bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Double-layer metasurface for enhanced photon up-conversion
Authors: Manley Phillip , Segantini Michele , Ahiboz Doguscan , Hammerschmidt Martin , Arnaoutakis Georgios , MacQueen Rowan W. , Burger Sven , Becker Christiane
Published: March 2021

We present a double-layer dielectric metasurface obtained by stacking a silicon nanodisk array and a silicon photonic crystal slab with equal periodicity on top of each other. We focus on the investigation of electric near-field enhancement effects occurring at resonant excitation of the metasurface and study its optical properties numerically and experimentally. We find that the major difference in multi-layer metasurfaces when compared to conventional single-layer structures appears to be in Rayleigh–Wood anomalies: they are split into multiple different modes, which are themselves spectrally broadened. As a proof of concept, we cover a double-layer metasurface with a lanthanide-doped up-conversion particle layer and study its interaction with a 1550 nm photoexcitation. We observe a 2.7-fold enhanced up-conversion photoluminescence by using the stacked metasurface instead of a planar substrate, although only around 1% of the up-conversion material is exposed to enhanced near fields. Two mechanisms are identified explaining this behavior: First, enhanced near fields when exciting the metasurface resonantly, and second, light trapping by total internal reflection in the particle layer when the metasurface redirects light into high angle diffraction orders. These results pave the way for low-threshold and, in particular, broadband photon up-conversion in future solar energy and biosensing applications.
Secondary recrystallization behavior in magnetostrictive Fe-Ga thin sheets induced by nano-sized composite precipitates
Authors: He Zhenghua , Du Hongji , Sha Yuhui , Chen Sihao , Zhang Fang , Chen Lijia , Zuo Liang
Published: March 2021

Strengthening η texture (⟨001⟩//rolling direction) through secondary recrystallization can significantly improve the magnetostriction coefficient of Fe-Ga thin sheets and expand the use of Fe-Ga alloys in high-frequency applications. However, the secondary recrystallization of Goss texture in Fe-Ga thin sheets deteriorates significantly with the thinning of the sheet thickness under the current inhibitors of micron-sized NbC particles or precipitates. In this paper, a new composite inhibitor system, composed of nano-sized MnS and Nb(C,N) precipitates, is proposed to induce the secondary recrystallization Goss texture in Fe-Ga thin sheets with thicknesses less than 0.3 mm. The density and size of MnS and Nb(C,N) is designed based on the effect of alloy composition and hot rolling parameters on the precipitation kinetics of MnS and Nb(C,N), including the relative nucleation rate-temperature (NrT) and precipitation-time-temperature (PTT) curves. It is found that the stored deformation energy increases the maximum nucleation rate and the fastest precipitation temperature. A large number of lamellar and rectangular precipitates (MnS and Nb(C,N)) with a size of 5∼20 nm were precipitated after hot-rolling at a temperature of 800∼1,050 °C and a total thickness reduction of 80%. These nano-sized inhibitors provide a strong pinning effect for the primary recrystallized grains, and induce abnormal grain growth of Goss grains at an annealing temperature of 950∼1,050 °C. Resultingly, centimeter-sized Goss grains with a small deviation angle and maximum magnetostriction coefficient of 264 ppm are successfully achieved in Fe-Ga alloy thin sheets with a thickness of 0.25 mm.
Corellation of water quality to the prevalence of ectoparasite in milkfish (Chanos chanos) in Sedati District, Sidoarjo
Authors: Irawan H , Kismiyati  , Mahasri G
Published: March 2021

The management of fish aquaculture need to be considered. The poor quality of water can cause fish being easily stressed, so that can lead a disease in fish. This study aims to determine the prevalence of ectoparasites and knows the correlation between ectoparasites prevalence in milkfish, with the quality of the water contained in Sedati District, like Segoro Tambak Village, Banjar Kemuning, and Tambak Cemandi. The method is descriptive method which determined by specific criteria (purposive sampling). The sampling method was random sampling on each farm. The main parameter is water quality, such as temperature, salinity, pH, brightness, dissolved oxygen, and ammonia. Supporting parameters was the clinical symptoms of milkfish. The results showed that one ectoparasite species infested milkfish, namely Chilodonella with 0.2% total prevalence value of the three villages in Sedati District, the highest prevalence was in Tambak Cemandi, the lowest was in Segoro Tambak 0%, the measurement of water quality in the three villages ranged from temperature 26-27°C, salinity 12-22 ppt, pH 8-8.5, brightness 23-28 cm, dissolved oxygen 2-5 mg / L, ammonia 0.03-0.15 mg / L. There is a positive correlation between temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, and brightness with the prevalence of Chilodonella.
Addition of crude fish oil (CFO) in feed toward fat and energy retention of mud crab (Scylla serrata)
Authors: Hadijah S , Agustono  , Lokapirnasari W P
Published: March 2021

