bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Instrumental Music in Late Eighteenth-Century Naples
Authors: DelDonna Anthony R.
Published: December 2020

The music of early modern Naples and its renowned artistic traditions remain a fruitful area for scholars in eighteenth-century studies. Contemporary social, political, and artistic conditions had stimulated a significant growth of music, musicians and culture in the Kingdom of Naples from the beginning of the seventeenth century. Although eighteenth-century Neapolitan opera is well documented in scholarship, historians have paid much less attention to the simultaneous cultivation of instrumental genres. Yet the culture of instrumental music grew steadily and by its end became an exclusive area of focus for the royal court, a remarkable departure from past norms of patronage. By bridging this gap, Anthony R. DelDonna brings together diverse fields, including historical musicology, music theory, Neapolitan and European history. His book investigates the wide-ranging role of instrumental genres within late eighteenth-century Neapolitan culture and introduces readers to new material, including recently discovered instrumental works of Paisiello, Cimarosa and Pleyel.
The Evolution of Corporate Governance
Authors: Tricker Bob
Published: December 2020

In this Element the origins of corporate governance are reviewed, recognising that corporate entities have always been governed, that important developments took place in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the huge significance of the invention of the joint-stock limited liability company. The development of corporate governance in the twentieth century around the world is explored, with complex groups, private companies, and top management dominating shareholder power appearing in the Inter-war years. Some unresolved issues in both principle and practice are identified. Various theories of corporate governance are described and contrasted. The subject is seen to be in search of its paradigm and a systems theoretical relationship between the theories is suggested. The need to rethink the concept of the limited liability company is argued, and a call is made for the development of a philosophy of corporate governance.
Ownership and rent stigma: two experiments
Authors: KRICHELI-KATZ TAMAR , POSNER ERIC A.
Published: December 2020

We provide experimental evidence for the existence of “rent stigma,” a preference for owning goods or real estate to renting them. In one experiment, anonymous respondents preferred owning a car or house to renting them, even though the transaction was constructed to be identical in each case in terms of economic payoffs and risk. In a second experiment, a survey of law students who were asked how much they would pay to own rather than rent a laptop found similar results. However, we found little or no evidence for our hypotheses that rent stigma would decline in conditions in which the advantages of renting were made salient. The existence of rent stigma raises concerns that the framing of a transaction in terms of purchasing rather than rent may be used to manipulate consumers.
A randomized trial shows dose-frequency and genotype may determine the therapeutic efficacy of intranasal oxytocin
Authors: Kou Juan , Zhang Yingying , Zhou Feng , Sindermann Cornelia , Montag Christian , Becker Benjamin , Kendrick Keith M
Published: December 2020

Background

The neuropeptide oxytocin is proposed as a promising therapy for social dysfunction by modulating amygdala-mediated social-emotional behavior. Although clinical trials report some benefits of chronic treatment, it is unclear whether efficacy may be influenced by dose frequency or genotype.

Methods

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pharmaco-functional magnetic resonance imaging trial (150 male subjects), we investigated acute and different chronic (every day or on alternate days for 5 days) intranasal oxytocin (24 international units) effects and oxytocin receptor genotype-mediated treatment sensitivity on amygdala responses to face emotions. We also investigated similar effects on resting-state functional connectivity between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex.

Results

A single dose of oxytocin-reduced amygdala responses to all face emotions but for threatening (fear and anger) and happy faces, this effect was abolished after daily doses for 5 days but maintained by doses given every other day. The latter dose regime also enhanced associated anxious-arousal attenuation for fear faces. Oxytocin effects on reducing amygdala responses to face emotions only occurred in AA homozygotes of rs53576 and A carriers of rs2254298. The effects of oxytocin on resting-state functional connectivity were not influenced by either dose-frequency or receptor genotype.

Conclusions

Infrequent chronic oxytocin administration may be therapeutically most efficient and its anxiolytic neural and behavioral actions are highly genotype-dependent in males.
Ethics analysis of light and vitamin D therapies for seasonal affective disorder
Authors: Stanak Michal , Strohmaier Christoph
Published: December 2020

Objective

The aim of this ethics analysis was to highlight the overt and covert value issues with regard to two health technologies (light therapy and vitamin D therapy), the health technology assessment (HTA) and the disease of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The present ethics analysis served as a chapter of a full HTA report that aimed to assist decision makers concerning the two technologies.

Method

First, we used the revised Socratic approach of Hofmann et al. to build overarching topics of ethical issues, and then, we conducted a hand search and a comprehensive systematic literature search on between 12 and 14 February 2019 in seven databases.

Results

The concrete ethical issues found concerned vulnerability of the target population and the imperative to treat depressive symptoms for the sake of preventing future harm. Further disease-related ethical issues concerned the questionable nature of SAD as a disease, autonomy, authenticity, and capacity for decision making of SAD patients, and the potential stigma related to the underdiagnosis of SAD, which is contrasted with the concern over unnecessary medicalization. Regarding the interventions and comparators, the ethical issues found concerned their benefit-harm ratios and the question of social inequality. The ethical issues related to the assessment process relate to the choice of comparators and the input data for the selected health economic studies.

