bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Life cycle assessment of the use of sewage sludge as Portland cement replacement
Authors: Pavlík Z , Pavlíková M , Záleská M , Łagód G , Suchorab Z , Guz L 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
In this paper, we proposed an alternative thermal treatment of sewage sludge, aimed at its application in blended cements, which can reduce the energy demands and requires less technologically sophisticated processing. The life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to quantify the environmental impact of the sewage sludge used as a partial cement replacement. The LCA was focused on the CO2 emission and energy consumption. The functional unit of 1 m3 of blended mortars composed of Portland cement CEM I 42.5, silica sand, and thermally treated sewage sludge, where the sludge was used as partial cement substitute in a dosage of 10, 20, and 30% by mass of cement, was analyzed. The positive effect of the use of sewage sludge as a partial cement replacement with respect to the energy consumption and GHG emission, considering the compressive strength of the analyzed composites, was quite apparent. The decrease of energy consumption necessary for the production of the analyzed blended binders was nearly 10% per each 10% of sewage sludge used as Portland cement replacement. The energy needed for the sludge thermal treatment at 700°C was 220 MJ/t. The emission of GHG related to the sludge thermal treatment was 40kg/t. The presented data were strongly affected by the applied distribution of electricity sources, with a high share of coal combustion plants.
Life Cycle Assessment as a tool for the selection of solar hot water system
Authors: Żelazna A , Gołębiowska J 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
During the past decades, solar hot water systems became a popular solution, enabling utilisation of renewable energy by both, single users and enterprises. Maximisation of the energy gains is one of the factors influencing the environmental burdens connected with solar systems. The second important issue is a kind of elements of system, their production, transportation, usage and disposal. Therefore, as the method for estimation of the scale of environmental indicators Life Cycle Assessment should be used. In this study, LCA was applied for the selection of the individual design on the basis of two criteria (water tank capacity and hot water demand) considered in three system scenarios. The calculated indicators included greenhouse gas emission (Global Warming Potential) and IMPACT2002+ method. The results show the importance of proper designing in the case of environmental impact reduction.
Effect of Mn on microstructure and properties of Cu-12Al powder metallurgy alloy
Authors: Zhang Guofei , Yin Haiqing , Zhang Cong , Deng Zhenghua , Zhang Ruijie , Jiang Xue , Qu Xuanhui 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Cu-12Al-xMn (x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4%, mass fraction) alloys were produced using powder metallurgy to investigate the effect of Mn content on the alloy’s microstructure and mechanical properties. The Cu-12Al (no Mn) and Cu-12Al-1Mn (1 wt% Mn) alloys consisted of the α + γ phases, where the size of the α grains in the Cu-12Al-1Mn alloy are much larger. Mn effectively inhibited the eutectoid transformation at a concentration above 1 wt%. Furthermore, the β phase was converted to the β′-martensite phase, which had a monoclinic structure after slow cooling. The phases of the alloy changed from the α + γ phases to the α + β′ + γ phases with the further addition of Mn, and the tensile strength of the 3 wt% Mn alloy was 380.59 MPa. The addition of Mn did not have a significant effect on the density of the alloy.
Microwave toroidal dipolar response in an asymmetric planar metamaterial
Authors: Guo Linyan , Huang Xiaojun , Zhang Qisheng , Guo Minjie 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Toroidal multipoles are the third type of multipoles which are fundamentally different from conventional electric multipoles and magnetic multipoles. The implementation of toroidal multipoles is hard since its energy is too low to be discovered. This paper proposes a simple planar metamaterial to achieve an often ignored toroidal dipolar response in the microwave band. The metamaterial is designed with a special asymmetric arrangement of asymmetric U-ring resonators to attain a toroidal resonance with high quality factor at 13.5 GHz. Its toroidal nature can be verified by calculated scattered power by multipoles, magnetic field and the surface current. The presented planar metamaterial owns toroidal resonance with high quality factor and it can be applied in the field of antennas, photonics, sensing and energy.
The influence of ZrO2promoter in Pd/fCNDs-ZrO2catalyst towards alcohol fuel electrooxidation in alkaline media
Authors: Gwebu Sandile Surprise , Maxakato Nobanathi Wendy 
Published: December 2019

