bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plasma osteopontin as a biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular cognitive impairment
Authors: Chai Yuek Ling , Chong Joyce R. , Raquib Ainiah R. , Xu Xin , Hilal Saima , Venketasubramanian Narayanaswamy , Tan Boon Yeow , Kumar Alan P. , Sethi Gautam , Chen Christopher P. , Lai Mitchell K. P.
Published: February 2021

Cerebrovascular disease (CeVD) and neurodegenerative dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are frequently associated comorbidities in the elderly, sharing common risk factors and pathophysiological mechanisms including neuroinflammation. Osteopontin (OPN) is an inflammatory marker found upregulated in vascular diseases as well as in AD. However, its involvement in vascular dementia (VaD) and pre-dementia stages, namely cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND), both of which fall under the spectrum of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), has yet to be examined. Its correlations with inflammatory cytokines in cognitive impairment also await investigation. 80 subjects with no cognitive impairment (NCI), 160 with CIND and 144 with dementia were included in a cross-sectional study on a Singapore-based memory clinic cohort. All subjects underwent comprehensive clinical, neuropsychological and brain neuroimaging assessments, together with clinical diagnoses based on established criteria. Blood samples were collected and OPN as well as inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were measured using immunoassays. Multivariate regression analyses showed significant associations between increased OPN and VCI groups, namely CIND with CeVD, AD with CeVD and VaD. Interestingly, higher OPN was also significantly associated with AD even in the absence of CeVD. We further showed that increased OPN significantly associated with neuroimaging markers of CeVD and neurodegeneration, including cortical infarcts, lacunes, white matter hyperintensities and brain atrophy. OPN also correlated with elevated levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF. Our findings suggest that OPN may play a role in both VCI and neurodegenerative dementias. Further longitudinal analyses are needed to assess the prognostic utility of OPN in disease prediction and monitoring.
Synthesis of a thermoresponsive crosslinked MEO2MA polymer coating on microclusters of iron oxide nanoparticles
Authors: Lapresta-Fernández Alejandro , Salinas-Castillo Alfonso , Capitán-Vallvey Luis Fermín
Published: February 2021

Encapsulation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of iron (II, III) oxide (Fe3O4) with a thermopolymeric shell of a crosslinked poly(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate) P(MEO2MA) is successfully developed. Magnetic aggregates of large size, around 150–200 nm are obtained during the functionalization of the iron oxide NPs with vinyl groups by using 3-butenoic acid in the presence of a water soluble azo-initiator and a surfactant, at 70 °C. These polymerizable groups provide a covalent attachment of the P(MEO2MA) shell on the surface of the MNPs while a crosslinked network is achieved by including tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the precipitation polymerization synthesis. Temperature control is used to modulate the swelling-to-collapse transition volume until a maximum of around 21:1 ratio between the expanded: shrunk states (from 364 to 144 nm in diameter) between 9 and 49 °C. The hybrid Fe3O4@P(MEO2MA) microgel exhibits a lower critical solution temperature of 21.9 °C below the corresponding value for P(MEO2MA) (bulk, 26 °C). The MEO2MA coating performance in the hybrid microgel is characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The content of preformed MNPs [up to 30.2 (wt%) vs. microgel] was established by thermogravimetric analysis while magnetic properties by vibrating sample magnetometry.
Metabolomic analysis of Trichophyton rubrum and Microsporum canis during keratin degradation
Authors: Ciesielska Anita , Kawa Anna , Kanarek Katarzyna , Soboń Adrian , Szewczyk Rafał
Published: February 2021

Keratin is important and needed for the growth of dermatophytes in the host tissue. In turn, the ability to invade keratinised tissues is defined as a pivotal virulence attribute of this group of medically important fungi. The host–dermatophyte interaction is accompanied by an adaptation of fungal metabolism that allows them to adhere to the host tissue as well as utilize the available nutrients necessary for their survival and growth. Dermatophyte infections pose a significant epidemiological and clinical problem. Trichophyton rubrum is the most common anthropophilic dermatophyte worldwide and its typical infection areas include skin of hands or feet and nail plate. In turn, Microsporum canis is a zoophilic pathogen, and mostly well known for ringworm in pets, it is also known to infect humans. The aim of the study was to compare the intracellular metabolite content in the T. rubrum and M. canis during keratin degradation using liquid chromatography system coupled with tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). The metabolite “fingerprints” revealed compounds associated with amino acids metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism related to the glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), as well as nucleotide and energy metabolism. The metabolites such as kynurenic acid, l-alanine and cysteine in case of T. rubrum as well as cysteine and riboflavin in case of M. canis were detected only during keratin degradation what may suggest that these compounds may play a key role in the interactions of T. rubrum and M. canis with the host tissue. The metabolomic results were completed by qPCR gene expression assay. Our findings suggest that metabolomic analysis of T. rubrum and M. canis growing in culture media that mimic the dermatophyte infection could allow the understanding of processes involved in the pathogenesis of dermatophytes.
Mechanical stretch induces Ca2+ influx and extracellular release of PGE2 through Piezo1 activation in trabecular meshwork cells
Authors: Uchida Takatoshi , Shimizu Shota , Yamagishi Reiko , Tokuoka Suzumi M. , Kita Yoshihiro , Honjo Megumi , Aihara Makoto
Published: February 2021

