bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ethical Assessment and Reflection in Research and Development of Non-Conformité Européene Marked Medical Devices
Authors: TELLÉUS PATRIK K. , JENSEN WINNIE 
Published: September 2020

AbstractToday there are multiple implantable medical devices on the market. The type of implants that interface the body’s tissues has been considered to have particular strong ethical implications. This article describes a development of a novel practice for ethical assessment and reflection within medical device research and development of non-CE marked medical devices, taking the perspective of both the ethicist and the researcher. The research case was an EU funded project where the aim was to develop and compare the efficiency of invasive and non-invasive technological medical devices to create meaningful sensations as a novel therapy for phantom limb pain. An Independent Ethical Advisor (IEA) with a regulatory and advisory role was assigned to the project, allowing us to investigate the projects deliberate incorporation of ethics. In the article we suggest and applied a novel framework based on action research for combining ethical assessment with building ethical reflection. The case analyse five different activities / elements: 1) the use of informed consent; 2) a survey amongst the research partners; 3) a workshop session; 4) observation of consortium meetings; and 5) an interview with a participating patient.
A review of strategies to impact swine feed biosecurity
Authors: Stewart Savannah C. , Dritz Steve S. , Woodworth Jason C. , Paulk Chad , Jones Cassandra K. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractGlobal pork production has largely adopted on-farm biosecurity to minimize vectors of disease transmission and protect swine health. Feed and ingredients were not originally thought to be substantial vectors, but recent incidents have demonstrated their ability to harbor disease. The objective of this paper is to review the potential role of swine feed as a disease vector and describe biosecurity measures that have been evaluated as a way of maintaining swine health. Recent research has demonstrated that viruses such as porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and African Swine Fever Virus can survive conditions of transboundary shipment in soybean meal, lysine, and complete feed, and contaminated feed can cause animal illness. Recent research has focused on potential methods of preventing feed-based pathogens from infecting pigs, including prevention of entry to the feed system, mitigation by thermal processing, or decontamination by chemical additives. Strategies have been designed to understand the spread of pathogens throughout the feed manufacturing environment, including potential batch-to-batch carryover, thus reducing transmission risk. In summary, the focus on feed biosecurity in recent years is warranted, but additional research is needed to further understand the risk and identify cost-effective approaches to maintain feed biosecurity as a way of protecting swine health.
Elevating Cultural Rights Using International Criminal Law—The Asian Story
Authors: VISWANATH Raghavi 
Published: September 2020

AbstractCodified in Articles 27 and 15(1)(a) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR] and International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights [ICESCR], respectively, cultural rights are still read as distinct from linguistic and religious freedoms. The ICCPR vests cultural rights only in “persons belonging to minorities”, instead of groups. This paper attempts to analyze the reasons for the deficiencies in the ICCPR/ICESCR cultural rights regimes. In so doing, it unpacks the implications of these deficiencies for three current conflicts in Asia—the alleged persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar, Uighurs in China, and Kashmiri Muslims in India—which are replete with cultural rights violations. It then tests whether the richer culture-based jurisprudence in international criminal law can offer lessons for the recalibration of cultural rights under the ICCPR/ICESCR. In particular, whether such cross-fertilization can trigger the jurisdiction of alternative forums to enforce state responsibility for these violations.
