bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mediterranean Diet and Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Findings From the French E3N‐EPIC Cohort Study
Authors: Nguyen Yann , Salliot Carine , Gelot Amandine , Gambaretti Juliette , Mariette Xavier , Boutron‐Ruault Marie‐Christine , Seror Raphaèle 
Published: September 2020

ObjectiveThe Mediterranean diet has been reported to be associated with a significant reduction in risk of noncommunicable diseases. We undertook this study to assess the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially in high‐risk individuals.MethodsThe E3N study (Etude Epidémiologique Auprès des Femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale) is a French prospective cohort study that has included 98,995 women since 1990. Dietary data were collected via a validated food frequency questionnaire in 1993. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed using a 9‐unit dietary score evaluating consumption of vegetables, legumes, cereal products, fish, meat, dairy products, olive oil, and alcohol. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for incident RA were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for age and the main potential confounders, including smoking.ResultsAmong 62,629 women, we identified 480 incident cases of RA. In the entire study population, the Mediterranean diet adherence score was not associated with RA risk (HR 0.86 [95% CI 0.67–1.09] for high score versus low score; P for trend = 0.09); however, among ever‐smokers, a higher score was associated with a decreased risk of RA (HR 0.91 [95% CI 0.84–0.99] for 1‐point increase in score; P = 0.03). In ever‐smokers, the absolute risks of RA in those with high scores and those with low scores were 38.3 and 51.5 per 100,000 person‐years, respectively, compared to 35.8 per 100,000 person‐years in never‐smokers with high Mediterranean diet scores.ConclusionOur results suggest that adherence to the Mediterranean diet could reduce the high risk of RA among ever‐smoking women. Our results must be confirmed in future research.
Regulating Back Electron Transfer through Donor and π‐Spacer Alterations in Benzothieno[3,2‐b]indole‐based Dye‐sensitized Solar Cells
Authors: Nitha P. R , Jayadev V. , Pradhan Sourava C. , Divya Velayudhan V. , Suresh Cherumuttathu H. , John Jubi , Soman Suraj , Ajayaghosh Ayyappanpillai 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThree metal‐free organic D−π−A dyes with benzothieno[3,2‐b]indole as electron donor, cyanoacrylic acid as both electron acceptor and anchoring group with benzene (BID‐1), thiophene (BID‐2) and furan (BID‐3) as π‐spacers were designed and synthesized for application in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A planar and electron‐rich heterocycle such as benzothieno[3,2‐b]indole offers better backbone rigidity and improves charge transport properties in comparison to indolo[3,2‐b]indole donor, previously reported from our group. Additionally, we synthesized a benzothieno[3,2‐b]indole donor grafted with longer alkyl chains which efficiently prevented the approach of oxidized species in the electrolyte coming closer to semiconductor thereby arresting recombination. A power conversion efficiency of 4.11 % was achieved for dye‐sensitized solar cells based on the furan π‐spacer benzothieno[3,2‐b]indole dye BID‐3 in comparison to the corresponding indolo[3,2‐b]indole dye (IID‐3) having an efficiency of 1.71 %. Detailed interfacial electrical measurements along with theoretical calculations disclosed the mechanism of back electron transfer and improvement in photovoltaic performance with respect to variation in both donor and π‐spacer.
Virtual age, is it real? ‐ Discussing virtual age in reliability context
Authors: Finkelstein Maxim , Cha Ji Hwan 
Published: September 2020

