The output of these calculations provides a list of the most probable molecular structures predicted to match the experimental tandem MS spectrum (“de novo metabolite identification”).
Design and analysis of efficient neural intrusion detection for wireless sensor networks
Authors: Batiha Tarek , Krömer Pavel
Published: December 2020

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are important building blocks of the communication infrastructure in smart cities, intelligent transportation systems, Industry, Energy, and Agriculture 4.0, the Internet of Things, and other areas quickly adopting the concepts of fog and edge computing. Their cybernetic security is a major issue and efficient methods to improve their safety and reliability are required. Intrusion detection systems (IDSs) are complex systems that discover cybernetic attacks, detect malicious network traffic, and, in general, protect computer systems. Artificial neural networks are used by a variety of advanced intrusion detection systems with outstanding results. Their successful use in the specific conditions of WSNs requires efficient learning, adaptation, and inference. In this work, the acceleration of a neural intrusion detection model, developed specifically for wireless sensor networks, is proposed and studied, especially from the learning and classification accuracy and energy consumption points of view.
Antibacterial Performance of a Gold‐Loaded g‐C3N4 Nanocomposite System in Visible Light‐Dark Dual Mode
Authors: Zhang Hongda , Zhang Xin , Zhu Minghang , Li Haiyan , Zhao Yan , Han Xuerong , Jin Lihong , Shan Haixia
Published: December 2020

Semiconductor photocatalysis technology, which can kill pathogenic microorganisms in a green and broad‐spectrum way, is a new research field with great application potential. Due to the dependence on light, semiconductor materials have the problems of low utilization rate of sunlight and inactivation under dark conditions. A simple Au‐loaded g‐C3N4 (Au/g‐C3N4) nanocomposites was studied. Under dark conditions, the antibacterial efficiency of 1.2 % Au/g‐C3N4 reached 99.1 % relative to 105 CFU (Colony‐FormingUnits)/mL E. coli. Under light conditions, the antibacterial efficiency of 0.9 % Au/g‐C3N4 reached 94.1 % relative to 107 CFU/mL E. coli. The influence of contact time, Au loading and bacterial concentration on its antibacterial performance under dark conditions was discussed in detail. Through photoelectrochemistry, SEM, TEM and reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection the microscopic charge behaviour was revealed in the system, and a light‐dark dual‐mode antibacterial mechanism was proposed.
Ultrafine Copper Oxide Particles Dispersed on Nitrogen‐Doped Hollow Carbon Nanospheres for Oxidative Esterification of Biomass‐Derived 5‐Hydroxymethylfurfural
Authors: Gupta Shyam Sunder R. , Vinu Ajayan , Kantam Mannepalli Lakshmi
Published: December 2020

One‐pot synthesis of furan‐2,5‐dimethylcarboxylate (FDMC) from 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is highly demanding for the commercial production of polyethylene furanoate (PEF). Herein, a direct synthesis of FDMC is reported from oxidative esterification of HMF using ultrafine CuO particles dispersed on nitrogen‐doped hollow carbon nanospheres (CuO/N−C−HNSs) as a catalyst and tert‐butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as an oxidizing and methylating reagent. The CuO/N−C−HNSs was prepared through a template protection‐sacrifice strategy using SiO2 as a sacrificial template and histidine as the precursor for N and C. N‐doping facilitated a strong interaction between the support and copper species, affording formation of CuO nanoparticles of less than 10 nm in size. By virtue of the highly dispersed CuO nanoparticles and a high BET surface area 373 m2/g, the CuO/N−C−HNSsshows excellent catalytic performance in the selective conversion of HMF into FDMC affording 93 % yield of the desired product with a TON value of 49. Furthermore, the oxidative esterification involving SP3C−H bond functionalization is also demonstrated using the same catalyst.
Sperm‐Binding Assay Using an In Vitro 3D Model of the Mammalian Cumulus‐Oocyte Complex
Authors: Hamze Julieta Gabriela , Jiménez‐Movilla María , Romar Raquel
Published: December 2020