Conclusions

The concrete ethical issues related to the interventions, the disease, and the assessment process itself were made overt in this ethics analysis. The ethics analysis provided an (additional) value context for making future decisions regarding light and vitamin D therapies.
Exploring the effect of a visual constraint on students’ design cognition
Authors: Ashrafganjouei Mohammadali , Gero John S.
Published: December 2020

This paper presents the results of a study that explores the effect of a visual constraint on design behaviors of architecture students. To examine this effect, 24 second-year architecture students volunteered to participate. Each of them undertook similar conceptual design briefs in two different conditions, one with and another without a visual constraint. Retrospective reporting was used to collect the verbalization of participants. The FBS ontology was used to model the design cognition of the participants by coding their design protocols. A dynamic analysis was used to study the differences between the two conditions based on the problem–solution index. A further index, the pre-structure–post-structure index, was proposed to measure design behavior differences between the two conditions. The correspondence analysis was used to explore the effect of gender. There were statistically significant differences in the distributions of cognitive effort between the two groups. These differences include in the visual constraint group a decrease in the focus on behavior before structure and in the processes related to it, compared to the non-visual constraint group. The non-visual constraint group changed their focus on problem framing and solving while adding a visual constraint led participants to focus simultaneously on both framing and solving. The visual constraint group had a different attention temporally to pre- and post-structure design processes during designing than the non-visual constraint group. The order of experiencing the two design sessions had only a small effect. The results of correspondence analysis demonstrate that there are categorical gender differences not found using statistical testing.
Habermasian Constructivism: An Alternative to the Constitutivist Argument
Authors: Rees Dafydd Huw
Published: December 2020

Jürgen Habermas’ discourse theory of morality should be understood, in metaethical terms, as a constructivist theory. All constructivist theories face a Euthyphro-like dilemma arising from how they classify the constraints on their metaethical construction procedures: are they moral or non-moral? Many varieties of Kantian constructivism, such as Christine Korsgaard’s, classify the constraints as moral, albeit constitutive of human reason and agency in general. However, this constitutivist strategy is vulnerable to David Enoch’s ‘shmagency’ objection. The discourse theory of morality, by classifying the constraints on the metaethical construction procedure (principles (D) and (U)) as non-moral, can avoid this problem.
A War Time Love Affair:The Round TableandThe New Republic, c.1914–1919
Authors: Kirkwood Patrick M.
Published: December 2020

Against the backdrop of the Great War a seemingly unlikely transatlantic romance blossomed between the deeply imperialistRound Tablejournal founded by “Milner’s Kindergarten,” a cadre of young former colonial administrators in Great Britain, and the American progressive standard-bearerThe New Republic. The rhetoric ofThe New Republicin these years was deeply influenced by political Anglo-Saxon thought, as exemplified inThe Round Table. Political Anglo-Saxonism was the belief that Anglo-Saxons were uniquely prepared for both self-governance and colonial governance. Adherents judged others’ capacity to self-govern against idealized Anglo norms. BothThe Round Table(1910) andThe New Republic(1914), from their inaugural issues on, sought national solutions for national problems utilizing a shared rhetoric of national efficiency. During the Great War this shared nationalist-progressivism drew the two groups together facilitatingThe New Republic’s founders’ early (1915) embrace of American intervention in the war. These connections are illuminated here through the interactions ofThe New Republicfounders: Herbert Croly, Walter Lippmann, and Walter Weyl with key members of the British Round Table set, including Lionel Curtis, Philip Henry Kerr, Alfred Zimmern, and the prominent American “imperial school” historian George Louis Beer.
A cautionary note on using Mendelian randomization to examine the Barker hypothesis and Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)
Authors: D’Urso Shannon , Wang Geng , Hwang Liang-Dar , Moen Gunn-Helen , Warrington Nicole M. , Evans David M.
Published: December 2020

Recent studies have used Mendelian randomization (MR) to investigate the observational association between low birth weight (BW) and increased risk of cardiometabolic outcomes, specifically cardiovascular disease, glycemic traits, and type 2 diabetes (T2D), and inform on the validity of the Barker hypothesis. We used simulations to assess the validity of these previous MR studies, and to determine whether a better formulated model can be used in this context. Genetic and phenotypic data were simulated under a model of no direct causal effect of offspring BW on cardiometabolic outcomes and no effect of maternal genotype on offspring cardiometabolic risk through intrauterine mechanisms; where the observational relationship between BW and cardiometabolic risk was driven entirely by horizontal genetic pleiotropy in the offspring (i.e. offspring genetic variants affecting both BW and cardiometabolic disease simultaneously rather than a mechanism consistent with the Barker hypothesis). We investigated the performance of four commonly used MR analysis methods (weighted allele score MR (WAS-MR), inverse variance weighted MR (IVW-MR), weighted median MR (WM-MR), and MR-Egger) and a new approach, which tests the association between maternal genotypes related to offspring BW and offspring cardiometabolic risk after conditioning on offspring genotype at the same loci. We caution against using traditional MR analyses, which do not take into account the relationship between maternal and offspring genotypes, to assess the validity of the Barker hypothesis, as results are biased in favor of a causal relationship. In contrast, we recommend the aforementioned conditional analysis framework utilizing maternal and offspring genotypes as a valid test of not only the Barker hypothesis, but also to investigate hypotheses relating to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease more broadly.
Update Sprunggelenksprothetik
Authors: Knupp Markus , Stufkens Sjoerd A.
Published: December 2020