AbstractSeveral settings, where the notion of virtual age is employed, are discussed. We argue that the age reduction imperfect repair modeling is often not sufficiently justified in practice, as it is not possible to execute repair in most of real situations that conforms with this model. On the other hand, a shock‐based virtual age model is suggested and justified via the probabilities of failures on shocks. The new notion of virtual age for degrading items is also introduced. We discuss how to recalculate virtual age after switching from one regime to another. Several examples illustrating different notions of virtual age are presented.
Rotation of open clusters based on Gaia data. Praesepe
Authors: Loktin Alexander V. , Popov Alexander A. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractHigh–precision trigonometric parallaxes, proper motions, and radial velocities of the Gaia DR2 catalog allow us to investigate the problem of open clusters rotation. Such a study could naturally be started with the clusters closest to the Sun, so we chose Praesepe as an object of our study. We selected 908 probable cluster members up to the apparent magnitude G = 19 mag based on their trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions, within 10° distance from the cluster center. We estimated the cluster distance modulus to be 6.36 mag and 6.02 mag using the trigonometric parallaxes of the probable cluster members and by fitting the theoretical isochrone to the cluster hertzsprung‐russell (HR) diagram, respectively. The cluster rotation velocity was estimated to be 0.4 km s−1 at the periphery of the cluster, using three different methods. In the future, we will continue the study of clusters rotation, with several nearby open clusters.
Accuracy of magnitudes in pre‐telescopic star catalogs
Authors: Protte Philipp , Hoffmann Susanne M. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractHistorical star magnitudes from catalogs by Ptolemy (137 AD), al‐Sūfī (964), and Tycho Brahe (1602/27) are converted to the Johnson V‐mag scale and compared to modern‐day values from the HIPPARCOS catalog. The deviations (or “errors”) are tested for dependencies on three different observational influences. The relation between historical and modern magnitudes is found to be linear in all three catalogs as it had previously been shown for the Almagest data by Hearnshaw, J. B., 1999, New A Rev., 43, 403. A slight dependency on the color index (B‐V) is shown throughout the data sets and al‐Sūfī's, as well as Brahe's data also give fainter values for stars of lower culmination height (indicating extinction). In all three catalogs, a star's estimated magnitude is influenced by the brightness of its immediate surroundings. After correction for the three effects, the remaining variance within the magnitude errors can be considered approximate accuracy of the pre‐telescopic magnitude estimates. The final converted and corrected magnitudes are available via the Vizier catalog access tool (Ochsenbein, F., Bauer, P., & Marcout, J., 2000, A&AS, 143, 23).
Astrometric observations of visual binaries using 26‐inch refractor at Pulkovo Observatory during 2014–2019
Authors: Izmailov Igor , Rublevsky Aleksey , Apetyan Arina 
Published: September 2020

AbstractWe present 18,365 astrometric observations of 290 visual binaries obtained with the 26‐inch refractor of Pulkovo Observatory during 2014–2019. The separation between components is from 1″.3 to 37″ with a median value of 4″.8. For a single observation, the mean separation error is 0″.013, and the mean position angle error is 0∘.44/ρ, where ρ is an angular distance in arcseconds. We compare the observations of sample stars with the data from the Gaia DR2 catalog and the results of the ground‐based observations performed with other telescopes.
Electrochemical Performance and Mechanism of Calcium Metal‐Organic Battery
Authors: Bitenc Jan , Scafuri Antonio , Pirnat Klemen , Lozinšek Matic , Jerman Ivan , Grdadolnik Jože , Fraisse Bernard , Berthelot Romain , Stievano Lorenzo , Dominko Robert 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe abundance of Ca, its low redox potential and high specific capacity make Ca metal batteries an attractive energy storage system for the future. A recent demonstration of room temperature calcium plating/stripping opened a new avenue of the development, but the performance of cathode materials is lagging far behind. Due to the nature of divalent cations, conversion and coordination electrochemical reactions show better performance compared to insertion. Herein, we demonstrate the use of the anthraquinone‐based polymer as a cathode material for the Ca metal‐organic battery. Electrochemical mechanism investigation confirms the reversible reduction of the carbonyl bond and coordination with Ca2+ cations in the discharged state, opening a pathway toward high energy density battery. Continued performance of a 2‐electrode cell is strongly hampered by the overpotential increase caused by the Ca stripping process on the Ca metal anode stating the need for further development of Ca electrolytes. Ca metal‐organic battery promises to achieve cells with gravimetric energy density on the practical level compared to the state‐of‐the‐art Li‐ion batteries.
A new highly selective fluorescent sensor based on a novel fluorophore for cyanide and its applications in bioimaging
Authors: Liu Yan , Du Jian shi , Qi Shao long , Zhu Lu bao , Yang Qing biao , Xu Hai , Li Yao xian 
Published: September 2020

