bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of engine oil dilution by waste ayurvedic oil biodiesel on tribological behavior of liner-ring tribo pair material
Authors: Balakumar R. , Sriram G. , Arumugam S. 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
The fastest exhaustion of petroleum-based fossil fuels and its ever-ending environmental issues which scares the researchers to search for the alternate source for commercial diesel fuel. In this way, the biodiesel as an alternate fuel plays an important role in a diesel engine. There are many vegetables were used as a biodiesel feedstock, the utilization of waste feedstock as a biodiesel resource will be the prime importance in the reduction of waste management followed by its dumping processes in the earth surface. The present experimental investigation is used to examine the utilization of waste ayurvedic oil (WAO) biodiesel blends diluted in the synthetic oil and its tribological study using pin on disc tribometer under standard test conditions. The ultrasound irradiation assisted transesterification process method is employed in the conversion of waste ayurvedic oil in to WAO methyl ester (WAOME). Then the WAOME was added with diesel fuel to form the biodiesel blends and named as B10, B15 and B20. In addition to this, the blends were contaminated with synthetic lubrication oil (SAE20W40) to study the dilution effects of the biodiesel. The real-time cylinder liner-ring tribopair materials were used for the investigation. The experimental results reveal that, the tribological behavior i.e., lower co-efficient of friction and wear was observed with WAO20 biodiesel blend than other biodiesel blends and diesel fuel.
A tunable metamaterial-based linear-to-circular polarization converter regulated solid state plasma in S-band
Authors: Zeng Li , Zhang Hai-Feng , Zhang Dan 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
As the most widely used band in wireless communication systems, S-band is often used in many military and civil fields. In this paper, with the aid of the reconfigurability realized by the solid state plasma (SSP), a tunable metamaterial-based polarization converter is proposed and theoretically investigated. Through the premeditated excitation of the SSP resonators in the specific region, the linear-to-circular polarization conversions with two different operating states can be realized and switched to each other. The numerical results show that the polarization converter can obtain circularly polarized waves in two separate bands (2.15–2.63 GHz and 3.18–3.71 GHz) when our design is in State I, and the dual operating bands expands and merges into a consecutive ultra-wideband range (2.04–3.67 GHz) when our design is switched to State II. The total tunable working range of the presented polarization converter can essentially cover the whole S-band and the phenomenon of the isolation and fusion of the operating band possesses great potential application value in the fields of radar radomes, polarization separation, electromagnetic shielding, and so on.
Convolutional neural network-based automatic detection of follicle cells in ovarian tissue using optical coherence tomography
Authors: Saito Kasumi , Motani Yuki , Takae Seido , Suzuki Nao , Tsukada Kosuke 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
To preserve the fertility of young female cancer patients, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation have been investigated as next-generation reproductive medical technologies. Non-invasive visualization of follicles in ovarian tissue and cryopreservation of higher density tissue is essential for effective transplantation. We proposed the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) that can noninvasively visualize the internal structure of the ovarian tissue. However, a method for quantifying cell density has not yet been established because of the lack of available techniques to visualize follicles noninvasively. We proposed the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN) to extract small features from medical images as an image analysis method to automatically detect follicles from the obtained OCT images. First, we collected a total of 13 ovarian tissues from four-day-old mice and acquired OCT images using a full-field-type OCT. Then, the acquired images were analyzed using three detection methods: filter processing, filter processing combined with the CNN, and only CNN. Finally, to verify the detection accuracy of each method, the detection rate and precision were calculated by taking the doctor’s detection as the correct result. The results showed that the detection method only using CNN achieved a detection rate of 0.81 and precision of 0.67; this indicated that follicles could be effectively detected using our proposed method. Furthermore, it is quantitatively evident that the density of follicles from the surface layer to the deep region differs depending on the tissue. In the future, these results could be used to detect follicles in tissues of different maturation stages and quantify follicles three-dimensionally, further accelerating next-generation reproductive medicine.
Screening for expired medications in automated dispensing cabinets
Authors: Nanni Alexis N , Rana Trusha S , Schenkat Daniel H 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Purpose
Results of a study to quantify rates of identification of expired medications in automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) are reported.