The trabecular meshwork (TM) constitutes the main pathway for aqueous humor drainage and is exposed to complex intraocular pressure fluctuations. The mechanism of homeostasis in which TM senses changes in intraocular pressure and leads to normal levels of outflow resistance is not yet well understood. Previous reports have shown that Piezo1, a mechanically-activated cation channel, is expressed in TM and isolated TM cells. Therefore, we tested hypothesis that Piezo1 may function in response to membrane tension and stretch in TM. In human trabecular meshwork (hTM) cells, PIEZO1 was showed to be abundantly expressed, and Piezo1 agonist Yoda1 and mechanical stretch caused a Piezo1-dependent Ca2+ influx and release of arachidonic acid and PGE2. Treatment with Yoda1 or PGE2 significantly inhibited hTM cell contraction. These results suggest that mechanical stretch stimuli in TM activates Piezo1 and subsequently regulates TM cell contraction by triggering Ca2+ influx and release of arachidonic acid and PGE2. Thus, Piezo1 could acts as a regulator of intraocular pressure (IOP) within the conventional outflow pathway and could be a novel therapeutic strategy to modulate IOP in glaucoma patients.
Nano-adjuvant based on silk fibroin for the delivery of recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen
Authors: Rezaei Fatemeh , Keshvari Hamid , Shokrgozar Mohammad Ali , Doroud Delaram , Gholami Elham , Khabiri Alireza , Farokhi Mehdi
Published: February 2021

Silk fibroin nanoparticles as a natural polymer can be used as a nano-adjuvant for delivering the recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen.
CaO2/gelatin oxygen slow-releasing microspheres facilitate tissue engineering efficiency for the osteonecrosis of femoral head by enhancing the angiogenesis and survival of grafted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
Authors: Wang Chengqiang , Xu Haixia , Liu Chun , Peng Ziyue , Min Ruoxing , Zhang Zhiming , Li Jianjun , Jin Yanglei , Wang Yihan , Li Zhihao , Guo Jiasong , Zhu Lixin
Published: February 2021

CaO2/gelatin microspheres can slowly release oxygen to support cell survival in extreme hypoxia condition and enhance osteogenesis and angiogenesis in the necrotic femoral head after being grafted with 3D scaffold and BMSCs.
Structural crystallisation of crosslinked 3D PEDOT:PSS anisotropic porous biomaterials to generate highly conductive platforms for tissue engineering applications
Authors: Solazzo Matteo , Monaghan Michael G.
Published: February 2021

A new approach for obtaining highly conductive, yet biocompatible, 3D electroconductive porous scaffolds based on PEDOT:PSS and treated with sulphuric acid crystallisation, that can be processed with both isotropic and anisotropic microarchitecture.
Strontium-doped gelatin scaffolds promote M2 macrophage switch and angiogenesis through modulating the polarization of neutrophils
Authors: Li Tao , He Hongtao , Yang Zezheng , Wang Junjie , Zhang Yuxin , He Guangxu , Huang Jun , Song Deye , Ni Jiangdong , Zhou Xiaojun , Zhu Junfeng , Ding Muliang
Published: February 2021

Sr incorporated scaffolds promote the polarization of neutrophils to the N2 phenotype through STAT3 activation and inhibition of the NF-κB signal pathway, which induced M2 macrophage differentiation, inflammation resolution and angiogenesis.
Biomimetic catalysts of iron-based metal–organic frameworks with high peroxidase-mimicking activity for colorimetric biosensing
Authors: Wang Xiao-Ning , Zhao Yumeng , Li Jia-Luo , Pang Jian-Dong , Wang Qiang , Li Bao , Zhou Hong-Cai
Published: February 2021

Two MOFs exhibit distinct secondary building units (SBUs) and topological structures, which could be used as biomimetic catalysts for the systematic comparisons of structural characteristics and the catalytic activity.
Preparation of core–shell-like zeolites by diffusion controlled chemical etching
Authors: Shen Yanfeng , Xu Mingrui , Li jingyang , Qin Zhengxing , Wang Chunzheng , Mintova Svetlana , Liu Xinmei
Published: February 2021

The present work reports on the preparation of core–shell-like zeolites with a Si-rich mesoporous shell.
A high-performance microfluidic detection platform to conduct a novel multiple-biomarker panel for ovarian cancer screening
Authors: Wu Yu , Wang Chunhua , Wang Pan , Wang Chao , Zhang Yu , Han Lin
Published: February 2021

A high-performance microfluidic detection platform is developed to conduct a novel panel of multiple biomarkers for the early detection of ovarian carcinoma, which is promising for the early detection of ovarian cancer.
Dual-targeted and MRI-guided photothermal therapyviairon-based nanoparticles-incorporated neutrophils
Authors: Wang Jing , Mei Tianxiao , Liu Yang , Zhang Yifan , Zhang Ziliang , Hu Yihui , Wang Yibin , Wu Minliang , Yang Chuanxue , Zhong Xiangdong , Chen Bingdi , Cui Zheng , Le Wenjun , Liu Zhongmin
Published: February 2021

