bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Umbilical cord-derived Wharton’s jelly for treatment of knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a non-randomized, open-label, multi-center trial
Authors: Gupta Ashim , Maffulli Nicola , Rodriguez Hugo C. , Lee Cassidy E. , Levy Howard J. , El-Amin Saadiq F.
Published: February 2021

Background

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder in the USA, and knee OA has the highest prevalence. Inflammation and decrease in vascularization are key factors in the degeneration of articular cartilage and the associated pain and decrease in function. To combat this process, the use of biologics including umbilical cord-derived Wharton’s Jelly (UC-derived WJ) has grown. UC-derived WJ contains large quantities of regenerative factors, including growth factors (GFs), cytokines (CKs), hyaluronic acid (HA), and extracellular vesicles (EVs). The proposed study evaluates the safety and efficacy of intraarticular injection of UC-derived WJ for treatment of knee OA symptoms.

Methods and analysis

This is a non-randomized, open-label, multi-center, prospective study in which the safety and efficacy of intraarticular UC-derived WJ in patients suffering from grade II/III OA will be assessed. Twelve patients with grade II/III OA who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be recruited for this study which will be conducted at up to two sites within the USA. The participants will be followed for 1 s. Participants will be assessed using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), 36-item short form survey (SF-36), Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE), physical exams, plain radiography, and Magnetic Resonance Observation of Cartilage Repair Tissue (MOCART) score for improvements in pain, satisfaction, function, and cartilage regeneration.

Discussion

This prospective study will contribute to the limited amount of data on UC-derived WJ, particularly with regard to its safety and efficacy. The outcomes from this study will also lay the groundwork for a large placebo-controlled trial of intraarticular UC-derived WJ for symptomatic knee OA.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04719793. Registered on 22 January 2021
The emerging role of KDM5A in human cancer
Authors: Yang Guan-Jun , Zhu Ming-Hui , Lu Xin-Jiang , Liu Yan-Jun , Lu Jian-Fei , Leung Chung-Hang , Ma Dik-Lung , Chen Jiong
Published: February 2021

Histone methylation is a key posttranslational modification of chromatin, and its dysregulation affects a wide array of nuclear activities including the maintenance of genome integrity, transcriptional regulation, and epigenetic inheritance. Variations in the pattern of histone methylation influence both physiological and pathological events. Lysine-specific demethylase 5A (KDM5A, also known as JARID1A or RBP2) is a KDM5 Jumonji histone demethylase subfamily member that erases di- and tri-methyl groups from lysine 4 of histone H3. Emerging studies indicate that KDM5A is responsible for driving multiple human diseases, particularly cancers. In this review, we summarize the roles of KDM5A in human cancers, survey the field of KDM5A inhibitors including their anticancer activity and modes of action, and the current challenges and potential opportunities of this field.
Efficacy of the erector spinae plane (ESP) block for quality of recovery in posterior thoraco-lumbar spinal decompression surgery: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Finnerty Dylan T. , Buggy Donal J.
Published: February 2021

Background

Spinal surgery can be associated with significant postoperative pain. Erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a new regional anaesthesia technique, which promises effective postoperative analgesia compared with systemically administered opioids, but has never been evaluated in terms of patient-centred outcomes such as quality of recovery and overall morbidity after major thoraco-lumbar spinal surgery.

Methods

We are conducting a prospective, randomised, double-blind trial in two hospitals in the Republic of Ireland. The sample size will be 50 patients (25 in the intervention group and 25 in the control group). Randomisation will be done using computer-generated concealed envelopes. Both patients and investigators collecting outcome data will be masked to group allocation. Participants will be male or female, aged 18 years and over, capable of providing informed consent and ASA grade I–IV. Patients scheduled to undergo posterior approach thoraco-lumbar decompression surgery involving 2 or more levels will be recruited to the study. Participants randomised to the intervention arm of the study will receive bilateral ultrasound-guided ESP block totalling 40 ml 0.25% levo-bupivcaine (20 ml each side), post induction of general anaesthesia and before surgical incision. The control group will not receive an ESP block. Both groups will receive the same standardised analgesic protocol both intra- and postoperatively. The primary outcome will be the quality of recovery at 24 h postoperatively as determined by the QoR-15 score. This score is determined by a questionnaire which measures patient responses to 15 subjective parameters, each response graded on a scale from 0 to 10. The maximum score achievable is 150 with a potential minimum score of 0. Higher scores indicate a higher quality of recovery experience.

Secondary outcomes will include area under the curve (AUC) of VRS pain versus time at rest and on movement up to 24 h postoperatively, 24 h opioid consumption, time to first analgesia in recovery, length of stay (LOS), incidence and severity of postoperative complications as measured by the Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI) score.

Discussion

To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first randomised control trial to examine the efficacy and safety of the ESP block in terms of patient-centred outcomes in the setting of major spinal surgery. The QoR-15 is a validated means of assessing the quality of recovery after surgery and gives a more holistic assessment of the recovery experience from the patient’s point of view.