We have recently described a new model to study gamete interaction in mammalian species. The model recreates the spherical surface of the oocyte by using magnetic Sepharose beads coated with a layer of a recombinant protein involved in gamete interaction (such as ZP2, or the IZUMO1 receptor JUNO) and an external layer of cumulus oophorus cells, thus mimicking, to some extent, a native cumulus‐oocyte complex. Once generated, this 3D model can be used in a sperm‐binding assay to obtain valuable information about the molecular basis of gamete interaction, since different recombinant proteins can be used to coat the bead surface, thus generating a variety of models to be used for several species. Furthermore, thanks to the ability of the model to decoy sperm, the physiological status of the bound sperm can be studied, making this a powerful tool to select sperm with high fertilizing capacity, to unmask subfertile animals in livestock breeding centers, or for toxicological studies. Here, we describe how to generate and use this model for sperm‐binding assays, using porcine sperm as an example, and ZP2, a protein from zona pellucida, as the recombinant protein of interest. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Basic Protocol 1: Generation of the in vitro 3D model

Alternate Protocol 1: Binding cumulus oophorus cells to the model

Basic Protocol 2: Quality control of the model by SDS‐PAGE electrophoresis and western blot

Support Protocol 1: Immunochemistry to confirm proper protein distribution on surface of beads

Support Protocol 2: Elution of recombinant conjugated proteins

Basic Protocol 3: Sperm‐binding assay

Alternate Protocol 2: Sperm preparation by the swim‐up method
Identification of QTL for fasciated ear related traits in maize
Authors: Mei Xiupeng , Dong Erfei , Liang Qingyuan , Bai Yang , Nan Jin , Yang Yang , Cai Yilin
Published: December 2020

Ear shape of maize (Zea mays L.) is related to ear perimeter, kernel row number, and then kernel yield. To study the inheritance of fasciated ear and the relationship between ear flatness and other ear traits is of great importance in improving ear shape and then increasing yield of maize. In this study, the fasciated ear inbred line Yi16 and normal ear inbred line B73 were used to construct F2 and F2:3 populations to study the correlations between ear flatness and other ear traits, and identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) of fasciated ear‐related traits in two environments. The results showed that ear flatness was positively correlated with cob flatness, ear perimeter, cob perimeter, and kernel row number and negatively correlated with ear length. The broad‐sense heritabilities of ear flatness and cob flatness were 59.01 and 67.38%, respectively. A total of 50 QTL were detected. Three QTL (qCF1, qCF4, and qKRN4a) were detected in all generations and environments, and five QTL (qEF4, qCF7, qCP2, qCP4, and qHKW7) were detected in two generations or two environments. The consistent QTL qEF4, qCF4, and qKRN4a were located in the common region of umc1940–umc1631 (bins 4.09) within a distance of 2.4 cM, explaining >10% of phenotypic variation except qKRN4a in F2. The five pairs of QTL (qEF3‐HC × qEF4‐HC, qCF1‐BB × qCF4‐BB, qCF1‐BB × qCF7‐BB, qKRN1a‐BB × qKRN4a‐BB, and qHKW3‐HC × qHKW7‐HC) were detected to have epistatic effects, contributing 7.31–13.95% of phenotypic variance.
Design of quantum‐dot cellular automata‐based communication system using modular N‐bit binary to gray and gray to binary converters
Authors: Ahmed Suhaib , Naz Syed Farah , Sharma Sparsh , Ko Seok‐Bum
Published: December 2020