Here, we designed composites of neutrophils and NIR-sensitive nanoparticles (NSNP@Ne) to eradicate pancreatic tumors and inhibit tumor recurrence.
Efficient Bi3+ to Eu3+ energy transfer and color tunable emissions in K7CaY2(B5O10)3-based phosphors
Authors: Chen Hua , Gao Yan , Jiang Pengfei , Cong Rihong , Yang Tao
Published: February 2021

An 8% anti-site occupancy of Ca2+ and Eu3+ in K7CaEu2(B5O10)3, and also two sets of Bi3+ spectra are observed once Bi3+ is introduced. Color tunable emissions are realized in Bi3+/Eu3+ codoped K7CaY2(B5O10)3 by utilizing the energy transfer.
The effects of myeloablative or non-myeloablative total body irradiations on intestinal tract in mice
Authors: Zhu Shengyun , Liang Jing , Zhu Feng , Zhang Xue , Xu Mengdi , Zhao Kai , Zeng Lingyu , Xu Kailin
Published: February 2021

Acute radiation injury caused by high-dose radiation exposure severely impedes the application of radiotherapy in cancer management. To deeply understand the side effects of radiation on intestinal tract, an irradiation murine model was applied and evaluated. C57BL/6 mice were given 4 Gy non-myeloablative irradiation, 8 Gy myeloablative irradiation and non-irradiation (control), respectively. Results demonstrated that the 8 Gy myeloablative irradiations significantly damaged the gut barrier along with decreasing MECA32 and ZO-1. However, a slight increase in MECA32 and ZO-1 was detected in the 4 Gy non-myeloablative irradiations treatment from day 5 to day 10. Further, the irradiations affected the expression of P38 and JNK mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) but not ERK1/2 MAPK signal pathway. Moreover, irradiation had adverse effects on hematopoietic system, altered the numbers and percentages of intestinal inflammatory cells. The IL-17/AhR had big increase in the gut of 4 Gy irradiation mice at day 10 compared with other groups. Both 8 Gy myeloablative and 4 Gy non-myeloablative irradiation disturbed the levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in intestine. Meanwhile, high dosage of irradiation decreased the intestinal bacterial diversity and altered the community composition. Importantly, the fatty acids generating bacteria Bacteroidaceae and Ruminococcaceae played key roles in community distribution and SCFAs metabolism after irradiation. Collectively, the irradiation induced gut barrier damage with dosages dependent that led to the decreased p38 MAPK and increased JNK MAPK, unbalanced the mononuclear cells (MNCs) of gut, disturbed intestinal bacterial community and SCFAs level.
Prognostic value of miR-142 in solid tumors: a meta-analysis
Authors: Liu Rongqiang , Zheng Shiyang , Yu Kang , Yu Yajie , Yu Chenyu , Shi Wenqing , Ge Qianmin , Ye Zhiwei , Shao Yi
Published: February 2021

Several studies on the prognostic value of microRNA 142 (miR-142) in solid tumors have reported conflicting results. Therefore, the aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the relationship between the miR-142 and prognosis in solid tumors. A comprehensive search for relevant studies was conducted until 10 November 2020. Studies that investigated the prognostic significance of the miR-142 in solid tumors were included. The hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated using a random-effects model. All data analyses were performed using the STATA 12.0 software (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, U.S.A.). Twenty articles involving 2451 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that high miR-142 expression was a better predictor of overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.47–0.93) and disease-free/progression-free/recurrence-free survival (DFS/PFS/RFS) (HR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.55–0.91) compared with low miR-142 expression. MiR-142 can be used as an effective prognostic marker for patients with solid tumors. Future large prospective studies are warranted to further confirm the present findings.
Individual Differences in Lexical Contributions to Speech Perception
Authors: Giovannone Nikole , Theodore Rachel M.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The extant literature suggests that individual differences in speech perception can be linked to broad receptive language phenotype. For example, a recent study found that individuals with a smaller receptive vocabulary showed diminished lexically guided perceptual learning compared to individuals with a larger receptive vocabulary. Here, we examined (a) whether such individual differences stem from variation in reliance on lexical information or variation in perceptual learning itself and (b) whether a relationship exists between lexical recruitment and lexically guided perceptual learning more broadly, as predicted by current models of lexically guided perceptual learning.

Method

In Experiment 1, adult participants (
n
= 70) completed measures of receptive and expressive language ability, lexical recruitment, and lexically guided perceptual learning. In Experiment 2, adult participants (
n
= 120) completed the same lexical recruitment and lexically guided perceptual learning tasks to provide a high-powered replication of the primary findings from Experiment 1.

Results

In Experiment 1, individuals with weaker receptive language ability showed
increased
lexical recruitment relative to individuals with higher receptive language ability; however, receptive language ability did not predict the magnitude of lexically guided perceptual learning. Moreover, the results of both experiments converged to show no evidence indicating a relationship between lexical recruitment and lexically guided perceptual learning.

Conclusion

The current findings suggest that (a) individuals with weaker language ability demonstrate increased reliance on lexical information for speech perception compared to those with stronger receptive language ability; (b) individuals with weaker language ability maintain an intact perceptual learning mechanism; and, (c) to the degree that the measures used here accurately capture individual differences in lexical recruitment and lexically guided perceptual learning, there is no graded relationship between these two constructs.
Age and Sex Comparison of Aerodynamic Phonation Measurements Using Noninvasive Assessment
Authors: Lamb Jim R. , Scholp Austin J. , Jiang Jack J.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The goal of this study was to present vocal aerodynamic measurements from pediatric and adult participant pools. There are a number of anatomical changes involving the larynx and vocal folds that occur as children age and become adults. Data were collected using two methods of noninvasive aerodynamic assessment: mechanical interruption and labial interruption.