Trial registration

This trial is pre-registered on ClinicalTrials.gov reference numberNCT04370951. Registered on 30 April 2020. All items from the World Health Organisation Trial Registration Data Set have been included.
Cross-species examination of X-chromosome inactivation highlights domains of escape from silencing
Authors: Balaton Bradley P. , Fornes Oriol , Wasserman Wyeth W. , Brown Carolyn J.
Published: February 2021

Background

X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) in eutherian mammals is the epigenetic inactivation of one of the two X chromosomes in XX females in order to compensate for dosage differences with XY males. Not all genes are inactivated, and the proportion escaping from inactivation varies between human and mouse (the two species that have been extensively studied).

Results

We used DNA methylation to predict the XCI status of X-linked genes with CpG islands across 12 different species: human, chimp, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, mouse, cow, sheep, goat, pig, horse and dog. We determined the XCI status of 342 CpG islands on average per species, with most species having 80–90% of genes subject to XCI. Mouse was an outlier, with a higher proportion of genes subject to XCI than found in other species. Sixteen genes were found to have discordant X-chromosome inactivation statuses across multiple species, with five of these showing primate-specific escape from XCI. These discordant genes tended to cluster together within the X chromosome, along with genes with similar patterns of escape from XCI. CTCF-binding, ATAC-seq signal and LTR repeats were enriched at genes escaping XCI when compared to genes subject to XCI; however, enrichment was only observed in three or four of the species tested. LINE and DNA repeats showed enrichment around subject genes, but again not in a consistent subset of species.

Conclusions

In this study, we determined XCI status across 12 species, showing mouse to be an outlier with few genes that escape inactivation. Inactivation status is largely conserved across species. The clustering of genes that change XCI status across species implicates a domain-level control. In contrast, the relatively consistent, but not universal correlation of inactivation status with enrichment of repetitive elements or CTCF binding at promoters demonstrates gene-based influences on inactivation state. This study broadens enrichment analysis of regulatory elements to species beyond human and mouse.
Fermentation profiling of rice wine produced by Aspergillus oryzae KSS2 and Rhizopus oryzae KJJ39 newly isolated from Korean fermentation starter
Authors: Kim Minjoo , Seo Jeong-Ah
Published: February 2021

The objective of this study was to determine the fermentation characteristics of rice wine produced by koji inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae KSS2 and Rhizopus oryzae KJJ39 on moisturized wheat-bran and rice grain. We also compared rice wine samples produced in this study and three commercial Makgeolli. The alcohol content was about 12% higher in the rice wine samples fermented by wheat-bran koji than in the other samples. In all of the samples, the range of pH value was 3.8–4.6 and the total acid was below 0.5. The soluble solid content was highest in the rice wine sample prepared by the wheat-bran R. oryzae KJJ39 koji (15.5°Brix) and overall relatively higher in the samples with wheat-bran koji than rice koji. The content of reducing sugar was twofold higher in rice wine prepared by koji inoculated with R. oryzae KJJ39 than A. oryzae KSS2. The volatile acid content was higher in rice wine produced by the wheat-bran A. oryzae KSS2 koji than the others. In the analyses of five organic acids, A. oryzae KSS2 was found to produce more malic acid and fumaric acid while R. oryzae KJJ39 to do more citric acid, lactic acid and acetic acid. The rice wine sample prepared with the wheat-bran A. oryzae KSS2 koji contained much higher concentration of sucrose, maltose and amino acids. Comprehensively, the results of fermentation profiling suggest that both A. oryzae KSS2 and R. oryzae KJJ39 can be applied to the production of rice wine as a valuable fungal isolate for fermentation start.
Genomic evidence for sulfur intermediates as new biogeochemical hubs in a model aquatic microbial ecosystem
Authors: Vigneron Adrien , Cruaud Perrine , Culley Alexander I. , Couture Raoul-Marie , Lovejoy Connie , Vincent Warwick F.
Published: February 2021

Background

The sulfur cycle encompasses a series of complex aerobic and anaerobic transformations of S-containing molecules and plays a fundamental role in cellular and ecosystem-level processes, influencing biological carbon transfers and other biogeochemical cycles. Despite their importance, the microbial communities and metabolic pathways involved in these transformations remain poorly understood, especially for inorganic sulfur compounds of intermediate oxidation states (thiosulfate, tetrathionate, sulfite, polysulfides). Isolated and highly stratified, the extreme geochemical and environmental features of meromictic ice-capped Lake A, in the Canadian High Arctic, provided an ideal model ecosystem to resolve the distribution and metabolism of aquatic sulfur cycling microorganisms along redox and salinity gradients.

