bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Influence of metals and metalloids on the composition and fluorescence quenching of the extracellular polymeric substances produced by the polymorphic fungus Aureobasidium pullulans
Authors: Song Wenjuan , Yang Yuyi , Liang Xinjin , Liu Feixue , Gadd Geoffrey Michael 
Published: June 2020

Abstract
Aureobasidium pullulans is a ubiquitous and widely distributed fungus in the environment, and exhibits substantial tolerance against toxic metals. However, the interactions between metals and metalloids with the copious extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by A. pullulans and possible relationships to tolerance are not well understood. In this study, it was found that mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se), as selenite, not only significantly inhibited growth of A. pullulans but also affected the composition of produced EPS. Lead (Pb) showed little influence on EPS yield or composition. The interactions of EPS from A. pullulans with the tested metals and metalloids depended on the specific element and their concentration. Fluorescence intensity measurements of the EPS showed that the presence of metal(loid)s stimulated the production of extracellular tryptophan-like and aromatic protein-like substances. Examination of fluorescence quenching and calculation of binding constants revealed that the fluorescence quenching process for Hg; arsenic (As), as arsenite; and Pb to EPS were mainly governed by static quenching which resulted in the formation of a stable non-fluorescent complexes between the EPS and metal(loid)s. Se showed no significant interaction with the EPS according to fluorescence quenching. These results provide further understanding of the interactions between metals and metalloids and EPS produced by fungi and their contribution to metal(loid) tolerance.

Key points
• Metal(loid)s enhanced production of tryptophan- and aromatic protein-like substances.
• Non-fluorescent complexes formed between the EPS and tested metal(loid)s.
• EPS complexation and binding of metal(loid)s was dependent on the tested element.
• Metal(loid)-induced changes in EPS composition contributed to metal(loid) tolerance.
Web-based Simulation for Contrast Transfer Function and Envelope Functions
Authors: Jiang Wen , Chiu Wah 
Published: June 2020