Mud crab (Scylla serrata) is a brackish water organism that has quite big market potential because it has tasty flavour and high nutrition. Natural feed of mud crab is trash fish, one of the example is kuniran fish that has 15.43% of protein, 0.46% of fat, 84.29% of water, and 0.77% of ash. Crab needed 4.8-10.8% fat in feed, but kuniran fish has 0.46% fat, so it needs the additional of fat. Fat is very important to support fish growth rate. Fat is needed as an energy source to maintenace the body and tissue function. Therefore it is needed the addition of fish oil as one of fatty acids source that have 55.8791% ether extract, 10.7173% omega-3 fatty acids EPA, and 7.0108% DHA. The aims is to know the addition of Crude Fish Oil (CFO) in feed affects fat and energy retention of mud crab. The methods was experimental methods with randomly complete design which consists of five treatments and four repetitions. The treatments used 0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% as the addition of CFO in feed. Data analyzed by statistic and descriptive. Result showed that fat and energy retention for each treatments has no significantly different (p>0.05).
Meaning and Affect in the Placebo Effect
Authors: Chiffi Daniele , Pietarinen Ahti-Veikko , Grecucci Alessandro
Published: March 2021

This article presents and defends an integrated view of the placebo effect, termed “affective-meaning-making” model, which draws from theoretical reflection, clinical outcomes, and neurophysiological findings. We consider the theoretical limitations of those proposals associated with the “meaning view” on the placebo effect which (a) leave the general aspects of meaning unspecified, (b) fail to analyze fully the role of emotions and affect, and (c) establish no clear connection between the theoretical, physiological, and psychological aspects of the effect. We point out that a promising way to overcome these limitations is given by grounding the placebo effect on Peirce’s theory of meaning, in which the role of the meaning constitution and change is placed in logical and objective structures. We also show the connection between our theoretical proposal and the appraisal theory and integrate it with emotion regulation.
A Genealogy of Autonomy: Freedom, Paternalism, and the Future of the Doctor–Patient Relationship
Authors: Genuis Quentin I T
Published: March 2021

Although the principle of respect for personal autonomy has been the subject of debate for almost 40 years, the conversation has often suffered from lack of clarity regarding the philosophical traditions underlying this principle. In this article, I trace a genealogy of autonomy, first contrasting Kant’s autonomy as moral obligation and Mill’s teleological political liberty. I then show development from Mill’s concept to Beauchamp and Childress’ principle and to Julian Savulescu’s non-teleological autonomy sketch. I argue that, although the reach for a new principle to guide choices in physician–patient relationships can rightfully be seen as important, the notion that is now called autonomy within bioethics has corollaries that undermine critical aspects of medical care. As such, there is need for a richer account of the interplay between the free choice of patients and the informed recommendations of doctors.
Differences in seed dormancy and germination in amphicarpic legumes: manifold bet-hedging in space and time
Authors: Sánchez-Martín Ricardo , Gómez José Maria , Cheptou Pierre-Olivier , Rubio de Casas Rafael
Published: March 2021

Aims

Dispersal through space or time via dormancy is one of the primary processes whereby organisms can influence the environment they experience. In plants, strong evolutionary correlations are expected between the two kinds of dispersal because both are performed by the seeds and play comparable adaptive roles. In this paper, we investigated these evolutionary correlations using amphicarpic plants, which simultaneously produce aerial seeds with high spatial dispersal propensity and subterranean seeds that do not disperse.

Methods

We investigated the variation in dormancy and germination in aerial and subterranean seeds of two amphicarpic legumes (Vicia amphicarpa L. and Lathyrus amphicarpos L.) and two closely related homocarpic taxa (Vicia sativa L. and Lathyrus cicera L.) by estimating germination percentages following different combinations of dormancy breaking treatments (i.e. dry after-ripening, cold stratification and physical scarification).

Important Findings

Our results showed complex interactions between spatial and temporal dispersal. Right after dispersal, aerial seeds were more dormant than their subterranean counterparts, but this trend reversed with after-ripening, as seeds developed physical dormancy. Seeds of homocarpic plants germinated at higher percentages than those of their amphicarpic congeners and lost dormancy homogeneously with after-ripening. Conversely, amphicarpic seeds exhibited varied dormancy strategies modulated by both physiological and physical dormancy. These are expected to increase variation in emergence timing, providing multiple levels of diversifying bet-hedging. This strategy might be adaptive under highly unpredictable conditions by enabling plants to rely on historically favorable sites in good seasons without preventing spatial and temporal migration.
Effects of plant intraspecific variation on the prediction of C3/C4 vegetation ratio from carbon isotope composition of topsoil organic matter across grasslands
Authors: Luo Wentao , Wang Xiaoguang , Auerswald Karl , Wang Zhengwen , Bird Michael I , Still Christopher J , Lü Xiao-Tao , Han Xingguo
Published: March 2021

Aims

Understanding the patterns and drivers of carbon isotope discrimination (13Δ) in C3 and C4 functional groups is critical for predicting C3/C4 vegetation ratio from the isotopic composition of soil organic matter. In this study, we aimed to evaluate how intraspecific variation will modify functional group-level 13Δ values and the associated prediction of C3/C4 vegetation ratio.