A 500-year tale of co-evolution, adaptation, and virulence: Helicobacter pylori in the Americas
Authors: Muñoz-Ramirez Zilia Y , Pascoe Ben , Mendez-Tenorio Alfonso , Mourkas Evangelos , Sandoval-Motta Santiago , Perez-Perez Guillermo , Morgan Douglas R , Dominguez Ricardo Leonel , Ortiz-Princz Diana , Cavazza Maria Eugenia , Rocha Gifone , Queiroz Dulcienne M M , Catalano Mariana , Zerbetto De Palma Gerardo , Goldman Cinthia G , Venegas Alejandro , Alarcon Teresa , Oleastro Monica , Vale Filipa F , Goodman Karen J , Torres Roberto C , Berthenet Elvire , Hitchings Matthew D , Blaser Martin J , Sheppard Samuel K , Thorell Kaisa , Torres Javier 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Helicobacter pylori is a common component of the human stomach microbiota, possibly dating back to the speciation of Homo sapiens. A history of pathogen evolution in allopatry has led to the development of genetically distinct H. pylori subpopulations, associated with different human populations, and more recent admixture among H. pylori subpopulations can provide information about human migrations. However, little is known about the degree to which some H. pylori genes are conserved in the face of admixture, potentially indicating host adaptation, or how virulence genes spread among different populations. We analyzed H. pylori genomes from 14 countries in the Americas, strains from the Iberian Peninsula, and public genomes from Europe, Africa, and Asia, to investigate how admixture varies across different regions and gene families. Whole-genome analyses of 723 H. pylori strains from around the world showed evidence of frequent admixture in the American strains with a complex mosaic of contributions from H. pylori populations originating in the Americas as well as other continents. Despite the complex admixture, distinctive genomic fingerprints were identified for each region, revealing novel American H. pylori subpopulations. A pan-genome Fst analysis showed that variation in virulence genes had the strongest fixation in America, compared with non-American populations, and that much of the variation constituted non-synonymous substitutions in functional domains. Network analyses suggest that these virulence genes have followed unique evolutionary paths in the American populations, spreading into different genetic backgrounds, potentially contributing to the high risk of gastric cancer in the region.
BTB-BACK-TAZ domain protein MdBT2-mediated MdMYB73 ubiquitination negatively regulates malate accumulation and vacuolar acidification in apple
Authors: Zhang Quan-Yan , Gu Kai-Di , Wang Jia-Hui , Yu Jian-Qiang , Wang Xiao-Fei , Zhang Shuai , You Chun-Xiang , Hu Da-Gang , Hao Yu-Jin 
Published: September 2020

AbstractAs an important primary metabolite, malate plays a key role in regulating osmotic pressure, pH homeostasis, stress tolerance, and fruit quality of apple. The R2R3-MYB transcription factor (TF) MdMYB73 was identified as a protein that plays a critical role in determining malate accumulation and vacuolar acidification by directly regulating the transcription of aluminum-activated malate transporter 9 (MdALMT9), vacuolar ATPase subunit A (MdVHA-A), and vacuolar pyrophosphatase 1 (MdVHP1) in apple. In addition, the bHLH TF MdCIbHLH1 interacts with MdMYB73 and enhances the transcriptional activity of MdMYB73. Our previous studies demonstrated that the BTB-BACK-TAZ domain protein MdBT2 can degrade MdCIbHLH1 to influence malate accumulation and vacuolar acidification. However, the potential upstream regulators of MdMYB73 are currently unknown. In this study, we found that MdBT2 directly interacts with and degrades MdMYB73 through the ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway to regulate malate accumulation and vacuolar acidification. A series of functional assays with apple calli and fruit showed that MdBT2 controls malate accumulation and vacuolar acidification in an MdMYB73-dependent manner. Overall, our findings shed light on the mechanism by which the BTB-BACK-TAZ domain protein MdBT2 regulates malate accumulation and vacuolar acidification by targeting MdMYB73 and MdCIbHLH1 for ubiquitination in apple. This information may help guide traditional breeding programs and fruit tree molecular breeding, and lead to improvements in fruit quality and stress tolerance.
One-shot detection limits of quantum illumination with discrete signals
Authors: Yung Man-Hong , Meng Fei , Zhang Xiao-Ming , Zhao Ming-Jing 
Published: September 2020

AbstractTo detect a stealth target, one may directly probe it with a single photon and analyze the reflected signals. The efficiency of such conventional detection scheme can potentially be enhanced by quantum illumination, where entanglement is exploited to break the classical limits. The question is what is the optimal signal state for achieving the detection limit? Here, we address this question in a general discrete model, and derive a complete set of analytic solutions. For one-shot detection, the parameter space can be classified into three distinct regions, in the form of a “phase diagram” for both conventional and quantum illumination. Interestingly, whenever the reflectivity of the target is less than some critical value, all received signals become useless, which is true even if entangled resources are employed. However, there does exist a region where quantum illumination can provide advantages over conventional illumination; there, the optimal signal state is an entangled state with an entanglement spectrum inversely proportional to the spectrum of the environmental noise state and is, surprisingly, independent of the occurrence probability and the reflectivity of the object. The entanglement of the ideal probe state increases with the entropy of the environment; it becomes more entangled as the temperature of the environment increases. Finally, we show that the performance advantage cannot be fully characterized by any measure of quantum correlation, unless the environment is a complete mixed state.