AbstractThe severe corrosion of carbon supports has attracted the development of ceramic-based support materials. Non-precious metal oxides are potential support materials for fuel cells owing to their corrosion resistance under the harsh fuel cell environment. However, they cannot be used as primary support materials because they are not good electric conductors. In this study, we demonstrate that Pd nanoparticles supported on NaOH-functionalized carbon nanodots blended with zirconium dioxide can act as stable and electroactive anode catalysts for alkaline direct alcohol fuel cells (ADAFC). The Pd/fCNDs-ZrO2electrocatalyst was synthesized by a sonochemical method and characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) were used to study the electrochemical activity and stability of the Pd/fCNDs-ZrO2catalyst towards methanol and ethanol oxidation in alkaline media. The observed results revealed that the Pd/fCNDs-ZrO2catalyst exhibits higher current densities (12.5 mA cm−2for ethanol and 20.05 mA cm−2for methanol) and lower poisoning rates compared to the Pd/fCNDs and commercial Pd/C catalysts.
The Background to Riggs v. Palmer
Authors: Meyer William B 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
The decision of the New York Court of Appeals in Riggs v. Palmer (1889) is remarkable for the mass of discussion about a variety of fundamental issues that it has generated. Elmer Palmer was convicted of murdering his grandfather Francis, and the court refused to let him inherit under Francis’s will despite the absence of any explicit statutory grounds for voiding the legacy. An exercise in legal archaeology uncovering details that are stated only obliquely (or not at all) in the majority and dissenting opinions corrects a number of errors often made about the case. More speculatively, it suggests a new explanation of the result, one supported by a review of similar cases in other states in the same era and of the composition of the Court of Appeals in 1889: that the decision in Riggs is best understood as an ad hominem one, provoked by the unusually light punishment that Elmer had received for his crime and rationalized by an appeal to legal principles. If it was, much of what has been written about the decision and its significance is called into question.
CRISPR/Cas9 for development of disease resistance in plants: recent progress, limitations and future prospects
Authors: Ahmad Shakeel , Wei Xiangjin , Sheng Zhonghua , Hu Peisong , Tang Shaoqing 
Published: December 2019

AbstractSeveral plant pathogens severely affect crop yield and quality, thereby threatening global food security. In order to cope with this challenge, genetic improvement of plant disease resistance is required for sustainable agricultural production, for which conventional breeding is unlikely to do enough. Luckily, genome editing systems that particularly clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) has revolutionized crop improvement by enabling robust and precise targeted genome modifications. It paves the way towards new methods for genetic improvement of plant disease resistance and accelerates resistance breeding. In this review, the challenges, limitations and prospects for conventional breeding and the applications of CRISPR/Cas9 system for the development of transgene-free disease-resistant crops are discussed.
CGLFold: a contact-assistedde novoprotein structure prediction using global exploration and loop perturbation sampling algorithm
Authors: Liu Jun , Zhou Xiao-Gen , Zhang Yang , Zhang Gui-Jun 
Published: December 2019