Methods

We investigated 13Δ of 726 individual plants (96 species; C3 and C4 functional groups) and topsoil organic matter in 26 grassland communities along an aridity gradient in northern China. The fraction of C4 contribution was calculated with mixing models that considered: (i) both intra- and interspecific effects on the 13Δ values of C3 and C4 functional groups; (ii) only interspecific effects; or (iii) none of these effects.

Important Findings

We found divergent responses of plant 13Δ at the intraspecific level to the changes of aridity across the gradient. The 13Δ of both C3 and C4 functional groups was negatively correlated with an aridity index, with higher sensitivity for C3 than for C4 functional groups. Intraspecific 13Δ variation played a key role in driving the total 13Δ variations of C3 plants. Overlooking such intraspecific effect in mixing models led to a greatly increased fraction of C4 contribution to soil organic carbon. A correction for the effects of intraspecific variation is therefore essential for correctly inferring C3/C4 vegetation ratio in the past. Our findings provide basic information for the reconstruction of past vegetation change from bulk materials in arid and semiarid biomes.
Accidently Insecure
Authors: Hough Peter
Published: March 2021

This chapter investigates why accidents are rarely construed as matters of security and considers the case for giving greater recognition to accidental insecurity in international law and politics. Accidents are far removed from the conventional conceptualization of security politics and yet represent a much bigger threat to most people’s lives than those most typical security concerns: war and terrorism. The average citizen of the world is actually far less threatened by military action from another State or a foreign non-State actor than they are in ways rarely labelled as matters of security. The chapter looks at transport accidents, structural accidents, workplace accidents, and personal accidents. Since the 1990s, both academic and ‘real world’ political discourse has increasingly granted security status to non-military issues in ‘widening’ and ‘deepening’ the agenda of international political priorities. However, security ‘wideners’ and even many human security advocates, while acknowledging that diseases, crime, environmental change, and natural disasters can sometimes be matters of security, are often still reluctant to grant this status to accidents. This reluctance seems to boil down to two objections: (i) there are no military or power politics dimensions inherent in accidents; (ii) accidents are not deliberate attacks on countries or people.
Corruption and Global Security
Authors: Rose Cecily
Published: March 2021

This chapter studies the relationship between corruption and global security. It begins by discussing the term ‘corruption’, which lacks a legal definition and can mean different things to lawyers and to social scientists. The chapter describes the various ways in which corruption and insecurity can relate to each other. Corruption is both a cause of global insecurity and a consequence of it. In other words, corruption may lead to insecurity, and conversely, insecurity, as in post-conflict societies, may lead to corruption and to greater tolerance of it. In addition, corruption can also be a cause of security or stability, rather than insecurity. Finally, anti-corruption measures and campaigns may themselves inadvertently cause insecurity. The chapter then details the international legal framework concerning corruption. It explores the extent to which anti-corruption treaty laws can serve as tools or guides for States and also non-State actors seeking to combat corruption and promote global security. The chapter also considers one of the challenges facing researchers who study the causes and consequences of corruption, namely the difficulties involved in measuring corruption and the impact of anti-corruption laws.
International Law and State Failure
Authors: McLaughlin Rob
Published: March 2021

This chapter examines the concept of State failure from the perspective of international law as it concerns the facilitation, regulation, and occasionally the degradation of global security. International law, in this context, is primarily conceptualized as an enabler for security-informed responses to the phenomenon of State failure. International law approaches State failure from the perspective of restorative legal and institutional facilitation, with a structural predilection for a State-centric security framework. This has resulted in the nexus between ‘State failure’ and international law being dominated by two interlinked purposes: (1) promoting the normative continuity of ‘Stateness’ for failed entities; and (2) managing the transition back to a minimum level of stable ‘Stateness’ with the least harm to the population and the international community. Ultimately, international law’s approach to State failure is primarily one of remedy, not of acceptance. The chapter seeks to evolve a working definition of ‘State failure’ from an international law perspective and assesses the adequacy of selected modes and indicators by which international law may recognize State failure.
Maritime Security
Authors: Guilfoyle Douglas
Published: March 2021

