bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The combination of hprt and gapdh is the best compound reference genes in the fetal rat hippocampus
Authors: Jiang Tao , Dai Shiyun , Yi Yiwen , Liu Yi , Zhang Shuai , Luo Mingcui , Wang Hui , Xu Dan 
Published: September 2020

AbstractHippocampus, as an important organ of central memory storage and spatial orientation, has been studied increasingly in recent years. The expression of reference genes in the hippocampus of adult rats, which are commonly used in the quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR), is unstable in the fetal hippocampus and may not be suitable for the fetal period. Therefore, this study intends to screen and determine the optimal compound reference genes in the fetal rat hippocampus. Based on the literature, we selected five housekeeping genes (HKGs), including glyceraldehyde 3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh), actin beta (β‐actin), hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (hprt), 18s ribosomal RNA (18s rRNA), and cyclophilin B (cypB). We analyzed the expression of them under physiological conditions in the fetal rat hippocampus using BestKeeper, GeNorm, and NormFinder, to select the most stable compound reference genes. Furthermore, to verify the stability of the compound reference genes, we analyzed the expression of reference genes in the fetal rat hippocampus under the pathological model of prenatal dexamethasone exposure (PDE). Finally, we evaluated the accuracy of compound reference genes through detecting the expression of fetal rat hippocampal brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) under PDE model. This study determined that the combination of gapdh and hprt was the most stable and suitable compound reference genes in the fetal rat hippocampus. There was no significant difference between male and female fetal rats. We provided the support of accurate and reliable reference genes for the further study of diseases related to the fetal hippocampus.
Drivers of a habitat shift by critically endangered Siberian cranes: Evidence from long‐term data
Authors: Hou Jinjin , Liu Yifei , Fraser James D. , Li Lei , Zhao Bin , Lan Zhichun , Jin Jiefeng , Liu Guanhua , Dai Nianhua , Wang Wenjuan 
Published: September 2020

AbstractMany waterbird populations have become increasingly dependent on agricultural habitats for feeding. While habitat destruction has been proposed as a key reason forcing waterbirds to move from natural habitats to agricultural habitats, few have used long‐term data to test this hypothesis. The Siberian crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) is an IUCN Critically Endangered species. About 98% of its global population winters at Poyang Lake, China. Recently, many cranes shifted from feeding in natural wetlands to agricultural habitats. Here, we integrate bird surveys, Vallisneria tuber (the traditional food of cranes in natural wetlands) surveys, water level data, and remotely sensed images from 1999 to 2016 to explore the drivers of this habitat shift. Changes in Siberian crane numbers in natural wetlands and agricultural fields indicated that the habitat shift occurred in the winters of 2015–2016. Analyses using generalized linear mixed models suggested that crane numbers in natural wetlands were positively related to tuber density and the interaction between dry season (October–March) water level and tuber density. The changes in tuber density and dry season water level in 2015–2016 indicated that tuber disappearance may have been the primary driver of the habitat shift, with a smaller effect of high water level. Submerged plants at Poyang Lake have degraded seriously in the past two decades. The plant degradation at Shahu Lake, a sublake of Poyang Lake, may have been caused by high spring water, high winter temperature, and low summer temperature. However, the drivers of tuber disappearance at Poyang Lake may not be restricted to these variables. Because Poyang Lake is an important refuge for many waterbirds in the Yangtze River floodplain, it is urgent to take effective measures to restore its submerged plants and ecosystem health. Agricultural fields can be important refuges for Siberian cranes, mitigating the negative impacts of wetland deterioration.