In the current digital era, there is a need of secure and efficient nano communication systems with ultra‐low power consumption. One technology that can be used for designing these systems is quantum‐dot cellular automata (QCA). In the nano regime, QCA is able to operate with higher speed and lower power dissipation along with high density compared to CMOS technology. This work explores the applicability and feasibility of designing nano communication systems using code converters. In this paper, efficient 4‐bit, 8‐bit, and 16‐bit designs of binary to gray (B2G) and gray to binary (G2B) converters which can be scaled up to N‐bits are proposed. The N‐bit B2G and G2B converters can be designed using 33 + 38 (0.25N − 1) and 63 + 76 (0.25N − 1) cells with a latency of 0.5 and 0.25N clock cycles, respectively. The converters are then used to design 4‐bit, 8‐bit, 16‐bit, and 32‐bit communication systems for efficient data transmission and reception. Based on the performance comparison, it is observed that the proposed B2G and G2B designs achieve up to 90.03% and 99.64% improvement in terms of cost of the circuit thereby making them most cost efficient QCA designs. In addition to this, exhaustive energy dissipation analysis of the proposed designs is also presented. It is observed that the proposed designs can be efficiently utilized in designing nano communication systems requiring minimal area and ultra‐low power consumption.
Effects of postfire climate and seed availability on postfire conifer regeneration
Authors: Stewart Joseph A. E. , van Mantgem Phillip J. , Young Derek J. N. , Shive Kristen L. , Preisler Haiganoush K. , Das Adrian J. , Stephenson Nathan L. , Keeley Jon E. , Safford Hugh D. , Wright Micah C. , Welch Kevin R. , Thorne James H.
Published: December 2020

Large, severe fires are becoming more frequent in many forest types across the western United States and have resulted in tree mortality across tens of thousands of hectares. Conifer regeneration in these areas is limited because seeds must travel long distances to reach the interior of large burned patches and establishment is jeopardized by increasingly hot and dry conditions. To better inform postfire management in low elevation forests of California, USA, we collected 5‐yr postfire recovery data from 1,234 study plots in 19 wildfires that burned from 2004–2012 and 18 yrs of seed production data from 216 seed fall traps (1999–2017). We used these data in conjunction with spatially extensive climate, topography, forest composition, and burn severity surfaces to construct taxon‐specific, spatially explicit models of conifer regeneration that incorporate climate conditions and seed availability during postfire recovery windows. We found that after accounting for other predictors both postfire and historical precipitation were strong predictors of regeneration, suggesting that both direct effects of postfire moisture conditions and biological inertia from historical climate may play a role in regeneration. Alternatively, postfire regeneration may simply be driven by postfire climate and apparent relationships with historical climate could be spurious. The estimated sensitivity of regeneration to postfire seed availability was strongest in firs and all conifers combined and weaker in pines. Seed production exhibited high temporal variability with seed production varying by over two orders of magnitude among years. Our models indicate that during droughts postfire conifer regeneration declines most substantially in low‐to‐moderate elevation forests. These findings enhance our mechanistic understanding of forecasted and historically documented shifts in the distribution of trees.
Eating disorders genetics in Asia
Authors: Bulik Cynthia M.
Published: December 2020

A complete understanding of the genetic architecture of eating disorders requires adequately large sample sizes from individuals of all ancestries. Failure to include representative samples truncates understanding and may even exacerbate health disparities. Several countries in Asia have made rich contributions in psychiatric genetics; however, the eating disorders field requires concerted global efforts to increase representation from Asian ancestry populations to ensure that our global efforts accurately reflect the true distribution of eating disorders around the world and across ancestries.
Sex and tissue‐specific evolution of developmental plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Sarikaya Didem P. , Rickelton Katherine , Cridland Julie M. , Hatmaker Ryan , Sheehy Hayley K. , Davis Sophia , Khan Nossin , Kochummen Ashley , Begun David J.
Published: December 2020