Results

Applying complementary molecular approaches, we identified sharply contrasting microbial communities and metabolic potentials among the markedly distinct water layers of Lake A, with similarities to diverse fresh, brackish and saline water microbiomes. Sulfur cycling genes were abundant at all depths and covaried with bacterial abundance. Genes for oxidative processes occurred in samples from the oxic freshwater layers, reductive reactions in the anoxic and sulfidic bottom waters and genes for both transformations at the chemocline. Up to 154 different genomic bins with potential for sulfur transformation were recovered, revealing a panoply of taxonomically diverse microorganisms with complex metabolic pathways for biogeochemical sulfur reactions. Genes for the utilization of sulfur cycle intermediates were widespread throughout the water column, co-occurring with sulfate reduction or sulfide oxidation pathways. The genomic bin composition suggested that in addition to chemical oxidation, these intermediate sulfur compounds were likely produced by the predominant sulfur chemo- and photo-oxidisers at the chemocline and by diverse microbial degraders of organic sulfur molecules.

Conclusions

The Lake A microbial ecosystem provided an ideal opportunity to identify new features of the biogeochemical sulfur cycle. Our detailed metagenomic analyses across the broad physico-chemical gradients of this permanently stratified lake extend the known diversity of microorganisms involved in sulfur transformations over a wide range of environmental conditions. The results indicate that sulfur cycle intermediates and organic sulfur molecules are major sources of electron donors and acceptors for aquatic and sedimentary microbial communities in association with the classical sulfur cycle.
Where did they not go? Considerations for generating pseudo-absences for telemetry-based habitat models
Authors: Hazen Elliott L. , Abrahms Briana , Brodie Stephanie , Carroll Gemma , Welch Heather , Bograd Steven J.
Published: February 2021

Background

Habitat suitability models give insight into the ecological drivers of species distributions and are increasingly common in management and conservation planning. Telemetry data can be used in habitat models to describe where animals were present, however this requires the use of presence-only modeling approaches or the generation of ‘pseudo-absences’ to simulate locations where animals did not go. To highlight considerations for generating pseudo-absences for telemetry-based habitat models, we explored how different methods of pseudo-absence generation affect model performance across species’ movement strategies, model types, and environments.

Methods

We built habitat models for marine and terrestrial case studies, Northeast Pacific blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) and African elephants (Loxodonta africana). We tested four pseudo-absence generation methods commonly used in telemetry-based habitat models: (1)backgroundsampling; (2) sampling within abufferzone around presence locations; (3)correlated random walksbeginning at the tag release location; (4)reverse correlated random walksbeginning at the last tag location. Habitat models were built using generalised linear mixed models, generalised additive mixed models, and boosted regression trees.

Results

We found that the separation in environmental niche space between presences and pseudo-absences was the single most important driver of model explanatory power and predictive skill. This result was consistent across marine and terrestrial habitats, two species with vastly different movement syndromes, and three different model types. The best-performing pseudo-absence method depended on which created the greatest environmental separation: background sampling for blue whales and reverse correlated random walks for elephants. However, despite the fact that models with greater environmental separation performed better according to traditional predictive skill metrics, they did not always produce biologically realistic spatial predictions relative to known distributions.

Conclusions

Habitat model performance may be positively biased in cases where pseudo-absences are sampled from environments that are dissimilar to presences. This emphasizes the need to carefully consider spatial extent of the sampling domain and environmental heterogeneity of pseudo-absence samples when developing habitat models, and highlights the importance of scrutinizing spatial predictions to ensure that habitat models are biologically realistic and fit for modeling objectives.
Alzheimer’s disease brain contains tau fractions with differential prion-like activities
Authors: Li Longfei , Shi Ruirui , Gu Jianlan , Tung Yunn Chyn , Zhou Yan , Zhou Dingwei , Wu Ruozhen , Chu Dandan , Jin Nana , Deng Kevin , Xu Jiawei , Gong Cheng-Xin , Iqbal Khalid , Liu Fei
Published: February 2021

Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) made of abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related tauopathies. Regional distribution of NFTs is associated with the progression of the disease and has been proposed to be a result of prion-like propagation of misfolded tau. Tau in AD brain is heterogenous and presents in various forms. In the present study, we prepared different tau fractions by sedimentation combined with sarkosyl solubility from AD brains and analyzed their biochemical and pathological properties. We found that tau in oligomeric fraction (O-tau), sarkosyl-insoluble fractions 1 and 2 (SI1-tau and SI2-tau) and monomeric heat-stable fraction (HS-tau) showed differences in truncation, hyperphosphorylation, and resistance to proteinase K. O-tau, SI1-tau, and SI2-tau, but not HS-tau, were hyperphosphorylated at multiple sites and contained SDS- and β-mercaptoethanol–resistant high molecular weight aggregates, which lacked the N-terminal portion of tau. O-tau and SI2-tau displayed more truncation and less hyperphosphorylation than SI1-tau. Resistance to proteinase K was increased from O-tau to SI1-tau to SI2-tau. O-tau and SI1-tau, but not SI2-tau or HS-tau, captured tau from cell lysates and seeded tau aggregation in cultured cells. Heat treatment could not kill the prion-like activity of O-tau to capture normal tau. Hippocampal injection of O-tau into 18-month-old FVB mice induced significant tau aggregation in both ipsilateral and contralateral hippocampi, but SI1-tau only induced tau pathology in the ipsilateral hippocampus, and SI2-tau and HS-tau failed to induce any detectable tau aggregation. These findings suggest that O-tau and SI1-tau have prion-like activities and may serve as seeds to recruit tau and template tau to aggregate, resulting in the propagation of tau pathology. Heterogeneity of tau pathology within AD brain results in different fractions with different biological and prion-like properties, which may pose a major challenge in targeting tau for development of effective therapeutic treatments.
Determinants of stillbirths among women who gave birth at Hawassa university comprehensive specialized hospital, Hawassa, Sidama, Ethiopia 2019: a case-control study
Authors: Fikre Rekiku , Ejeta Samuel , Gari Taye , Alemayhu Akalewold
Published: February 2021

