bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Holocene Hydroclimate Variability and Vegetation Response in the Ethiopian Highlands (Lake Dendi)
Authors: Jaeschke Andrea , Thienemann Matthias , Schefuß Enno , Urban Jonas , Schäbitz Frank , Wagner Bernd , Rethemeyer Janet 
Published: December 2020

Northern Africa’s past climate is characterized by a prolonged humid period known as the African Humid Period (AHP), giving origin to the “Green Sahara” and supporting human settlements into areas that are now desert. The spatial and temporal extent of climate change associated with the AHP is, however, subject to ongoing debate. Uncertainties arise from the complex nature of African climate, which is controlled by the strength and interactions of different monsoonal systems, resulting in meridional shifts in rainfall belts and zonal movements of the Congo Air Boundary. Here, we examine a ∼12,500-years record of hydroclimate variability from Lake Dendi located in the Ethiopian highlands based on a combination of plant-wax-specific hydrogen (δD) and carbon (δ13C) isotopes. In addition, pollen data from the same sediment core are used to investigate the response of the regional vegetation to changing climate. Our δD record indicates high precipitation during peak AHP (ca. 10 to 8 ka BP) followed by a gradual transition toward a drier late Holocene climate. Likewise, vegetation cover changed from predominant grassland toward an arid montane forest dominated by Juniperus and Podocarpus accompanied by a general reduction of understory grasses. This trend is corroborated by δ13C values pointing to an increased contribution of C3 plants during the mid-to late Holocene. Peak aridity occurred around 2 ka BP, followed by a return to a generally wetter climate possibly linked to enhanced Indian Ocean Monsoon strength. During the last millennium, increased anthropogenic activity, i.e., deforestation and agriculture is indicated by the pollen data, in agreement with intensified human impact recorded for the region. The magnitude of δD change (40‰) between peak wet conditions and late Holocene aridity is in line with other regional δD records of East Africa influenced by the CAB. The timing and pace of aridification parallels those of African and Indian monsoon records indicating a gradual response to local insolation change. Our new record combining plant-wax δD and δ13C values with pollen highlights the sensitive responses of the regional vegetation to precipitation changes in the Ethiopian highlands.
Paleo-Seismicity in the Euganean Hills Province (Northeast Italy): Constraints From Geomechanical and Geophysical Tests in the Schio-Vicenza Fault Area
Authors: Martin Silvana , Fedrizzi Fabio , Boaga Jacopo , Cenni Nicola , Agnini Claudia , Cortellazzo Giampaolo , Rossato Sandro 
Published: December 2020

Gouges and cataclasites within exhumed fault zones are valuable indicators of past seismic events. Gouge layers, 40- to 100-cm-thick and decameters long, have been found within uplifted Cretaceous limestones in the Euganean Hills (SW of Padova, NE Italy), Cenozoic subvolcanic chambers intruded within a Meso-Cenozoic sequence. The main tectonic lineament in the area is the Schio-Vicenza Fault that bounds the Euganean Hills to the East. Micropaleontological analyses reveal that the gouges derive from the fragmentation and pulverization of the adjacent pristine carbonatic rocks. Stress tests on specimens from bedrock associated with gouges yielded a minimum dissipated strain energy of 0.3–0.5 MJ/m3to shatter them. Henceforth, additional strain energy was necessary to pulverize these rocks within the gouge zones. Global navigation satellite system observations show that the present deformation pattern in this region of Italy is a few tens of nanostrain (10–30 1/y), not enough to generate such gouge layers. Therefore, the seismicity of the Euganean Hills (currently M ≤5) must be reconsidered in the light of the Schio-Vicenza Fault past activity. The gouges may imply that the Schio-Vicenza Fault had a more intense activity in the past, or this area was affected by remote events or tectonic structures. This article provides new clues on the evolution of the tectonic and morphological setting of the area, with relevant consequences on seismic risk assessment of the nearby urbanized area, including the cities of Padova and Vicenza.
Regime Shifts in an Early Triassic Subtropical Ecosystem
Authors: Schneebeli-Hermann Elke 
Published: December 2020