Developmental plasticity influences the size of adult tissues in insects. Tissues can have unique responses to environmental perturbation during development; however, the prevalence of within species evolution of tissue‐specific developmental plasticity remains unclear. To address this, we studied the effects of temperature and nutrition on wing and femur size in D. melanogaster populations from a temperate and tropical region. Wings were more sensitive to temperature, while wings and femurs were equally responsive to nutrition in both populations and sexes. The temperate population was larger under all conditions, except for femurs of starved females. In line with this, we observed greater femur size plasticity in response to starvation in temperate females, leading to differences in sexual dimorphism between populations such that the slope of the reaction norm of sexual dimorphism in the tropical population was double that of the temperate population. Lastly, we observed a significant trend for steeper slopes of reaction norms in temperate than in tropical females, but not in males. These findings highlight that plasticity divergence between populations can evolve heterogeneously across sexes and tissues and that nutritional plasticity can alter sexual dimorphism in D. melanogaster.
Detection of amine gases by inverse opal photonic crystals infiltrated with precursor HPQ‐Ac of aggregation‐induced emission luminogen
Authors: Murakami Hiroaki , Sawada Mana , Kimura Taiki , Takahara Toshiki , Onodera Takeshi
Published: December 2020

In this study, to detect amine gases such as ammonia, a kind of biological gas, with high sensitivity, we fabricated a device that combines an inverse opal photonic crystal (IOPC) and 2‐(4‐oxo‐3,4‐dihydroquinazolin‐2‐yl)phenyl acetate (HPQ‐Ac), a precursor of the aggregation‐induced emission luminogen. IOPC silica structures (200IOPC, 350IOPC, 500IOPC) with SiO2 were respectively obtained after calcination with 200, 350, and 500 nm polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles used as templates and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) formed by self‐assembly on a slide glass. Furthermore, mesopore‐introduced IOPC (50 nm‐350IOPC) was prepared by mixing 350  and 50 nm PS particles in TEOS solution. Each IOPC was infiltrated with HPQ‐Ac, reacted with ammonia, and the rate of change in emission intensity owing to fluorescence was examined. The highest response was obtained for 350IOPC infiltrated with HPQ‐Ac among the three IOPCs without mesopores. The 50 nm‐350IOPC had higher sensitivity than 350IOPC and was found to be able to detect 50 ppb ammonia gas.
A multiple‐lines‐of‐evidence approach for prioritising environmental watering of wetland and floodplain trees
Authors: Wallace Todd A. , Gehrig Susan L. , Doody Tanya M. , Davies Micah J. , Walsh Richard , Fulton Christopher , Cullen Rose , Nolan Martin
Published: December 2020

Long‐lived vegetation is a key attribute of lowland river floodplains; yet dieback is increasingly being reported globally, with prior studies identifying salinity, drought and altered flow regimes as key stressors. In the Murray–Darling Basin (Australia), many floodplain/wetland areas have management strategies that aim to maintain the condition of floodplain tree communities. Environmental water delivery is a key tool used to achieve such outcomes. Currently, one of the primary tools for determining the need for environmental water delivery is a qualitative visual assessment of tree crown condition. To advance to more quantitative assessment and understanding of tree condition, we present a suite of techniques ranging from low‐cost, rapid visual assessment of tree crown condition to laboratory analysis of components of soil condition and in situ measurement of tree physiology. The aim is to address a number of key knowledge gaps on how to use the linkages between soil water availability ↔ tree physiology ↔ tree visual condition to quantitatively inform environmental water delivery decisions to meet management objectives. We have developed a multiple‐lines‐of‐evidence management assessment framework that presents a pathway to enable managers to improve prioritisation management actions. Furthermore, increased confidence in predicted outcomes should assist water holders and floodplain managers to optimise timing and maximise the benefits of environmental watering. Application of outcomes of this research will increase the efficiency of environmental water use.
Silver nanowire size‐dependent effect on the catalytic activity and potential sensing of H2O2
Authors: Abdel‐Rahim Rabeea D. , Emran Mohammed Y. , Nagiub Adham M. , Farghaly Osman A. , Taher Mahmoud A.
Published: December 2020