Method

A total of 154 participants aged 4–24 years old took part in this study. Ten trials were performed for both methods of airway interruption. To perform mechanical interruption, participants phonated /α/ for 10 s trials while a balloon valve interrupted phonation 5 times. For labial interruption, participants said /pα/ 5 times at comfortable and quiet volumes. Aerodynamic measures included subglottal pressure, phonation threshold pressure, mean airflow, laryngeal resistance, and others.

Results

One hundred one participants (51 females) successfully completed testing with both methods. Eight out of 20 measurements were found to have a statistically significant effect of participant age on measurements. Sex alone had a significant effect on vocal efficiency for the labial quiet method.

Conclusions

The data discussed here can be used to view age and sex trends in vocal aerodynamic measurements. When using either method of mechanical or labial interruption, participant age needs to be taken into account to properly interpret several aerodynamic parameters. A participant's sex is not as important when using these methods.
Point source detection with fully convolutional networks
Authors: Bonavera L. , Suarez Gomez S. L. , González-Nuevo J. , Cueli M. M. , Santos J. D. , Sanchez M. L. , Muñiz R. , de Cos F. J.
Published: February 2021

Context. Point sources are one of the main contaminants to the recovery of the cosmic microwave background signal at small scales, and their careful detection will be important for the next generation of cosmic microwave background experiments like LiteBird.

Aims. We want to develop a method based on fully convolutional networks to detect sources in realistic simulations, and to compare its performance against one of the most used point source detection method in this context, the Mexican hat wavelet 2 (MHW2). The frequencies for our analysis are the 143, 217, and 353 GHz Planck channels.

Methods. We produce realistic simulations of point sources at each frequency taking into account potential contaminating signals as the cosmic microwave background, the cosmic infrared background, the Galactic thermal emission, the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect, and the instrumental and point source shot noises. We first produce a set of training simulations at 217 GHz to train the neural network that we named PoSeIDoN. Then we apply both PoSeIDoN and the MHW2 to recover the point sources in the validating simulations at all the frequencies, comparing the results by estimating the reliability, completeness, and flux density estimation accuracy. Moreover, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves are computed in order to asses the methods’performance.

Results. In the extra-galactic region with a 30° galactic cut, the neural network successfully recovers point sources at 90% completeness corresponding to 253, 126, and 250 mJy for 143, 217, and 353 GHz respectively. In the same validation simulations the wavelet with a 3σ flux density detection limit recovers point sources up to 181, 102, and 153 mJy at 90% completeness. To reduce the number of spurious sources, we also apply a safer 4σ flux density detection limit, the same as in the Planck catalogues, increasing the 90% completeness levels: 235, 137, and 192 mJy. In all cases PoSeIDoN produces a much lower number of spurious sources with respect to MHW2. As expected, the results on spurious sources for both techniques worsen when reducing the galactic cut to 10°.

Conclusions. Our results suggest that using neural networks is a very promising approach for detecting point sources using data from cosmic microwave background experiments, providing overall better results in dealing with spurious sources with respect to the more usual filtering approaches. Moreover, PoSeIDoN gives competitive results even at the 217 GHz nearby channels where the network was not trained.
Refining Saturn’s deuterium-hydrogen ratio via IRTF/TEXES spectroscopy
Authors: Blake James S. D. , Fletcher Leigh N. , Greathouse Thomas K. , Orton Glenn S. , Melin Henrik , Roman Mike T. , Antuñano Arrate , Donnelly Padraig T. , Rowe-Gurney Naomi , King Oliver
Published: February 2021

The abundance of deuterium in giant planet atmospheres provides constraints on the reservoirs of ices incorporated into these worlds during their formation and evolution. Motivated by discrepancies in the measured deuterium-hydrogen (D/H) ratio on Jupiter and Saturn, we present a new measurement of the D/H ratio in methane for Saturn from ground-based measurements. We analysed a spectral cube (covering 1151–1160 cm−1 from 6 February 2013) from the Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph (TEXES) on NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) where emission lines from both methane and deuterated methane are well resolved. Our estimate of the D/H ratio in stratospheric methane, 1.65−0.21+0.27 × 10−5 is in agreement with results derived from Cassini CIRS and ISO/SWS observations, confirming the unexpectedly low CH3D abundance. Assuming a fractionation factor of 1.34 ± 0.19 we derive a hydrogen D/H of 1.23−0.23+0.27 × 10−5. This value remains lower than previous tropospheric hydrogen D/H measurements of (i) Saturn 2.10(±0.13) × 10−5, (ii) Jupiter 2.6(±0.7) × 10−5 and (iii) the proto-solar hydrogen D/H of 2.1(±0.5) × 10−5, suggesting that the fractionation factor may not be appropriate for stratospheric methane, or that the D/H ratio in Saturn’s stratosphere is not representative of the bulk of the planet.
Direct characterization of young giant exoplanets at high spectral resolution by coupling SPHERE and CRIRES+
Authors: Otten G. P. P. L. , Vigan A. , Muslimov E. , N’Diaye M. , Choquet E. , Seemann U. , Dohlen K. , Houllé M. , Cristofari P. , Phillips M. W. , Charles Y. , Baraffe I. , Beuzit J.-L. , Costille A. , Dorn R. , El Morsy M. , Kasper M. , Lopez M. , Mordasini C. , Pourcelot R. , Reiners A. , Sauvage J.-F.
Published: February 2021