AbstractA novel highly active fluorescence chemical sensor (TBI) for CN− was synthesized based on triphenylamine–benzothiazole as a new fluorophore, and was used for the first time as a fluorophore for detection of CN−. Fluorescence quantum yield of the probe clearly increased when using triphenylamine–benzothiazole as the group. The probe possessed good selectivity towards CN− and had anti‐interference ability over common ions. After adding CN−, the UV–visible spectrum of TBI changed clearly and underwent a dramatic colour change from red to colourless, which could be observed clearly by the naked eye. The limit of detection for CN− was calculated to be 2.62 × 10−8 M, which was well below the WHO cut‐off point of 1.9 μM. The novel probe displayed fast sensing of CN−. The detection mechanism was a nucleophilic addition reaction between CN− and a carbon atom –C = N– in indole salt. The π‐conjugation and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) transition in the TBI molecule were destroyed by this addition, which resulted in a change of fluorescence before and after the addition of CN−. The mechanism was verified using theoretical calculation, 1H NMR titration, and mass spectra. In addition, the probe showed low cytotoxicity and could be used for biological imaging in HeLa cells.
Pyronaridine: An update of its pharmacological activities and mechanisms of action
Authors: Bailly Christian 
Published: September 2020

AbstractPyronaridine (PYR) is an erythrocytic schizonticide with a potent antimalarial activity against multidrug‐resistant Plasmodium. The drug is used in combination with artesunate for the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria, in adults and children. The present review briefly retraces the discovery of PYR and recent antimalarial studies which has led to the approval of PYR/artesunate combination (Pyramax) by the European Medicines Agency to treat uncomplicated malaria worldwide. PYR also presents a marked antitumor activity and has revealed efficacy for the treatment of other parasitic diseases (notably Babesia and Trypanosoma infections) and to mitigate the Ebola virus propagation. On the one hand, PYR functions has an inhibitor of hemozoin (biomineral malaria pigment, by‐product of hemoglobin digestion) formation, blocking the biopolymerization of β‐hematin and thus facilitating the accumulation of toxic hematin into the digestive vacuole of the parasite. On the other hand, PYR is a bona fide DNA‐intercalating agent and an inhibitor of DNA topoisomerase 2, leading to DNA damages and cell death. Inhibition of hematin polymerization represents the prime mechanism at the origin of the antimalarial activity, whereas anticancer effects relies essentially on the interference with DNA metabolism, as with structurally related anticancer drugs like amsacrine and quinacrine. In addition, recent studies point to an immune modulatory activity of PYR and the implication of a mitochondrial oxidative pathway. An analogy with the mechanism of action of artemisinin drugs is underlined. In brief, the biological actions of pyronaridine are recapitulated to shed light on the diverse health benefits of this unsung drug.
Harnessing interdisciplinary education in biochemistry and molecular biology: A report on the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 “harnessing interdisciplinary education in biochemistry and molecular biology” conference
Authors: Macaulay Janet , Heralde Francisco M. , Yu Gracia Fe B. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe “Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology” education conference was held on November 13–15, 2019 in Manila, Philippines. The conference was sponsored by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular (IUBMB). With over 400 attendees from 22 countries themes discussed by the speakers and enthusiastic participants ranged from teaching biochemistry and molecular biology at all levels and to students in a range of disciplines.
Meeting report: BioMolViz workshops for developing assessments of biomolecular visual literacy