This chapter discusses maritime security, reviewing relevant law of the sea concepts. The modern law of the sea encompasses both functional and zonal approaches: the question of the law applicable to any situation thus involves analysis of both the activity in question and where it is conducted. Several traditional law of the sea enforcement techniques are also being adapted to new challenges. Principal amongst these is the doctrine of port State jurisdiction. The chapter then surveys a number of challenges in the maritime domain. It looks at three major themes cutting across these various silos. The first is Maritime Domain Awareness; if the law of the sea regulates who may do what and where, then a challenge for enforcement is knowing who is doing what and where. The second theme is the turn to informality. Most new maritime security initiatives do not involve creating new organizations or legal instruments; responses to collective or regional challenges tend now to occur through informal coalitions. Finally, the broadening of maritime security brings a wider range of non-State or ‘grey zone’ actors into the picture, including migrants, seafarers, transnational criminals, and hybrid private/State actors such as the Chinese maritime militia.
Humanitarian Relief in Situations of Armed Conflict
Authors: Gillard Emanuela-Chiara , Weizmann Nathalie
Published: March 2021

This chapter addresses humanitarian relief in situations of armed conflict. In many modern wars, more civilian deaths and suffering occur as a result of humanitarian crises prompted or exacerbated by the conflicts than from actual hostilities. International humanitarian law (IHL) includes an important body of rules aimed at ensuring that the basic needs of civilians caught up in conflict are met. While these protections can be considered as a manifestation of the ‘freedom from want’ dimension of human security, it is essential to bear in mind that the relevant rules of IHL are well established, binding on States and, in case of non-international armed conflict, also organized armed groups. The chapter outlines the rules of IHL regulating collective humanitarian relief operations, with a particular focus on how they balance the dictates of belligerents’ security interests and civilians’ ‘human security’ needs and entitlements. It then considers one particular way in which a pressing national and international security objective—countering terrorism—interacts with and adversely impacts the capacity of humanitarian actors to operate in a principled manner, and thus impairs the human security of populations in need.
Outer Space Security
Authors: Freeland Steven , Gruttner Elise
Published: March 2021

This chapter explains how, since the dawn of the space age, security has been a driving force in the development of technical capabilities in outer space. Over the last sixty years, the development of space-related technology has been inextricably linked to military capability—both real and perceived. Today, space is more accessible and depended upon than ever envisaged. The continuing development and reliance on commercial and military space technology challenges the core principle of the ‘peaceful purposes’ doctrine that underpins the current international legal regulation of outer space. The chapter explores the development of activities in outer space, the regulation of national and global space security, and the practical capabilities of leading spacefaring nations. It also highlights some of the critical issues that impact upon security-related concerns for States when it comes to the regulation of armed conflict in outer space. Ultimately, the use of outer space for military purposes gives rise to difficult international law issues relating to the use of force. What is not straightforward is precisely how various aspects of these activities are to be regulated at the international level should they transcend outer space and result in armed conflict.
International Courts and Tribunals and Violent Conflict
Authors: Tams Christian J.
Published: March 2021

This chapter examines international adjudication and arbitration, assessing the diverse roles of international courts and tribunals (ICaTs) in relation to violent conflicts. It shows that, over time, ICaTs have come to render decision upon decision, but—contrary to the expectations of early arbitration movements—hardly ever prevent ‘wars between nations’. Their mandates have been expanded, but typically only cover aspects of violent conflicts. While such aspects are today increasingly submitted to arbitration or adjudication, ‘conflict litigation’ remains controversial and challenges the authority of ICaTs. As the chapter demonstrates, the significance of arbitration and adjudication over questions of violent conflict has varied over time and forms part of the general history of international dispute resolution. Having surveyed this general history, the chapter sketches out the evolving legal framework governing courts and conflicts. It discusses which aspects of violent conflicts are addressed by ICaTs under contemporary international law and highlights current challenges of ‘conflict litigation’.
The Use of Force
Authors: Wilmshurst Elizabeth
Published: March 2021

This chapter describes the collective security system established by the United Nations Charter and focuses on the use of force. The vision of the founders of the United Nations—‘determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’—was to make the preservation of international peace a collective responsibility and to locate that responsibility in the United Nations and, in particular, the United Nations Security Council. States were obliged to refrain from the use of force in their international relations, and there would be no resort to armed force except ‘in the common interest’, as declared in the preamble to the Charter. However, contemporary security threats such as global terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction give rise to questions about whether the law is ‘sufficient’. The chapter then outlines the international legal framework and discusses some of the difficulties in interpreting or applying aspects of the law in the context of recent challenges to the international legal order. It considers whether this legal framework is still appropriate to deal with current security threats and whether the efficacy of the law is still recognized in the practice of States.
India
Authors: Chimni B. S.
Published: March 2021

This chapter reviews the general place of international law in India’s conduct of international relations. It touches upon provisions of the Indian Constitution on international law and identifies the reasons why the potential of international law in realizing national security interests is yet to be tapped. The chapter also surveys India’s response to critical areas of national and global security interests in the matrix of the history and geopolitics of the South Asian region, notions of the self, and evolving international law.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Authors: Greminger Thomas
Published: March 2021