Studies of atmospheres of directly imaged extrasolar planets with high-resolution spectrographs have shown that their characterization is predominantly limited by noise on the stellar halo at the location of the studied exoplanet. An instrumental combination of high-contrast imaging and high spectral resolution that suppresses this noise and resolves the spectral lines can therefore yield higher quality spectra. We study the performance of the proposed HiRISE fiber coupling between the direct imager SPHERE and the spectrograph CRIRES+ at the Very Large Telescope for spectral characterization of directly imaged planets. Using end-to-end simulations of HiRISE we determine the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the detection of molecular species for known extrasolar planets inHandKbands, and compare them to CRIRES+. We investigate the ultimate detection limits of HiRISE as a function of stellar magnitude, and we quantify the impact of different coronagraphs and of the system transmission. We find that HiRISE largely outperforms CRIRES+ for companions around bright hosts likeβPictoris or 51 Eridani. For anH = 3.5 host, we observe a gain of a factor of up to 16 in observing time with HiRISE to reach the same S/N on a companion at 200 mas. More generally, HiRISE provides better performance than CRIRES+ in 2 h integration times between 50 and 350 mas for hosts withH < 8.5 and between 50 and 700 mas forH < 7. For fainter hosts like PDS 70 and HIP 65426, no significant improvements are observed. We find that using no coronagraph yields the best S/N when characterizing known exoplanets due to higher transmission and fiber-based starlight suppression. We demonstrate that the overall transmission of the system is in fact the main driver of performance. Finally, we show that HiRISE outperforms the best detection limits of SPHERE for bright stars, opening major possibilities for the characterization of future planetary companions detected by other techniques.
Evidence for disequilibrium chemistry from vertical mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres
Authors: Baxter Claire , Désert Jean-Michel , Tsai Shang-Min , Todorov Kamen O. , Bean Jacob L. , Deming Drake , Parmentier Vivien , Fortney Jonathan J. , Line Michael , Thorngren Daniel , Pierrehumbert Raymond T. , Burrows Adam , Showman Adam P.
Published: February 2021

Aims. We present a large atmospheric study of 49 gas giant exoplanets using infrared transmission photometry with Spitzer/IRAC at 3.6 and 4.5 μm.

Methods. We uniformly analyze 70 photometric light curves of 33 transiting planets using our custom pipeline, which implements pixel level decorrelation. Augmenting our sample with 16 previously published exoplanets leads to a total of 49. We use this survey to understand how infrared photometry traces changes in atmospheric chemical properties as a function of planetary temperature. We compare our measurements to a grid of 1D radiative-convective equilibrium forward atmospheric models which include disequilibrium chemistry. We explore various strengths of vertical mixing (Kzz = 0–1012 cm2 s−1) as well as two chemical compositions (1x and 30x solar).

Results. We find that, on average, Spitzer probes a difference of 0.5 atmospheric scale heights between 3.6 and 4.5 μm, which is measured at 7.5σ level of significance. Changes in the opacities in the two Spitzer bandpasses are expected with increasing temperature due to the transition from methane-dominated to carbon-monoxide-dominated atmospheres at chemical equilibrium. Comparing the data with our model grids, we find that the coolest planets show a lack of methane compared to expectations, which has also been reported by previous studies of individual objects. We show that the sample of coolest planets rule out 1x solar composition with >3σ confidence while supporting low vertical mixing (Kzz = 108 cm2 s−1). On the other hand, we find that the hot planets are best explained by models with 1x solar metallicity and high vertical mixing (Kzz = 1012 cm2 s−1). We interpret this as the lofting of CH4 to the upper atmospheric layers. Changing the interior temperature changes the expectation for equilibrium chemistry in deep layers, hence the expectation of disequilibrium chemistry higher up. We also find a significant scatter in the transmission signatures of the mid-temperate and ultra-hot planets, likely due to increased atmospheric diversity, without the need to invoke higher metallicities. Additionally, we compare Spitzer transmission with emission in the same bandpasses for the same planets and find no evidence for any correlation. Although more advanced modelling would test our conclusions further, our simple generic model grid points towards different amounts of vertical mixing occurring across the temperature range of hot Jupiters. This finding also agrees with the observed scatter with increasing planetary magnitude seen in Spitzer/IRAC color-magnitude diagrams for planets and brown dwarfs.
Model of Economic Integration of the University in the World Educational Space
Authors: Chuchulina E. V.
Published: February 2021