AbstractMotivationRegions that connect secondary structure elements in a protein are known as loops, whose slight change will produce dramatic effect on the entire topology. This study investigates whether the accuracy of protein structure prediction can be improved using a loop-specific sampling strategy.ResultsA novel de novo protein structure prediction method that combines global exploration and loop perturbation is proposed in this study. In the global exploration phase, the fragment recombination and assembly are used to explore the massive conformational space and generate native-like topology. In the loop perturbation phase, a loop-specific local perturbation model is designed to improve the accuracy of the conformation and is solved by differential evolution algorithm. These two phases enable a cooperation between global exploration and local exploitation. The filtered contact information is used to construct the conformation selection model for guiding the sampling. The proposed CGLFold is tested on 145 benchmark proteins, 14 free modeling (FM) targets of CASP13 and 29 FM targets of CASP12. The experimental results show that the loop-specific local perturbation can increase the structure diversity and success rate of conformational update and gradually improve conformation accuracy. CGLFold obtains template modeling score ≥ 0.5 models on 95 standard test proteins, 7 FM targets of CASP13 and 9 FM targets of CASP12.Availability and implementationThe source code and executable versions are freely available at https://github.com/iobio-zjut/CGLFold.Supplementary informationSupplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A new method for measuring the size of nematodes using image processing
Authors: Andrews David G H 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Many studies have been made on nematodes, especially Caenorhabditis Elegans, which are used as a model organism. In many studies, the size of the nematode is important. This article describes a method of measuring the length, volume and surface area of nematodes from photographs. The method uses the imaging software ImageJ, which is in the public domain. Two macros are described. The first converts the images into binary form, and the second uses several built-in functions to measure the length of the worm and its diameter along its length. If it is assumed that the worm has a circular cross-section, then the volume and surface area of the nematode can be calculated. This is a cheap and easy technique.
Bezlotoxumab for the Prevention of Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Infection: 12-Month Observational Data From the Randomized Phase III Trial, MODIFY II
Authors: Goldstein Ellie J C , Citron Diane M , Gerding Dale N , Wilcox Mark H , Gabryelski Lori , Pedley Alison , Zeng Zhen , Dorr Mary Beth 
Published: December 2019

AbstractFrom Monoclonal Antibodies for C. difficile Therapy II, no participants (n = 0/69) with a sustained clinical cure through 12 weeks following bezlotoxumab infusion experienced recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) after 9 months (versus actoxumab + bezlotoxumab, n = 2/65; versus placebo, n = 1/34). Bezlotoxumab’s efficacy appears to be due to prevention rather than delayed onset of rCDI.Clinical Trials Registration. NCT01513239.
A Novel Lineage of Ceftriaxone-resistant Salmonella Typhi From India That Is Closely Related to XDR S. Typhi Found in Pakistan
Authors: Sah Ranjit , Donovan Suzanne , Seth-Smith Helena M B , Bloemberg Guido , Wüthrich Daniel , Stephan Roger , Kataria Sushila , Kumar Mahadevan , Singla Sonam , Deswal Vikas , Kaur Amarjeet , Neumayr Andreas , Hinic Vladimira , Egli Adrian , Kuenzli Esther 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Two MDR Salmonella Typhi isolates from India were found by whole genome sequencing to be closely related to the 2016 XDR S. Typhi outbreak strain from Pakistan. The Indian isolates have no chromosomal antimicrobial resistance cassette but carry the IncY plasmid p60006. Both isolates are susceptible to chloramphenicol, azithromycin, and carbapenems.
Low renesting propensity and reproductive success make renesting unproductive for the threatened Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)
Authors: Swift Rose J , Anteau Michael J , Ring Megan M , Toy Dustin L , Sherfy Mark H 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Upon reproductive failure, many bird species make a secondary attempt at nesting (hereafter, “renesting”). Renesting may be an effective strategy to maximize current and lifetime reproductive success, but individuals face uncertainty in the probability of success because reproductive attempts initiated later in the breeding season often have reduced nest, pre-fledging, and post-fledging brood survival. We evaluated renesting propensity, renesting intervals, and renest reproductive success of Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) by following 1,922 nests and 1,785 unique breeding adults from 2014 to 2016 in the Northern Great Plains of the United States. The apparent renesting rate for individuals was 25% for reproductive attempts that failed in the nest stage (egg laying and incubation) and only 1.2% for reproductive attempts when broods were lost. Renesting propensity declined if reproductive attempts failed during the brood-rearing stage, nests were depredated, reproductive failure occurred later in the breeding season, or individuals had previously renested that year. Additionally, plovers that nested on reservoirs were less likely to renest compared to other habitats. Renesting intervals declined when individuals had not already renested, were after-second-year adults without known prior breeding experience, and moved short distances between nest attempts. Renesting intervals also decreased if the attempt failed later in the season. Overall, reproductive success and daily nest survival were lower for renests than first nests throughout the breeding season. Furthermore, renests on reservoirs had reduced apparent reproductive success and daily nest survival unless the predicted amount of habitat on reservoirs increased within the breeding season. Our results provide important demographic measures for this threatened species and suggest that predation- and water-management strategies that maximize success of early nests would be more likely to increase productivity. Altogether, renesting appears to be an unproductive reproductive strategy to replace lost reproductive attempts for Piping Plovers breeding in the Northern Great Plains.
Surgically accelerated orthodontic techniques and periodontal response: a systematic review
Authors: Rekhi Umar , Catunda Raisa Queiroz , Gibson Monica Prasad 
Published: December 2019