Background

Globally over 2.6 million pregnancy ends with stillbirth annually. Despite this fact, only a few sherds of evidence were available about factors associated with stillbirth in Ethiopia. Therefore, the study aimed to spot factors related to stillbirth among women who gave birth at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital Hawassa, Sidama Ethiopia, 2019.

Methods

Facility-based unmatched case-control study was conducted at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Cases were selected using simple random sampling technique and controls were recruited to the study consecutively after every case selection with case to control ratio of 1 to 3. Data were coded and entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 24 for analysis.

Results

A total of 106 cases and 318 controls were included in the study. Number of antenatal care visit [AOR = 0.38, 95% CI (0.15, 0.95)], lack of partograph utilization [AOR = 4.1 95% CI (2.04, 10.5)], prolonged labor [AOR = 6.5, 95% CI (2.9, 14.4)], obstructed labor [AOR = 3.5, 95% CI (1.5, 9.4)], and congenital defect [AOR = 9.7, 95% CI (4.08, 23.0)] were significantly associated with stillbirth.

Conclusion

Absence of partograph utilization, prolonged labor, obstructed labor, antepartum hemorrhage and congenital anomaly were found to have positive association with stillbirth.
Development and analysis of long non-coding RNA-associated competing endogenous RNA network for osteosarcoma metastasis
Authors: Fu Yucheng , Liu Qi , Bao Qiyuan , Wen Junxiang , Liu Zhuochao , Hu Yuehao , He Guoyu , Peng Cheng , Xu Yiqi , Zhang Weibin
Published: February 2021

Background

Osteosarcoma is the primary bone malignant neoplasm that often develops metastasis. Increasing evidences have shown that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) relate to the progression of osteosarcoma. However, the ncRNAs’ roles in osteosarcoma metastasis are still unknown.

Methods

Differentially expressed (DE) RNAs were identified from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) of DE messenger RNAs (DEmRNAs) was built through STRING database. The target mRNAs and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) of microRNAs (miRNA) were predicted through miRDB, Targetscan and Genecode databases, which then cross-checked with previously obtained DERNAs to construct competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. All networks were visualized via Cytoscape and the hub RNAs were screened out through Cytoscape plug-in Cytohubba. The gene functional and pathway analyses were performed through DAVID and MirPath databases. The survival analyses of hub RNAs were obtained through Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival curves.

Results

Five hundred sixty-four DEmRNAs, 16 DElncRNAs and 22 DEmiRNAs were screened out. GO functional and KEGG pathway analyses showed that DERNAs were significantly associated with tumor metastasis. The ceRNA network including 6 lncRNAs, 55 mRNAs and 20 miRNAs were constructed and the top 10 hub RNAs were obtained. Above all, PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was identified as the most important osteosarcoma metastasis-associated pathway and its hub ceRNA module was constructed. The survival analyses showed that the RNAs in hub ceRNA module closely related to osteosarcoma patients’ prognosis.

Conclusions

The current study provided a new perspective on osteosarcoma metastasis. More importantly, the RNAs in hub ceRNA module might act as the novel therapeutic targets and prognostic factors for osteosarcoma patients.
The influence of teacher annotations on student learning engagement and video watching behaviors
Authors: Tseng Sheng-Shiang
Published: February 2021

While course videos are powerful teaching resources in online courses, students often have difficulty sustaining their attention while watching videos and comprehending the content. This study adopted teacher annotations on videos as an instructional support to engage students in watching course videos. Forty-two students in an undergraduate course at a university in Taiwan were randomly divided into a control group that watched a course video without teacher annotations, and an experimental group that watched a course video with teacher annotations. The collected data included a learning engagement survey, students’ video watching behaviors, and student interviews. The results showed that there were differences in student learning engagement between the control and experimental groups. The teacher annotations increased students’ behavioral and cognitive engagement in watching the video but did not increase their emotional engagement. In addition, this study identified how students learned when watching the course video with the teacher annotations through highlights of the video content, literal questions, reflective questions and inferential questions. The results concluded that teacher annotations and student learning engagement were positively correlated. The students acknowledged that their retention and comprehension of the video content increased with the support of the teacher annotations.
Structured Data Capture for Oncology
Authors: Goel Alexander K. , Campbell Walter Scott , Moldwin Richard
Published: February 2021

