bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Loads of Torquetenovirus in the European MARK-AGE Study Population
Authors: Giacconi Robertina , Maggi Fabrizio , Macera Lisa , Spezia Pietro Giorgio , Pistello Mauro , Provinciali Mauro , Piacenza Francesco , Basso Andrea , Bürkle Alexander , Moreno-Villanueva María , Dollé Martijn E T , Jansen Eugène , Grune Tilman , Stuetz Wolfgang , Gonos Efstathios S , Schön Christiane , Bernhardt Jürgen , Grubeck-Loebenstein Beatrix , Sikora Ewa , Dudkowska Magdalena , Janiszewska Dorota , Toussaint Olivier , Debacq-Chainiaux Florence , Franceschi Claudio , Capri Miriam , Hervonen Antti , Hurme Mikko , Slagboom Eline , Breusing Nicolle , Mocchegiani Eugenio , Malavolta Marco 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Torquetenovirus (TTV) viremia has been associated with increased mortality risk in the elderly population. This work aims to investigate TTV viremia as a potential biomarker of immunosenescence. We compared levels of circulating TTV in 1813 participants of the MARK-AGE project, including human models of delayed (offspring of centenarians [GO]) and premature (Down syndrome [DS]) immunosenescence. The TTV load was positively associated with age, cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody levels, and the Cu/Zn ratio and negatively associated with platelets, total cholesterol, and total IgM. TTV viremia was highest in DS and lowest in GO, with intermediate levels in the SGO (spouses of GO) and RASIG (Randomly Recruited Age-Stratified Individuals From The General Population) populations. In the RASIG population, TTV DNA loads showed a slight negative association with CD3+T-cells and CD4+T-cells. Finally, males with ≥4log TTV copies/mL had a higher risk of having a CD4/CD8 ratio&lt;1 than those with lower viremia (odds ratio [OR] = 2.85, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–7.62), as well as reduced CD3+ and CD4+T-cells compared to males with lower replication rates (&lt;4log), even after adjusting for CMV infection. In summary, differences in immune system preservation are reflected in the models of delayed and premature immunosenescence, displaying the best and worst control over TTV replication, respectively. In the general population, TTV loads were negatively associated with CD4+ cell counts, with an increased predisposition for an inverted CD4/CD8 ratio for individuals with TTV loads ≥4log copies/mL, thus promoting an immune risk phenotype.
Everyday Discrimination and Kidney Function Among Older Adults: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study
Authors: Cobb Ryon J , Thorpe Roland J , Norris Keith C 
Published: December 2019

Abstract

Background
With advancing age, there is an increase in the time of and number of experiences with psychosocial stressors that may lead to the initiation and/or progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Our study tests whether one type of experience, everyday discrimination, predicts kidney function among middle and older adults.

Methods
The data were from 10 973 respondents (ages 52–100) in the 2006/2008 Health and Retirement Study, an ongoing biennial nationally representative survey of older adults in the United States. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) derives from the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. Our indicator of everyday discrimination is drawn from self-reports from respondents. Ordinary Least Squared regression (OLS) models with robust standard errors are applied to test hypotheses regarding the link between everyday discrimination and kidney function.

Results
Everyday discrimination was associated with poorer kidney function among respondents in our study. Respondents with higher everyday discrimination scores had lower eGFR after adjusting for demographic characteristics (B = −1.35, p &lt; .05), and while attenuated, remained significant (B = −0.79, p &lt; .05) after further adjustments for clinical, health behavior, and socioeconomic covariates.

Conclusions
Our study suggests everyday discrimination is independently associated with lower eGFR. These findings highlight the importance of psychosocial factors in predicting insufficiency in kidney function among middle-aged and older adults.
A Praziquantel Treatment Study of Immune and Transcriptome Profiles inSchistosoma haematobium-Infected Gabonese Schoolchildren
Authors: Labuda Lucja A , Adegnika Ayola A , Rosa Bruce A , Martin John , Ateba-Ngoa Ulysse , Amoah Abena Serwaa , Lima Honorine Mbenkep , Meurs Lynn , Mbow Moustapha , Manurung Mikhael D , Zinsou Jeannot F , Smits Hermelijn H , Kremsner Peter G , Mitreva Makedonka , Yazdanbakhsh Maria 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBackgroundAlthough Schistosoma haematobium infection has been reported to be associated with alterations in immune function, in particular immune hyporesponsiveness, there have been only few studies that have used the approach of removing infection by drug treatment to establish this and to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms.MethodsSchistosoma haematobium-infected schoolchildren were studied before and after praziquantel treatment and compared with uninfected controls. Cellular responses were characterized by cytokine production and flow cytometry, and in a subset of children RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) transcriptome profiling was performed.ResultsRemoval of S haematobium infection resulted in increased schistosome-specific cytokine responses that were negatively associated with CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ T-cells and accompanied by increased frequency of effector memory T-cells. Innate responses to Toll like receptor (TLR) ligation decreased with treatment and showed positive association with CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ T-cells. At the transcriptome level, schistosome infection was associated with enrichment in cell adhesion, whereas parasite removal was associated with a more quiescent profile. Further analysis indicated that alteration in cellular energy metabolism was associated with S haematobium infection and that the early growth response genes 2 and 3 (EGR 2 and EGR3), transcription factors that negatively regulate T-cell activation, may play a role in adaptive immune hyporesponsiveness.ConclusionsUsing a longitudinal study design, we found contrasting effects of schistosome infection on innate and adaptive immune responses. Whereas the innate immune system appears more activated, the adaptive immunity is in a hyporesponsive state reflected in alterations in CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ T-cells, cellular metabolism, and transcription factors involved in anergy.
Depression screening using mobile phone usage metadata: a machine learning approach
Authors: Razavi Rouzbeh , Gharipour Amin , Gharipour Mojgan 
Published: December 2019