Summary

Background
Reduction in orthodontic treatment time is gaining popularity due to patient demands. Several new techniques of acceleratory orthodontic treatment have been introduced to effectively treat the malocclusion in a shorter time period with minimal adverse effects.

Objective
The objective of this systematic review is to critically evaluate the potential effect of accelerated surgically assisted orthodontic techniques on periodontal tissues.

Materials and methods
Electronic databases used to perform the search were Medline (Ovid), EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Google Scholar, and hand searching of the literature was also performed.

Selection criteria
Only randomized control trials (RCTs) that assessed the relationship between accelerated surgically assisted orthodontic techniques and its effects on periodontium were included.

Data collection and analysis
The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist tool (2016) was used to assess the finally selected studies. Among these studies, five evaluated corticotomy-facilitated orthodontics, two tested accelerated tooth movement with piezocision, one compared corticotomy-facilitated orthodontics with piezocision, and one studied the effects of periodontally accelerated osteogenic orthodontics. The duration of these studies was relatively short and had moderate to high risk of bias.

Results
Literature search identified 225 records from 5 databases and 50 articles from the partial grey literature (Google scholar) search. Finally, nine eligible RCTs were included in the review.

Limitations
Most of the included studies were of a high risk of bias due to high experimental heterogeneity and small sample size. Long-term follow-up of the periodontal response to these interventions was also lacking.

Conclusions
There is an absence of evidence considering the lack of long-term follow-up and small sample size therefore, the results of this review should be carefully interpreted.

Implications
Due to the need for more studies with less risk of bias, these techniques should be implemented in dental practice with caution. With stronger evidence, the study may be confirmed to provide quicker desired results for orthodontic patients.

Registration
This study protocol was not registered.

Funding
No funding was obtained for this systematic review.
Imagining the un-encoded: staging affect in Blondel de Nesle’s Mes cuers me fait conmencier
Authors: Leach Elizabeth Eva 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
In an article published in Music Analysis I argued that the finely wrought complexities of melody in trouvère song have been obscured by the persistent treatment of song structure as merely reflecting that of the poetry, its phrases bounded by the poetic line. By granulating the melody into units smaller than that of the poetic line I showed the high levels of creativity and structural fashioning of the music in some of Blondel de Nesle’s most unusual songs. The present article conversely focuses on one of Blondel’s most seemingly simple and straightforward works and explores what analysis has to offer our understanding of a song that at first view (and first hearing) has nothing special or interesting about its melody. Ultimately I propose that musicologists have no choice but to indulge in a serious exercise of the informed scholarly imagination when it comes to the performance possibilities offered by such a song. In such imagined performances, a flat, lifeless song can spring suddenly to life, offering insight into medieval music-making that is not currently available (and perhaps cannot be?) in modern performances.
Diversity of methicillin-resistant staphylococci among wild Lepus granatensis: first detection of mecA-MRSA in hares
Authors: Silva Vanessa , Pereira José Eduardo , Maltez Luís , Ferreira Eugénia , Manageiro Vera , Caniça Manuela , Capelo José L , Igrejas Gilberto , Poeta Patrícia 
Published: December 2019