AbstractWe have implemented a Web-based simulation program for the contrast transfer function and envelope functions in Java and JavaScript. The simulation provides interactive controls of all the parameters in those functions. In addition to the predefined functions, users can easily define new functions that use any of the parameters in the preset functions. The most useful feature of this new simulation program is the convenient, universal accessibility through Web browsers on any computer platform that supports Java, such as Netscape and Internet Explorer.
Improved X-ray Spectrum Simulation for Electron Microprobe Analysis
Authors: Duncumb Peter , Barkshire Ian R. , Statham Peter J. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe accurate calculation of characteristic peak intensity is essential for interpreting X-ray spectra in electron microprobe analysis. Conventionally, the measured intensity from a standard of known composition is used as a reference to simplify the calculation. However, if no such standard is available, then all factors influencing X-ray generation and X-ray detection efficiency must be included. If the intensity and energy distribution of the background radiation can also be calculated, the investigator can simulate an entire spectrum from an assumed composition, gaining powerful benefits in setting up an experiment and in confirming the results. The study presented here demonstrates a fast method of spectrum simulation, suitable for energydispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and assesses the accuracy using 309 spectra from samples of known composition. These include K, L, and M lines from elements of atomic number 6–92, excited by beam energies in the range of 5–30 keV. The RMS error between 360 measured and calculated peak intensities was found to be 7.1%. Central to the method is the use of the ratio of peak intensity/total background intensity, which allows spectra to be compared from instruments of differing collection efficiency, thereby easing the collection of data over a wide range of conditions.
Improved Technique for Electron Microscope Visualization of Yeast Membrane Structure
Authors: Bauer Christoph , Herzog Volker , Bauer Matthias F. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractYeast cells represent a powerful model system in cell biology mainly due to their amenability to genetic manipulations. Increasingly, studies focus on mutant genes resulting in alterations of cellular structures and organelles. To ascertain the phenotypic changes involved, it is often desirable to use the resolving power of electron microscopy. In contrast to higher eukaryotic cells, yeast cells are particularly difficult to preserve mainly due to the presence of a thick cell wall that acts as a barrier against diffusion of fixatives. Although several procedures are targeted to overcome these difficulties, none of them have become established as a standard procedure. As a consequence, electron microscopy is still not used routinely as a tool in yeast cell biology. This prompted us to develop an easy-to-follow protocol for yeast transmission electron microscopy that should be useful in all cases where membrane integrity and organelle morphology is emphasized. One means of making the yeast cytoplasm more attainable to fixation and staining solutions is by enzymatic digestion of the cell wall. Following this approach, we were able to reliably preserve yeast cells and their cellular organelles. Enzymatic treatment with zymolyase 20T to partially remove the yeast cell wall allowed the fixation, preservation, and visualization of the yeast cytoplasm revealing detailed ultrastructure. The advancement of this technique is demonstrated with mitochondria as a model organelle. Our studies on various yeast mutants clearly show the power of the enzymatic digestion technique in visualizing subtle changes of membrane structure and organelle morphology.
Three-dimensional Investigation of Ceramic/Metal Heterophase Interfaces by Atom-probe Microscopy
Authors: Rüsing Järg , Sebastian Jason T. , Hellman Olof C. , Seidman David N. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe results of a three-dimensional atom probe (3DAP) analysis, on a subnanometer scale, of a ceramic/metal heterophase interface, MgO/Cu, are presented. Segregation of Ag, from the Cu (Ag) matrix, at MgO/Cu interfaces is investigated and the Gibbsian interfacial excess of silver is determined; the range is 2.33 × 1018 to 5.81 × 1018 m−2. Also, silver segregation at the same MgO/Cu interfaces is analyzed employing a new approach that utilizes a proximity histogram or proxigram.
TelePresence Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy
Authors: Youngblom Janey H. , Youngblom James J. , Wilkinson Jerry 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe advent of the Internet has allowed the development of remote access capabilities to a growing variety and number of microscopy systems. To date, the confocal microscope has not been included among these systems. At the California State University (CSU) Confocal Microscopy Core Facility, we have established a remote access confocal laser scanning microscope facility that allows users with virtually any type of computer platform to connect to our system. Our Leica TCS NT confocal system is accessible to any authorized user via the Internet by using a free software program called VNC (Virtual Network Computing). Once connectivity is established, remote users are able to control virtually all the functions to conduct real-time image analysis and quantitative assessments of their specimen. They can also move the motorized stage to view different regions of their specimen by using a software program associated with the stage. At the end of the session, all files generated during the session can be downloaded to the user’s computer from a link on the CSU confocal website. A number of safeguard features have been developed to ensure security and privacy of data acquired during a remote session.
Today’s and Tomorrow’s Instruments
Authors: Conty Claude 
Published: June 2020

Abstract
This article will discuss the importance of Raimond Castaing’s thesis on
the genesis of a nondestructive and truly quantitative microanalytical
method that assisted the scientific community in moving forward in the
development of microanalytical instruments. I will also share with you my
recollection of the decades of improvement in the electron probe
microanalyzer (EPMA), that has allowed us to reach our present level of
instrument sophistication, and I will explore with you my thoughts on the
future evolution of this technique. To conclude, I will present the current
status of related microanalysis techniques developed under Castaing in Orsay
in the 1960s, as Castaing’s interest in microanalysis was not limited to
electron probe microanalysis alone.
Feasibility of intraoperative ultrasound of the small bowel during Crohn’s disease surgery
Authors: Celentano V. , Beable R. , Ball C. , Flashman K. G. , Reeve R. , Fogg C. , Harper M. , Higginson A. 
Published: June 2020

Abstract
Background
Intraoperative assessment of the extent and location of Crohn’s disease is not standardised and relies on a mixture of surgeons’ experience, tactile feedback and macroscopic appearance. To overcome this variability, we developed a protocol for full intraoperative ultrasound scan of the small bowel and we here report the results of “Assessing the Feasibility and Safety of Using Intraoperative Ultrasound in Ileocolic Crohn’s Disease—The IUSS CROHN Study”.