Where and when to hunt? Decomposing predation success of an ambush carnivore
Authors: Smith Justine A. , Donadio Emiliano , Bidder Owen R. , Pauli Jonathan N. , Sheriff Michael J. , Perrig Paula L. , Middleton Arthur D. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractPredator–prey games emerge when predators and prey dynamically respond to the behavior of one another, driving the outcomes of predator–prey interactions. Predation success is a function of the combined probabilities of encountering and capturing prey, which are influenced by both prey behavior and environmental features. While the relative importance of encounter and capture probabilities have been evaluated in a spatial framework, temporal variation in prey behavior and intrinsic catchability are likely to also affect the distribution of predation events. Using a single‐predator‐single‐prey (puma‐vicuña) system, we evaluated which factors predict predation events across both temporal and spatial dimensions of the components of predation by testing theprey‐abundance hypothesis(predators select for high encounter probability) and theprey‐catchability hypothesis(predators select for high relative capture probability) in time and space. We found that for both temporal and spatial analyses, neither the prey‐abundance hypothesis nor the prey‐catchability hypothesis alone predicted kill frequency or distribution; puma kill frequency was static throughout the diel cycle and pumas consistently selected a single habitat type when hunting, despite temporal and spatial variation in encounter rates and intrinsic catchability. Our integrated spatiotemporal analysis revealed that an interaction between time of day and habitat influences kill probability, suggesting that trade‐offs in the temporal and spatial components of predation drive the probability of predation events. These findings reinforce the importance of examining both the temporal and spatial patterns of the components of predation, rather than unidimensional measures of predator or prey behavior, to comprehensively describe the feedbacks between predator and prey in the predator–prey game.
Electroanalysis of Interleukins 1β, 6, and 12 in Biological Samples Using a Needle Stochastic Sensor Based on Nanodiamond Paste
Authors: Ilie‐Mihai Ruxandra Maria , Gheorghe Sorin Sebastian , Stefan‐van Staden Raluca‐Ioana , Bratei Alexandru 
Published: September 2020

AbstractInterleukins proved to be valuable biomarkers for different diseases. Interleukins 1β, 6, and 12 can be used as biomarkers for brain cancer diagnosis, and therefore this paper proposed a needle stochastic sensor based on protoporphyrin IX immobilized in nanodiamond paste for fast screening of biological samples such as whole blood, urine and brain tumoral tissue for these interleukins. The results obtained using this needle stochastic sensor proved that the interleukins 1β, 6, and 12 can be reliable determined from whole blood, urine and brain tumoral tissue, with recoveries higher than 96.00 %, with relative standard deviations lower than 1.00 %.
Entropy‐based intensity measure selection for site‐specific probabilistic seismic risk assessment
Authors: Du Ao , Padgett Jamie E. 
Published: September 2020

SummaryIntensity measure (IM) selection is a critical step in probabilistic seismic risk assessment (PSRA). In many past studies, the efficiency of an IM, which quantifies its explanatory power within a probabilistic seismic demand model, has been a predominant IM evaluation criterion. However, because PSRA requires convolution of the conditional demand model and the probabilistic seismic hazard, IM selection solely based on efficiency ignores the influence of uncertainty contribution particularly from the ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs), which is also dependent on the IMs, and may lead to biased IM selection. In the present study, the concept of joint entropy from information theory is introduced to quantify the uncertainty of unconditional multivariate seismic demands for general multiresponse structural systems, offering a holistic consideration of different sources of uncertainties. We propose a novel entropy‐based IM evaluation criterion that can serve as the basis for IM selection and develop a practical framework to facilitate the implementation of the entropy‐based IM selection in site‐specific PSRA. Based on two case‐study highway bridges, the merit of the proposed IM selection methodology is demonstrated, and the influence of IM selection on demand entropy and loss estimation in PSRA is evaluated. From the results, the proposed entropy‐based IM selection manifests improved capability in considering different sources of uncertainties and is found to deliver much more consistent and confident seismic risk estimates.
Resetting response of precast segments with gently keyed interface under seismic action
Authors: Liu Yingqi , Yuan Ye , Liang Feng , Au Francis T.K. 