Authors: Procko Kristen , Engelman Shelly , Jakubowski Henry , Beckham Josh T. , Dean Diane M. , Franzen Margaret A. , Novak Walter R. P. , Roberts Rebecca , Roca Alberto I. , Shor Audrey C. , Terrell Cassidy R. , Dries Daniel R. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractWhile molecular visualization has been recognized as a threshold concept in biology education, the explicit assessment of students' visual literacy skills is rare. To facilitate the evaluation of this fundamental ability, a series of NSF‐IUSE‐sponsored workshops brought together a community of faculty engaged in creating instruments to assess students' biomolecular visualization skills. These efforts expanded our earlier work in which we created a rubric describing overarching themes, learning goals, and learning objectives that address student progress toward biomolecular visual literacy. Here, the BioMolViz Steering Committee (BioMolViz.org) documents the results of those workshops and uses social network analysis to examine the growth of a community of practice. We also share many of the lessons we learned as our workshops evolved, as they may be instructive to other members of the scientific community as they organize workshops of their own.
Zinc‐protoporphyrin determination by HPLC with fluorescence detection as a biomarker of lead effect in artisanal pottery workers
Authors: Santos Nathália R. , Bandeira Matheus de J. , Bah Homègnon A. Ferreol , Rodrigues Juliana L.G. , Cardoso Mariana S. , Rocha Andrea R. , Menezes‐Filho José A. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractLead (Pb) exposure compromises heme synthesis by inhibiting ferrochelatase, forming zinc‐protoporphyrin (ZnPP). This study aims to validate a method for the determination of ZnPP by HPLC with fluorescence detection and apply this method to evaluate the extent of Pb exposure of artisanal pottery workers. Extraction procedures were tested using both nonacid and acid liquid–liquid extraction. The former presented a better chromatogram and recovery results. The validated method yielded a good resolution of ZnPP and its free form peaks with acceptable precision and accuracy. Total run time was 15 min and ZnPP peak retention time was 5.6 min. We applied this method to evaluate 39 potters (90% male), mean age 40 years (9–80). The medians (ranges) of blood lead, ZnPP and hemoglobin were 16.0 μg/dl (2.2–71.5), 12.6 μg/dl (4.6–279.8) and 15.1 g/dl (11.0–17.8), respectively. Significant differences were observed for blood lead according to gender, age range (>40 years), direct handling of lead oxide and years of occupation. Significantly higher levels of ZnPP were observed in male potters involved with lead glazing activity. The validated method was shown to be simple with one‐step nonacid extraction, good sensitivity, reproducibility and accuracy. Our data shows that these laborers are dangerously exposed to Pb, reflecting the effect on the heme synthesis.
Alteration in topological properties of brain functional network after 2‐year high altitude exposure: A panel study
Authors: Xin Zhenlong , Chen Xiaoming , Zhang Qian , Wang Jiye , Xi Yibin , Liu Jian , Li Baojuan , Dong Xiaoru , Lin Yiwen , Zhang Wenbin , Chen Jingyuan , Luo Wenjing 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIntroductionHigh altitude (HA) exposure leads to cognitive impairment while the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Brain functional network is crucial for advanced functions, and its alteration is implicated in cognitive decline in multiple diseases. The aim of current study was to investigate the topological changes in HA‐exposed brain functional network.MethodsBased on Shaanxi‐Tibet immigrant cohort, neuropsychological tests and resting‐state functional MRI were applied to evaluate the participants' cognitive function and functional connection (FC) changes, respectively. GRETNA toolbox was used to construct the brain functional network. The gray matter was parcellated into 116 anatomically defined regions according to Automated Anatomical Labeling atlas. Subsequently, the mean time series for each of the 116 regions were extracted and computed for Pearson's correlation coefficients. The relation matrix was further processed and seen as brain functional network. Correlation between functional network changes and neuropsychological results was also examined.ResultsThe cognitive performance was impaired by HA exposure as indicated by neuropsychological test. HA exposure led to alterations of degree centrality and nodal efficiency in multiple brain regions. Moreover, two subnetworks were extracted in which the FCs significantly decreased after exposure. In addition, the alterations in FCs within above two subnetworks were significantly correlated with changes of memory and reaction time.ConclusionsOur results suggest that HA exposure modulates the topological property of functional network and FCs of some important regions, which may impair the attention, perception, memory, motion ignition, and modulation processes, finally decreasing cognitive performance in neuropsychological tests.
The determinants of business contribution to the 2030 Agenda: Introducing the SDG Reporting Score
Authors: Pizzi Simone , Rosati Francesco , Venturelli Andrea 
Published: September 2020