The Early Triassic was one of the most remarkable time intervals in Earth History. To begin with, life on Earth had to face one of the largest subaerial volcanic degassing, the Siberian Traps, followed by a plethora of accompanying environmental hazards with pronounced and repeated climatic changes. These changes not only led to repeated and, for several marine nektonic clades, intense extinction events but also to significant changes in terrestrial ecosystems. The Early Triassic terrestrial ecosystems of the southern subtropical region (Pakistan) are not necessarily marked by abrupt extinction events but by extreme shifts in composition. Modern ecological theories describe such shifts as catastrophic regime shifts. Here, the applicability of modern ecological theories to these past events is tested. Abrupt shifts in ecosystems can occur when protracted changing abiotic drivers (e.g. climate) reach critical points (thresholds or tipping points) sometimes accentuated by stochastic events. Early Triassic terrestrial plant ecosystem changes stand out from the longer term paleobotanical records because changes of similar magnitude have not been observed for many millions of years before and after the Early Triassic. To date, these changes have been attributed to repeated severe environmental perturbations, but here an alternative explanation is tested: the initial environmental perturbations around the Permian–Triassic boundary interval are regarded here as a main cause for a massive loss in terrestrial ecosystem resilience with the effect that comparatively small-scale perturbations in the following ∼5 Ma lead to abrupt regime shifts in terrestrial ecosystems.
Clinical Characteristics and Neonatal Outcomes of Pregnant Patients With COVID-19: A Systematic Review
Authors: Islam Md. Mohaimenul , Poly Tahmina Nasrin , Walther Bruno Andreas , Yang Hsuan Chia , Wang Cheng-Wei , Hsieh Wen-Shyang , Atique Suleman , Salmani Hosna , Alsinglawi Belal , Lin Ming Ching , Jian Wen Shan , Jack Li Yu-Chuan 
Published: December 2020

Background and Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) characterized by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has created serious concerns about its potential adverse effects. There are limited data on clinical, radiological, and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 pneumonia. This study aimed to assess clinical manifestations and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19.Methods: We conducted a systematic article search of PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science for studies that discussed pregnant patients with confirmed COVID-19 between January 1, 2020, and April 20, 2020, with no restriction on language. Articles were independently evaluated by two expert authors. We included all retrospective studies that reported the clinical features and outcomes of pregnant patients with COVID-19.Results: Forty-seven articles were assessed for eligibility; 13 articles met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review. Data is reported for 235 pregnant women with COVID-19. The age range of patients was 25–40 years, and the gestational age ranged from 8 to 40 weeks plus 6 days. Clinical characteristics were fever [138/235 (58.72%)], cough [111/235 (47.23%)], and sore throat [21/235 (8.93%)]. One hundred fifty six out of 235 (66.38%) pregnant women had cesarean section, and 79 (33.62%) had a vaginal delivery. All the patients showed lung abnormalities in CT scan images, and none of the patients died. Neutrophil cell count, C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, ALT, and AST were increased but lymphocyte count and albumin levels were decreased. Amniotic fluid, neonatal throat swab, and breastmilk samples were taken to test for SARS-CoV-2 but all found negativ results. Recent published evidence showed the possibility of vertical transmission up to 30%, and neonatal death up to 2.5%. Pre-eclampsia, fetal distress, PROM, pre-mature delivery were the major complications of pregnant women with COVID-19.Conclusions: Our study findings show that the clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics of pregnant women with COVID-19 were similar to those of the general populations. The possibility of vertical transmission cannot be ignored but C-section should not be routinely recommended anymore according to latest evidences and, in any case, decisions should be taken after proper discussion with the family. Future studies are needed to confirm or refute these findings with a larger number of sample sizes and a long-term follow-up period.
FCGR1A Serves as a Novel Biomarker and Correlates With Immune Infiltration in Four Cancer Types
Authors: Xu Ji-li , Guo Yong 
Published: December 2020