Methods
This is a prospective single centre observational study with enrolment of all patients undergoing elective surgery for terminal ileal Crohn’s disease from January 2019 to March 2020. Patients underwent laparoscopic ileocolic resection, according to a standardised technique. Ultrasound intraoperative quantitative assessment was performed according to the METRIC (MREnterography or ulTRasound in Crohn’s disease) scoring guide.

Results
Intraoperative ultrasound was successfully performed in 6 patients from the ileocaecal valve to the proximal jejunum. The median time required was 23.5 min (range 17–37 min) as compared to 6.5 min (5–12 min) required for the macroscopic evaluation performed by the surgeon. In 3 patients, intraoperative ultrasound identified more disease than surgical evaluation.

Conclusions
This feasibility study demonstrated the safety of intraoperative ultrasound and allowed the development of a standardised protocol for intraoperative ultrasound and the data collection required to inform a randomised multicentre study.
Statin use and breast cancer recurrence in postmenopausal women treated with adjuvant aromatase inhibitors: a Danish population-based cohort study
Authors: Harborg Sixten , Heide-Jørgensen Uffe , Ahern Thomas P. , Ewertz Marianne , Cronin-Fenton Deirdre , Borgquist Signe 
Published: June 2020

Abstract
Purpose
To examine the association between statin use and risk of breast cancer recurrence in a national Danish cohort of postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving aromatase inhibitors (AI) in the adjuvant setting.

Patients and methods
We enrolled all postmenopausal patients diagnosed with stage I–III estrogen receptor positive breast cancer during the years 2007–2017, assigned adjuvant AI treatment, and registered in both the Danish Breast Cancer Group database and the Danish Cancer Registry. We ascertained incident statin exposure (≥ 1 prescription post-diagnosis) from the Danish National Prescription Registry and modeled statins as a time-varying exposure lagged by 6 months. Follow-up began 7 months after diagnosis and continued to the first event of recurrence, death, emigration, 5 years elapsed, or 25th September 2018. We estimated incidence rates of recurrence at 5 years and used Cox regression models to compute crude and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), comparing statin exposure with non-exposure.

Results
We enrolled 14,773 eligible patients. During the 5 years of follow-up, there were 32 recurrences in 3163 person-years of follow-up among statin-exposed patients, and 612 recurrences in 45,655 person-years among unexposed patients (incidence rate per 1000 person-years: 10.12 [95% CI 6.92–14.28] and 13.40 [95% CI 12.36–14.51], respectively). In multivariable models, any statin exposure was associated with a reduced rate of 5-year breast cancer recurrence (adjusted HR 0.72 [95% CI 0.50–1.04]). Considering only lipophilic statins as exposure the results were similar (adjusted HR 0.70 [95% CI 0.48–1.02]).

Conclusions
Statin use was associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence among postmenopausal patients diagnosed with early stage breast cancer who received adjuvant AI therapy.
Pressure dependence of side chain 1H and 15N-chemical shifts in the model peptides Ac-Gly-Gly-Xxx-Ala-NH2
Authors: Beck Erlach Markus , Koehler Joerg , Munte Claudia E. , Kremer Werner , Crusca Edson , Kainosho Masatsune , Kalbitzer Hans Robert 
Published: June 2020