Lack of interoperability is one of the greatest challenges facing healthcare informatics. Recent interoperability efforts have focused primarily on data transmission and generally ignore data capture standardization. Structured Data Capture (SDC) is an open-source technical framework that enables the capture and exchange of standardized and structured data in interoperable data entry forms (DEFs) at the point of care. Some of SDC’s primary use cases concern complex oncology data such as anatomic pathology, biomarkers, and clinical oncology data collection and reporting. Its interoperability goals are the preservation of semantic, contextual, and structural integrity of the captured data throughout the data’s lifespan. SDC documents are written in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and are therefore computer readable, yet technology agnostic—SDC can be implemented by any EHR vendor or registry. Any SDC-capable system can render an SDC XML file into a DEF, receive and parse an SDC transmission, and regenerate the original SDC form as a DEF or synoptic report with the response data intact. SDC is therefore able to facilitate interoperable data capture and exchange for patient care, clinical trials, cancer surveillance and public health needs, clinical research, and computable care guidelines. The usability of SDC-captured oncology data is enhanced when the SDC data elements are mapped to standard terminologies. For example, an SDC map to Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) enables aggregation of SDC data with other related data sets and permits advanced queries and groupings on the basis of SNOMED CT concept attributes and description logic. SDC supports terminology maps using separate map files or as terminology codes embedded in an SDC document.
Sox2-Evf2 lncRNA-mediated mechanisms of chromosome topological control in developing forebrain
Authors: Cajigas Ivelisse , Chakraborty Abhijit , Lynam Madison , Swyter Kelsey R. , Bastidas Monique , Collens Linden , Luo Hao , Ay Ferhat , Kohtz Jhumku D.
Published: February 2021

The Evf2 long non-coding RNA directs Dlx5/6 ultraconserved enhancer(UCE)-intrachromosomal interactions, regulating genes across a 27 Mb region on chromosome 6 in mouse developing forebrain. Here, we show that Evf2 long-range gene repression occurs through multi-step mechanisms involving the transcription factor Sox2. Evf2 directly interacts with Sox2, antagonizing Sox2 activation of Dlx5/6UCE, and recruits Sox2 to the Dlx5/6eii shadow enhancer and key Dlx5/6UCE interaction sites. Sox2 directly interacts with Dlx1 and Smarca4, as part of the Evf2 ribonucleoprotein complex, forming spherical subnuclear domains (protein pools, PPs). Evf2 targets Sox2 PPs to one long-range repressed target gene (Rbm28), at the expense of another (Akr1b8). Evf2 and Sox2 shift Dlx5/6UCE interactions towards Rbm28, linking Evf2/Sox2 co-regulated topological control and gene repression. We propose a model that distinguishes Evf2 gene repression mechanisms at Rbm28 (Dlx5/6UCE position) and Akr1b8 (limited Sox2 availability). Genome-wide control of RNPs (Sox2, Dlx and Smarca4) shows that co-recruitment influences Sox2 DNA binding. Together, these data suggest that Evf2 organizes a Sox2 PP subnuclear domain and, through Sox2-RNP sequestration and recruitment, regulates chromosome 6 long-range UCE targeting and activity with genome-wide consequences.
The lysosomotrope GPN mobilises Ca2+ from acidic organelles
Authors: Yuan Yu , Kilpatrick Bethan S. , Gerndt Susanne , Bracher Franz , Grimm Christian , Schapira Anthony H. , Patel Sandip
Published: February 2021

Lysosomes are acidic Ca2+ stores often mobilised in conjunction with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ stores. Glycyl-L-phenylalanine 2-naphthylamide (GPN) is a widely used lysosomotropic agent that evokes cytosolic Ca2+ signals in many cells. However, whether these signals are the result of a primary action on lysosomes is unclear in light of recent evidence showing that GPN mediates direct ER Ca2+ release through changes in cytosolic pH. Here, we show that GPN evoked rapid increases in cytosolic pH but slower Ca2+ signals. NH4Cl evoked comparable changes in pH but failed to affect Ca2+. The V-type ATPase inhibitor, bafilomycin A1, increased lysosomal pH over a period of hours. Acute treatment modestly affected lysosomal pH and potentiated Ca2+ signals evoked by GPN. In contrast, chronic treatment led to more profound changes in luminal pH and selectively inhibited GPN action. GPN blocked Ca2+ responses evoked by the novel nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate-like agonist, TPC2-A1-N. Therefore, GPN-evoked Ca2+ signals were better correlated with associated pH changes in the lysosome compared to the cytosol, and were coupled to lysosomal Ca2+ release. We conclude that Ca2+ signals evoked by GPN most likely derive from acidic organelles.
Experience, but not age, is associated with volumetric mushroom body expansion in solitary alkali bees
Authors: Hagadorn Mallory A. , Johnson Makenna M. , Smith Adam R. , Seid Marc A. , Kapheim Karen M.
Published: February 2021

