bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
“I Reflect, Therefore I Am… a Good Professional”. On the Relationship between Reflection-on-Action, Reflection-in-Action and Professional Performance in Vocational Education
Authors: Cattaneo Alberto A. P. , Motta Elisa 
Published: December 2020

AbstractReflection is essential for professional competence development in every profession. Reflection-on-action (taking place a posteriori, when the task is already accomplished) and reflection-in-action (occurring while performing the task) are equally important to increasing one’s professionalism. Some evidence supports the effectiveness of promoting the former by using metacognitive prompts that encourage vocational education apprentices to reflect. However, it is unclear to what extent this approach is effective to promote their reflection-in-action, to increase the quality of their professional performance, and to establish a long-term attitude to reflecton-action. Using a thinking aloud technique, we asked 15 apprentice chefs to cook a recipe and video-recorded them. When finished, we asked them to complete a report that self-assessed their performance. Nine of them were accustomed to metacognitive prompts to reflect on their practice, the others not. The former group outperformed the latter in the quality of their reflection-in-action. Also, the quality of their performance, according to two experts’ assessment, was significantly better. Finally, their reflection-on-action was higher. Despite its limitations due to the small sample, the study represents a good premise to confirm the effectiveness of our pedagogical approach and transfer it to other initial vocational education professions.
Karakorum, the first capital of the Mongol world empire: an imperial city in a non-urban society
Authors: Bemmann Jan , Reichert Susanne 
Published: December 2020

AbstractCities within a steppe environment and in societies based on pastoral nomadism are an often overlooked theme in the anthropological literature. Yet, with Karakorum, the first capital of the Mongol Empire (AD 1206–1368), we have a supreme example of such a city in the central landscape of the Orkhon valley in Mongolia. In this paper, we ask, what is the city in the steppes? Taking Karakorum as our starting point and case of reference and to attain a better comprehension of the characteristics of urbanism in the steppe, we apply a list of urban attributes compiled by Michael E. Smith (2016) to provide a thick description of Karakorum. The discussion not only comprises comparisons to other contemporary sites in Russia and Mongolia, but also addresses in detail the question of city–hinterland relations as a fundamental necessity for the survival of the city in an anti-urban environment. The analysis shows that during the Mongol period we can identify urbanism but no urbanization: there is no process of independent, natural growth of cities carried out by the population, but cities are “political” in the sense that they are deeply intertwined with the authority and have therefore much to tell about the relation between power and authority on the one hand and the ruled on the other.
Africa Would Need to Import More Maize in the Future Even Under 1.5°C Warming Scenario
Authors: Zhai Ran , Tao Fulu , Lall Upmanu , Elliott Joshua 
Published: December 2020