The design of potential nanosensors based on nanometric metals have been widely used for screening of various biomolecules and agents. One‐dimension (1D) silver nanowires (AgNWs) construction were synthesized by the polyol method and employed to detect of H2O2. The addition of various Ag‐source (AgNO3) concentrations of 0.15, 0.3, and 0.6 M lead to form of different AgNWs diameter of 0.05, 0.137, and 0.27 μm, respectively. The sensing property and electrochemical activity were enhanced with the decreasing of the AgNWs diameter, and followed the order of AgNWs0.05> AgNWs0.137> AgNWs0.27. Moreover, the morphological structure of good desperation, long wire length, and 1D orientation play a key role in the electrocatalytic efficiency of the designed electrodes. The facile diffusion of electron/molecules inner/outer the surface, the high volume to mass ratio ascertain the highly efficient electrocatalyst with high stability. AgNWs0.05, as an electrode surface, ascertains nonenzymatic sensors to detect H2O2 with high stability, high sensitivity, good selectivity, and reasonable reproducibility. The detection limit was low as 0.05 μM with a wide linear range of up to 1075 μM. Also, AgNWs0.05 shows a highly selective sensor for detecting H2O2 in complex mediums such as milk samples with a high recovery of 99.5‐100%. Therefore, the AgNWs0.05 can be used to detect H2O2 in various complex samples such as milk.
Multiobjective ant lion optimizer based network planning for Internet of Things on TV white space
Authors: Ding Lianghui , Jin Yiqing , Tian Feng , Yang Feng , Qian Liang , Zhi Cheng
Published: December 2020

In this article, we consider the planning problem of Internet of Things networks working on TV White Space (TVWS), that is, optimizing the number of gateways and their locations to cover the M2M devices using the available TVWS spectrum. We first formulate it into a nondeterministic polynomial optimization problem, and then present the multiobjective ant lion optimizer (MOALO) algorithm with low complexity to solve it. Simulation results show that the proposed MOALO solution can achieve better performance than the classical multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithm. Considering the typical case with M2M devices distributed Gaussianly with the variance 80, to achieve 99% coverage, the number of gateways selected by the proposed MOALO algorithm can be 14% less than that obtained from the MOPSO algorithm.
Tylopilus nigripes sp. nov. (Boletaceae, Basidiomycota) from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil
Authors: Barbosa‐Silva Anderlechi , Sulzbacher Marcelo A. , Wartchow Felipe
Published: December 2020

Tylopilus nigripes sp. nov. is described from an Atlantic Forest fragment in the state of Paraíba, Northeast Brazil. The new species is characterized by the small basidioma with a brownish pileus and blackish stipe, rufescent hymenophore turning blackish during handling, and whitish non‐bluing context that changes fuscous to pale vinaceous upon exposure. Microscopically, the size and shape of the basidiospores, the boletoid tube trama, the pileipellis that is a trichodermial palisade, and the frequently septate cheilocystidia are also diagnostic features of the new species.
Thermogenesis in four species of Schismatoglottis Calyptrata Clade (Schismatoglottideae: Araceae)
Authors: Hoe Yin Chen , Gibernau Marc , Wong Sin Yeng
Published: December 2020

Spadix temperature was measured in Schismatoglottis ahmadii, S. lowiae, S. sp. nov., and S. wallichii. The anthesis of S. lowiae, S. sp. nov., and S. wallichii started just after dawn but in S. ahmadii, it began two hours later. Spadix temperatures of the four species increased at the beginning of each of the two successive flowering mornings, corresponding respectively to the pistillate and staminate phases of anthesis. The appendices of S. ahmadii, S. lowiae, and S. sp. nov. underwent the highest temperature increases (average 9.5°C above ambient air) compared to the staminate zone (6.5°C above ambient air); almost no thermogenic activity was recorded in the pistillate zone (0.4°C above ambient air). In inflorescences of S. wallichii, in which the spadix lacks an appendix, the pistillate zone also heated up (2.3°C above ambient air), together with the sterile (2.6°C above ambient air) and the staminate zones (5.2°C above ambient air). Thermogenic patterns varied across species owing to differences in timing of anthesis or spadix structures. The absence of an appendix (sterile floral tissue) in S. wallichii, is not only partially compensated by heat production from the (intermediate) sterile zone but also heat production from the pistillate zone, recorded here for the first time in Tribe Schismatoglottideae.
Emerging tools and paradigm shift of gene editing in cereals, fruits, and horticultural crops for enhancing nutritional value and food security
Authors: Tiwari Manish , Kumar Trivedi Prabodh , Pandey Ashutosh
Published: December 2020