This chapter details how, for several decades, the normative framework for European security has been based on the principles and commitments of the Helsinki Final Act. The Helsinki principles and commitments, the result of more than two years of almost unbroken diplomatic negotiations, became the basis for guiding mutual relations amongst the participating States during the Cold War and helped to smooth the process of post-Communist transition. They remain relevant today as the fifty-seven participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) look to return to a rules-based system in order to enhance predictability, trust, and stability. The chapter looks at how OSCE principles and commitments have contributed to promoting security and cooperation in Europe. It explores how a political body, and the norms articulated by its participating States, fit into the framework of international law, and influence or are driven by it. Moreover, the chapter considers the impact that the unclear legal status of the OSCE has, particularly on operational activities. It analyses the OSCE as a political arrangement, its legal context, its structures, the status of its international legal personality and its impact, the OSCE as a regional arrangement under the United Nations Charter, and the various dimensions of the OSCE’s work.
Standard Sedation and Sedation With Isoflurane in Mechanically Ventilated Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019
Authors: Hanidziar Dusan , Baldyga Kathryn , Ji Christine S. , Lu Jing , Zheng Hui , Wiener-Kronish Jeanine , Xie Zhongcong
Published: March 2021

Objectives:

To describe sedative and analgesic drug utilization in a cohort of critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 and compare standard sedation with an alternative approach using inhaled isoflurane.

Design:

This was a retrospective cohort study designed to compare doses of sedatives between ICU patients receiving standard IV sedation and patients receiving mixed sedation including inhaled isoflurane. Data were obtained from electronic medical records.

Setting:

ICU at large academic medical center where mechanical ventilation was delivered with Draeger Apollo (Draeger Medical, Telford, PA) anesthesia machines.

Patients:

Consecutive adult patients (≥ 18 yr) with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 admitted to ICU between April 2, 2020, and May 4, 2020.

Interventions:

None.

Measurements and Main Results:

Thirty-five mechanically ventilated patients were included in the study, with a mean (sd) age of 59.4 (12.8) years. Twenty-three patients (65.7%) were men. Seventeen patients (48.6%) received standard IV sedation, whereas 18 (51.4%) also received isoflurane. The mean duration of mechanical ventilation (sd) was 23.3 (11.6) days in the standard sedation group and 23.8 (12.5) days in the isoflurane group. Mean (sd) duration of isoflurane exposure was 5.61 (2.99) days, representing 29.1% of total sedation time (sd, 20.4). Cumulative opioid exposure did not differ between the standard sedation and isoflurane sedation groups (mean morphine milligram equivalent 6668 [sd, 1,346] vs 6678 [sd, 2,000] mg). However, the initiation of isoflurane in patients was associated with decreased utilization of propofol (mean daily amount 3,656 [sd, 1,635] before vs 950 [sd, 1,804] mg during isoflurane) and hydromorphone (mean daily amount 48 [sd, 30] before vs 23 [sd, 27] mg).

Conclusions:

In the subjects that received isoflurane, its use was associated with significant decreases in propofol and hydromorphone infusions.
The optics of the human eye at 8.6 µm lateral resolution
Authors: Bonaque-González Sergio , Trujillo-Sevilla Juan M. , Velasco-Ocaña Miriam , Casanova-González Óscar , Sicilia-Cabrera Miguel , Roqué-Velasco Alex , Ceruso Sabato , Oliva-García Ricardo , Martín-Hernández Javier , Gomez-Cardenes Oscar , Marichal-Hernández José G. , Gatinel Damien , Holladay Jack T. , Rodríguez-Ramos José M.
Published: March 2021

Ocular optics is normally estimated based on 2,600 measurement points within the pupil of the eye, which implies a lateral resolution of approximately 175 microns for a 9 mm pupil diameter. This is because information below this resolution is not thought to be relevant or even possible to obtain with current measurement systems. In this work, we characterize the in vivo ocular optics of the human eye with a lateral resolution of 8.6 microns, which implies roughly 1 million measurement points for a pupil diameter of 9 mm. The results suggest that the normal human eye presents a series of hitherto unknown optical patterns with amplitudes between 200 and 300 nm and is made up of a series of in-phase peaks and valleys. If the results are analysed at only high lateral frequencies, the human eye is also found to contain a whole range of new information. This discovery could have a great impact on the way we understand some fundamental mechanisms of human vision and could be of outstanding utility in certain fields of ophthalmology.
Schooling amidst a pandemic: parents’ perceptions about reopening schools and anticipated challenges during COVID-19
Authors: Meghani Ankita , Agarwal Smisha , Zapf Alexander John , Edwards Jeffrey G. , Labrique Alain , Gibson Dustin
Published: March 2021

Introduction

During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous states in the United States instituted measures to close schools or shift them to virtual platforms. Understanding parents’ preferences for sending their children back to school, and their experiences with distance learning is critical for informing school reopening guidelines. This study characterizes parents’ plans to send their children to school, and examines the challenges associated with school closures during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Methods

A national-level cross-sectional online survey was conducted in September 2020. Focusing on a subset of 510 respondents, who were parents of school-aged children, we examined variations in parents’ plans for their children to return to school by their demographic and family characteristics, and challenges they anticipated during the school-year using multivariable logistic regressions.