Zusammenfassung. Die Arthrose am oberen Sprunggelenk ist in der Bevölkerung weit verbreitet und häufig auf vorgängige Traumata zurückzuführen. Am häufigsten tritt sie nach Frakturen und rezidivierenden Distorsionen auf. Im fortgeschrittenen Stadium stellt die Sprunggelenksprothese eine sichere Behandlungsoption für den Patienten dar, welche die Lebensqualität nur wenig einschränkt. Ob im konkreten Fall eine Sprunggelenksprothese oder eine Arthrodese durchgeführt wird, hängt vom Gelenk (Bänder- und Knochenqualität), dem Zustand der Nachbargelenke (unteres Sprunggelenk, Kniegelenke) sowie vom generellen Gesundheitszustand des Patienten ab. Da in vielen Fällen neben der Destruktion des Gelenkes eine Mitbeteiligung der benachbarten Gelenke, der Bänder und Sehnen vorgefunden wird, sollten die Prothesen am oberen Sprunggelenk nur von ausgewiesenen Spezialisten implantiert werden.
Association of Selected Area-Level Indicators With Suicide Mortality in Slovenian Municipalities
Authors: Roškar Saška , Sedlar Nataša , Furman Lucija , Roškar Maja , Podlesek Anja
Published: December 2020

Abstract. Background: With an average suicide rate of 20 per 100,000 in the last decade, Slovenia is above the EU average. There are considerable regional differences in suicide mortality within the country. Aim: We aimed to investigate the relationship between selected indicators at area level and the suicide rate in Slovenian municipalities. Method: Sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and (mental) health data in the years 2012–2016 were analyzed for 212 municipalities. Robust correlation and regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between different variables and the suicide rate. Results: The suicide rate was positively associated with the percentage of male inhabitants, the high social cohesion in the neighborhood, and the number of sick leave days per capita. It was negatively related to the net income per capita, the marriage rate, the divorce rate, and the availability of professional mental healthcare services. Limitations: The small suicide frequencies within municipalities constitute a limitation of the study. Conclusion: Factors at local, municipal level can be linked to the risk of suicide. In Slovenia, neighborhood cohesion is one of the factors that should be considered when designing suicide prevention measures in a community.
Temperature Effect on the Velocity‐Porosity Relationship in Rocks
Authors: Qi Hui , Ba Jing , Müller Tobias M.
Published: December 2020

Understanding the effect of temperature on physical properties of rocks is important to develop deep oil, gas, and geothermal resources. Velocity‐porosity relations are essential ingredients for a seismic rock physics model. However, relatively little effort has thus far been made to capture the temperature effect on velocity‐porosity relations. To overcome this limitation, we develop a double‐porosity model based on Biot's theory. This model is complemented with the Batzle‐Wang empirical equations for the pressure and temperature dependence of the pore fluid, as well as the David‐Zimmerman model to quantify temperature‐dependent microcrack density. The combined model is tested on carbonate and hyaloclastite samples, for which the variation of ultrasonic P‐wave velocity with temperature has been measured in the laboratory. Comparison of the predicted P‐wave velocity with the measured velocity shows that the proposed model is capable of quantitatively describing the rock velocity‐temperature and velocity‐porosity relations. We found that, for our rock samples, the temperature‐dependent change of microcrack porosity was not the dominant factor affecting the velocity‐porosity relation and that the temperature‐dependent fluid properties had a greater effect. The proposed model also predicts that the velocity dispersion and the attenuation peak of P‐waves in carbonate rock samples become less pronounced with increasing temperature.
Changes in Biomass Turnover Times in Tropical Forests and Their Environmental Drivers From 2001 to 2012
Authors: Wang Jingmeng , Li Wei , Ciais Philippe , Ballantyne Ashley , Goll Daniel , Huang Xiaomeng , Zhao Zhe , Zhu Lei
Published: December 2020

Tropical forests store about 70% of the total living biomass on land and yet very little is known about changes in this vital carbon reservoir. Changes in their biomass stock, determined by changes in carbon input (i.e., net primary production [NPP]) and carbon turnover time (τ), are critical to the global carbon sink. In this study, we calculated transient τ in tropical forest biomass using satellite‐based biomass and moderate‐resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) NPP and analyzed the trends of τ and NPP from 2001 to 2012. Results show that τ and NPP generally have opposite trends across the tropics. Increasing NPP and decreasing τ (“N+T−”) mainly distribute in central Africa and the northeast region of South America, while decreasing NPP and increasing τ (“N−T+”) prevail in Southeast Asia and western Amazon forests. Most of the N+T− tropical forest areas are associated with mean annual precipitation (MAP) below 2,000 mm·y−1 and most N−T+ tropical forests with MAP above 2,000 mm·y−1. The τ and NPP trends in the N+T− region are statistically associated with radiation, precipitation and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), while the τ and NPP trends in the N−T+ region are mainly associated with temperature and VPD. Our results inherit the uncertainties from the satellite‐based datasets and largely depend on the carbon use efficiency from MODIS. We thus systematically assessed the robustness of the findings. Our study reveals regional patterns and potential drivers of biomass turnover time and NPP changes and provides valuable insights into the tropical forest carbon dynamics.
Building an Early-Career Researcher Community from the Ground Up
Authors: Marcek Hadley
Published: December 2020

