bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Old Age in European Cultures: A Significant Presence from Antiquity to the Present
Authors: Thane Pat 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Contrary to widespread belief, significant numbers of people have lived long lives throughout recorded history. On average, women have lived longer than men. Definitions of old age as beginning between the ages of sixty and seventy have been remarkably consistent through time, despite major social and economic changes, as has government enforcement of age-related regulations, increasingly as government bureaucracy grew from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Despite long-prevailing simplified stereotypes, the reality of old age has always been highly diverse. Nowhere have people been respected or cared for simply because of their age; nor have all been frail dependents. Some have always been active to late ages, making positive, independent contributions to their families and communities, a fact that is too often overlooked by historians. Older people have mattered in all cultures and should not be overlooked.
The multifaceted role of kinases in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: genetic, pathological and therapeutic implications
Authors: Guo Wenting , Vandoorne Tijs , Steyaert Jolien , Staats Kim A , Van Den Bosch Ludo 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the most common degenerative disorder of motor neurons in adults. As there is no cure, thousands of individuals who are alive at present will succumb to the disease. In recent years, numerous causative genes and risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have been identified. Several of the recently identified genes encode kinases. In addition, the hypothesis that (de)phosphorylation processes drive the disease process resulting in selective motor neuron degeneration in different disease variants has been postulated. We re-evaluate the evidence for this hypothesis based on recent findings and discuss the multiple roles of kinases in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathogenesis. We propose that kinases could represent promising therapeutic targets. Mainly due to the comprehensive regulation of kinases, however, a better understanding of the disturbances in the kinome network in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is needed to properly target specific kinases in the clinic.
A unified model of post-stroke language deficits including discourse production and their neural correlates
Authors: Alyahya Reem S W , Halai Ajay D , Conroy Paul , Lambon Ralph Matthew A 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
The clinical profiles of individuals with post-stroke aphasia demonstrate considerable variation in the presentation of symptoms. Recent aphasiological studies have attempted to account for this individual variability using a multivariate data-driven approach (principal component analysis) on an extensive neuropsychological and aphasiological battery, to identify fundamental domains of post-stroke aphasia. These domains mainly reflect phonology, semantics and fluency; however, these studies did not account for variability in response to different forms of connected speech, i.e. discourse genres. In the current study, we initially examined differences in the quantity, diversity and informativeness between three different discourse genres, including a simple descriptive genre and two naturalistic forms of connected speech (storytelling narrative, and procedural discourse). Subsequently, we provided the first quantitative investigation on the multidimensionality of connected speech production at both behavioural and neural levels. Connected speech samples across descriptive, narrative, and procedural discourse genres were collected from 46 patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia and 20 neurotypical adults. Content analyses conducted on all connected speech samples indicated that performance differed across discourse genres and between groups. Specifically, storytelling narratives provided higher quantities of content words and lexical diversity compared to composite picture description and procedural discourse. The analyses further revealed that, relative to neurotypical adults, patients with aphasia, both fluent and non-fluent, showed reduction in the quantity of verbal production, lexical diversity, and informativeness across all discourses. Given the differences across the discourses, we submitted the connected speech metrics to principal component analysis alongside an extensive neuropsychological/aphasiological battery that assesses a wide range of language and cognitive skills. In contrast to previous research, three unique orthogonal connected speech components were extracted in a unified model, reflecting verbal quantity, verbal quality, and motor speech, alongside four core language and cognitive components: phonological production, semantic processing, phonological recognition, and executive functions. Voxel-wise lesion-symptom mapping using these components provided evidence on the involvement of widespread cortical regions and their white matter connections. Specifically, left frontal regions and their underlying white matter tracts corresponding to the frontal aslant tract and the anterior segment of the arcuate fasciculus were particularly engaged with the quantity and quality of fluent connected speech production while controlling for other co-factors. The neural correlates associated with the other language domains align with existing models on the ventral and dorsal pathways for language processing.