Results

Fifty percent of respondents (n=249) said that they would send their children back to school, 18% (n=92) stated it would depend on what the district plans for school reopening, and 32% (n=160) would not send their children back to school. No demographic characteristics were significantly associated with parents plans to not return their children to school. Overall, parents reported high-level of access to digital technology to support their child’s learning needs (84%). However, those who reported challenges with distance learning due to a lack of childcare were less likely not to return their children to school (aOR=0.33, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.64). Parents who reported requiring supervision after school had higher odds of having plans to not return their children to school (aOR=1.97, 95% CI: 1.03, 3.79). Parents viewed COVID-19 vaccines and face masks important for resuming in-person classes.

Discussion

About one-third of parents surveyed objected to their children returning to school despite facing challenges with distance learning. Besides access to vaccines and face masks, our findings highlight the need to better equip parents to support remote learning, and childcare.
Concept design of a bionic grasp to capture the hand motion
Authors: Islam Monirul , Li Xinrui , Chizari Mahmoud
Published: March 2021

This study has focused on designing a device allowing the user to perform hand exercise motions, in relation with previous methods with good effects in stroke rehabilitation. The project is mainly aimed at designing a low cost, easy to handle and easy to manufacture smart glove to assist users with finger flexion and extensions, which can at the same time transfer data to an application. The methodology used here includes research, design, simulation testing and finalised design. It started with research and investigations on the needs of the users and previous efficient stroke rehabilitation methods. This has been followed with 4 concept designs, which has been tested and evaluated in the next stage for possible optimizations using a computer modelling technique. At the final step, the virtual prototype and product design specification (PDS) of the finalise concept for the interactive device has been illustrated.
A machine learning approach for detecting vicarious trial and error behaviors
Authors: Miles Jesse T. , Kidder Kevan S. , Wang Ziheng , Zhu Yiru , Gire David H. , Mizumori Sheri J. Y.
Published: March 2021

Vicarious trial and error behaviors (VTEs) indicate periods of indecision during decision-making, and have been proposed as a behavioral marker of deliberation. In order to understand the neural underpinnings of these putative bridges between behavior and neural dynamics, researchers need the ability to readily distinguish VTEs from non-VTEs. Here we utilize a small set of trajectory-based features and standard machine learning classifiers to identify VTEs from non-VTEs for rats performing a spatial delayed alternation task (SDA) on an elevated plus maze. We also show that previously reported features of the hippocampal field potential oscillation can be used in the same types of classifiers to separate VTEs from non-VTEs with above chance performance. However, we caution that the modest classifier success using hippocampal population dynamics is not sufficient for identifying trials where VTEs occur, and show that combining oscillation-based features with trajectory-based features degrades classifier performance compared to trajectory-based features alone. Overall, we propose a standard set of features useful for trajectory-based VTE classification and support previous suggestions that VTEs are supported by a network including, but likely extending beyond, the hippocampus.
In silicoanalyses of neuropeptide-like protein (NLP) profiles in parasitic nematodes
Authors: McKay Fiona M. , McCoy Ciaran J. , Marks Nikki J. , Maule Aaron G. , Atkinson Louise E. , Mousley Angela
Published: March 2021

Nematode parasite infections cause disease in humans and animals and threaten global food security by reducing productivity in livestock and crop farming. The escalation of anthelmintic resistance in economically important nematode parasites underscores the need for the identification of novel drug targets in these worms. Nematode neuropeptide signalling is an attractive system for potential chemotherapeutic exploitation, with neuropeptide G-protein coupled receptors (NP-GPCRs) representing the leading target candidates therein. In order to successfully validate NP-GPCRs as targets for parasite control it is necessary to characterise their function and importance to nematode biology. This can be aided through identifying receptor activating ligand(s) in a process known as receptor deorphanisation. Such efforts first require the identification of all neuropeptide ligands within parasites. Here we comb the genomes of nine therapeutically relevant pathogenic nematode species to comprehensively characterise the nematode parasite neuropeptide-like protein (NLP) complements, and details the discovery of several previously unreported, yet conserved, neuropeptides and neuropeptide-encoding genes. We identify the neuropeptides that are most highly conserved in all parasites examined, and characterise their physiological activity on the reproductive musculature of the parasite,Ascaris suum. These data suggest conserved neuropeptide functions in both free living and parasitic nematodes, and support the potential for exploitation of the neuropeptide signalling system as an anthelmintic target.
Collaborative Cross Founder Expression Analysis (CCFEA)
Authors: Green Richard R. , Ireton Reneé C. , Ferris Martin , Muenzen Kathleen , Crosslin David R. , Gale Michael
Published: March 2021