AbstractProducing enough food to feed a growing population is a great future challenge, especially for vulnerable areas in Africa. There is limited understanding of food security under future climate conditions, particularly under the warming target stipulated in the Paris Agreement. Maize is the most widely cultivated crop in Africa. Taking maize as an example, we present an integrated assessment of maize supply and demand under 1.5°C and 2.0°C warming scenarios, considering the combined impacts of climate change, technology development and population increase. We find that global warming of 1.5°C or 2.0°C would shorten maize growth duration, aggravate droughts, and consequently reduce yield with a spatially explicit pattern. Maize yield would decrease more under global warming of 2.0°C versus 1.5°C. Benefit of rising CO2 concentration could not fully offset the yield loss due to climate change under global warming of 1.5°C. Technology development can significantly improve the ratio of maize supply to demand, which is however subject to future projections on population and technology development. Under a reasonable logarithmic technology development scenario, maize security would become worse in most of the countries in Africa. Our findings highlight the importance of technology development and adaptation strategies to meet the challenges of food security in the vulnerable regions.
Complex Sub‐Auroral Flow Channel Structure Formed by Double‐Peak Sub‐Auroral Ion Drifts (DSAID) and Abnormal Sub‐Auroral Ion Drifts (ASAID)
Authors: Horvath Ildiko , Lovell Brian C. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBy utilizing multi‐instrument and multi‐satellite/spacecraft observations, we report the repeated development of a temporary and complex sub‐auroral flow channel (FC) structure during the intensive storms investigated. Appearing as combined double‐peak sub‐auroral ion drifts (DSAID) and abnormal SAID (ASAID), it is called DSAID‐ASAID FC structure. Revealing its development, various other FCs and features appeared in the auroral and polar regions simultaneously. These include the auroral Harang Region (HR) that is the Substorm Current Wedge's ionospheric signature and the Eastward FC (E‐FC) indicating the arrival of the Westward Travelling Surge. Results show that in the HR and E‐FC, the locally enhanced duskside upward Region 1 Field Aligned Currents (↑R1 FACs) connected in the magnetosphere with the meridional partial ring current characterized by a double plasma density/pressure peak structure, of which signature was seen in the 225 keV proton density data, leading to the development of two sets of ↓R2 FACs and DSAID. Meanwhile, large auroral undulations appeared and were driven, via magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling, by Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability mechanisms that also drove plasma sheet rippling leading to ASAID development. Plasma sheet rippling occurred during magnetotail reconnection, as demonstrated with its ionospheric polar cap signature, known as FC‐3, in a stretched tail region according to the b2i boundary located at ∼60° magnetic latitude. Then, the earthward flows' braking/slowing down provided the energy for driving the R1‐R2 FACs. From the observational evidence presented we conclude that the DSAID‐ASAID features investigated developed due to the maintenance of DSAID during plasma sheet rippling triggering ASAID development.
A Framework for Estimating Global‐Scale River Discharge by Assimilating Satellite Altimetry
Authors: Revel Menaka , Ikeshima Daiki , Yamazaki Dai , Kanae Shinjiro 
Published: December 2020

AbstractUnderstanding spatial and temporal variations in terrestrial waters is key to assessing the global hydrological cycle. The future Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission will observe the elevation and slope of surface waters at <100 m resolution. Methods for incorporating SWOT measurements into river hydrodynamic models have been developed to generate spatially and temporally continuous discharge estimates. However, most SWOT data assimilation studies have been conducted at the local scale. We developed a novel framework for estimating river discharge at the global scale by incorporating SWOT observations into the CaMa‐Flood hydrodynamic model. The local ensemble transform Kalman filter with adaptive local patches was used to assimilate SWOT observations. We tested the framework using multimodel runoff forcing and inaccurate model parameters represented by corrupted Manning's coefficient values. Assimilation of virtual SWOT observations considerably improved river discharge estimates for continental‐scale rivers at high latitudes (>50°) and also downstream river reaches at low latitudes. High assimilation efficiency in downstream river reaches was related to both local state correction and the propagation of corrected hydrodynamic states from upstream river reaches. Accurate global river discharge estimates were obtained (Kling‐Gupta efficiency [KGE] > 0.90) in river reaches with >270 accumulated overpasses per SWOT cycle when no model error was assumed. Introducing model errors decreased this accuracy (KGE ≈ 0.85). Therefore, improved hydrodynamic models are essential for maximizing SWOT information. These synthetic experiments showed where discharge estimates could be improved using SWOT observations. Further advances are needed for global‐scale data assimilation.
Schizophrenia polygenic risk predicts general cognitive deficit but not cognitive decline in healthy older adults
Authors: Kępińska Adrianna P. , MacCabe James H. , Cadar Dorina , Steptoe Andrew , Murray Robin M. , Ajnakina Olesya 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThere has been a long argument over whether schizophrenia is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with progressive cognitive impairment. Given high heritability of schizophrenia, ascertaning if genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia is also associated with cognitive decline in healthy people would support the view that schizophrenia leads to an accelerated cognitive decline. Using the population representative sample of 6817 adults aged >50 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we investigated associations between the biennial rate of decline in cognitive ability and the schizophrenia polygenic score (SZ-PGS) during the 10-year follow-up period. SZ-PGS was calculated based on summary statistics from the Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Cognition was measured sequentially across four time points using verbal memory and semantic fluency tests. The average baseline verbal memory was 10.4 (SD = 3.4) and semantic fluency was 20.7 (SD = 6.3). One standard deviation (1-SD) increase in SZ-PGS was associated with lower baseline semantic fluency (β = −0.25, 95%CI = −0.40 to −0.10, p = 0.002); this association was significant in men (β = −0.36, 95%CI = −0.59 to −0.12, p = 0.003) and in those who were aged 60–69 years old (β = −0.32, 95%CI = −0.58 to −0.05, p = 0.019). Similarly, 1-SD increase in SZ-PGS was associated with lower verbal memory score at baseline in men only (β = −0.12, 95%CI = −0.23 to −0.01, p = 0.040). However, SZ-PGS was not associated with a greater rate of decline in these cognitive domains during the 10-year follow-up. Our findings highlight that while genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia conveys developmental cognitive deficit, it is not associated with an ongoing cognitive decline, at least in later life. These results do not support the neo-Kraepelinian notion of schizophrenia as a genetically determined progressively deteriorating brain disease.
Discovery of PTN as a serum-based biomarker of pro-metastatic prostate cancer
Authors: Liu Shiqin , Shen Michelle , Hsu En-Chi , Zhang Chiyuan Amy , Garcia-Marques Fernando , Nolley Rosalie , Koul Kashyap , Rice Meghan A. , Aslan Merve , Pitteri Sharon J. , Massie Charlie , George Anne , Brooks James D. , Gnanapragasam Vincent J. , Stoyanova Tanya 
Published: December 2020