BackgroundFCGR1A encodes a protein that plays an important role in the immune response. The prognostic impact and immune infiltration of FCGR1A in heterogeneous cancers remain unclear.MethodsDifferential expression of FCGR1A between tumor and normal tissues and the discrepancies in overall survival (OS) among diverse cancer types were performed by Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis. The correlation between FCGR1A and immune cells or gene marker sets of immune infiltrates was analyzed via Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER). Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, and protein-to-protein interaction (PPI) network were used to explore the function and related genes of FCGR1A. The relationships among these genes were further analyzed by TIMER.ResultsFCGR1A is highly expressed in various cancer types. FCGR1A was significantly correlated with the OS of cervical and endocervical cancer (CESC), cholangiocarcinoma (CHOL), kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), and skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) (P &lt; 0.05). High expression of FCGR1A meant a better prognosis besides KIRC. FCGR1A showed significant differences at different stages of KIRC and SKCM (P &lt; 0.05). Furthermore, FCGR1A was notably associated with infiltrating levels of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, B cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells in the four cancers (P &lt; 0.05). FCGR1A also showed close relevance with different immune gene markers. The copy number variation of FCGR1A significantly influenced the abundance of immune infiltration in KIRC and SKCM. GO, KEGG analysis, and PPI network analysis revealed that FCGR1A is involved in many pathophysiological processes and was most related to FCGR3A. And this gene indicated highly significant positive correlations with FCGR1A in four cancers.ConclusionFCGR1A may be a potential prognostic biomarker and related to immune infiltration levels in diverse cancers, especially in CESC, CHOL, KIRC, and SKCM. Besides, FCGR1A may be involved in the activation, regulation, or induction of immune cells and diverse physiological and pathological processes.
Abdominal Fat and Metabolic Health Markers but Not PNPLA3 Genotype Predicts Liver Fat Accumulation in Response to Excess Intake of Energy and Saturated Fat in Healthy Individuals
Authors: Rosqvist Fredrik , Orho-Melander Marju , Kullberg Joel , Iggman David , Johansson Hans-Erik , Cedernaes Jonathan , Ahlström Håkan , Risérus Ulf 
Published: December 2020

Background: Saturated fat (SFA) has consistently been shown to increase liver fat, but the response appears variable at the individual level. Phenotypic and genotypic characteristics have been demonstrated to modify the hypercholesterolemic effect of SFA but it is unclear which characteristics that predict liver fat accumulation in response to a hypercaloric diet high in SFA.Objective: To identify predictors of liver fat accumulation in response to an increased intake of SFA.Design: We pooled our two previously conducted double-blind randomized trials (LIPOGAIN and LIPOGAIN-2, clinicaltrials.gov NCT01427140 and NCT02211612) and used data from the n = 49 metabolically healthy men (n = 32) and women (n = 17) randomized to a hypercaloric diet through addition of SFA-rich muffins for 7–8 weeks. Associations between clinical and metabolic variables at baseline and changes in liver fat during the intervention were analyzed using Spearman rank correlation. Linear regression was used to generate a prediction model.Results: Liver fat increased by 33% (IQR 5.4–82.7%; P &lt; 0.0001) in response to excess energy intake and this was not associated (r = 0.17, P = 0.23) with the increase in body weight (1.9 kg; IQR 1.1–2.9 kg). Liver fat accumulation was similar (P = 0.28) in carriers (33%, IQR 14–79%) and non-carriers (33%, IQR −11 to +87%) of the PNPLA3-I148M variant. Baseline visceral and liver fat content, as well as levels of the liver enzyme γ-glutamyl transferase (GT), were the strongest positive predictors of liver fat accumulation—in contrast, adiponectin and the fatty acid 17:0 in adipose tissue were the only negative predictors in univariate analyses. A regression model based on eight clinical and metabolic variables could explain 81% of the variation in liver fat accumulation.Conclusion: Our results suggest there exists a highly inter-individual variation in the accumulation of liver fat in metabolically healthy men and women, in response to an increased energy intake from SFA and carbohydrates that occurs over circa 2 months. This marked variability in liver fat accumulation could largely be predicted by a set of clinical (e.g., GT and BMI) and metabolic (e.g., fatty acids, HOMA-IR, and adiponectin) variables assessed at baseline.
Molecular Diagnosis of Panel-Based Next-Generation Sequencing Approach and Clinical Symptoms in Patients With Glycogen Storage Disease: A Single Center Retrospective Study
Authors: Ying Shen , Zhihua Zhang , Yucan Zheng , Yu Jin , Qian Lin , Bixia Zheng , Weixia Cheng , Zhifeng Liu 
Published: December 2020