AbstractFor interpreting the pressure induced shifts of resonance lines of folded as well as unfolded proteins the availability of data from well-defined model systems is indispensable. Here, we report the pressure dependence of 1H and 15N chemical shifts of the side chain atoms in the protected tetrapeptides Ac-Gly-Gly-Xxx-Ala-NH2 (Xxx is one of the 20 canonical amino acids) measured at 800 MHz proton frequency. As observed earlier for other nuclei the chemical shifts of the side chain nuclei have a nonlinear dependence on pressure in the range from 0.1 to 200 MPa. The pressure response is described by a second degree polynomial with the pressure coefficients B1 and B2 that are dependent on the atom type and type of amino acid studied. A number of resonances could be assigned stereospecifically including the 1H and 15N resonances of the guanidine group of arginine. In addition, stereoselectively isotope labeled SAIL amino acids were used to support the stereochemical assignments. The random-coil pressure coefficients are also dependent on the neighbor in the sequence as an analysis of the data shows. For Hα and HN correction factors for different amino acids were derived. In addition, a simple correction of compression effects in thermodynamic analysis of structural transitions in proteins was derived on the basis of random-coil pressure coefficients.
Effect of different activation agents on the pollution removal efficiency of date seed activated carbon: process optimization using response surface methodology
Authors: Al Subhi Hajar , Adeeb Mohammed Salim , Pandey Mukesh , Al Sadeq Hafez , Kumar Deepak , Shukla Sudheer Kumar 
Published: June 2020

AbstractActivated carbons are currently one of the most widely used materials for water and wastewater treatment because of their high specific surface area and moderate cost. This study is about the comparison of different activation methods on the pollution removal efficiency of date seed activated carbon using response surface methodology (RSM). The date seeds were carbonized in a muffle furnace at 300 °C for 1 h to produce carbon. Then, the chemical activation was carried out using 1 N solution of H3PO4, HNO3, H2SO4 separately for 24 h. Activated carbons were ground in a grinder to convert it to powder form, and after that, it was sieved using 75 microns sieve. Physical properties like pore size and surface area were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Pollution removal studies were carried using the Jar test, and the experiments were designed using RSM. The results show that the maximum COD reduction of 98.58% was obtained when H2SO4 was used as an activation agent. The results show that the carbon activated by H2SO4 shows the highest removal than its counterparts. The optimum dose was optimized using RSM and found to be 300 mg/l, and the optimum reaction time was 10 min. By this set of conditions, 96.3% of COD removal could be achieved. The results are confirmed by SEM studies, which show a high surface area, more pores, and the presence of a high amount of carbon in the AC prepared using H2SO4.
Removal of heavy metals by Escherichia coli (E. coli) biofilm placed on zeolite from aqueous solutions (case study: the wastewater of Kerman Bahonar Copper Complex)
Authors: Khosravi Ahmad , Javdan Marzieh , Yazdanpanah Ghazal , Malakootian Mohammad 
Published: June 2020