In social insects, changes in behavior are often accompanied by structural changes in the brain. This neuroplasticity may come with experience (experience-dependent) or age (experience-expectant). Yet, the evolutionary relationship between neuroplasticity and sociality is unclear, because we know little about neuroplasticity in the solitary relatives of social species. We used confocal microscopy to measure brain changes in response to age and experience in a solitary halictid bee (Nomia melanderi). First, we compared the volume of individual brain regions among newly emerged females, laboratory females deprived of reproductive and foraging experience, and free-flying, nesting females. Experience, but not age, led to significant expansion of the mushroom bodies – higher-order processing centers associated with learning and memory. Next, we investigated how social experience influences neuroplasticity by comparing the brains of females kept in the laboratory either alone or paired with another female. Paired females had significantly larger olfactory regions of the mushroom bodies. Together, these experimental results indicate that experience-dependent neuroplasticity is common to both solitary and social taxa, whereas experience-expectant neuroplasticity may be an adaptation to life in a social colony. Further, neuroplasticity in response to social chemical signals may have facilitated the evolution of sociality.
De la potestad marital a la violencia económica y patrimonial en Colombia
Authors: Deere Carmen Diana , León Gómez Magdalena
Published: February 2021

La herencia colonial hispana sobre la desigualdad de género en el matrimonio quedó resumida en el primer código civil colombiano dentro del concepto de potestad marital, en términos de los derechos del marido sobre la persona y bienes de la mujer. Tomó casi un siglo desmontarlo legalmente, lo cual se logró al reconocer dicho control como violencia económica y patrimonial. Desde 2008 se reconoce este tipo de violencia como una forma de violencia contra la mujer; sin embargo, los datos indican una alta incidencia de violencia económica y patrimonial por parte de la pareja o expareja, especialmente entre mujeres separadas y divorciadas, y entre las que están en uniones de hecho comparadas con las casadas. Se evidencia la prevalencia cultural de la lógica patriarcal, y también explica porque esta forma de violencia ha recibido poca atención institucional.
Predicting and Explaining Pig Iron Production on Charcoal Blast Furnaces: A Machine Learning Approach
Authors: Salles Melo Lima Marcio , Eryarsoy Enes , Delen Dursun
Published: February 2021

Pig iron, the source for a variety of iron-based products, is traded in commodity markets. Therefore, enhanced productivity has significant economic implications for the producers. Pig iron is mainly produced inside of tall, vertical, thermodynamic reactors called blast furnaces that run 24 hours a day. The blast furnaces are too complex to model explicitly and are generally regarded as black boxes. In this study, we design, develop, and deploy novel machine learning models on a rich data sample covering more than 20 production variables spanning nine years of actual operational period, collected at one of the largest pig iron production plants in Brazil. We show that, given the blast furnace parameters, machine learning models are capable of unveiling novel insights by illuminating the black box and successfully predicting production levels at different configurations. These prediction models can be used as decision aids to improve production efficiencies. We also perform a sensitivity analysis of the trained models to identify and rank the input variables according to their relative importance. We present our findings, which are largely in line with the existing literature, and confirm their validity, practicality, and usefulness through consultations with subject matter experts.
Experimenting in Equilibrium
Authors: Wager Stefan , Xu Kuang
Published: February 2021

Classical approaches to experimental design assume that intervening on one unit does not affect other units. There are many important settings, however, where this noninterference assumption does not hold, as when running experiments on supply-side incentives on a ride-sharing platform or subsidies in an energy marketplace. In this paper, we introduce a new approach to experimental design in large-scale stochastic systems with considerable cross-unit interference, under an assumption that the interference is structured enough that it can be captured via mean-field modeling. Our approach enables us to accurately estimate the effect of small changes to system parameters by combining unobtrusive randomization with lightweight modeling, all while remaining in equilibrium. We can then use these estimates to optimize the system by gradient descent. Concretely, we focus on the problem of a platform that seeks to optimize supply-side payments [Formula: see text] in a centralized marketplace where different suppliers interact via their effects on the overall supply-demand equilibrium, and we show that our approach enables the platform to optimize [Formula: see text] in large systems using vanishingly small perturbations.

This paper was accepted by Hamid Nazerzadeh, big data analytics.
Popularity, Mixed Matchings, and Self-Duality
Authors: Huang Chien-Chung , Kavitha Telikepalli
Published: February 2021