Published: September 2020

SummaryIn an attempt to promote the use of precast segmental bridge columns in regions of moderate to high seismicity, sliding planar joints have been adopted to relieve the adverse effects of seismic action. However, despite the ability to survive an earthquake, the sliding segments often result in noticeable residual relative movements afterwards, which require costly repairs. To better understand the kinetic and self‐centering performance of sliding segments with W‐shaped gently keyed interface, the concept of sliding hysteresis center curve is put forward. A bidirectional asymmetrical pure sliding model is explored for better control of the self‐centering ability, where the downslope slip caused by the energy at the post‐peak stage of an earthquake may benefit the self‐centering performance of asymmetrical sliding systems. A series of parametric studies using real earthquake records are then conducted to evaluate the effects of inclination θ and coefficient of friction μ at the interface on the dynamic response. It is found that the seismic excitations, especially the post‐peak cycles, have profound influence on the residual displacement of an asymmetrical sliding system. With proper design, a W‐shaped gently keyed sliding system can provide superior self‐centering performance without affecting its seismic isolation ability during the peak stages of earthquakes.
Recent US State and Federal Drinking Water Guidelines for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
Authors: Post Gloria B. 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of synthetic chemicals produced for over 70 years, are of increasing concern because of their widespread environmental presence, extreme persistence, bioaccumulative nature, and evidence for health effects from environmentally relevant exposures. In 2016, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) established nonregulatory drinking water Health Advisories of 70 ng/L for individual and total concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), the 8-carbon perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) that are the most thoroughly studied PFAS. As of May 2020, 9 US states had concluded that the USEPA Health Advisories are insufficiently protective and developed more stringent PFOA and PFOS guidelines. In addition, 10 states had developed guidelines for other PFAS, primarily PFAAs. This Critical Review discusses the scientific basis for state and USEPA drinking water guidelines for PFOA and PFOS; the same principles apply to guidelines for other PFAS. Similarities and differences among guidelines arise from both toxicity and exposure considerations. The approximately 4-fold range among state guidelines (8–35 ng/L for PFOA, 10–40 ng/L for PFOS) is not large or unexpected for guidelines developed by different scientists at different time points, especially when compared with older USEPA and state guidelines that were generally several orders of magnitude higher. Additional state guidelines for PFOA, PFOS, and other PFAS are expected to become available. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:560–563. © 2020 SETAC
Abstract
As of May 2020, 12 US states had developed their own guidelines for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. Of these states, 9 had developed drinking water guidelines for perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate that are more stringent than the federal US Environmental Protection Agency's Health Advisory of 70 ng/L, and 10 had developed guidelines for other PFAS.
Typicality of functional connectivity robustly captures motion artifacts in rs‐fMRI across datasets, atlases, and preprocessing pipelines
Authors: Kopal Jakub , Pidnebesna Anna , Tomeček David , Tintěra Jaroslav , Hlinka Jaroslav 
Published: September 2020

AbstractFunctional connectivity analysis of resting‐state fMRI data has recently become one of the most common approaches to characterizing individual brain function. It has been widely suggested that the functional connectivity matrix is a useful approximate representation of the brain's connectivity, potentially providing behaviorally or clinically relevant markers. However, functional connectivity estimates are known to be detrimentally affected by various artifacts, including those due to in‐scanner head motion. Moreover, as individual functional connections generally covary only very weakly with head motion estimates, motion influence is difficult to quantify robustly, and prone to be neglected in practice. Although the use of individual estimates of head motion, or group‐level correlation of motion and functional connectivity has been suggested, a sufficiently sensitive measure of individual functional connectivity quality has not yet been established. We propose a new intuitive summary index, Typicality of Functional Connectivity, to capture deviations from standard brain functional connectivity patterns. In a resting‐state fMRI dataset of 245 healthy subjects, this measure was significantly correlated with individual head motion metrics. The results were further robustly reproduced across atlas granularity, preprocessing options, and other datasets, including 1,081 subjects from the Human Connectome Project. In principle, Typicality of Functional Connectivity should be sensitive also to other types of artifacts, processing errors, and possibly also brain pathology, allowing extensive use in data quality screening and quantification in functional connectivity studies as well as methodological investigations.