AbstractWithin the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations have explicitly required that the Member States introduce within their jurisdictions new forms of regulations about non‐financial reporting practices. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects related to the transposition of Directive 2014/95/EU by analyzing firm‐level, governance‐level, and report‐level determinants of business reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To conduct such an analysis, this study defines and introduces the SDG Reporting Score (SRS)—a qualitative proxy representing a firm orientation toward SDG reporting. The study sample includes the non‐financial reports of 153 Italian Public Interest Entities. The results show a positive relationship between a firm's SRS and various determinants, such as the presence of independent directors on the board, expertise with non‐financial reporting, and length of the report. Finally, the highest levels of SRS are achieved by firms operating in environmental sensitive sectors.
Target‐driven cloud evolution using position‐based fluids
Authors: Zhang Zili , Li Yunfei , Yang Bailin , Li Frederick W. B. , Liang Xiaohui 
Published: September 2020

AbstractTo effectively control particle‐based cloud evolution without imposing strict position constraints, we propose a novel method integrating a control force field and a phase transition control into the position‐based fluids (PBF) framework. To produce realistic cloud simulation, we incorporate both fluid dynamics and thermodynamics to govern cloud particle movement. The fluid dynamics is simulated through our novel driving and damping force terms. As these terms are only formulated based on cloud particle density and position, they simplify the inputs and make our method free from artificial positional constraints. The thermodynamics is implemented by our phase transition control, which can effectively simulate cloud evolution between discrepant initial and target shapes, producing plausible results. Uniquely, our method can also support target shape change during cloud simulation. Experiment results have demonstrated our method surpasses existing methods.
Automatic text‐to‐gesture rule generation for embodied conversational agents
Authors: Ali Ghazanfar , Lee Myungho , Hwang Jae‐In 
Published: September 2020

AbstractInteractions with embodied conversational agents can be enhanced using human‐like co‐speech gestures. Traditionally, rule‐based co‐speech gesture mapping has been utilized for this purpose. However, the creation of this mapping is laborious and often requires human experts. Moreover, human‐created mapping tends to be limited, therefore prone to generate repeated gestures. In this article, we present an approach to automate the generation of rule‐based co‐speech gesture mapping from publicly available large video data set without the intervention of human experts. At run‐time, word embedding is utilized for rule searching to get the semantic‐aware, meaningful, and accurate rule. The evaluation indicated that our method achieved comparable performance with the manual map generated by human experts, with a more variety of gestures activated. Moreover, synergy effects were observed in users' perception of generated co‐speech gestures when combined with the manual map.
A variational U‐Net for motion retargeting
Authors: Uk Kim Seong , Jang Hanyoung , Kim Jongmin 
Published: September 2020

AbstractMotion retargeting is the process of copying motion from one character (source) to another (target) when the source and target body sizes and proportions (of arms, legs, torso, etc.) are different. The problem of automatic motion retargeting has been studied for several decades; however, the motion quality obtained with the application of current approaches is on occasion unrealistic. This is because previous methods, which are mainly based on numerical optimization, generally do not incorporate prior knowledge of the details and nuances of human movements. To address these issues, we present a novel human motion retargeting system using a deep learning framework with large‐scale motion data to produce high‐quality retargeted human motion. We establish a deep‐learning‐based motion retargeting system using a variational deep autoencoder combining the deep convolutional inverse graphics network (DC‐IGN) and the U‐Net. The DC‐IGN is utilized for disentangling the motion of each body part, while the U‐Net is employed to preserve details of the original motion. We conduct several experiments to validate the proposed motion retargeting system, and find that ours achieves better accuracy along with reduced computational burden when compared with the conventional motion retargeting approach and other neural network architectures.