Our input instance is a bipartite graph G where each vertex has a preference list ranking its neighbors in a strict order of preference. A matching M is popular if there is no matching N such that the number of vertices that prefer N to M outnumber those that prefer M to N. Each edge is associated with a utility and we consider the problem of matching vertices in a popular and utility-optimal manner. It is known that it is NP-hard to compute a max-utility popular matching. So we consider mixed matchings: a mixed matching is a probability distribution or a lottery over matchings. Our main result is that the popular fractional matching polytope [Formula: see text] G is half-integral and in the special case where a stable matching in G is a perfect matching, this polytope is integral. This implies that there is always a max-utility popular mixed matching which is the average of two integral matchings. So in order to implement a max-utility popular mixed matching in G, we need just a single random bit. We analyze the popular fractional matching polytope whose description may have exponentially many constraints via an extended formulation with a linear number of constraints. The linear program that gives rise to this formulation has an unusual property: self-duality. The self-duality of this LP plays a crucial role in our proof. Our result implies that a max-utility popular half-integral matching in G and also in the roommates problem (where the input graph need not be bipartite) can be computed in polynomial time.
The Politics of Learning from Rare Events
Authors: Rerup Claus , Zbaracki Mark J.
Published: February 2021

Actors engaged in learning from rare events must trade off between two different criteria for effective learning: validity—the extent to which learning can be used for understanding, prediction, and control—and reliability—the extent to which understandings of experience are public, stable, and shared. Existing models of learning from rare events have elided conflict and politics by assuming that individuals and organizations always seek new valid knowledge that then becomes public, stable, and shared across actors. Here we examine the politics of learning in a historical analysis of population-level learning by four different actors following the 1994 sinking of the ferry Estonia. We show how politics shaped the trade-off between reliability and validity and, in turn, shaped the nature of the learning. Whereas the new knowledge was sometimes both valid and reliable, the more common outcome was knowledge that was only partly valid and reliable. Rather than treat these outcomes as substandard, we show how they are important to the dynamics of learning, as different population-level actors take into account different aspects of experience. The result is a model that makes conflict and contestation—and hence politics—essential to effective learning.
Recognising and managing an acute asthma attack
Authors: Elston Richard
Published: February 2021

Asthma is a potentially life-threatening condition, characterised by a reversible narrowing of the airways. It affects 1 in 10 children in the UK. During exacerbations, it is difficult for the child to breathe and get enough oxygen into their blood. There is a huge variance in the severity of an attack. Some can be managed in the community while others are potentially fatal and need urgent transfer to hospital. For that reason, criteria have been created to categorise attacks as mild, moderate, severe or life threatening. Initially, an asthma attack should be treated using inhaled salbutamol; however, if the patient does not respond or has severe or life-threatening asthma, they need urgent transfer to hospital.
Assessment of preschool children's sleep habits in relation to the time spent watching television
Authors: Matziou Theodora , Perdikaris Pantelis , Vlachioti Efrosini , Konstantaki Evanthia , Koumpagioti Despoina , Boutopoulou Varvara , Nteli Charalampia , Matziou Vasiliki
Published: February 2021

Aims

To assess preschool children's sleep habits and television viewing habits, parents' perceptions about TV viewing and any correlation between the two.

Methods

The study was conducted between March and June 2018 in randomly selected kindergartens of a large city in Greece. A total of 100 pre-school children and their parents participated in the study. Two questionnaires, the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and the Children's Television-Viewing Habits Questionnaire (CTVQ), were validated in Greek and used for this study.

Results

Children's age (P=0.001), parents' educational level (P<0.001) and number of siblings (P<0.001) were found to significantly affect the time children spent watching TV daily. Fathers' age (P=0.004), number of siblings (P=0.001) and time children spent watching TV daily (P=0.007) were negatively correlated with CSHQ score.

Conclusions

Pre-school aged children spend a large amount of time watching TV, which results in altered sleep patterns, despite parents encouraging them to participate in other activities. Healthcare professionals should provide parents, teachers and children with evidence-based information and advice in order to lower the incidence of sleep disorders resulting from excessive time spent watching TV.
Journal scan
Authors: Welyczko Nikki
Published: February 2021

A brief overview of recently published articles on gastroenterology, hepatology and stoma care
Returns to Workplace Training for Male and Female Employees and Implications for the Gender Wage gap: A Quantile Regression Analysis
Authors: Icardi Rossella
Published: February 2021

Context: Existing studies have explored the association between workplace training and wages suggesting that training participation may have a positive association with wages. However, we still know very little about whether this association varies between men and women. Through its potential positive association with wages, training may balance wage differences between men and women. In addition, the gender wage gap varies across the wage distribution. Differences in the association between training participation and wages for men and women across the earnings spectrum may offer an explanation as to why the discrepancy in female/male earnings is larger at some point of the wage distribution compared to others. Approach: Using data from the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and unconditional quantile regression, this paper examines whether the association between workplace training and wages differs between men and women at different points of the wage distribution across 14 European countries. To partly control for endogeneity in training participation, detailed measures of cognitive skills have been included in the models. Findings: Findings show gender differences in the association between training and wages across the wage distribution. In most countries, results indicate larger training coefficients for women than men at the lower end of the wage spectrum whereas they are larger for men at the top. This pattern holds across most countries with the only exception of Liberal ones, where women benefit less than men across the entire wage spectrum.Conclusions: The findings of this work reveal that distributional variations in returns to workplace training follow a similar pattern across industrialized countries, despite their different institutional settings. Moreover, differences in training coefficients of men and women at different parts of the wage distribution suggest that training could reduce gender wage differences among low earners and potentially widen the gap in wages among individuals at the top of the wage distribution.
Hollywood, American Politics, and Terrorism: When Art Turns into a Political Tool
Authors: Serdouk Ali
Published: February 2021