ABSTRACT
MRSA in humans, pets and livestock have been widely investigated, nevertheless, there is still little information of MRSA in wild animals. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the occurrence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of methicillin-resistant staphylococci (MRS) in wild Iberian hares and to characterize their genetic lineages. Samples from 83 wild hares (Lepus granatensis) were collected during the hunting season. Isolation of MRS was accomplish using Oxacillin Resistant Screening Agar medium with 2 mg/L of oxacillin. The susceptibility of the isolates was tested by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The presence of resistance and virulence genes was studied by PCR. S. aureus strains were further characterized by multilocus sequence typing, agr, spa and SCCmec typing. From the 83 samples, 12 (14.45%) coagulase-negative staphylococci and 3 (3.6%) MRSA strains were isolated. Nine coagulase-negative isolates showed resistance to at least one antibiotic. One MRSA isolate showed a multidrug-resistant profile with resistances to ß-lactams, aminoglycosides, macrolides and lincosamides. All MRSA strains were ascribed to ST2855, t1190 and SCCmec type III. The frequency of MRSA strains in wild hares was low, nevertheless, the presence of MRSA in game animals is considered a public health problem and may represent a route of transmission between animals and humans.
Lactobacillus reuteri A9 and Lactobacillus mucosae A13 isolated from Chinese superlongevity people modulate lipid metabolism in a hypercholesterolemia rat model
Authors: Jiang Jinchi , Feng Ninghan , Zhang Chengcheng , Liu Fengping , Zhao Jianxin , Zhang Hao , Zhai Qixiao , Chen Wei 
Published: December 2019

ABSTRACT
While there is strong evidence showing that many food-borne probiotics regulate cholesterol metabolism, few studies have examined how probiotics of human origin affect cholesterol metabolism. Because people living in so-called ‘longevity villages’ are unlikely to have hypercholesterolemia, we hypothesized that probiotics isolated from the residents would have cholesterol-reducing effects on rats with hypercholesterolemia. We isolated 16 strains of Lactobacillus from four longevity populations in China. The strains were tested in vitro for bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity and two isolates, Lactobacillus reuteri A9 and Lactobacillus mucosae A13, were screened out. These two strains were then administered daily for 28 d to rats fed a cholesterol-rich diet. The serum total cholesterol levels in the L. reuteri A9 and L. mucosae A13 groups decreased by 24.3% and 21.6%, respectively. The serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels decreased by 23.8% and 25.2%, respectively. The L. reuteri A9 and L. mucosae A13 groups also exhibited upregulated hepatic mRNA expression of Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (Srebp2) by 2.71-fold and 2.54-fold, respectively. The mRNA expression levels of hepatic low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr) in the two groups were significantly up-regulated by 1.28-fold and 2.17-fold, respectively. The composition of gut microbiota was recovered by oral gavage in both experimental groups, and the destroyed diversity of gut microbiota was relieved.
Functional Architecture of Deleterious Genetic Variants in the Genome of a Wrangel Island Mammoth
Authors: Fry Erin , Kim Sun K , Chigurapti Sravanthi , Mika Katelyn M , Ratan Aakrosh , Dammermann Alexander , Mitchell Brian J , Miller Webb , Lynch Vincent J 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Woolly mammoths were among the most abundant cold-adapted species during the Pleistocene. Their once-large populations went extinct in two waves, an end-Pleistocene extinction of continental populations followed by the mid-Holocene extinction of relict populations on St. Paul Island ∼5,600 years ago and Wrangel Island ∼4,000 years ago. Wrangel Island mammoths experienced an episode of rapid demographic decline coincident with their isolation, leading to a small population, reduced genetic diversity, and the fixation of putatively deleterious alleles, but the functional consequences of these processes are unclear. Here, we show that a Wrangel Island mammoth genome had many putative deleterious mutations that are predicted to cause diverse behavioral and developmental defects. Resurrection and functional characterization of several genes from the Wrangel Island mammoth carrying putatively deleterious substitutions identified both loss and gain of function mutations in genes associated with developmental defects (HYLS1), oligozoospermia and reduced male fertility (NKD1), diabetes (NEUROG3), and the ability to detect floral scents (OR5A1). These data suggest that at least one Wrangel Island mammoth may have suffered adverse consequences from reduced population size and isolation.