To understand the role of host genetic variation in infection by SARS-CoV and influenza A virus we developed the Collaborative Cross Founder Expression Analysis (CCFEA), a shiny visualization tool using public RNAseq data from the collaborative cross (CC) founder strains (A/J, C57BL/6J, 129s1/SvImJ, NOD/ShILtJ, NZO/HILtJ, CAST/EiJ, PWK/PhJ, and WSB/EiJ) that underwent infection by either virus, linked with genetic analyses to define loci linked to infection, immunity, and disease phenotypes. Individual gene expression data is displayed across founders, viral infections and days post infection.

Resource Table
Network pharmacology of lycopene and Molecular Docking with Top Hub Proteins
Authors: Paudel Nisha , Hani Umme , Awasthi Nagendra Prasad , Hanumantappa Manjunatha , Lakshminarayan Rangaswamy
Published: March 2021

Background

Lycopene is one of the potent antioxidants in the family of carotenoids that scavenges Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) singlet oxygen which has been associated with various pathological consequences including atherosclerosis myocardial infarction, and stroke and Sex hormone-induced cancers like breast cancer, endometrial cancer and prostate cancer. As multiple pathways are involved in the manifestation of aforementioned diseases initiated at the behest of ROS, it would be appropriate to understand the likely pathways triggered by the ROS and its eventual control by the action of lycopene through network pharmacology study, a robust paradigm for drug discovery via modulation of multiple targets.

Results

124 proteins were mined from CTD and STITCH databases, which showed some relationship with lycopene, among them strong association was found with TP53, STAT3 and CDK1 proteins. Lycopene showed a strong affinity with these proteins by hydrophobic interactions.

Conclusion

The topological analysis of a network created by the lycopene relevant genes showed its role as a potential therapeutic agent in cancer which further requiresin vitroandin vivostudies to confirm these findings.
Kaolinite deposits in the upper Iguaçu river, Brazil: formation and mineralogical attributes
Authors: Ferreira Daniela N. , de Freitas Melo Vander , Vidal-Torrado Pablo , Oliveira Jairo Calderari
Published: March 2021

Kaolinite (Kt) is the most studied mineral, being widely used in the ceramic, pharmaceutical and cellulose industries, in addition to being the main soil mineral in the world. Found in different parts of the planet, it differs in genesis and may be formed as a result of local weathering of the rocks, occurring in the silt fraction; and also due to the mineral’s neogenesis with a predominance of clay-sized particles. The plain of upper Iguaçu river has the largest kaolinitic deposit in the south of Brazil and it’s formation raised doubts if this kaolin was transported or formed in situ due the high organic matter in the alluvial plain. To elucidate the origin of kaolin deposits, we sampled a possible font of the mineral, in the mountains of Serra do Mar and sampled two tubes that reach 4 m depth in the upper Iguaçu plain. We performed textural analysis, organic carbon, X-ray diffraction, Kt crystallography in silt and clay fractions, thermal analysis (TDA/TG) to quantify Kt and Gb in the clay fraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with dispersive energy spectroscopy (EDS). The TDA/TG analysis demonstrated that saprolite has 66% of the kaolinite found in the plain. The XRD analysis shows a significant presence of mica (Mc) in all samples of the silt fraction, both in Serra do Mar and in the plain. In SEM/EDS, crystals with planar growth are observed, and the presence of pseudomorphic Mc-Kt in the silt fraction of all analyzed samples, with emphasis on the tubes sample with the crystal having almost twice the size of that observed in the saprolite sample from Serra do Mar, allowing to infer that the Kt of the silt fraction of the wetland soils were formed on site by the diagenesis of mica particles. The results obtained in this work indicate that the kaolinitic material found in the wetland of the upper Iguaçu plain is the result of weathering processes in the wetland itself, evidenced by the large pseudomorphs found, even greater than those observed in Serra do Mar.
Probing interoception via thermosensation: No specific relationships across multiple interoceptive sub-modalities
Authors: Crucianelli Laura , Enmalm Adam , Ehrsson H. Henrik
Published: March 2021