The development of the modern economy of the 21st century and the sustainable development of cities are inextricably linked. The modern economy is a continuous process of economic integration of all subjects of economic life of society. The participation of universities in the development of cities plays a huge role. Economic integration is a factor of improvement of quality and competitiveness of the university on the world educational field. The article substantiates the importance of economic integration in the structure of the university strategy. A model of economic integration of the University was developed, also the KIU indicator of the author’s methodology which was made for assessing the level of economic integration of the University, which are universal and adaptive. The methodology has been tested on the example of the Perm State National Research University (PSNRU). We conducted a correlation analysis, which showed the dependence of the level of GRP and KIU on the example of PSNRU and Perm Krai. The directly proportional relationship of the studied indicators has been proven. The authors made detailed conclusions and recommendations on the application of the model and methodology.
Development of an intelligent remote relay protection system with adaptive algorithms for determining the response setpoints
Authors: Akhmedova Olga , Soshinov Anatoly
Published: February 2021

The severe consequences of emergency situations force us to look for ways to increase the stability of the complex, through the development of new algorithms for determining the setpoints for triggering protection and determining the locations of damage on overhead power lines (OPL). In electrical networks, devices for determining fault locations on power lines of 10 kV and higher, based on measuring the parameters of the emergency mode, are widely used. When determining the location of the damage, not only the current and voltage parameters at the time of the accident are analyzed, but also the parameters of the overhead power line. OPL is characterized by the following main parameters: the specific active resistance R, the specific reactive resistance X, the specific active conductivity G and the specific reactive conductivity B. As a rule, these parameters are attributed to the unit of the length of the overhead line (OL) and take linear values in the calculations. When analyzing power transmission lines, tabular approximate values of the longitudinal and transverse parameters in the substitution schemes are used, although solving problems in an unsophisticated form leads to significant refinements of the known solutions, since the overhead lines are affected by external atmospheric factors (changes in ambient temperature, soil humidity, wind forces, ice formation, etc.). In this paper we analyze the characteristics of these variables and evaluate the impact of the above factors on the linear longitudinal and transverse AL parameters obtained functional dependence of the influence of external factors on the setpoint triggering distance protection, developed a methodology to automatically adjust a setpoint of the complex intellectual and adaptive protection algorithm for relay protection, taking into account changes in climatic factors to reduce the length of the “dead zone” and increase the sensitivity of the protection. Also, the use of empirical data on the line parameters obtained from sensors in the calculations will allow us to more accurately determine the location of damage based on the use of remote methods.
Development of Prediction models for Bond Strength of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete by Computational Machine Learning
Authors: Singh Priyanka , Garg Chakshu , Namdeo Aman , Mohan Agarwal Krishna , Kumar Rai Rajesh
Published: February 2021

Sustainable construction contributed to the usage of recycled and waste materials to substitute conventional concrete. This research focuses on prediction of normalized bond strength of cement concrete substituted by large amounts of waste materials and products with strong mechanical properties and sustainability. It also emphases on using analytical model for the prediction of bond strength of the green concrete, so that there is a reduction in the cost of construction, con-serve energy, and it will lead to a reduction of CO2 production from cement industries within reliable limits. In this paper machine learning approach has been used to predict the normalized bond strength of green and sustainable concrete. Machine learning empowers machines to learn from their experiences and data provided. The system analyses the datasets and finds different patterns formed in the given data. Then, based on its learnings the machine can make certain predictions. In civil engineering application, a special computing technique called the Machine learning (ML) is in huge demand. ANN is a soft computing technique that learns from previous situations and adapts without constraints to a new environment. In this work, a ML network model for prediction of normalized bond strength of concrete has been illustrated. Different sets of data based upon several concrete design mixes were taken from technical literature and were fed to the model. The model is then trained for prediction, which are being influenced by several input attributes and were jotted down a linear regression analysis.
Chimeras on a social-type network
Authors: Pikovsky Arkady
Published: February 2021

We consider a social-type network of coupled phase oscillators. Such a network consists of an active core of mutually interacting elements, and of a flock of passive units, which follow the driving from the active elements, but otherwise are not interacting. We consider a ring geometry with a long-range coupling, where active oscillators form a fluctuating chimera pattern. We show that the passive elements are strongly correlated. This is explained by negative transversal Lyapunov exponents.
Diabetes mellitus in der Anästhesie – optimale perioperative Blutzuckerkontrolle
Authors: Alscher Felix , Friesenhahn-Ochs Bettina , Hüppe Tobias
Published: February 2021

Engleiste Blutzuckerspiegel können in der perioperativen Phase gefährlich werden für Patienten mit Diabetes – insbesondere, wenn der Blutzucker 250 mg/dl überschreitet oder der aktuelle HbA1c-Wert über 8,5 – 9% liegt. Dieser Beitrag bietet eine Hilfestellung im perioperativen Umgang mit Patienten mit Diabetes und zeigt praktische Handlungsempfehlungen für eine optimale Blutzuckerkontrolle durch orale Antidiabetika und Insulin.
Free Flap Reconstruction of the Anterior Skull Base: A Systematic Review
Authors: Dang Rajan P. , Ettyreddy Abhinav R. , Rizvi Zain , Doering Michelle , Mazul Angela L. , Zenga Joseph , Jackson Ryan S. , Pipkorn Patrik
Published: February 2021

Objectives Given the limitations in the available literature, the precise indications, techniques, and outcomes of anterior skull base free flap reconstruction remain uncertain. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review of published literature and evaluate indications, methods, and complications for anterior skull base free flap reconstruction.