An international group of early-career scientists has developed its own network to virtually moor connections within the peatlands community.
Latitudinal Dependence of Daytime Electron Density Bite‐Out in the Ionospheric F2‐Layer
Authors: Chen Yiding , Liu Libo , Le Huijun , Zhang Hui
Published: December 2020

Daytime bite‐out in diurnal variations of the F2‐layer electron density often occurs in the equatorial ionosphere, while it was less reported at mid‐latitudes. In this paper, the climatology of daytime bite‐out was investigated using ionosonde measurements in the East Asia sector. The bite‐out can take place at both low‐ and mid‐latitudes and mainly in summer months; and it significantly depends on latitudes. The bite‐out appears as foF2 stays stable or slightly decreases for hours in early morning and then enhances till late afternoon at equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crest latitudes. It becomes more significant and durative at mid‐latitudes; foF2 increases and reaches a peak in the morning and then continuously declines till afternoon. In particular, the diurnal variation pattern of foF2 is nearly opposite to that of photoionization at the higher‐latitude station Yakutsk at solar maximum. Moreover, the bite‐out is more remarkable at solar minimum (maximum) than at solar maximum (minimum) at low‐latitudes (mid‐latitudes). The trans‐equator plasma outflow caused by neutral winds and the upward thermal diffusion can result in the bite‐out in the EIA crest region, while the subsequent field‐aligned plasma influx induced by the fountain effect ceases it. At mid‐latitudes, the diurnal variation magnitudes of the thermospheric composition and photoionization production rate are also important factors determining bite‐out degree in addition to neutral wind‐induced downward transport and the upward thermal diffusion.
Inner Core and Its Libration Under Gravitational Equilibrium: Implications to Lower‐Mantle Density Anomaly
Authors: Shih S. A. , Chao B. F.
Published: December 2020

The inner core's (IC) axial torsional libration (ATL) is a manifestation of the mantle‐inner core gravitational rotational normal mode. Its natural period is critically determined by the interior sectoral quadrupole (of mass distribution of spherical‐harmonic degree 2 and order 2) belonging to the mantle plus the core‐mantle boundary. We derive the (multipole) formalism to calculate based on two physical postulations: (i) Postulation I that equates the observed 6‐year variation in Earth's length‐of‐day to ATL as laid out in Chao (2017, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013515); (ii) Postulation II requiring that the shape of IC, thanks to its finite viscosity, conforms to the gravitational equipotential surface in the long term. being a complex value, its phase relation with ATL asserts that the major axis of the IC aligns with that of subject to the lowest‐energy state. The magnitude of thus evaluated by Earth parameters is (the two endmember values corresponding respectively to IC's nominal polar moment of inertia vs. the effective value under 100% tangent‐cylinder coupling). The corresponding equatorial elliptical shape of the IC under Postulation II has peak‐to‐peak topography of 75–164 m. The acquired can serve as source information for inversion on, among others, the density anomaly of the large low shear velocity provinces constructs in the lower mantle.
Comparing Streamflow Depletion Estimation Approaches in a Heavily Stressed, Conjunctively Managed Aquifer
Authors: Zipper Samuel C. , Gleeson Tom , Li Qiang , Kerr Ben
Published: December 2020

Estimating reductions in streamflow caused by groundwater pumping (“streamflow depletion”) is critical for conjunctive groundwater‐surface water management. Streamflow depletion can be quantified using analytical models, which have low data requirements but many simplifying assumptions, or numerical models, which represent physical processes more realistically but have high data, effort, and expertise requirements. Analytical depletion functions are a new tool that address some of the limitations of analytical models, but to date have only been evaluated in limited hydrogeological settings. Here, we compare eight different analytical depletion functions to streamflow depletion estimates from a calibrated MODFLOW numerical model used for conjunctive water management in the heavily stressed Republican River region of the High Plains Aquifer (USA). We find mostly strong agreement between the analytical depletion functions and the numerical model, though analytical depletion function estimates of depletion are lower for wells close to surface water features in high transmissivity settings. Compared to previous work, there is little variability among the eight analytical depletion functions, indicating that function formulation plays a minor role in this domain. Agreement between the modeling approaches is strongly influenced by hydrostratigraphic parameters (i.e., aquifer storage and transmissivity), suggesting accurate subsurface data are essential to estimating streamflow depletion regardless of modeling approach. Additionally, agreement between the two approaches is insensitive to pumping rate, confirming a key assumption of analytical models. Overall, analytical depletion functions provide comparable estimates of streamflow depletion to numerical models at a fraction of the time and data requirements.
Imaging and certifying high-dimensional entanglement with a single-photon avalanche diode camera
Authors: Ndagano Bienvenu , Defienne Hugo , Lyons Ashley , Starshynov Ilya , Villa Federica , Tisa Simone , Faccio Daniele
Published: December 2020