Identifying bifurcated paths with differential function impact in glioblastomas evolution
Authors: Zhang Yong , Xie Aimin , Quan Fei , Hou Xiaobo , Liao Jianlong , Zhu Shiwei , Pang Lin , Liang Xin , Zhu Xiaojing , Cheng Peng , Li Xia , Xiao Yun 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe evolutionary dynamics of human cancers has been investigated popularly and several bifurcated paths in cancer evolutionary trajectories are revealed to be with differential outcomes and phenotypes. However, whether such bifurcated paths exist in glioblastoma (GBM) remains unclear. In 385 GBM samples, through determining the clonal status of cancer driver events and inferring their temporal order, we constructed a temporal map of evolutionary trajectories at the patient population level. By investigating the differential impact on clinical outcome, we identified four key bifurcated paths, namely, “chromosome 10 copy number loss (ie, 10 loss) → chromosome 19 copy number gain (ie, 19 gain): 10 loss → 13q loss”; “10 loss → 19 gain: 10 loss → 15q loss”; “10 loss → 19 gain: 10 loss → 6q loss” and “10 loss → 19 gain: 10 loss → 16q loss”. They formed a core multibranches path, with 10 loss being regarded as the common earliest event followed by 19 gain and four other departure events (13q loss, 15q loss, 6q loss and 16q loss), which may account for their difference in genome instability and patient survival time. Compared to “10 loss → 19 gain”, the patients with “10 loss → 13q loss” had higher telomerase activity. Notably, there were obvious discrepancies in immune activity and immune cell infiltration level between patients with “10 loss → 13q/16q loss” and “10 loss → 19 gain”, highlighting the bifurcated paths' effect on tumor immune microenvironment. In summary, our study identifies four key bifurcated paths in GBM for the first time, suggesting the feasibility of patient stratification and prognosis prediction based on key bifurcated paths.
Population‐based human papillomavirus infection and genotype distribution among women in rural areas of South Central Ethiopia
Authors: Teka Brhanu , Gizaw Muluken , Ruddies Friederike , Addissie Adamu , Chanyalew Zewditu , Skof Anna Sophie , Thies Sarah , Mihret Adane , Kantelhardt Eva Johanna , Kaufmann Andreas M. , Abebe Tamrat 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIn Ethiopia, cervical cancer is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality from all cancers in women. Persistent infection with human papillomaviruses (HPV) plays a key role in the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cervical cancer. To establish baseline data on the population‐based prevalence of HPV infection and genotype distribution, we investigated cervical HPV epidemiology among rural women. This population‐based study was conducted among rural women aged 30‐49 years in Butajira, south‐central Ethiopia. A total of 893 samples were tested from 1020 screened women. A self‐sampling device (Evalyn Brush, Rovers, Oss, The Netherlands) was used and HPV presence and genotype was determined using multiplexed genotyping (MPG) by BSGP5+/6+ PCR with Luminex read out. The HPV positivity rate was 23.2% (95% CI: 23.54‐22.86%) and 20.5% (95% CI = 20.79‐20.21) and 10.3% (95% CI = 10.52‐10.08) women were high‐risk (hr‐ and low‐risk (lr‐) HPV positive, respectively. Fifty five (7.2%) of the women showed multiple hr‐HPV infections. Age‐specific hr‐HPV infection peaked in the age‐group 30‐ to 34 years old (58.6%) and decreased in 35‐39, 40‐44 and 45‐49 years to 20.4%, 4.5% and 3.8% respectively. The top five prevalent hr‐HPV genotypes were HPV16 (57.1%), 35 (20.3%), 52 (15.8%), 31 (14.1%), and 45 (9.6%) in the Butajira district. As a first population‐based study in the country, our results can serve as valuable reference to guide nationwide cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination programs in Ethiopia.