Methods A systematic review of the literature was performed using a set of search criteria to identify patients who underwent free flap reconstruction of the anterior skull base. Articles were reviewed for inclusion based on relevance, with the primary outcome being surgical complications.

Results After a comprehensive search, 406 articles were obtained and 16 articles were ultimately found to be relevant to this review—79 patients undergoing free flap reconstruction were identified. Overall complication rates were 17.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.6–33.1%) for major complications and 19.0% (95% CI: 17.8–35.5%) for minor complications.

Conclusion Microvascular reconstruction of the anterior skull base is feasible with high reliability reported in the literature.
Neuroprotective Effects of Sildenafil on Traumatic Brain Injury in an Experimental Rat Model
Authors: Ercan Serdar , Aktaş Ayfer
Published: February 2021

Objective Not only primary injuries, secondary injuries such as posttraumatic biochemical cascades, ischemia, and hypoxia also affect the morbidity and mortality of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sildenafil released the vasodilatation by relaxing the smooth muscle of the systemic artery and vein. Also, the effects of sildenafil are evidenced in multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and memory loss as a part of experimental studies. Sildenafil decreases oxidative stress by increasing the cGMP level. We aimed to examine the protective effects of sildenafil on TBI with histopathological and biochemical parameters.

Method 21 Sprague–Dawley rats were separated into three groups (n = 7). “The weight drop injury model,” which was described by Marmou, was used for the head injury. Group 1: nontraumatic sham group, Group 2: nontreated TBI group, Group 3: sildenafil (100 mg/kg) treated TBI group. The whole brain and serum were collected for histopathological and biochemical study. The histopathological sections were examined under a light microscope.

Results On comparison of total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), nitric oxide (NO), and plasma nitrite/nitrate (PNOx) between groups, NO level was significantly high in group 3 (p = 0.013). Even though the TAS level was significantly high in group 3 (p = 0.02), there were no significant differences in TOS level in groups (p = 0.225). Disappearing Nissle granules occurred in a pyknotic situation in the cell nucleus, and acidophilic staining in neuron cells, which describe the neuron degeneration observed in the trauma group. The neuron degeneration markers were not seen in the sildenafil-treated trauma group.

Conclusion Our study has shown that sildenafil decreases the oxygen radicals and affects the recovery of experimental TBI in rats.
Finding the optimum design of the planar cutoff probe through a computational study
Authors: Kim S. J. , Lee J. J. , Lee Y. S. , Kim D. W. , You S. J.
Published: February 2021

A new plasma diagnostic tool called the planar cutoff probe (PCP), recently developed by Kim et al. [Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 28, 015004(2019)], can be embedded into a chamber wall or wafer chuck electrode for non-invasive electron density measurements. The application feasibility of the probe has so far been demonstrated in terms of signal-to-noise ratio; however, for the successful application of the PCP to real plasma processing, its design should first be optimized based on a comprehensive investigation of its characteristics. Therefore, in this paper, the effects of various parameters on the measurement characteristics of the PCP are investigated and analyzed via 3D full electromagnetic wave simulation. Results show that PCP measurement discrepancies vary by numerous controllable parameters, namely, wafer thickness and relative dielectric constant, antenna distance, input electron density, and chamber pressure. Based on these findings, the condition with the smallest measurement discrepancy and where PCP measurement performance is least affected by the parameters is found and discussed.
Pore network model of drying with Kelvin effect
Authors: Maalal Otman , Prat Marc , Lasseux Didier
Published: February 2021

A pore network model of isothermal drying is presented. The model takes into account the capillary effects, the transport of vapor by diffusion, including Knudsen effect, in the gas phase, and the Kelvin effect. The model is seen as a first step toward the simulation of drying in mesoscopic porous materials involving pore sizes between 4 nm and 50 nm. The major issue addressed with the present model is the computation of the menisci mean curvature radius at the boundary of each liquid cluster in conjunction with the Kelvin effect. The impact of Kelvin effect on the drying process is investigated, varying the relative humidity in the ambient air outside the medium. The simulations indicate that the Kelvin effect has a significant impact on the liquid distribution during drying. The evaporation rate is found to fluctuate due to the menisci curvature variations during drying. The simulations also highlight a noticeable non-local equilibrium effect.
Effects of short birth spacing on birth-order differences in child stunting: Evidence from India
Authors: Dhingra Sunaina , Pingali Prabhu L.
Published: February 2021

Significance

The question of whether firstborn children have a height advantage over later-born children is important, given the persistently poor height outcomes in developing countries. Using data on young Indian children, we show that later-born children lag behind firstborns in stunting outcomes. This is only true, though, if higher birth-order children were born within 3 y of the birth of their elder siblings. No difference in height-for-age is observed for children born with spacing of 3 or more years. India’s family planning interventions have largely focused on reducing the total fertility rate with less attention given to length of birth spacing between children. A stronger focus on increasing the time interval between births could prevent adverse stunting outcomes for surviving children.
Tissue folding at the organ–meristem boundary results in nuclear compression and chromatin compaction
Authors: Fal Kateryna , Korsbo Niklas , Alonso-Serra Juan , Teles Jose , Liu Mengying , Refahi Yassin , Chabouté Marie-Edith , Jönsson Henrik , Hamant Olivier
Published: February 2021