Gene editing using sequence‐specific nucleases, particularly CRISPR/Cas ribonucleoprotein, has drawn enormous attention in plant research in recent years. Nearly a decade ago, Cas9 protein was initially discovered for a role in adaptive immunity in bacteria. Owing to vast potential, a large number of reports came out in a short span of time, comprising the identification of Cas protein from different bacterial sources, new Cas9 variants with reduced off‐targets, multiplexing, base editing, prime editing, and RNA manipulation in plants. Studies revealed that CRISPR/Cas‐based gene editing can play a major role in ensuring food security via developing resilient commercial crops with improved yield and nutritional value. Use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system for creating mutation in genes and regulatory regions of promoter generated a number of alleles with variable phenotypes, which can serve as an excellent genetic resource in the breeding program. In this review, we provide a recent overview of state‐of‐art discoveries in the CRISPR/Cas system comprised of new Cas proteins, modifications of existing Cas9, refinements in CRISPR/Cas‐induced gene editing, applications, and outcome emphasizing on major cereals and horticultural crops. We also highlight the current global policy framework for the regulation of gene‐edited crops.
Liver Disease and Coronavirus Disease 2019: From Pathogenesis to Clinical Care
Authors: Saviano Antonio , Wrensch Florian , Ghany Marc G. , Baumert Thomas F.
Published: December 2020

Infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), a novel coronavirus that emerged in late 2019, is posing an unprecedented challenge to global health. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), the clinical disease caused by SARS‐CoV‐2, has a variable presentation ranging from asymptomatic infection to life‐threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiorgan failure. Liver involvement is common during COVID‐19 and exhibits a spectrum of clinical manifestations from asymptomatic elevations of liver function tests to hepatic decompensation. The presence of abnormal liver tests has been associated with a more severe presentation of COVID‐19 disease and overall mortality. Although SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA has been detected in the liver of patients with COVID‐19, it remains unclear whether SARS‐CoV‐2 productively infects and replicates in liver cells and has a direct liver‐pathogenic effect. The cause of liver injury in COVID‐19 can be attributed to multiple factors, including virus‐induced systemic inflammation, hypoxia, hepatic congestion, and drug‐induced liver disease. Among patients with cirrhosis, COVID‐19 has been associated with hepatic decompensation and liver‐related mortality. Additionally, COVID‐19’s impact on health care resources can adversely affect delivery of care and outcomes of patients with chronic liver disease. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of liver injury during COVID‐19 will be important in the management of patients with COVID‐19, especially those with advanced liver disease. This review summarizes our current knowledge of SARS‐CoV‐2 virus‐host interactions in the liver as well the clinical impact of liver disease in COVID‐19.
Cetuximab plus irinotecan administered biweekly with reduced infusion time to heavily pretreated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and related RAS and BRAF mutation status
Authors: Jensen Benny Vittrup , Schou Jakob V. , Yilmaz Mette , Johannesen Helle H. , Skougaard Kristin , Linnemann Dorte , Hogdall Estrid V. , Larsen Finn O. , Johansen Julia S. , Pfeiffer Per , Nielsen Dorte L.
Published: December 2020

Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is treated with cetuximab 250 mg/m2 administered weekly over 1 hour or biweekly (q2w) over 3.5 hours when combined with irinotecan. This prospective study investigated cetuximab 500 mg/m2 plus irinotecan 180 mg/m2 administered q2w over 1.5 hours independent of RAS or BRAF mutation status in mCRC patients in a third‐line setting. The intention‐to‐treat population included 181 patients. No patients had complete response, 18% had partial responses (PR) and 48% stable disease (SD). For cetuximab, a relative dose intensity of ≥90% was reached in 78% and for irinotecan in 67% of the patients. Grade 3 to 4 toxicities were pain (17%), fatigue (9%), neutropenia (8%), diarrhea (8%), rash (8%), infection (7%) and hypersensitivity (3%). No deaths occurred. Next‐generation sequencing in 96.7% of the patients revealed that 50.3% had RAS and BRAFV600E wild type (WT), with a mutation type (MT) in 45.1% of the RAS and 4.4% of the BRAFV600E genes. In patients with RAS‐WT and RAS‐MT tumors, a PR was obtained in 32% and 4% (P = .000003) and an SD in 43% and 53%, respectively, with a superior PFS (6.2 vs 3.7 months; hazard ratio [HR] 2.12, P = .00001) and OS (12.9 vs 8.8 months; HR 1.71, P = .0008). Treatment efficacy was poor in 7.4% of patients with an RAS mutation outside KRAS exon 2 and in 38% of patients with KRAS exon 2 mutations. Administration of cetuximab and irinotecan q2w, shortening treatment time from 3.5 to 1.5 hours, is recommended as standard therapy.
Predictive power of implied volatility of structured call warrants: Evidence from Singapore
Authors: Murad Samsudin Najmi Ismail , Mohamad Azhar , Sifat Imtiaz Mohammad , Hamid Zarinah
Published: December 2020

This paper examines the information content of implied volatility of structured call warrants in the Singapore Stock Exchange. The study is among the first to examine the implied volatility of equity options (structured call warrants) outside the United States. Using a daily dataset for 252 trading days between August 1, 2014 and July 31, 2015, we test whether implied volatility is an unbiased estimate of realized volatility (RV). In other words, we ask whether implied volatility contains information on future RV, and scrutinize the efficiency of implied volatility and its predictive power compared to historical volatility (HV). Our findings suggest that although implied volatility does contain some relevant information about future volatility, it remains a biased forecast of RV. The efficiency of implied volatility is trivial, and its predictive power is not superior to HV.
Delayed informed trades and opinion divergence: Evidence from earnings releases
Authors: Chen Tao
Published: December 2020

This study begins to verify whether delayed informed trades occur surrounding an earnings release. Next, we discover that post‐event investor opinions tend to diverge when more informed trades are delayed after the earnings release. As additional empirical evidence indicates, investors are likely compelled to postpone their informed trades due to information complexity, stock illiquidity, and institutional competition. Finally, such a documented association between delayed informed trades and opinion divergence remains robust to the placebo test, endogeneity problem, and large‐cap sample bias.
Different dosing intervals of mifepristone‐misoprostol for second‐trimester termination of pregnancy: A meta‐analysis and systematic review
Authors: Wu Limei , Xiong Wanchun , Zeng Manman , Yan Aihua , Song Ling , Chen Meng , Wei Tianqin , Zu Qian , Zhang Jiayin
Published: December 2020

Objective

To compare 1‐ and 2‐day drug administration interval between mifepristone and misoprostol for second‐trimester pregnancy termination and provide evidence‐based recommendations.

Methods

Search strategy: the search was performed in Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library for the relevant published studies from their establishment to March 2020. Selection criteria: randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing 1‐ and 2‐day time interval of mifepristone‐misoprostol for termination of pregnancy during second‐trimester pregnancy were considered. Data were processed using Revman 5.3 software.

Results

Meta‐analyses of three RCTs showed no significant difference was reported in the induction‐to‐abortion time and successful abortion rate between 1‐ and 2‐day mifepristone and misoprostol intervals. Statistical difference was not identified in the induction‐to‐abortion time between the two drug administration intervals in nulliparous or parous women.