Methods
A pre-post analysis was conducted to determine the effect of various types of ADC audits on rates of finding expired medications in ADCs. For the experimental phase of the study, 4 ADCs at the main campus of an academic medical center were randomly assigned to receive one of 4 interventions: (1) monthly audits of all ADC pockets, (2) monthly audits of matrix (open pocket) drawers only, (3) monthly audits of unassigned pockets only, and (4) no additional intervention.

Results
At baseline, rates of finding expired medication doses in the 4 ADCs ranged from 0.4% to 0.7%. During the 3-month experimental period, rates of finding expired medication doses ranged from 0.1% to 0.3%. During a final audit 1 month later, the ADC targeted for monthly audits of all pockets was found to contain no expired doses, with an overall improvement in expired-dose rates for all audited ADCs observed over the course of the 4-month study. The average time to perform a full audit for an ADC with about 340 pockets was 1 hour, or 15 seconds per pocket. The average time to perform matrix drawer–only audits averaged around 45 minutes, or 11 seconds per pocket. The average time to perform audits of unassigned matrix drawers averaged 30 minutes, or 10 seconds per pocket.

Conclusion
Auditing of all ADC pockets on a monthly basis appears to be an effective method of reducing the rate of identification of expired medications in ADC pockets.
Latent Structure of a Brief Clinical Battery of Neuropsychological Tests Administered In-Home Via Telephone
Authors: Matchanova Anastasia , Babicz Michelle A , Medina Luis D , Rahman Samina , Johnson Briana , Thompson Jennifer L , Beltran-Najera Ilex , Brooks Jasmin , Sullivan Kelli L , Walker Rheeda L , Podell Kenneth , Woods Steven Paul 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Objective
To examine the factor structure and sociodemographic correlates of a battery of clinical neuropsychological tests administered in-home and via telephone.

Method
Participants included 280 healthy adults who completed a 35–40 min battery consisting of seven auditory-verbal neuropsychological tests (i.e., 10 variables) that included digit span, list learning and memory, prospective memory, verbal fluency, and oral trail making.

Results
After removing oral trail making part A, a three-factor model comprised of executive functions, memory and attention demonstrated the best fit to the data. Nevertheless, the shared variance between the nine remaining neuropsychological variables was also adequately explained by a single-factor model and a two-factor model comprised of executive functions and memory. Factor scores were variably associated with education, race/ethnicity, and IQ, but not with sex or age.

Conclusions
Findings provide preliminary support for the feasibility and factor structure and sociodemographic correlates of a brief telephone-based screening neuropsychological battery comprised mostly of commonly administered clinical measures. Future studies are needed to determine the test–retest reliability, sensitivity, and ecological relevance of this battery, as well as equivalency to in-person assessment.
RNA inter-nucleotide 3D closeness prediction by deep residual neural networks
Authors: Sun Saisai , Wang Wenkai , Peng Zhenling , Yang Jianyi 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Motivation
Recent years have witnessed that the inter-residue contact/distance in proteins could be accurately predicted by deep neural networks, which significantly improve the accuracy of predicted protein structure models. In contrast, fewer studies have been done for the prediction of RNA inter-nucleotide 3D closeness.

Results
We proposed a new algorithm named RNAcontact for the prediction of RNA inter-nucleotide 3D closeness. RNAcontact was built based on the deep residual neural networks. The covariance information from multiple sequence alignments and the predicted secondary structure were used as the input features of the networks. Experiments show that RNAcontact achieves the respective precisions of 0.8 and 0.6 for the top L/10 and L (where L is the length of an RNA) predictions on an independent test set, significantly higher than other evolutionary coupling methods. Analysis shows that about 1/3 of the correctly predicted 3D closenesses are not base pairings of secondary structure, which are critical to the determination of RNA structure. In addition, we demonstrated that the predicted 3D closeness could be used as distance restraints to guide RNA structure folding by the 3dRNA package. More accurate models could be built by using the predicted 3D closeness than the models without using 3D closeness.