Since Sirocco, a 1951 film, the United States' cinema, Hollywood, has produced many terrorism films that have portrayed Arabs and Muslims unjustly as “terrorists.” After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hollywood's projection of prejudice and negative stereotypes of the Arabs and Muslims have been fostered. The post-9/11 period was an era in which the White House, the Pentagon, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contributed directly and indirectly to the production of several terrorism films. In Zero Dark Thirty, gifts were offered to some CIA agents in order to obtain classified information and various accesses. In Iron Man, funding and resources were provided, a green light was given, and strict regulations were imposed by the Pentagon to portray the military in a positive light. In Syriana, a CIA agent had a friendly relationship with the film screenwriter, and much of the film events were inspired by the agent's personal experiences. The post-9/11 films have been used to spread stereotyped demeaning images of the Arabs and Muslims and perpetuated a constant distortion of Muslim communities. They have therefore severely targeted Muslims and depicted them as murderers and criminals, who express the feeling of hatred towards Western civilization.
Experiencias de organización política al interior de la Iglesia Católica Romana Salvadoreña durante los años 1974–1980
Authors: Cortez Samuel Alexander García
Published: February 2021

Este artículo busca comprender cómo los espacios organizativos eclesiales que surgieron con el trabajo pastoral realizado por la Iglesia Católica Romana salvadoreña a partir del Concilio Vaticano II y el II CELAM, contribuyeron al desarrollo de conciencia y organización política durante la década de 1970. Lo anterior se realiza a partir de la trayectoria de vida de individuos que se involucraron con el trabajo pastoral y con organizaciones políticas. Se argumenta que la confluencia entre lo cristiano y lo político se manifiesta de diversas maneras, manteniendo una relación dialéctica en la cual el imaginario religioso y político se construyen entre sí.

Palabras-chave: trayectorias de vida, Mmilitancia y fe, trabajo pastoral, Iglesia Popular
Long-range optical coherence tomography with extended depth-of-focus: a
visual feedback system for smart laser osteotomy
Authors: Hamidi Arsham , Bayhaqi Yakub A. , Canbaz Ferda , Navarini Alexander A. , Cattin Philippe C. , Zam Azhar
Published: February 2021

This work presents a long-range and extended depth-of-focus optical coherence tomography (OCT) system using a Bessel-like beam (BLB) as a visual feedback system during laser osteotomy. We used a swept-source OCT system (λ
c
 = 1310 nm) with an imaging range of 26.2 mm in the air, integrated with a high energy microsecond Er:YAG laser operating at 2.94 µm. We demonstrated that the self-healing characteristics of the BLB could reduce the imaging artifacts that may arise during real-time monitoring of laser ablation. Furthermore, the feasibility of using long-range OCT to monitor a deep laser-induced incision is demonstrated.
2.7 µm band enhancement induced by energy transfer in Er3+/Tm3+ co-doped tellurite glass
Authors: Zhang Yu , Xia Lizhang , Ding Jiale , Li Chengyan , Shen Xinjie , Li Jun , Zhou Yaxun
Published: February 2021

In this work, the improvement of 2.7 µm band mid-infrared fluorescence of

E
r

3
+

was investigated. When 0.6 mol%

T
m

2

O

3

was incorporated into the tellurite glass doped with 0.5 mol%

E
r

2

O

3

, the 2.7 µm band fluorescence originating from the

E
r

3
+

:

4

I

11

/

2

→

4

I

13

/

2

transition underwent significant enhancement up to 2.3 times under the excitation of an 808 nm laser diode. This enhancement was attributed to the energy transfers between

T
m

3
+

and

E
r

3
+

ions. The energy transfer mechanism was investigated quantitatively by calculating the microparameters and phonon contributions. The obtained result indicated that

E
r

3
+

/

T
m

3
+

co-doped tellurite glass is a promising candidate applied for 2.7 µm band optoelectronic devices.
High-Q-value classical electromagnetically induced transparency based on dipoles overlapping at spoof localized surface plasmons
Authors: Liu Siyuan , Xu Zhixia , Yin Xiaoxing , Zhao Hongxin
Published: February 2021

This work has proposed a classical electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) at spoof localized surface plasmon metasurface (S-LSP) realized by only one connected metallic elementary unit cell. The excited electric dipole and magnetic dipole from S-LSPs almost overlap in the extreme narrow frequency band, which satisfies the condition of classical EIT occurring. This metasurface structure increases another possibility relative to the early bright-dark mode classical EIT with separated resonances. Moreover, under the microwave band, our proposed classical EIT has high

Q

value (up to 311) and group index (up to 30.913) compared to the recent classical EIT or passive microwave devices around the same working frequency.