Spatial correlations between two photons are the key resource in realising many quantum imaging schemes. Measurement of the bi-photon correlation map is typically performed using single-point scanning detectors or single-photon cameras based on charged coupled device (CCD) technology. However, both approaches are limited in speed due to the slow scanning and the low frame rate of CCD-based cameras, resulting in data acquisition times on the order of many hours. Here, we employ a high frame rate, single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) camera, to measure the spatial joint probability distribution of a bi-photon state produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion, with statistics taken over 107 frames. Through violation of an Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen criterion by 227 sigmas, we confirm the presence of spatial entanglement between our photon pairs. Furthermore, we certify, in just 140 s, an entanglement dimensionality of 48. Our work demonstrates the potential of SPAD cameras in the rapid characterisation of photonic entanglement, leading the way towards real-time quantum imaging and quantum information processing.
Improvement in fast-track hip and knee arthroplasty: a prospective multicentre study of 36,935 procedures from 2010 to 2017
Authors: Petersen Pelle Baggesgaard , Kehlet Henrik , Jørgensen Christoffer Calov ,   The Lundbeck Foundation Centre for Fast-track Hip and Knee Replacement Collaborative Group, Madsen Frank , Hansen Torben Bæk , Gromov Kirill , Laursen Mogens , Hansen Lars Tambour , Kjærsgaard-Andersen Per , Solgaard Soren , Krarup Niels Harry , Bagger Jens
Published: December 2020

“Fast-track” protocols has improved surgical care with a reduction in length of hospital stay (LOS) in total hip (THA) and knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, the effects of continuous refinement of perioperative care lack detailed assessment. We studied time-related changes in LOS and morbidity after THA and TKA within a collaboration with continuous scientific refinement of perioperative care. Prospective multicentre consecutive cohort study between 2010 and 2017 from nine high-volume orthopaedic centres with established fast-track THA and TKA protocols. Prospective collection of comorbidities and complete 90-day follow-up from the Danish National Patient Registry and medical records. Of 36,935 procedures median age was 69 [62 to 75] years and 58% women. LOS declined from three [two to three] days in 2010 to one [one to two] day in 2017. LOS > 4 days due to “medical” or “surgical” complications, and “with no recorded morbidity” declined from 4.4 to 2.7%, 1.5 to 0.6%, and 3.8 to 1.3%, respectively. 90-days readmission rate declined from 8.6 to 7.7%. Our multicentre study in a socialized healthcare setting was associated with a continuous reduction in LOS and morbidity after THA and TKA.
Loss of FOXF1 expression promotes human lung-resident mesenchymal stromal cell migration via ATX/LPA/LPA1 signaling axis
Authors: Cao Pengxiu , Walker Natalie M. , Braeuer Russell R. , Mazzoni-Putman Serina , Aoki Yoshiro , Misumi Keizo , Wheeler David S. , Vittal Ragini , Lama Vibha N.
Published: December 2020

Forkhead box F1 (FOXF1) is a lung embryonic mesenchyme-associated transcription factor that demonstrates persistent expression into adulthood in mesenchymal stromal cells. However, its biologic function in human adult lung-resident mesenchymal stromal cells (LR-MSCs) remain to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that FOXF1 expression acts as a restraint on the migratory function of LR-MSCs via its role as a novel transcriptional repressor of autocrine motility-stimulating factor Autotaxin (ATX). Fibrotic human LR-MSCs demonstrated lower expression of FOXF1 mRNA and protein, compared to non-fibrotic controls. RNAi-mediated FOXF1 silencing in LR-MSCs was associated with upregulation of key genes regulating proliferation, migration, and inflammatory responses and significantly higher migration were confirmed in FOXF1-silenced LR-MSCs by Boyden chamber. ATX is a secreted lysophospholipase D largely responsible for extracellular lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) production, and was among the top ten upregulated genes upon Affymetrix analysis. FOXF1-silenced LR-MSCs demonstrated increased ATX activity, while mFoxf1 overexpression diminished ATX expression and activity. The FOXF1 silencing-induced increase in LR-MSC migration was abrogated by genetic and pharmacologic targeting of ATX and LPA1 receptor. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses identified three putative FOXF1 binding sites in the 1.5 kb ATX promoter which demonstrated transcriptional repression of ATX expression. Together these findings identify FOXF1 as a novel transcriptional repressor of ATX and demonstrate that loss of FOXF1 promotes LR-MSC migration via the ATX/LPA/LPA1 signaling axis.
Intensification and optimization of biodiesel production using microwave-assisted acid-organo catalyzed transesterification process
Authors: Athar Moina , Zaidi Sadaf , Hassan Saeikh Zaffar
Published: December 2020