Availability and implementation
The webserver and a standalone package are available at: http://yanglab.nankai.edu.cn/RNAcontact/.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
read_haps: using read haplotypes to detect same species contamination in DNA sequences
Authors: Eggertsson Hannes P , Halldorsson Bjarni V 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Motivation
Data analysis is requisite on reliable data. In genetics this includes verifying that the sample is not contaminated with another, a problem ubiquitous in biology.

Results
In human, and other diploid species, DNA contamination from the same species can be found by the presence of three haplotypes between polymorphic SNPs. read_haps is a tool that detects sample contamination from short read whole genome sequencing data.

Availabilityand implementation
github.com/DecodeGenetics/read_haps.
Lipid metabolism is altered in maternal, placental, and fetal tissues of ewes with small for gestational age fetuses†
Authors: Steinhauser Chelsie B , Askelson Katharine , Lambo Colleen A , Hobbs Kenneth C , Bazer Fuller W , Satterfield M Carey 
Published: October 2020

AbstractNutrient restriction (NR) has the potential to negatively impact birthweight, an indicator of neonatal survival and lifelong health. Those fetuses are termed as small for gestational age (SGA). Interestingly, there is a spectral phenotype of fetal growth rates in response to NR associated with changes in placental development, nutrient and waste transport, and lipid metabolism. A sheep model with a maternal diet, starting at Day 35, of 100% National Research Council (NRC) nutrient requirements (n = 8) or 50% NRC (n = 28) was used to assess alterations in fetuses designated NR SGA (n = 7) or NR NonSGA (n = 7) based on fetal weight at Day 135 of pregnancy. Allantoic fluid concentrations of triglycerides were greater in NR SGA fetuses than 100% NRC and NR NonSGA fetuses at Day 70 (P &lt; 0.05). There was a negative correlation between allantoic fluid concentrations of triglycerides (R2 = 0.207) and bile acids (R2 = 0.179) on Day 70 and fetal weight at Day 135 for NR ewes (P &lt; 0.05). Bile acids were more abundant in maternal and fetal blood for NR SGA compared to 100% NRC and NR NonSGA ewes (P &lt; 0.05). Maternal blood concentrations of NEFAs increased in late pregnancy in NR NonSGA compared to NR SGA ewes (P &lt; 0.05). Protein expression of fatty acid transporter SLC27A6 localized to placentomal maternal and fetal epithelia and decreased in Day 70 NR SGA compared to 100% NRC and NR NonSGA placentomes (P &lt; 0.05). These results identify novel factors associated with an ability of placentae and fetuses in NR NonSGA ewes to adapt to, and overcome, nutritional hardship during pregnancy.
Population genetic structure and species delimitation in theCryptanthus zonatuscomplex (Bromeliaceae)
Authors: Ferreira Débora Maria Cavalcanti , Palma-Silva Clarisse , Néri Jordana , Medeiros Maria Cláudias Melo Pacheco de , Pinangé Diego Sotero , Benko-Iseppon Ana Maria , Louzada Rafael Batista 
Published: October 2020

AbstractMorphological variations of individuals and populations of plants have hampered taxonomists from understanding whether such variations are intra- or interspecific. In this research, we study Cryptanthus burle-marxii and C. zonatus, the morphological variations of which overlap, making it difficult to identify them. Both taxa are restricted to the north of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and are included in the C. zonatus species complex. We applied different methods such as morphological comparison, population genetics using ten nuclear microsatellite markers and ecological niche modelling to study population genetic structure and species delimitation of this species complex. Our analysis revealed that the two genetic clusters were formed possibly because of the presence of a historical geographical barrier in a region called ‘depressão do Abiaí’. The two genetic clusters were concordant with the northern and southern distribution of the complex but incongruent with a morphological variation or current taxonomic delimitation. Thus, we synonymize C. burle-marxii with C. zonatus and re-evaluate its conservation status as endangered.
Floral micromorphology, histochemistry, ultrastructure and chemical composition of floral secretions in three NeotropicalMaxillariellaspecies (Orchidaceae)
Authors: Lipińska Monika M , Wiśniewska Natalia , Gołębiowski Marek , Narajczyk Magdalena , Kowalkowska Agnieszka K 
Published: October 2020