Interoception includes signals originating both from inside the body and from its surface, the skin. Here, we focused on the perception of temperature, a crucial modality for the maintenance of homeostasis. We used a classic (static) thermal detection task and developed a new dynamicthermal matching task, in which participants have to match a previously perceived moving thermal stimulus on the skin to a range of colder or warmer stimuli, presented in increasing or decreasing order. We investigated both hairy (forearm) and non-hairy (palm) skin, in keeping with previous tactile studies targeting the potential involvement of C-tactile fibres, which are part of an afferent homeostatic system found mainly on hairy skin. We also aimed at investigating the relationship between performance on the two thermal tasks and on three other tasks in different interoceptive sub-modalities: cardiac perception, affective touch, and pain detection. We found a significantly more accurate perception of dynamic temperature on hairy compared to non-hairy skin overall, particularly when the temperature was decreasing. Static perception of cooling was also superior on hairy skin and was related to dynamic temperature and pain only on non-hairy skin. Thus, our results suggest that hairy skin may have higher thermosensitivity than non-hairy skin and that dynamic thermosensation might offer a promising avenue to investigate thermosensation as a skin-based interoceptive submodality. Critically, we did not find any other significant relationship in performance among the four interoceptive modalities examined, which indicates independent processing and that interoception might be best quantified using a battery of tests.
Dopamine and serotonin interplay for valence-based spatial learning
Authors: Wert-Carvajal Carlos , Reneaux Melissa , Tchumatchenko Tatjana , Clopath Claudia
Published: March 2021

Dopamine and serotonin are important modulators of synaptic plasticity and their action has been linked to our ability to learn the positive or negative outcomes or valence learning. In the hippocampus, both neuromodulators affect long-term synaptic plasticity but play different roles in the encoding of uncertainty or predicted reward. Here, we examine the differential role of these modulators on learning speed and cognitive flexibility in a navigational model. We compare two reward-modulated spike time-dependent plasticity (R-STDP) learning rules to describe the action of these neuromodulators. Our results show that the interplay of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) improves overall learning performance and can explain experimentally reported differences in spatial task performance. Furthermore, this system allows us to make predictions regarding spatial reversal learning.
Simulation of a sudden drop-off in distal dense core vesicle concentration inDrosophilatype II motoneuron terminals
Authors: Kuznetsov I. A. , Kuznetsov A. V.
Published: March 2021

Recent experimental observations have shown evidence of an unexpected sudden drop-off in the dense core vesicles (DCVs) content at the ends of certain types of axon endings. This paper seeks to determine whether these observations may be explained without modifying the parameters characterizing the ability of distalen passantboutons to capture and accumulate DCVs. We developed a mathematical model that is based on the conservation of captured and transiting DCVs in boutons. The model consists of 77 ordinary differential equations and is solved using a standard Matlab solver. We hypothesize that the drop in DCV content in distal boutons is due to an insufficient supply of anterogradely moving DCVs coming from the soma. As anterogradely moving DCVs are captured (and eventually destroyed) in more proximal boutons on their way to the end of the terminal, the fluxes of anterogradely moving DCVs between the boutons become increasingly smaller, and the most distal boutons are left without DCVs. We tested this hypothesis by modifying the flux of DCVs entering the terminal and found that the number of most distal boutons left unfilled increases if the DCV flux entering the terminal is decreased. The number of anterogradely moving DCVs in the axon can be increased either by the release of a portion of captured DCVs into the anterograde component or by an increase of the anterograde DCV flux into the terminal. This increase could lead to having enough anterogradely moving DCVs such that they could reach the most distal bouton and then turn around by changing molecular motors that propel them. The model suggests that this could result in an increased concentration of resident DCVs in distal boutons beginning with bouton 2 (the most distal is bouton 1). This is because in distal boutons, DCVs have a larger chance to be captured from the transiting state as they pass the boutons moving anterogradely and then again as they pass the same boutons moving retrogradely.
Robust optical autofocus system utilizing neural networks trained for extended range and time-course and automated multiwell plate imaging including single molecule localization microscopy
Authors: Lightley J. , Görlitz F. , Kumar S. , Kalita R. , Kolbeinsson A. , Garcia E. , Alexandrov Y , Bousgouni V. , Wysoczanski R. , Barnes P. , Donnelly L. , Bakal C. , Dunsby C. , Neil M.A.A. , Flaxman S. , French P.M.W.
Published: March 2021

We present a robust, long-range optical autofocus system for microscopy utilizing machine learning. This can be useful for experiments with long image data acquisition times that may be impacted by defocusing resulting from drift of components, e.g. due to changes in temperature or mechanical drift. It is also useful for automated slide scanning or multiwell plate imaging where the sample(s) to be imaged may not be in the same horizontal plane throughout the image data acquisition. To address the impact of (thermal or mechanical) fluctuations over time in the optical autofocus system itself, we utilise a convolutional neural network (CNN) that is trained over multiple days to account for such fluctuations. To address the trade-off between axial precision and range of the autofocus, we implement orthogonal optical readouts with separate CNN training data, thereby achieving an accuracy well within the 600 nm depth of field of our 1.3 numerical aperture objective lens over a defocus range of up to approximately +/− 100 μm. We characterise the performance of this autofocus system and demonstrate its application to automated multiwell plate single molecule localisation microscopy.