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical utility of panel-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the diagnostic approach of glycogen storage disease (GSD).Methods: We performed a retrospective review of the 32 cases with suspected GSDs between April 2013 and November 2019 through panel-based NGS, clinical and biochemical data and long-term complications.Results: Of the 32 clinical cases, we identified 41 different variants, including 24 missense (58.5%), one synonymous (2.4%), three nonsense (8%), one splice (2.4%), four frameshift (9.8%), one deletion (2.4%), four insertions (9.8%), two deletion-insertion (4.9%) and one duplication(2.4%), of which 13(31.7%) were previously unreported in the literature. In addition, patients with different types of GSDs showed important differences in biochemical parameters (i.e., CK, rGGT, TG, and UA).Conclusions: The panel-based NGS played an important diagnostic role in the suspicious GSDs patients, especially in the mild phenotype and ruled out detectable pathologic conditions. Besides, differences between our GSDs patients reflect biochemical heterogeneity.
Who Is Willing to Engage in Social Gatherings During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Lockdown? A Curvilinear Relationship Between Age and Heuristic Processing
Authors: Wang Kexin , Li Siyue 
Published: December 2020

BackgroundThe Chinese government implemented a lockdown to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic during the Chinese Lunar New Year when people have the tradition to visit families and friends. Previous research suggested that heuristic processing increased risky behavioral willingness (e.g., desire to have social gatherings despite the pandemic) and that people’s tendency to use heuristic processing varied across different adulthood stages. This study thus investigated the relationships among age, heuristic processing of COVID-19-related information, and the willingness to have social gatherings during the lockdown.MethodsA sample of 1,651 participants was recruited from an online crowdsourcing platform between January 31 and February 04 in 2020, with a mean age of 30.69, 47.9% being women. Participants completed an online questionnaire about heuristic processing of COVID-19-related information, willingness to engage in social gatherings during the lockdown, age, and other demographic information.ResultsAge was found to have a U-shaped curvilinear relationship with heuristic processing, and heuristic processing was positively correlated with the willingness to have social gatherings. Further analyses showed that heuristic processing curvilinearly mediated the relationship between age and the willingness to have social gatherings.ConclusionCompared with young adults, emerging and older adults are more likely to engage in heuristic processing, which in turn, increases the willingness to have social gatherings. Heuristic processing serves as an underlying mechanism to explain the relationship between age and risky behavioral willingness.
Nation-Wide Viral Sequence Analysis of HIV-1 Subtype B Epidemic in 2003–2012 Revealed a Contribution of Men Who Have Sex With Men to the Transmission Cluster Formation and Growth in Japan
Authors: Shiino Teiichiro , Hachiya Atsuko , Hattori Junko , Sugiura Wataru , Yoshimura Kazuhisa 
Published: December 2020

Background: To better understand the epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype B transmission in Japan, phylodynamic analysis of viral pol sequences was conducted on individuals newly diagnosed as HIV-1 seropositive.Methodology: A total of 5,018 patients newly diagnosed with HIV-1 infection and registered in the Japanese Drug Resistance HIV Surveillance Network from 2003 to 2012 were enrolled in the analysis. Using the protease-reverse transcriptase nucleotide sequences, their subtypes were determined, and phylogenetic relationships among subtype B sequences were inferred using three different methods: distance-matrix, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo. Domestically spread transmission clusters (dTCs) were identified based on the following criteria: &gt;95% in interior branch test, &gt;95% in Bayesian posterior probability and &lt;10% in depth-first searches for sub-tree partitions. The association between dTC affiliation and individuals' demographics was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses.Results: Among the cases enrolled in the analysis, 4,398 (87.6%) were classified as subtype B. Many of them were Japanese men who had sex with men (MSM), and 3,708 (84.3%) belonged to any of 312 dTCs. Among these dTCs, 243 (77.9%) were small clusters with &lt;10 individuals, and the largest cluster consisted of 256 individuals. Most dTCs had median time of the most recent common ancestor between 1995 and 2005, suggesting that subtype B infection was spread among MSMs in the second half of the 1990s. Interestingly, many dTCs occurred within geographical regions. Comparing with singleton cases, TCs included more MSM, young person, and individuals with high CD4+ T-cell count at the first consultation. Furthermore, dTC size was significantly correlated with gender, age, transmission risks, recent diagnosis and relative population size of the region mainly distributed.Conclusions: Our study clarified that major key population of HIV-1 subtype B epidemic in Japan is local MSM groups. The study suggests that HIV-1 subtype B spread via episodic introductions into the local MSM groups, some of the viruses spread to multiple regions. Many cases in dTC were diagnosed during the early phase of infection, suggesting their awareness to HIV risks.
The Effect of Customers’ Hotel Experience on Satisfaction: the mediating role of memorability
Authors: Çoban Ömer , Ardıç Yetiş Şule 
Published: December 2020