AbstractFloral morphological adaptations and composition of secretions aim to ensure reproductive success. Maxillariella is part of the largest subtribe of Orchidaceae, and Maxillariella spp. are important components of the orchid flora of the Neotropics. The aim of this paper was to provide a detailed study of the reproductive biology of three morphologically and geographically distinct species: M. sanguinea, M. variabilis and M. vulcanica. For many years, species in this group were considered rewardless, but several studies have revealed that lips of some species may secrete resins. However, most published research has mainly focused on investigating either micromorphology (SEM, TEM, histochemistry) or fragrance composition (GC–MS). In this study, we make the first attempt to investigate Maxillariella flowers in a more comparative manner by combining both aspects. In all investigated species we reported the presence of resins with lipids, sugars and/or proteins, suggesting a potential role as a food reward. Scant quantities of residues indicate that they are produced periodically in small quantities. Chemical analysis revealed significant differences between species, however, the presence of some compounds was constant. Cycloartenal and cycloartenol (main ingredients of resin and wax-like material in some Maxillariinae) were not been found.
Poor Self-Reported Sleep is Related to Regional Cortical Thinning in Aging but not Memory Decline—Results From the Lifebrain Consortium
Authors: Fjell Anders M , Sørensen Øystein , Amlien Inge K , Bartrés-Faz David , Brandmaier Andreas M , Buchmann Nikolaus , Demuth Ilja , Drevon Christian A , Düzel Sandra , Ebmeier Klaus P , Ghisletta Paolo , Idland Ane-Victoria , Kietzmann Tim C , Kievit Rogier A , Kühn Simone , Lindenberger Ulman , Magnussen Fredrik , Macià Didac , Mowinckel Athanasia M , Nyberg Lars , Sexton Claire E , Solé-Padullés Cristina , Pudas Sara , Roe James M , Sederevicius Donatas , Suri Sana , Vidal-Piñeiro Didac , Wagner Gerd , Watne Leiv Otto , Westerhausen René , Zsoldos Enikő , Walhovd Kristine B 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
We examined whether sleep quality and quantity are associated with cortical and memory changes in cognitively healthy participants across the adult lifespan. Associations between self-reported sleep parameters (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI) and longitudinal cortical change were tested using five samples from the Lifebrain consortium (n = 2205, 4363 MRIs, 18–92 years). In additional analyses, we tested coherence with cell-specific gene expression maps from the Allen Human Brain Atlas, and relations to changes in memory performance. “PSQI # 1 Subjective sleep quality” and “PSQI #5 Sleep disturbances” were related to thinning of the right lateral temporal cortex, with lower quality and more disturbances being associated with faster thinning. The association with “PSQI #5 Sleep disturbances” emerged after 60 years, especially in regions with high expression of genes related to oligodendrocytes and S1 pyramidal neurons. None of the sleep scales were related to a longitudinal change in episodic memory function, suggesting that sleep-related cortical changes were independent of cognitive decline. The relationship to cortical brain change suggests that self-reported sleep parameters are relevant in lifespan studies, but small effect sizes indicate that self-reported sleep is not a good biomarker of general cortical degeneration in healthy older adults.
Sodium butyrate protects against lipopolysaccharide-induced liver injury partially via the GPR43/ β-arrestin-2/NF-κB network
Authors: Luo Qian-Jiang , Sun Mei-Xing , Guo Yun-Wei , Tan Si-Wei , Wu Xiao-Ying , Abassa Kodjo-Kunale , Lin Li , Liu Hui-Ling , Jiang Jie , Wei Xiu-Qing 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Background
Butyrate acts as a regulator in multiple inflammatory organ injuries. However, the role of butyrate in acute liver injury has not yet been fully explored. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the association between butyrate and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute liver injury and the signaling pathways involved.