To produce biodiesel cost-effective, low-cost, high free fatty acid (FFA) oil feedstock is desirable. But high FFA creates difficulty during the base-catalyzed transesterification process by yield loss due to the formation of soap. However, these problems are overcome by the use of an acid catalyst. The acid catalysts can directly convert both triglycerides and FFAs into biodiesel without the formation of soaps or emulsions. The shortcomings of mostly used inorganic acids are that they work well for esterification of FFA present in low-cost oil, but their kinetics for transesterification of triglycerides present in oils is considerably slower. Corrosion of equipment is another major problem associated with an inorganic acid catalyst. The usage of an organic acid catalyst of the alkyl benzene sulfonic type, like 4-dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) minimizes these disadvantages of inorganic acid-catalyzed transesterification. The aim of the present investigation was to reduce the reaction time of transesterification of triglycerides further by using microwaves as a heating source in the presence of DBSA catalyst to achieve higher conversions under mild operating conditions. To optimize the transesterification variables for the higher conversion of biodiesel, the response surface methodology was employed to design the experiment. By using the DBSA catalyst under microwave heating at a temperature of 76 °C, conversion close to 100% in only 30 min of reaction time was obtained using a 0.09 molar ratio of catalyst to oil and 9.0 molar ratio of methanol to oil. A modified polynomial model was developed and was adequately fitted with the experimental data and could be used for understanding the effect of various process parameters. The catalyst to oil molar ratio and reaction temperature created a stronger effect on the biodiesel production than that exhibited by the methanol to oil molar ratio. It was observed that the microwave heating process outperformed conventional heating, providing a rapid, easy method for biodiesel synthesis from triglycerides in the presence of DBSA, an organic acid catalyst. The produced biodiesel was of good quality, as all the properties were within the prescribed limits of the ASTM D6751 standard.
Bulk high-entropy nitrides and carbonitrides
Authors: Dippo Olivia F. , Mesgarzadeh Neda , Harrington Tyler J. , Schrader Grant D. , Vecchio Kenneth S.
Published: December 2020

High-entropy ceramics have potential to improve the mechanical properties and high-temperature stability over traditional ceramics, and high entropy nitrides and carbonitrides (HENs and HECNs) are particularly attractive for high temperature and high hardness applications. The synthesis of 5 bulk HENs and 4 bulk HECNs forming single-phase materials is reported herein among 11 samples prepared. The hardness of HENs and HECNs increased by an average of 22% and 39%, respectively, over the rule-of-mixtures average of their monocarbide and mononitride precursors. Similarly, elastic modulus values increased by an average of 17% in nitrides and 31% in carbonitrides over their rule-of-mixtures values. The enhancement in mechanical properties is tied to an increase in the configurational entropy and a decrease in the valence electron concentration, providing parameters for tuning mechanical properties of high-entropy ceramics.
High-performance hybrid modeling chemical reactors using differential evolution based fuzzy inference system
Authors: Babanezhad Meisam , Behroyan Iman , Nakhjiri Ali Taghvaie , Marjani Azam , Rezakazemi Mashallah , Shirazian Saeed
Published: December 2020

Bubbly flow behavior simulation in two-phase chemical reactors such bubble column type reactors is widely employed for chemical industry purposes. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach has been employed by engineers and researchers for modeling these types of chemical reactors. In spite of the CFD robustness for simulating transport phenomena and chemical reactions in these reactors, this approach has been known as expensive for modeling such turbulent complex flows. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm of the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) are largely understood and utilized for the CFD approach optimization. In this hybrid approach, the CFD findings are learned by AI algorithms like ANFIS to save computational time and expenses. Once the pattern of the CFD results have been captured by the AI model, this hybrid model can be then used for process simulation and optimization. As such, there is no need for further simulations of new conditions. The objective of this paper is to obviate the need for expensive CFD computations for two-phase flows in chemical reactors via coupling CFD data to an AI algorithm, i.e., differential evolution based fuzzy inference system (DEFIS). To do so, air velocity as the output and the values of the x, and y coordinates, water velocity, and time step as the inputs are inputted the AI model for learning the flow pattern. The effects of cross over as the DE parameter and also the number of inputs on the best intelligence are investigated. Indeed, DEFIS correlates the air velocity to the nodes coordinates, time, and liquid velocity and then after the CFD modeling could be replaced with the simple correlation. For the first time, a comparison is made between the ANFIS and the DEFIS performances in terms of the prediction capability of the gas (air) velocity. The results released that both ANFIS and DEFIS could accurately predict the CFD pattern. The prediction times of both methods were obtained to be equal. However, the learning time of the DEFIS was fourfold of ANFIS.
Coiled-coil domain containing 50-V2 protein positively regulates neurite outgrowth
Authors: Min Ju-Sik , Halder Debasish , Yoon Ji-Yong , Jeon Su-Jin , Jun Soo Young , Lee Jae-Ran , Lee Jeong-Ju , Choi Min-Hyuk , Jung Cho-Rok , Lee DaYong , Kim Byoung-Joon , Kim Nam-Soon
Published: December 2020