Significance

During development, growth deforms tissues and organs. This is notably the case during the formation of new flowers in plants, as the tissue folds during young floral bud emergence. Here, we provide further evidence that organogenesis compresses the cells at the boundary, separating the organ from the stem cell niche, and we show that this leads to nucleus compression and chromatin changes. While mechanical forces are well known to affect nucleus shape and chromatin in mammalian cells in culture, this demonstrates that such an effect also occurs in a developing organism and suggests that forces may help to define boundary domains through large-scale chromatin effects.
Ten Years of Operation of a Small Belgian Medium-Security Unit—How Are We Doing?
Authors: De Page Louis , Titeca Pierre
Published: February 2021

International literature suggests that forensic care is best organized by independent security levels with appropriate infrastructure, procedures, and therapeutic goals. However, resources are not always sufficient to allow for organizing this way. We describe the functioning of a medium-security unit (MSU) where we not only rehabilitate forensic patients for their transition from prison to community life but also readmit relapsing patients and provide time-outs for patients in crisis. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this cohabitation for patients and personnel. This study is also the first to present figures regarding readmissions of relapsing patients and prison remittal in Belgium from a MSU point of view.
S2 domain gives myosin filaments some flexibility
Authors: Short Ben
Published: February 2021

JGP microscopy study supports the idea that the region linking myosin head and tail domains can be peeled away from filament backbone to prevent actin-attached heads from impeding filament movement.
Investigation of edge states in artificial graphene nano-flakes
Authors: Zhang Qiushi , Wu Tsz Chun , Kuang Guowen , Xie A’yu , Lin Nian
Published: February 2021

Graphene nano-flakes (GNFs) are predicted to host spin-polarized metallic edge states, which are envisioned for exploration of spintronics at the nanometer scale. To date, experimental realization of GNFs is only in its infancy because of the limitation of precise cutting or synthesizing methods at the nanometer scale. Here, we use low temperature scanning tunneling microscope to manipulate coronene molecules on a Cu(111) surface to build artificial triangular and hexagonal GNFs with either zigzag or armchair type of edges. We observe that an electronic state at the Dirac point emerges only in the GNFs with zigzag edges and localizes at the outmost lattice sites. The experimental results agree well with the tight-binding calculations. Our work renders an experimental confirmation of the predicated edge states of the GNFs.
Regulating the interface defect of TiO2/Ag2O nanoheterojunction and its effect on photogenerated carrier dynamics
Authors: Zhou Yun , Zhu Hongfu , Chen Sichao , Ou Yang Xiaoping , Liu Lixin , Wang Yuan
Published: February 2021

In this paper, the defects of TiO2/Ag2O nanoheterojunctions are regulated to evaluate the effect of the interface defects on carrier trapping and recombination dynamics by time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy (TRPL) and time-resolved terahertz (THZ) spectroscopy. TRPL spectra reveal that interface defects can act as a recombination center and have an accelerative effect on the recombination process of photogenerated carriers under ultraviolet light. Moreover, THZ spectroscopy results demonstrate that interface defects can effectively trap electrons and expedite the Auger recombination. Furthermore, the influence of interface defects on the photocarrier dynamics of TiO2/Ag2O nanoheterojunctions was comprehensively analyzed, providing a valuable experimental reference for the regulation and application of interface defect-fabricated nanoheterojunctions.
Manipulation of hot electron flow on plasmonic nanodiodes fabricated by nanosphere lithography
Authors: Kang Mincheol , Park Yujin , Lee Hyunhwa , Lee Changhwan , Park Jeong Young
Published: February 2021

Energy conversion to generate hot electrons through the excitation of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in metallic nanostructures is an emerging strategy in photovoltaics and photocatalytic devices. Important factors for surface plasmon and hot electron generation are the size, shape, and materials of plasmonic metal nanostructures, which affect LSPR excitation, absorbance, and hot electron collection. Here, we fabricated the ordered structure of metal-semiconductor plasmonic nanodiodes using nanosphere lithography and reactive ion etching. Two types of hole-shaped plasmonic nanostructures with the hole diameter of 280 and 115 nm were fabricated on Au/TiO2 Schottky diodes. We show that hot electron flow can be manipulated by changing the size of plasmonic nanostructures on the Schottky diode. We show that the short-circuit photocurrent changes and the incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency results exhibit the peak shift depending on the structures. These phenomena are explicitly observed with finite difference time domain simulations. The capability of tuning the morphology of plasmonic nanostructure on the Schottky diode can give rise to new possibilities in controlling hot electron generation and developing novel hot-electron-based energy conversion devices.
Online teaching research on college physics by using different teaching tools
Authors: Huangqing Liu , Yanping Xiao
Published: February 2021

In the epidemic period, online teaching has become the most important teaching form. On the basis of questions-centred massive open online courses (MOOCs) teaching, the online teaching mode of college physics was studied and discussed using the Tencent classroom, WeChat/QQ and Wisdom Tree Platform. MOOCs before class, Tencent classroom during class, WeChat/QQ in the whole process including solving problems after class, and Wisdom Tree Platform for quality inspection of online teaching were practiced in the teaching of each chapter including mass point kinematics. Due to the problem-oriented implementation of the three stages, the results of the online mock test were better than expected. In other words, the online teaching supported by various online tools could effectively guarantee the quality of teaching.