Abstract

Objective
Depression is currently the second most significant contributor to non-fatal disease burdens globally. While it is treatable, depression remains undiagnosed in many cases. As mobile phones have now become an integral part of daily life, this study examines the possibility of screening for depressive symptoms continuously based on patients’ mobile usage patterns.

Materials and Methods
412 research participants reported a range of their mobile usage statistics. Beck Depression Inventory—2nd ed (BDI-II) was used to measure the severity of depression among participants. A wide array of machine learning classification algorithms was trained to detect participants with depression symptoms (ie, BDI-II score ≥ 14). The relative importance of individual variables was additionally quantified.

Results
Participants with depression were found to have fewer saved contacts on their devices, spend more time on their mobile devices to make and receive fewer and shorter calls, and send more text messages than participants without depression. The best model was a random forest classifier, which had an out-of-sample balanced accuracy of 0.768. The balanced accuracy increased to 0.811 when participants’ age and gender were included.

Discussions/Conclusion
The significant predictive power of mobile usage attributes implies that, by collecting mobile usage statistics, mental health mobile applications can continuously screen for depressive symptoms for initial diagnosis or for monitoring the progress of ongoing treatments. Moreover, the input variables used in this study were aggregated mobile usage metadata attributes, which has low privacy sensitivity making it more likely for patients to grant required application permissions.
Surrogacy in China: A Dilemma Between Public Policy and the Best Interests of Children
Authors: Xiao Yongping , Li Jue , Zhu Lei 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Driven by high demands from society, the surrogacy industry has flourished in recent years in China with an estimate of 10,000 resulting children born every year. The legislature has deliberately chosen to refrain from prescribing rules on how surrogacy should be managed and governed in China. Through adjudicating surrogacy-related disputes, Chinese courts have played a crucial role in establishing the framework under which surrogacy operates. Applying Article 3 of the 2001 Measure expansively in conjunction with some general principles such as public order and morals, the court has laid down a de facto general ban on surrogacy of any form. The assignment of legal parentage has been influenced by this public policy consideration and Chinese courts ruled out the enforceability of parentage transfer agreements between the parties. With the surrogate carrier being designated as the natural mother and intending mother as the social parent, this arrangement creates further uncertainties and confusion over legal parentage and custody, which is not in the best interest of the resulting child.
The power of modal separation logics
Authors: Demri Stéphane , Fervari Raul 
Published: December 2019

AbstractWe introduce a modal separation logic MSL whose models are memory states from separation logic and the logical connectives include modal operators as well as separating conjunction and implication from separation logic. With such a combination of operators, some fragments of MSL can be seen as genuine modal logics whereas some others capture standard separation logics, leading to an original language to speak about memory states. We analyse the decidability status and the computational complexity of several fragments of MSL, obtaining surprising results by design of proof methods that take into account the modal and separation features of MSL. For example, the satisfiability problem for the fragment of MSL with $\Diamond $, the difference modality $\langle \neq \rangle $ and separating conjunction $\ast $ is shown Tower-complete whereas the restriction either to $\Diamond $ and $\ast $ or to $\langle \neq \rangle $ and $\ast $ is only NP-complete. We establish that the full logic MSL admits an undecidable satisfiability problem. Furthermore, we investigate variants of MSL with alternative semantics and we build bridges with interval temporal logics and with logics equipped with sabotage operators.
Making bright giants invisible at the Galactic Centre
Authors: Amaro-Seoane Pau , Chen Xian , Schödel Rainer , Casanellas Jordi 
Published: December 2019