AbstractDistinguishing clinically significant from indolent prostate cancer (PC) is a major clinical challenge. We utilised targeted protein biomarker discovery approach to identify biomarkers specific for pro-metastatic PC. Serum samples from the cancer-free group; Cambridge Prognostic Group 1 (CPG1, low risk); CPG5 (high risk) and metastatic disease were analysed using Olink Proteomics panels. Tissue validation was performed by immunohistochemistry in a radical prostatectomy cohort (n = 234). We discovered that nine proteins (pleiotrophin (PTN), MK, PVRL4, EPHA2, TFPI-2, hK11, SYND1, ANGPT2, and hK14) were elevated in metastatic PC patients when compared to other groups. PTN levels were increased in serum from men with CPG5 compared to benign and CPG1. High tissue PTN level was an independent predictor of biochemical recurrence and metastatic progression in low- and intermediate-grade disease. These findings suggest that PTN may represent a novel biomarker for the presence of poor prognosis local disease with the potential to metastasise warranting further investigation.
A cross-talk between epithelium and endothelium mediates human alveolar–capillary injury during SARS-CoV-2 infection
Authors: Wang Peng , Luo Ronghua , Zhang Min , Wang Yaqing , Song Tianzhang , Tao Tingting , Li Zhongyu , Jin Lin , Zheng Hongyi , Chen Wenwen , Zhao Mengqian , Zheng Yongtang , Qin Jianhua 
Published: December 2020

AbstractCOVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is an acute and rapidly developing pandemic, which leads to a global health crisis. SARS-CoV-2 primarily attacks human alveoli and causes severe lung infection and damage. To better understand the molecular basis of this disease, we sought to characterize the responses of alveolar epithelium and its adjacent microvascular endothelium to viral infection under a co-culture system. SARS-CoV-2 infection caused massive virus replication and dramatic organelles remodeling in alveolar epithelial cells, alone. While, viral infection affected endothelial cells in an indirect manner, which was mediated by infected alveolar epithelium. Proteomics analysis and TEM examinations showed viral infection caused global proteomic modulations and marked ultrastructural changes in both epithelial cells and endothelial cells under the co-culture system. In particular, viral infection elicited global protein changes and structural reorganizations across many sub-cellular compartments in epithelial cells. Among the affected organelles, mitochondrion seems to be a primary target organelle. Besides, according to EM and proteomic results, we identified Daurisoline, a potent autophagy inhibitor, could inhibit virus replication effectively in host cells. Collectively, our study revealed an unrecognized cross-talk between epithelium and endothelium, which contributed to alveolar–capillary injury during SARS-CoV-2 infection. These new findings will expand our understanding of COVID-19 and may also be helpful for targeted drug development.
In vivo patch-clamp recordings reveal distinct subthreshold signatures and threshold dynamics of midbrain dopamine neurons
Authors: Otomo Kanako , Perkins Jessica , Kulkarni Anand , Stojanovic Strahinja , Roeper Jochen , Paladini Carlos A. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThe in vivo firing patterns of ventral midbrain dopamine neurons are controlled by afferent and intrinsic activity to generate sensory cue and prediction error signals that are essential for reward-based learning. Given the absence of in vivo intracellular recordings during the last three decades, the subthreshold membrane potential events that cause changes in dopamine neuron firing patterns remain unknown. To address this, we established in vivo whole-cell recordings and obtained over 100 spontaneously active, immunocytochemically-defined midbrain dopamine neurons in isoflurane-anaesthetized adult mice. We identified a repertoire of subthreshold membrane potential signatures associated with distinct in vivo firing patterns. Dopamine neuron activity in vivo deviated from single-spike pacemaking by phasic increases in firing rate via two qualitatively distinct biophysical mechanisms: 1) a prolonged hyperpolarization preceding rebound bursts, accompanied by a hyperpolarizing shift in action potential threshold; and 2) a transient depolarization leading to high-frequency plateau bursts, associated with a depolarizing shift in action potential threshold. Our findings define a mechanistic framework for the biophysical implementation of dopamine neuron firing patterns in the intact brain.
Interpretable machine-learning strategy for soft-magnetic property and thermal stability in Fe-based metallic glasses
Authors: Lu Zhichao , Chen Xin , Liu Xiongjun , Lin Deye , Wu Yuan , Zhang Yibo , Wang Hui , Jiang Suihe , Li Hongxiang , Wang Xianzhen , Lu Zhaoping 
Published: December 2020

AbstractFe-based metallic glasses (MGs) have been extensively investigated due to their unique properties, especially the outstanding soft-magnetic properties. However, conventional design of soft-magnetic Fe-based MGs is heavily relied on “trial and error” experiments, and thus difficult to balance the saturation flux density (Bs) and thermal stability due to the strong interplay between the glass formation and magnetic interaction. Herein, we report an eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine-learning (ML) model for developing advanced Fe-based MGs with a decent combination of Bs and thermal stability. While it is an attempt to apply ML for exploring soft-magnetic property and thermal stability, the developed XGBoost model based on the intrinsic elemental properties (i.e., atomic size and electronegativity) can well predict Bs and Tx (the onset crystallization temperature) with an accuracy of 93.0% and 94.3%, respectively. More importantly, we derived the key features that primarily dictate Bs and Tx of Fe-based MGs from the ML model, which enables the revelation of the physical origins underlying the high Bs and thermal stability. As a proof of concept, several Fe-based MGs with high Tx (>800 K) and high Bs (>1.4 T) were successfully developed in terms of the ML model. This work demonstrates that the XGBoost ML approach is interpretable and feasible in the extraction of decisive parameters for properties of Fe-based magnetic MGs, which might allow us to efficiently design high-performance glassy materials.
Protection from α-Synuclein induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration by overexpression of the mitochondrial import receptor TOM20
Authors: De Miranda Briana R. , Rocha Emily M. , Castro Sandra L. , Greenamyre J. Timothy 
Published: December 2020

AbstractDopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra are selectively vulnerable to mitochondrial dysfunction, which is hypothesized to be an early and fundamental pathogenic mechanism in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Mitochondrial function depends on the successful import of nuclear-encoded proteins, many of which are transported through the TOM20–TOM22 outer mitochondrial membrane import receptor machinery. Recent data suggests that post-translational modifications of α-synuclein promote its interaction with TOM20 at the outer mitochondrial membrane and thereby inhibit normal protein import, leading to dysfunction, and death of dopaminergic neurons. As such, preservation of mitochondrial import in the face of α-synuclein accumulation might be a strategy to prevent dopaminergic neurodegeneration, however, this is difficult to assess using current in vivo models of PD. To this end, we established an exogenous co-expression system, utilizing AAV2 vectors to overexpress human α-synuclein and TOM20, individually or together, in the adult Lewis rat substantia nigra to assess whether TOM20 overexpression attenuates α-synuclein-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration. Twelve weeks after viral injection, we observed that AAV2-TOM20 expression was sufficient to prevent loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons caused by AAV2-αSyn overexpression. The observed TOM20-mediated dopaminergic neuron preservation appeared to be due, in part, to the rescued expression (and presumed import) of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial electron transport chain proteins that were inhibited by α-synuclein overexpression. In addition, TOM20 overexpression rescued the expression of the chaperone protein GRP75/mtHSP70/mortalin, a stress-response protein involved in α-synuclein-induced injury. Collectively, these data indicate that TOM20 expression prevents α-synuclein-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, which is sufficient to rescue dopaminergic neurons in the adult rat brain.
Generation of acoustic-Brownian noise in nuclear magnetic resonance under non-equilibrium thermal fluctuations
Authors: Sinha Dhiraj 
Published: December 2020

AbstractWe present an analytical study on generation of acoustic-Brownian noise in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) induced as a result of thermal fluctuations of the magnetic moments under non-equilibrium thermal interactions which has not been explored independent of Nyquist–Johnson noise until now. The mechanism of physical coupling between non-equilibrium thermal fluctuations and magnetic moments is illustrated using Lighthill’s formulation on suspension dynamics. We discover that unlike Nyquist–Johnson noise which has a uniform spectral density across a range of frequencies, the spectral dependence of acoustic-Brownian noise decreases with an increase in frequency and resembles Brownian noise associated with a particle in a potential well. The results have applications in the field of image enhancement algorithm as well as noise reduction instrumentation in NMR systems.
Persistence and size of seasonal populations on a consumer–resource relationship depends on the allocation strategy toward life-history functions
Authors: Gutiérrez Rodrigo , Córdova-Lepe Fernando , Moreno-Gómez Felipe N. , Velásquez Nelson A. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThe long-term ecological dynamics of a population inhabiting a seasonal environment is analyzed using a semi-discrete or impulsive system to represent the consumer–resource interaction. The resource corresponds to an incoming energy flow for consumers that is allocated to reproduction as well as to maintenance in each non-reproductive season. The energy invested in these life-history functions is used in reproductive events, determining the size of the offspring in each reproductive season. Two long-term dynamic patterns are found, resulting in either the persistence or the extinction of the population of consumers. In addition, our model indicates that only one energy allocation strategy provides an optimal combination between individual consumption and long-term population size. The current study contributes to the understanding of how the individual-level and the population-level are interrelated, exhibiting the importance of incorporating phenotypic traits in population dynamics.
A framework to assess the impact of number of trials on the amplitude of motor evoked potentials
Authors: Ammann Claudia , Guida Pasqualina , Caballero-Insaurriaga Jaime , Pineda-Pardo José A. , Oliviero Antonio , Foffani Guglielmo 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThe amplitude of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a common yet highly variable measure of corticospinal excitability. The tradeoff between maximizing the number of trials and minimizing experimental time remains a hurdle. It is therefore important to establish how many trials should be used. The aim of this study is not to provide rule-of-thumb answers that may be valid only in specific experimental conditions, but to offer a more general framework to inform the decision about how many trials to use under different experimental conditions. Specifically, we present a set of equations that show how the number of trials affects single-subject MEP amplitude, population MEP amplitude, hypothesis testing and test–retest reliability, depending on the variability within and between subjects. The equations are derived analytically, validated with Monte Carlo simulations, and representatively applied to experimental data. Our findings show that the minimum number of trials for estimating single-subject MEP amplitude largely depends on the experimental conditions and on the error considered acceptable by the experimenter. Conversely, estimating population MEP amplitude and hypothesis testing are markedly more dependent on the number of subjects than on the number of trials. These tools and results help to clarify the impact of the number of trials in the design and reproducibility of past and future experiments.