The coiled-coil domain containing 50 (CCDC50) protein is a phosphotyrosine-dependent signalling protein stimulated by epidermal growth factor. It is highly expressed in neuronal cells in the central nervous system; however, the roles of CCDC50 in neuronal development are largely unknown. In this study, we showed that the depletion of CCDC50-V2 impeded the neuronal development process, including arbor formation, spine density development, and axonal outgrowth, in primary neurons. Mechanistic studies revealed that CCDC50-V2 positively regulated the nerve growth factor receptor, while it downregulated the epidermal growth factor receptor pathway. Importantly, JNK/c-Jun activation was found to be induced by the CCDC50-V2 overexpression, in which the interaction between CCDC50-V2 and JNK2 was also observed. Overall, the present study demonstrates a novel mechanism of CCDC50 function in neuronal development and provides new insight into the link between CCDC50 function and the aetiology of neurological disorders.
MACE RNA sequencing analysis of conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma and papilloma using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue
Authors: Boneva Stefaniya , Schlecht Anja , Zhang Peipei , Boehringer Daniel , Lapp Thabo , Mittelviefhaus Hans , Reinhard Thomas , Auw-Haedrich Claudia , Schlunck Guenther , Wolf Julian , Lange Clemens
Published: December 2020

Recent advances in the field of biomedical research allow for elucidation of the transcriptional signature of rare tumors such as conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In this study we compare its expression profile to conjunctival papilloma (Pap) and healthy conjunctival tissue (Ctrl) and develop a classification tool to differentiate these entities. Seven conjunctival SCC, seven Pap and ten Ctrl were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) and analyzed using Massive Analysis of cDNA Ends (MACE) RNA sequencing. Differentially expressed genes (DEG) and gene ontology (GO) clusters were explored and the abundance of involved cell types was quantified by xCell. Finally, a classification model was developed to distinguish SCC from Pap and Ctrl. Among the most prominent DEG in SCC a plethora of keratins were upregulated when compared to Pap and Ctrl. xCell analysis revealed an enrichment of immune cells, including activated dendritic cells and T-helper type 1 cells (Th1), in SCC when compared to Ctrl. The generated classification model could reliably discriminate between the three entities according to the expression pattern of 30 factors. This study provides a transcriptome-wide gene expression profile of rare conjunctival SCC. The analysis identifies distinct keratins, as well as dendritic and Th1 cells as important mediators in SCC. Finally, the provided gene expression classifier may become an aid to the conventional histological classification of conjunctival tumors in uncertain cases.
In vivo investigation of diode laser application on red complex bacteria in non-surgical periodontal therapy: a split-mouth randomised control trial
Authors: Mulder-van Staden Suné , Holmes Haly , Hille Jos
Published: December 2020

Assessment of the efficacy of a single 810 nm diode laser application as an adjunctive treatment modality during the first intervention of non-surgical periodontal therapy (NPT). 25 patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis underwent a split-mouth randomised control trial. The periodontal pockets of the test quadrants were treated with an 810 nm diode laser as an adjunct to NPT (Picasso GaAlAs; AMD Lasers). The laser was set at 1.0 W continuous wave, 400 µm tip, 796 W/cm2peak power density and a 32 J/cm2energy density. Therapeutic outcomes were evaluated based on the clinical parameters, which included probing pocket depth, recession, clinical attachment level, full mouth plaque score, full mouth bleeding on probing and tooth mobility. The baseline bacterial collection was completed from the periodontal pockets and then re-evaluated at 6 weeks. Clinical parameters demonstrated no statistical difference, with the exception of a statistically significant (P < 0.05) reduction in bleeding on probing for the test side. The test side resulted in a statistical increase ofCapnocytophagaspeciesandTreponemadenticola. The single application of the diode laser did not significantly improve the bacterial nor the clinical parameters in patients with chronic periodontitis.

Trial registration number: PACTR201909915338276.
Selective nitrogen doping of graphene due to preferential healing of plasma-generated defects near grain boundaries
Authors: Robert Bigras G. , Glad X. , Vinchon P. , Martel R. , Stafford L.
Published: December 2020

Hyperspectral Raman IMAging (RIMA) is used to study spatially inhomogeneous polycrystalline monolayer graphene films grown by chemical vapor deposition. Based on principal component analysis clustering, distinct regions are differentiated and probed after subsequent exposures to the late afterglow of a microwave nitrogen plasma at a reduced pressure of 6 Torr (800 Pa). The 90 × 90 µm2RIMA mapping shows differentiation between graphene domains (GDs), grain boundaries (GBs), as well as contaminants adsorbed over and under the graphene layer. Through an analysis of a few relevant band parameters, the mapping further provides a statistical assessment of damage, strain, and doping levels in plasma-treated graphene. It is found that GBs exhibit lower levels of damage and N-incorporation than GDs. The selectivity at GBs is ascribed to (i) a low migration barrier of C adatoms compared to N-adatoms and vacancies and (ii) an anisotropic transport of C adatoms along GBs, which enhances adatom-vacancy recombination at GBs. This preferential self-healing at GBs of plasma-induced damage ensures selective incorporation of N-dopants at plasma-generated defect sites within GDs. This surprising selectivity vanishes, however, as the graphene approaches an amorphous state.
Chemokine mediated signalling within arteries promotes vascular smooth muscle cell recruitment
Authors: Stratman Amber N. , Burns Margaret C. , Farrelly Olivia M. , Davis Andrew E. , Li Wenling , Pham Van N. , Castranova Daniel , Yano Joseph J. , Goddard Lauren M. , Nguyen Oliver , Galanternik Marina Venero , Bolan Timothy J. , Kahn Mark L. , Mukouyama Yoh-suke , Weinstein Brant M.
Published: December 2020