Treatment abandonment in children with cancer: Does a sex difference exist? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of evidence from low‐ and middle‐income countries
Authors: Palagyi Anna , Balane Christine , Shanthosh Janani , Jun Min , Bhoo‐Pathy Nirmala , Gadsden Thomas , Canfell Karen , Jan Stephen 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIn this systematic review and meta‐analyses, we sought to determine sex‐disparities in treatment abandonment in children with cancer in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) and identify the characteristics of children and their families most disadvantaged by such abandonment. Sex‐disaggregated data on treatment abandonment were collated from the available literature and a random‐effects meta‐analysis was conducted to compare the rates in girls with those in boys. Subgroup analyses were conducted in which studies were stratified by design, cancer type and the Gender Inequality Index of the country of study. Eighteen studies were included in the systematic review and of these studies, 16 qualified for the meta‐analysis, representing 10 754 children. The pooled rate of treatment abandonment overall was 30%. We observed no difference in the proportion of treatment abandonment in girls relative to estimates observed in boys (rate ratio [RR] 0.95, 95% CI: 0.79‐1.15; P = .61). There was significant heterogeneity across the included studies and in the pooled estimate of RR for girls vs boys (both I2 > 98%). Subgroup analyses did not reveal any effect on abandonment risk. Risk factors for abandonment observed fell into three main categories: socio‐demographic; geographic; and travel‐related. In conclusion, a high rate of treatment abandonment (30%) was observed overall for children with cancer in included studies in LMICs, although this was variable and context specific. No evidence of gender bias in childhood cancer treatment abandonment rates across LMICs was found. Given that the risk factors for abandonment are context specific, in‐depth country‐level analyses may provide further insights into the role of a child's gender in treatment abandonment decisions.
Financial innovation, human capital development, and economic growth of selected South Asian countries: An application ofARDLapproach
Authors: Qamruzzaman Md. , Jianguo Wei , Jahan Sharmin , Yingjun Zhu 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThis study investigates the interaction between financial innovation, human capital development and economic growth in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan for the period of 1981Q1–2016Q4 by applying Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Granger‐causality under error correction model (ECM). Our principal finding confirms long‐run association among financial innovation, human capital development, and economic growth of selected South Asian countries. Also, we found both long‐run and short‐run elasticities from financial innovation and human capital development to economic growth is positive for each country. The study confirms that economic growth of sample countries would positively affect any development in financial innovation and increase in investment for human capital development in future. We also perform a Granger‐causality test to investigate directional causality, and we found bidirectional causality between financial innovation and economic growth, and human capital development and economic growth both in short‐run and long‐run, thus, supporting the feedback hypothesis. The study comes with two recommendations; first, the government should encourage financial innovation in the financial system and formulate fiscal policy in favour of adaption and diffusion of financial innovation. Second, public investment in human capital development should continue and made necessary initiative towards ensuring better implementation of undertaken measures in the economy.
Liquidity, time‐varying betas and anomalies: Is the high trading activity enhancing the validity of the CAPM in the UK equity market?
Authors: Rojo‐Suárez Javier , Alonso‐Conde Ana Belén , Ferrero‐Pozo Ricardo 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIn the last decades, a large number of multifactor assetpricing models have emerged with the aim of correcting the estimated equity risk premiums for some well‐documented market anomalies. In any case, recent research on asset pricing shows how the higher liquidity resulting from the globalization of financial markets has significantly reduced returns tied to many strategies based on market anomalies. In this framework, questions arise about the possible renovated validity of classic assetpricing models. On this basis, in this paper we study to what extent the capital assetpricing model (CAPM) has recovered its past explanatory power. Specifically, we propose a time‐varying beta CAPM in order to control for the variable nature of beta risk to changes in the market liquidity, using the variation of the Amihud illiquidity measure to account for the degree of trading activity. We test both the time‐varying and constant beta models on different sets of anomaly portfolios for the UK equity market, and we compare their performance to that of the Fama–French three‐ and five‐factor models. Additionally, we test the constant beta model on a set of actively managed portfolios, formed according to the variation in market illiquidity in the previous year. Our results show that the pricing errors of the CAPM have significantly decreased with respect to those of previous literature. Furthermore, the time‐varying beta model performs similarly to the Fama–French models in most cases. These results are consistent with increased trading activity that reduces arbitrage opportunities and, therefore, enhances market efficiency.