ABSTRACT
Current observations of the Galactic Centre (GC) seem to display a core-like distribution of bright stars from ∼5 arcsec inwards. On the other hand, we observe young, massive stars at the GC, with roughly 20–50 per cent of them in a disc, mostly in the region where the bright giants appear to be lacking. In a previous publication we put the idea forward that the missing stars are deeply connected to the presence of this disc. The progenitor of the stellar disc is very likely to have been a gaseous disc that at some point fragmented and triggered star formation. This caused the appearance of overdensity regions in the disc that had high enough densities to ensure stripping large giants of their atmospheres and thus rendering them very faint. In this paper, we use a stellar evolution code to derive the properties that a red giant would display in a colour–magnitude diagram, as well as a non-linearity factor required for a correct estimate of the mass loss. We find that in a very short time-scale, the red giants leave their standard evolutionary track. The non-linearity factor has values that not only depend on the properties of the clumps, but also on the physical conditions of the giant stars, as we predicted analytically. According to our results, envelope stripping works, moving stars on a short time-scale from the giant branch to the white dwarf stage, thus rendering them invisible to observations.
Impact of Ly α heating on the global 21-cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn
Authors: Ghara Raghunath , Mellema Garrelt 
Published: December 2019

ABSTRACT
The resonance scattering of $\rm {Ly\,{\alpha }}$ photons with neutral hydrogen atoms in the intergalactic medium not only couples the spin temperature to the kinetic temperature but also leads to a heating of the gas. We investigate the impact of this heating on the average brightness temperature of the 21-cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn in the context of the claimed detection by the EDGES low-band experiment. We model the evolution of the global signal taking into account the $\rm {Ly\,{\alpha }}$ coupling and heating and a cooling which can be stronger than the Hubble cooling. Using the claimed detection of a strong absorption signal at z ≈ 17 as a constraint, we find that a strong $\rm {Ly\,{\alpha }}$ background is ruled out. Instead the results favour a weak $\rm {Ly\,{\alpha }}$ background combined with an excess cooling mechanism which is substantially stronger than previously considered. We also show that the cooling mechanism driven by the interaction between millicharged baryons and dark matter particles no longer provides a viable explanation for the EDGES result when $\rm {Ly\,{\alpha }}$ heating is taken into account.
Realistic models for filling and abundance discrepancy factors in photoionized nebulae
Authors: Bergerud Brandon M , Spangler Steven R , Beauchamp Kara M 
Published: December 2019

ABSTRACT
When comparing nebular electron densities derived from collisionally excited lines (CELs) to those estimated using the emission measure, significant discrepancies are common. The standard solution is to view nebulae as aggregates of dense regions of constant density in an otherwise empty void. This porosity is parametrized by a filling factor f &lt; 1. Similarly, abundance and temperature discrepancies between optical recombination lines (ORLs) and CELs are often explained by invoking a dual delta distribution of a dense, cool, metal-rich component immersed in a diffuse, warm, metal-poor plasma. In this paper, we examine the possibility that the observational diagnostics that lead to such discrepancies can be produced by a realistic distribution of density and temperature fluctuations, such as might arise in plasma turbulence. We produce simulated nebulae with density and temperature fluctuations described by various probability distribution functions (pdfs). Standard astronomical diagnostics are applied to these simulated observations to derive estimates of nebular densities, temperatures, and abundances. Our results show that for plausible density pdfs, the simulated observations lead to filling factors in the observed range. None of our simulations satisfactorily reproduce the abundance discrepancy factors (ADFs) in planetary nebulae, although there is possible consistency with H ii regions. Compared to the case of density-only and temperature-only fluctuations, a positive correlation between density and temperature reduces the filling factor and ADF (from optical CELs), whereas a negative correlation increases both, eventually causing the filling factor to exceed unity. This result suggests that real observations can provide constraints on the thermodynamics of small-scale fluctuations.
Infrared photometry of the dwarf nova V2051 Ophiuchi – II. The quiescent accretion disc and its spiral arms
Authors: Baptista Raymundo , Wojcikiewicz Eduardo 
Published: December 2019