A study on the morphologic change of palatal alveolar bone shape after intrusion and retraction of maxillary incisors
Authors: Son Eun Jeong , Kim Soo Jin , Hong Christine , Chan Vania , Sim Hye Young , Ji Suk , Hong Seok Yoon , Baik Un-Bong , Shin Jeong Won , Kim Young Ho , Chae Hwa Sung 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the changes in the palatal alveolar bone thickness and find the factors related to the resorption of the palatal alveolar bone caused by tooth movement after the maxillary incisors were retracted and intruded during orthodontic treatment. The study group comprised of 33 skeletal Class II malocclusion patients who underwent extraction for orthodontic treatment. Palatal alveolar bone thickness changes and resorption factors were identified and analyzed. The changes of maxillary central incisors and palatal alveolar bone thickness were measured, and the corresponding sample t test was performed using SPSS (IBM SPSS version 22). The amount of palatal alveolar bone resorption was measured and various parameters were analyzed to determine which factors affected it. Correlation analysis adopting the amount of palatal alveolar bone resorption as a dependent variable demonstrated that the SNB, mandibular plane angle, and the inclination of the maxillary central incisor were significantly correlated with before treatment. On the other hand, mandibular plane angle, angle of convexity, the inclination of the upper incisor, and the occlusal plane (UOP, POP) were significantly correlated with post-treatment. In addition, the variables related to palatal contour (PP to PAS, SN to PAS, palatal surface angle) and occlusal planes (UOP/POP) were significantly correlated with the difference in palatal bone resorption. During initial diagnosis, high angle class II with normal upper incisor inclination can be signs of high-risk factors. In addition, maintaining the occlusal plane during treatment helps to prevent palatal bone loss.
Controlling oleogel crystallization using ultrasonic standing waves
Authors: Valoppi Fabio , Salmi Ari , Ratilainen Miika , Barba Luisa , Puranen Tuomas , Tommiska Oskari , Helander Petteri , Heikkilä Jesse , Haeggström Edward 
Published: September 2020

AbstractOleogels are lipid-based soft materials composed of large fractions of oil (> 85%) developed as saturated and hydrogenated fat substitutes to reduce cardiovascular diseases caused by obesity. Promising oleogels are unstable during storage, and to improve their stability careful control of the crystalline network is necessary. However, this is unattainable with state-of-the-art technologies. We employ ultrasonic standing wave (USSW) fields to modify oleogel structure. During crystallization, the growing crystals move towards the US-SW nodal planes. Homogeneous, dense bands of microcrystals form independently of oleogelator type, concentration, and cooling rate. The thickness of these bands is proportional to the USSW wavelength. These new structures act as physical barriers in reducing the migration kinetics of a liposoluble colorant compared to statically crystallized oleogels. These results may extend beyond oleogels to potentially be used wherever careful control of the crystallization process and final structure of a system is needed, such as in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries.