Abstract: Nowadays, hotels have become places of life and experience areas rather than a place to sleep at night for customers. Customers' experiences during their stay at the hotel can effect their future behavior. Moreover, the memorability of these experiences can also effect these behaviors. However, there is little empirical evidence identifying and measuring the relationship between these variables. Hence, it has been investigated whether memorability plays a mediator role in the relationship between customers' hotel experiences and satisfaction levels in this research. For this purpose, a field survey conducted in Cappadocia region where the cave hotels operate intensively. The data was collected by pollsters in April, 2019. Within the scope of the research, 439 questionnaires were collected from tourists staying in cave hotels. The regression analysis based on Bootstrap method was used to test whether memorability plays a mediation role in the effect of consumer hotel experiences on satisfaction. In the light of the study's findings, it was found that memorability plays an indirect mediation role in the effect of hotel experience dimensions on satisfaction.
Keywords: Customer. Experience. Hotel Experience. Satisfaction. Memorability.
A E-Economia e suas Empresas-Plataforma: modus operandi e precarização do mercado de trabalho no setor de turismo
Authors: Moreira Cardoso Ana Claudia , Oliveira Marcela Costa Bifano 
Published: December 2020

A economia digital abrange, cada vez mais, dimensões da vida cotidiana e setores da economia. Neste contexto, este artigo teórico se propõe a discutir as diversas plataformas digitais criadas por esta nova configuração da economia, analisando o que há em comum em grande parte delas – a geração de valor baseada na produção de dados pelos usuários –, mas também os elementos que as diferenciam. Neste caso, são analisadas as plataformas de intermediação, da share economy e da gig economy, dando maior destaque, neste segundo grupo, às empresas-plataforma de trabalho por demanda. Posteriormente, o foco recai sobre o setor turístico, onde são identificadas algumas das novas tecnologias e das plataformas digitais que estão sendo criadas e incorporadas pelo setor e seus impactos no mercado de trabalho. Para tal, utilizamos informações e dados fornecidos por instituições como ETUI, OIT, WTTC, Banco Mundial, LAMFO/UnB, IPEA e IBGE além daquelas contidas nos termos e condições de algumas plataformas. Inicialmente, a hipótese era de que o mercado de trabalho no setor de turismo estaria sofrendo impactos apenas em função da entrada das empresas-plataforma de trabalho por demanda (gig economy) no segmento hoteleiro, como a Brigad. Entretanto, a pesquisa revelou que a situação é muito mais grave. Por um lado, dentre as plataformas da gig economy, além aquelas específicas do setor de hotelaria, também as de entrega (iFood, Uber Eats, Rappi) e de transporte (Uber e 99) estão contribuindo para a precarização dos empregos no setor. Por outro lado, as da share economy, a exemplo do Airbnb, assim como as de intermediação (entre elas a Decolar e a Trivago) também estão impactando de forma negativa o mercado de trabalho seja no que se refere à quantidade de empregos destruídos como a falta de qualidade daqueles poucos que são criados. Assim, podemos dizer que a entrada dessas plataformas no setor está gerando uma onda de precarização laboral num mercado de trabalho já marcado por condições precárias.