ABSTRACT
We report the analysis of time-series of infrared JHKs photometry of the dwarf nova  V2051 Oph in quiescence with eclipse mapping techniques to investigate structures and the spectrum of its accretion disc. The light curves after removal of the ellipsoidal variations caused by the mass-donor star show a double-wave modulation signalling the presence of two asymmetric light sources in the accretion disc. Eclipse maps reveal two spiral arms on top of the disc emission, one at $R_1= 0.28\pm 0.02 \, R_\mathrm{L1}$ and the other at $R_2= 0.42\pm 0.02 \, R_\mathrm{L1}$ (where RL1 is the distance from disc centre to the inner Lagrangian point), which are seen face-on at binary phases consistent with the maxima of the double-wave modulation. The wide open angle inferred for the spiral arms (θs = 21° ± 4°) suggests the quiescent accretion disc of V2051 Oph has high viscosity. The accretion disc is hot and optically thin in its inner regions ($T_\mathrm{gas}\sim 10\!-\!12 \times 10^3\, \mathrm{ K}$ and surface densities $\sim 10^{-3}\text{ to }10^{-2}\, \mathrm{ g}\, \mathrm{ cm}^{-2}$), and becomes cool and opaque in its outer regions.
Stochastic gravitational wave background anisotropies in the mHz band: astrophysical dependencies
Authors: Cusin Giulia , Dvorkin Irina , Pitrou Cyril , Uzan Jean-Philippe 
Published: December 2019

ABSTRACT
We show that the anisotropies of the astrophysical stochastic gravitational wave background in the mHz band have a strong dependence on the modelling of galactic and sub-galactic physics. We explore a wide range of self-consistent astrophysical models for stellar evolution and for the distribution of orbital parameters, all calibrated such that they predict the same number of resolved mergers to fit the number of detections during LIGO/Virgo O1 + O2 observations runs. We show that different physical choices for the process of black hole (BH) collapse and cut-off in the BH mass distribution give fractional differences in the angular power spectrum of anisotropies of up to 50 per cent on all angular scales. We also point out that the astrophysical information which can be extracted from anisotropies is complementary to the isotropic background and individual mergers. These results underline the interest in the anisotropies of the stochastic gravitational wave background as a new and potentially rich field of research, at the cross-road between astrophysics and cosmology.
Genomic Mechanisms of Physiological and Morphological Adaptations of Limestone Langurs to Karst Habitats
Authors: Liu Zhijin , Zhang Liye , Yan Zhongze , Ren Zhijie , Han Fengming , Tan Xinxin , Xiang Zhiyuan , Dong Fang , Yang Zuomin , Liu Guangjian , Wang Ziming , Zhang Jiali , Que Tengcheng , Tang Chaohui , Li Yifeng , Wang Song , Wu Junyi , Li Legong , Huang Chengming , Roos Christian , Li Ming 
Published: December 2019

AbstractKnowledge of the physiological and morphological evolution and adaptation of nonhuman primates is critical to understand hominin origins, physiological ecology, morphological evolution, and applications in biomedicine. Particularly, limestone langurs represent a direct example of adaptations to the challenges of exploiting a high calcium and harsh environment. Here, we report a de novo genome assembly (Tfra_2.0) of a male François’s langur (Trachypithecus francoisi) with contig N50 of 16.3 Mb and resequencing data of 23 individuals representing five limestone and four forest langur species. Comparative genomics reveals evidence for functional evolution in genes and gene families related to calcium signaling in the limestone langur genome, probably as an adaptation to naturally occurring high calcium levels present in water and plant resources in karst habitats. The genomic and functional analyses suggest that a single point mutation (Lys1905Arg) in the α1c subunit of the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel Cav1.2 (CACNA1C) attenuates the inward calcium current into the cells in vitro. Population genomic analyses and RNA-sequencing indicate that EDNRB is less expressed in white tail hair follicles of the white-headed langur (T. leucocephalus) compared with the black-colored François’s langur and hence might be responsible for species-specific differences in body coloration. Our findings contribute to a new understanding of gene–environment interactions and physiomorphological adaptative mechanisms in ecologically specialized primate taxa.
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors: extending the indication to non-diabetic kidney disease?
Authors: Dekkers Claire C J , Gansevoort Ron T 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
This year the medical community was pleasantly surprised by the results of the first large outcome trial that primarily examined the renal effects of the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor canagliflozin (CANA) in subjects with diabetes and impaired kidney function. The Evaluation of the Effects of Canagliflozin on Renal and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Participants With Diabetic Nephropathy (CREDENCE) trial showed that CANA, relative to placebo, reduces the risk for end-stage renal disease, doubling of creatinine or renal death by 34% [hazard ratio 0.66 (95% confidence interval 0.53–0.81]. These effects were consistent across baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and haemoglobin A1c subgroups. In this review we combine the results of the CREDENCE trial with those of several cardiovascular outcome trials with SGLT2 inhibitors and show that, unexpectedly, patients with lower eGFR levels may have greater benefit with respect to cardiovascular outcome than patients with normal kidney function. The cardio- and renoprotective effects of SGLT2 inhibitors seem to be independent of their glucose-lowering effects, as shown in several post hoc analyses. In this review we discuss the alleged mechanisms of action that explain the beneficial effects of this novel class of drugs. Moreover, we discuss whether these findings indicate that this class of drugs may also be beneficial in non-diabetic chronic kidney diseases.