Larval pesticide exposure impacts monarch butterfly performance
Authors: Olaya-Arenas Paola , Hauri Kayleigh , Scharf Michael E. , Kaplan Ian 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe long-term decline of monarch butterflies has been attributed to loss of their milkweed (Asclepias sp.) host-plants after the introduction of herbicide-tolerant crops. However, recent studies report pesticide residues on milkweed leaves that could act as a contributing factor when ingested as part of their larval diet. In this study, we exposed monarch larvae to six pesticides (insecticide: clothianidin; herbicides: atrazine, S-metolachlor; fungicides: azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin) on their primary host-plant, A. syriaca. Each was tested at mean and maximum levels reported from published analyses of milkweeds bordering cropland and thus represent field-relevant concentrations. Monarch lethal and sub-lethal responses were tracked over their complete development, from early instar larvae to adult death. Overall, we found no impact of any pesticide on immature development time and relatively weak effects on larval herbivory or survival to adulthood. Comparatively stronger effects were detected for adult performance; namely, a 12.5% reduction in wing length in response to the fungicides azoxystrobin and trifloxystrobin. These data collectively suggest that monarch responses to host-plant pesticides are largely sublethal and more pronounced in the adult stage, despite exposure only as larvae. This outcome has important implications for risk assessment and the migratory success of monarchs in North America.
Pathogenic impact of transcript isoform switching in 1,209 cancer samples covering 27 cancer types using an isoform-specific interaction network
Authors: Kahraman Abdullah , Karakulak Tülay , Szklarczyk Damian , von Mering Christian 
Published: September 2020

AbstractUnder normal conditions, cells of almost all tissue types express the same predominant canonical transcript isoform at each gene locus. In cancer, however, splicing regulation is often disturbed, leading to cancer-specific switches in the most dominant transcripts (MDT). To address the pathogenic impact of these switches, we have analyzed isoform-specific protein–protein interaction disruptions in 1,209 cancer samples covering 27 different cancer types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) project of the International Cancer Genomics Consortium (ICGC). Our study revealed large variations in the number of cancer-specific MDT (cMDT) with the highest frequency in cancers of female reproductive organs. Interestingly, in contrast to the mutational load, cancers arising from the same primary tissue had a similar number of cMDT. Some cMDT were found in 100% of all samples in a cancer type, making them candidates for diagnostic biomarkers. cMDT tend to be located at densely populated network regions where they disrupted protein interactions in the proximity of pathogenic cancer genes. A gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that these disruptions occurred mostly in protein translation and RNA splicing pathways. Interestingly, samples with mutations in the spliceosomal complex tend to have higher number of cMDT, while other transcript expressions correlated with mutations in non-coding splice-site and promoter regions of their genes. This work demonstrates for the first time the large extent of cancer-specific alterations in alternative splicing for 27 different cancer types. It highlights distinct and common patterns of cMDT and suggests novel pathogenic transcripts and markers that induce large network disruptions in cancers.
Hyperspectral terahertz imaging with electro-optic dual combs and a FET-based detector
Authors: Martín-Mateos Pedro , Čibiraitė-Lukenskienė Dovilė , Barreiro Roberto , de Dios Cristina , Lisauskas Alvydas , Krozer Viktor , Acedo Pablo 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIn this paper, a terahertz hyperspectral imaging architecture based on an electro-optic terahertz dual-comb source is presented and demonstrated. In contrast to single frequency sources, this multi-heterodyne system allows for the characterization of the whole spectral response of the sample in parallel for all the frequency points along the spectral range of the system. This hence provides rapid, highly consistent results and minimizes measurement artifacts. The terahertz illumination signal can be tailored (in spectral coverage and resolution) with high flexibility to meet the requirements of any particular application or experimental scenario while maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement. Besides this, the system provides absolute frequency accuracy and a very high coherence that allows for direct signal detection without inter-comb synchronization mechanisms, adaptive acquisition, or post-processing. Using a field-effect transistor-based terahertz resonant 300 GHz detector and the raster-scanning method we demonstrate the two-dimensional hyperspectral imaging of samples of different kinds to illustrate the remarkable capabilities of this innovative architecture. A proof-of-concept demonstration has been performed in which tree leaves and a complex plastic fragment have been analyzed in the 300 GHz range with a frequency resolution of 10 GHz.