Conclusions

Both 1‐ and 2‐day dosing intervals between mifepristone and misoprostol are suitable for clinical use for second‐trimester medical termination of pregnancy.
Low and high birth weight in a hospital population in Sudan: An analysis of clinical cut‐off values
Authors: Abdelrahiem Somia K. , Bilal Jalal A. , Al Nafeesah Abdullah , Al‐Wutayd Osama , Rayis Duria A. , Adam Ishag
Published: December 2020

Objective

To determine the cut‐off values for low birth weight (LBW) and high birth weight (HBW) of Sudanese newborns.

Methods

Data (maternal age, parity, birth weight, and gender of the newborn) from women (n = 2818) who delivered at Saad Abualila Hospital in Khartoum were retrieved from the medical files.

Results

The cut‐off for LBW (the 10th centile) was 2400 g and the 90th centile (HBW) was 3700 g. Out of 2818 newborns, 317 (11.2%) had birth weights below 2400 g. Using the WHO (traditional) cut‐off of 2500 g, the prevalence of LBW was 14.3%. The difference between the two prevalences of LBW was statistically significant (P < 0.001). However, the agreement rate between the two was high (κ = 0.86). The cut‐off to define HBW was 3700 g. In the study, 292 (10.4%) newborns had birth weights of at least 3700 g. Using the cut‐off of 4000 g, the prevalence of HBW was 9.5%. The difference between the two prevalences of HBW was statistically significant (P < 0.001). However, the agreement rate between the two was low (κ = 0.06).

Conclusion

The cut‐off values for low and high birth weight were 2400 and 3700 g, respectively.
Combination of metformin and chlorogenic acid attenuates hepatic steatosis and inflammation in high‐fat diet fed mice
Authors: Zamani‐Garmsiri Fahimeh , Ghasempour Ghasem , Aliabadi Masoume , Hashemnia Seyyed Mohammad Reza , Emamgholipour Solaleh , Meshkani Reza
Published: December 2020

Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become an important health problem in the world. Natural products, with anti‐inflammatory properties, are potential candidates for alleviating NAFLD. Metformin (MET) and chlorogenic acid (CGA) have been reported to be effective in the improvement of NAFLD. Here, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of MET and CGA combination in ameliorating NAFLD in high‐fat diet (HFD) fed mice. Fifty C57BL/6 male mice were divided into two groups, one fed a standard chow diet (n = 10) and the other was fed an HFD (n = 40) for 10 weeks. Animals in the HFD group were then randomly divided into a four groups (HFD, HFD + MET (0.25%), HFD + CGA (0.02%) and HFD + MET + CGA (0.25 + 0.02%). MET and CGA combination decreases fasting blood glucose and improves glucose intolerance. Decreased hepatic triglyceride level was associated with lower expression levels of fatty acid synthase and sterol regulatory element‐binding protein‐1c in MET+CGA treated mice. MET and CGA combination treatment resulted in the polarization of macrophages to the M2 phenotype, reduction of the expression of pro‐inflammatory cytokines (TNF‐α, IL‐1β and IL‐6), and decreasing protein level of NF‐kB p65. It was found that the lowering effect of combined MET and CGA on the expression of gluconeogenic genes was accompanied by increasing phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase 3β. Treatment of HFD mice with the combination of MET and CGA was found to be more effective at alleviating inflammation and lipid accumulation by increasing phosphorylation of AMP‐activated protein kinase. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the MET + CGA combination might exert therapeutic effects against NAFLD.
Alliance rupture and repair in early sessions of dialectical behavior therapy: The case of Rachel
Authors: Boritz Tali , Varma Sonya , Macaulay Christianne , McMain Shelley F.
Published: December 2020

Emotional and interpersonal instability are core features of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and can pose a challenge for the therapeutic relationship. In dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for BPD, ruptures in the therapeutic alliance are considered through a behavioral lens that examines the client's relational learning history, the function and context of the rupture, as well as the patterns of emotional processing difficulties that underlie interpersonal conflict. In this article, we use the case of Rachel to illustrate how alliance‐focused approach can be integrated with DBT case formulation to enhance treatment planning and the successful negotiation of alliance ruptures.