Methods
LPS-induced acute liver injury was induced by intraperitoneal injection of LPS (5 mg/kg) in G-protein-coupled receptor 43 (GPR43)-knockout (KO) and wild-type female C57BL/6 mice. Sodium butyrate (500mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally 30 min prior to LPS exposure. Liver injury was detected by serum markers, tissue morphology, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL). Pro-inflammatory-factor levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Cell models were first treated with sodium butyrate (4 μmol/mL), followed by LPS (1 μg/mL) half an hour later in GPR43 small interfering RNA (siRNA)-transfected or control RAW264.7 cells. Cell-inflammation status was evaluated through detecting pro-inflammatory-factor expression by RT-PCR and also through checking toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-κB (TLR4/NF-κB)-element levels including TLR4, TRAF6, IKKβ, IкBα, phospho-IкBα, p65, and phospho-p65 by Western blot. The interaction between GPR43 and β-arrestin-2 was tested by co-immunoprecipitation.

Results
Sodium butyrate reversed the LPS-induced tissue-morphology changes and high levels of serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate transaminase, myeloperoxidase, TUNEL, and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6. The ameliorating effect of sodium butyrate was weakened in GPR43-KO mice and GPR43 siRNA RAW264.7 cells, compared with those of GPR43-positive controls. Sodium butyrate downregulated some elements of the TLR4/NF-κB pathway, including phospho-IκBα and phospho-p65, in RAW264.7 cells. Increased interactions between GPR43 and β-arrestin-2, and between β-arrestin-2 and IкBα were observed.

Conclusion
Sodium butyrate significantly attenuated LPS-induced liver injury by reducing the inflammatory response partially via the GPR43/β-arrestin-2/NF-κB signaling pathway.
Composite optimization for robust rank one bilinear sensing
Authors: Charisopoulos Vasileios , Davis Damek , Díaz Mateo , Drusvyatskiy Dmitriy 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
We consider the task of recovering a pair of vectors from a set of rank one bilinear measurements, possibly corrupted by noise. Most notably, the problem of robust blind deconvolution can be modeled in this way. We consider a natural nonsmooth formulation of the rank one bilinear sensing problem and show that its moduli of weak convexity, sharpness and Lipschitz continuity are all dimension independent, under favorable statistical assumptions. This phenomenon persists even when up to half of the measurements are corrupted by noise. Consequently, standard algorithms, such as the subgradient and prox-linear methods, converge at a rapid dimension-independent rate when initialized within a constant relative error of the solution. We complete the paper with a new initialization strategy, complementing the local search algorithms. The initialization procedure is both provably efficient and robust to outlying measurements. Numerical experiments, on both simulated and real data, illustrate the developed theory and methods.
Bacterial Communities Associated With Abnormal Nugent Score in Postmenopausal Versus Premenopausal Women
Authors: Mitchell Caroline M , Srinivasan Sujatha , Ma Nanxun , Reed Susan D , Wu Michael C , Hoffman Noah G , Valint Daniel J , Proll Sean , Fiedler Tina L , Agnew Kathy J , Guthrie Katherine A , Fredricks David N 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
The Nugent score is the reference standard for bacterial vaginosis (BV) diagnosis but has not been validated in postmenopausal women. We compared relative abundances from 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing of vaginal microbiota with Nugent score in cohorts of premenopausal (n = 220) and postmenopausal (n = 144) women. In premenopausal women, 33 taxa were significantly correlated with Nugent score, including the classic BV-associated taxa Gardnerella, Atopobium, Sneathia, Megasphaera, and Prevotella. In postmenopausal women, 11 taxa were significantly associated with Nugent score, including Prevotella but no other BV-associated genera. High Nugent scores should not be used to infer BV in postmenopausal women.