AI-based prediction for the risk of coronary heart disease among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Authors: Fan Rui , Zhang Ning , Yang Longyan , Ke Jing , Zhao Dong , Cui Qinghua 
Published: September 2020

AbstractType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one common chronic disease caused by insulin secretion disorder that often leads to severe outcomes and even death due to complications, among which coronary heart disease (CHD) represents the most common and severe one. Given a huge number of T2DM patients, it is thus increasingly important to identify the ones with high risks of CHD complication but the quantitative method is still not available. Here, we first curated a dataset of 1,273 T2DM patients including 304 and 969 ones with or without CHD, respectively. We then trained an artificial intelligence (AI) model using randomly selected 4/5 of the dataset and use the rest data to validate the performance of the model. The result showed that the model achieved an AUC of 0.77 (fivefold cross-validation) on the training dataset and 0.80 on the testing dataset. To further confirm the performance of the presented model, we recruited 1,253 new T2DM patients as totally independent testing dataset including 200 and 1,053 ones with or without CHD. And the model achieved an AUC of 0.71. In addition, we implemented a model to quantitatively evaluate the risk contribution of each feature, which is thus able to present personalized guidance for specific individuals. Finally, an online web server for the model was built. This study presented an AI model to determine the risk of T2DM patients to develop to CHD, which has potential value in providing early warning personalized guidance of CHD risk for both T2DM patients and clinicians.
Analogue pattern recognition with stochastic switching binary CMOS-integrated memristive devices
Authors: Zahari Finn , Pérez Eduardo , Mahadevaiah Mamathamba Kalishettyhalli , Kohlstedt Hermann , Wenger Christian , Ziegler Martin 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBiological neural networks outperform current computer technology in terms of power consumption and computing speed while performing associative tasks, such as pattern recognition. The analogue and massive parallel in-memory computing in biology differs strongly from conventional transistor electronics that rely on the von Neumann architecture. Therefore, novel bio-inspired computing architectures have been attracting a lot of attention in the field of neuromorphic computing. Here, memristive devices, which serve as non-volatile resistive memory, are employed to emulate the plastic behaviour of biological synapses. In particular, CMOS integrated resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices are promising candidates to extend conventional CMOS technology to neuromorphic systems. However, dealing with the inherent stochasticity of resistive switching can be challenging for network performance. In this work, the probabilistic switching is exploited to emulate stochastic plasticity with fully CMOS integrated binary RRAM devices. Two different RRAM technologies with different device variabilities are investigated in detail, and their potential applications in stochastic artificial neural networks (StochANNs) capable of solving MNIST pattern recognition tasks is examined. A mixed-signal implementation with hardware synapses and software neurons combined with numerical simulations shows that the proposed concept of stochastic computing is able to process analogue data with binary memory cells.
In vitro study on aspects of molecular mechanisms underlying invasive aspergillosis caused by gliotoxin and fumagillin, alone and in combination
Authors: Gayathri Loganathan , Akbarsha Mohammad A. , Ruckmani Kandasamy 
Published: September 2020

AbstractGliotoxin (GT) and fumagillin (FUM) are mycotoxins most abundantly produced byAspergillus fumigatusduring the early stages of infection to cause invasive aspergillosis (IA).Therefore, we hypothesized that GT and FUM could be the possible source of virulence factors, which we put to test adopting in vitro monoculture and the novel integrated multiple organ co-culture (IdMOC) of A549 and L132 cell. We found that (i) GT is more cytotoxic to lung epithelial cells than FUM, and (ii) GT and FUM act synergistically to inflict pathology to the lung epithelial cell. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the master regulator of the cytotoxicity of GT, FUM and GT + FUM. ROS may be produced as a sequel to mitochondrial damage and, thus, mitochondria are both the source of ROS and the target to ROS. GT-, FUM- and GT + FUM-induced DNA damage is mediated either by ROS-dependent mechanism or directly by the fungal toxins. In addition, GT, FUM and GT + FUM may induce protein accumulation. Further, it is speculated that GT and FUM inflict epithelial damage by neutrophil-mediated inflammation. With respect to multiple organ cytotoxicity, GT was found to be cytotoxic at IC50concentration in the following order: renal epithelial cells < type II epithelial cells < hepatocytes < normal lung epithelial cells. Taken together, GT and FUM alone and in combination contribute to exacerbate the damage of lung epithelial cells and, thus, are involved in the progression of IA.