AbstractIndustrial wastewater needs to be treated because of the heavy metals presence and their effects on the environment. The aim of this study was to remove heavy metals ions such as copper and zinc from aqueous solutions by using Escherichia coli (E. coli) biofilm which was placed on zeolite. The paper was experimental. Synthetic and real samples were evaluated in laboratory scale. To evaluate the removal efficiency, the effective parameters such as pH, copper and zinc concentrations, and contact time were examined. Optimal conditions were obtained with experiments on the synthetic samples. To study the adsorption isotherms, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were investigated. The copper and zinc cations maximum removal efficiency at 40 mg/L within 10 days was obtained as 54.61% and 57.35%, respectively. By using Langmuir isotherm, the experimental data were fitted with correlation coefficients of 0.98 and 0.95 for copper(II) and zinc(II), respectively. The results showed that the hybrid of zeolite and bacterial biofilm system has the best efficiency for removing the metal copper and zinc cations.
Hydrocarbon reservoir development in reef and shoal complexes of the Lower Ordovician carbonate successions in the Tazhong Uplift in central Tarim basin, NW China: constraints from microfacies characteristics and sequence stratigraphy
Authors: Ngia Ngong Roger , Hu Mingyi , Gao Da 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe analyses of hydrocarbon reservoirs in the high-frequency reef and shoal facies of the Lower Ordovician carbonate successions in the Penglaiba Formation (O1P) and Yingshan Formation (O1–2Y) in the Tazhong (Katake) Uplift in central Tarim basin showed three types of hydrocarbon reservoirs: type 1 associated with synsedimentary facies, type 2 developed by hot active basinal dissolution fluids [mesogenetic fluids, geothermal/hydrothermal fluids and thermochemical sulfate reduction-related fluids] and tectonic activity, and type 3 are hypogenic–epigenetic karst reservoirs formed by meteoric and mesogenetic dissolution fluids. Porosity and permeability development in the reef and shoal facies in the highstand system tracts (HST) of the third-order sequence cycles (SQ1–SQ3) correlates well with regression peaks in O1P and O1–2Y, mostly related to multiphase tectonic activity, long-term exposure, denudation and dissolution in near-surface to shallow burial settings. The carbonate successions in the O1P and O1–2Y are composed of seventeen microfacies (MF-1 to MF-17) deposited on a shallow marine platform. Six main groups of microfacies associations (MFA-1 to MFA-6) were recognized, with each microfacies association corresponding to the transgressive system tracts and HST of SQ1–SQ4 in O1P and O1–2Y. The microfacies represent specific sedimentary environment including platform interior and platform margin deposited under particular hydrodynamic conditions. Tectonics and frequent relative sea-level fluctuation associated with rapid transgression and slow regression favored the deposition of the large-scale vertical stacking, high-frequency reef and shoal facies across the carbonate platforms in this uplift. The hydrocarbon reservoirs in this study have relatively moderate porosity and low permeability, and are somewhat potential reservoirs for hydrocarbon exploration in the Tazhong Uplift.
Two-stage optimisation for malachite green removal using activated date pits
Authors: Hijab M. , Saleem J. , Parthasarathy P. , Mackey H.R. , McKay G. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractWater pollution, from industry and agriculture, is a major threat to water security in the light of decreasing global potable water resources. Adsorption is one potential treatment technology for the removal of different contaminants from polluted water. Hard lignocellulose-containing materials with high carbon content, such as date stones, are excellent precursors for the production of activated carbons for adsorption activities. In this study, waste date stone biomass, from the seedless date products industry, was treated and activated chemically for the adsorption of malachite green dye, which is widely used in the plastics and textile industries. Phosphoric acid was used as an activating agent for the date stones, and its adsorption capability was measured and compared to the capacity of natural date stone powder. Experimental equilibrium data were analysed and correlated by four isotherm models: Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Langmuir–Freundlich (also called SIPS). The best fit for the experimental data for both treated and natural date stone was the Langmuir–Freundlich isotherm. The surface areas and maximum malachite green adsorption capacities of the natural date stone and the phosphoric acid–treated date stone were 86 and 909 m2/g, respectively, and maximum malachite green adsorption capacities were 31.5 and 64.7 mg/g, respectively. A two-stage batch adsorber model was developed to optimize the two-step adsorption process to remove malachite green and minimize the amount of adsorbent used for both untreated and treated date stones. The benefits of the two-stage adsorber and chemically activated date stones are discussed in terms of designing for various percentages dye removal, various effluent discharge concentrations and various initial dye concentrations. The two-stage system resulted in a reduction of adsorbent compared with the one-stage system of 36 to 460% to remove the same amount of dye.
Just the Facts: Diagnosis and management of small bowel obstruction
Authors: Long Brit , Targonsky Elisha , Koyfman Alex 
Published: June 2020

A 63-year-old female patient presents with abdominal pain, vomiting, and abdominal distention. She has previously had a cholecystectomy and hysterectomy. She has had no prior similar episodes, and denies fever, hematemesis, or diarrhea. She takes no medications. Vital signs include blood pressure 123/61 mm Hg, heart rate 97, oral temperature 37.2°C, respiratory rate 18, oxygen saturation 97% on room air. Her abdomen is diffusely tender and distended.