The preferential accumulation of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) on arteries versus veins during early development is a well-described phenomenon, but the molecular pathways underlying this polarization are not well understood. In zebrafish, the cxcr4a receptor (mammalian CXCR4) and its ligand cxcl12b (mammalian CXCL12) are both preferentially expressed on arteries at time points consistent with the arrival and differentiation of the first vSMCs during vascular development. We show that autocrine cxcl12b/cxcr4 activity leads to increased production of the vSMC chemoattractant ligand pdgfb by endothelial cells in vitro and increased expression of pdgfb by arteries of zebrafish and mice in vivo. Additionally, we demonstrate that expression of the blood flow-regulated transcription factor klf2a in primitive veins negatively regulates cxcr4/cxcl12 and pdgfb expression, restricting vSMC recruitment to the arterial vasculature. Together, this signalling axis leads to the differential acquisition of vSMCs at sites where klf2a expression is low and both cxcr4a and pdgfb are co-expressed, i.e. arteries during early development.
Transfer learning efficiently maps bone marrow cell types from mouse to human using single-cell RNA sequencing
Authors: Stumpf Patrick S. , Du Xin , Imanishi Haruka , Kunisaki Yuya , Semba Yuichiro , Noble Timothy , Smith Rosanna C. G. , Rose-Zerili Matthew , West Jonathan J. , Oreffo Richard O. C. , Farrahi Katayoun , Niranjan Mahesan , Akashi Koichi , Arai Fumio , MacArthur Ben D.
Published: December 2020

Biomedical research often involves conducting experiments on model organisms in the anticipation that the biology learnt will transfer to humans. Previous comparative studies of mouse and human tissues were limited by the use of bulk-cell material. Here we show that transfer learning—the branch of machine learning that concerns passing information from one domain to another—can be used to efficiently map bone marrow biology between species, using data obtained from single-cell RNA sequencing. We first trained a multiclass logistic regression model to recognize different cell types in mouse bone marrow achieving equivalent performance to more complex artificial neural networks. Furthermore, it was able to identify individual human bone marrow cells with 83% overall accuracy. However, some human cell types were not easily identified, indicating important differences in biology. When re-training the mouse classifier using data from human, less than 10 human cells of a given type were needed to accurately learn its representation. In some cases, human cell identities could be inferred directly from the mouse classifier via zero-shot learning. These results show how simple machine learning models can be used to reconstruct complex biology from limited data, with broad implications for biomedical research.
Cyanobacterial blooms contribute to the diversity of antibiotic-resistance genes in aquatic ecosystems
Authors: Zhang Qi , Zhang Zhenyan , Lu Tao , Peijnenburg W. J. G. M. , Gillings Michael , Yang Xiaoru , Chen Jianmeng , Penuelas Josep , Zhu Yong-Guan , Zhou Ning-Yi , Su Jianqiang , Qian Haifeng
Published: December 2020

Cyanobacterial blooms are a global ecological problem that directly threatens human health and crop safety. Cyanobacteria have toxic effects on aquatic microorganisms, which could drive the selection for resistance genes. The effect of cyanobacterial blooms on the dispersal and abundance of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) of concern to human health remains poorly known. We herein investigated the effect of cyanobacterial blooms on ARG composition in Lake Taihu, China. The numbers and relative abundances of total ARGs increased obviously during a Planktothrix bloom. More pathogenic microorganisms were present during this bloom than during a Planktothrix bloom or during the non-bloom period. Microcosmic experiments using additional aquatic ecosystems (an urban river and Lake West) found that a coculture of Microcystis aeruginosa and Planktothrix agardhii increased the richness of the bacterial community, because its phycosphere provided a richer microniche for bacterial colonization and growth. Antibiotic-resistance bacteria were naturally in a rich position, successfully increasing the momentum for the emergence and spread of ARGs. These results demonstrate that cyanobacterial blooms are a crucial driver of ARG diffusion and enrichment in freshwater, thus providing a reference for the ecology and evolution of ARGs and ARBs and for better assessing and managing water quality.
Individual variability in functional connectivity architecture of the mouse brain
Authors: Bergmann Eyal , Gofman Xenia , Kavushansky Alexandra , Kahn Itamar
Published: December 2020

In recent years precision fMRI has emerged in human brain research, demonstrating characterization of individual differences in brain organization. However, mechanistic investigations to the sources of individual variability are limited in humans and thus require animal models. Here, we used resting-state fMRI in awake mice to quantify the contribution of individual variation to the functional architecture of the mouse cortex. We found that the mouse connectome is also characterized by stable individual features that support connectivity-based identification. Unlike in humans, we found that individual variation is homogeneously distributed in sensory and association networks. Finally, connectome-based predictive modeling of motor behavior in the rotarod task revealed that individual variation in functional connectivity explained behavioral variability. Collectively, these results establish the feasibility of precision fMRI in mice and lay the foundation for future mechanistic investigations of individual brain organization and pre-clinical studies of brain disorders in the context of personalized medicine.