Mutation Carriers with Reduced C-Afferent Density Reveal Cortical Dynamics of Pain–Action Relationship during Acute Pain
Authors: Perini I , Ceko M , Cerliani L , van Ettinger-Veenstra H , Minde J , Morrison I 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
The evidence that action shapes perception has become widely accepted, for example, in the domain of vision. However, the manner in which action-relevant factors might influence the neural dynamics of acute pain processing has remained underexplored, particularly the functional roles of anterior insula (AI) and midanterior cingulate cortex (mid-ACC), which are frequently implicated in acute pain. To address this, we examined a unique group of heterozygous carriers of the rare R221W mutation on the nerve growth factor (NGF) gene. R221W carriers show a congenitally reduced density of C-nociceptor afferent nerves in the periphery, but can nonetheless distinguish between painful and nonpainful stimulations. Despite this, carriers display a tendency to underreact to acute pain behaviorally, thus exposing a potential functional gap in the pain–action relationship and allowing closer investigation of how the brain integrates pain and action information. Heterozygous R221W carriers and matched controls performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task designed to dissociate stimulus type (painful or innocuous) from current behavioral relevance (relevant or irrelevant), by instructing participants to either press or refrain from pressing a button during thermal stimulation. Carriers’ subjective pain thresholds did not differ from controls’, but the carrier group showed decreased task accuracy. Hemodynamic activation in AI covaried with task performance, revealing a functional role in pain–action integration with increased responses for task-relevant painful stimulation (“signal,” requiring button-press execution) over task-irrelevant stimulation (“noise,” requiring button-press suppression). As predicted, mid-ACC activation was associated with action execution regardless of pain. Functional connectivity between AI and mid-ACC increased as a function of reported urge to withdraw from the stimulus, suggesting a joint role for these regions in motivated action during pain. The carrier group showed greater activation of primary sensorimotor cortices—but not the AI and mid-ACC regions—during pain and action, suggesting compensatory processing. These findings indicate a critical role for the AI–mid-ACC axis in supporting a flexible, adaptive action selection during pain, alongside the accompanying subjective experience of an urge to escape the pain.
The Role of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Asymptomatic Status When Starting Antiretroviral Therapy on Adherence and Treatment Outcomes and Implications for Test and Treat: The Swiss HIV Cohort Study
Authors: Glass Tracy R , Günthard Huldrych F , Calmy Alexandra , Bernasconi Enos , Scherrer Alexandra U , Battegay Manuel , Steffen Ana , Böni Jürg , Yerly Sabine , Klimkait Thomas , Cavassini Matthias , Furrer Hansjakob 
Published: March 2020

AbstractBackgroundSince the advent of universal test-and-treat , more people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) are asymptomatic with a preserved immune system. We explored the impact of asymptomatic status on adherence and clinical outcomes.MethodsPLHIV registered in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS) between 2003 and 2018 were included. We defined asymptomatic as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stage A within 30 days of starting ART, non-adherence as any self-reported missed doses and viral failure as two consecutive viral load&gt;50 copies/mL after &gt;24 weeks on ART. Using logistic regression models, we measured variables associated with asymptomatic status and adherence and Cox proportional hazard models to assess association between symptom status and viral failure.ResultsOf 7131 PLHIV, 76% started ART when asymptomatic and 1478 (22%) experienced viral failure after a median of 1.9 years (interquartile range, 1.1–4.2). In multivariable models, asymptomatic PLHIV were more likely to be younger, men who have sex with men, better educated, have unprotected sex, have a HIV-positive partner, have a lower viral load, and have started ART more recently. Asymptomatic status was not associated with nonadherence (odds ratio, 1.03 [95% confidence interval {CI}, .93–1.15]). Asymptomatic PLHIV were at a decreased risk of viral failure (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.87 [95% CI, .76–1.00]) and less likely to develop resistance (14% vs 27%, P &lt; .001) than symptomatic PLHIV.ConclusionsDespite concerns regarding lack of readiness, our study found no evidence of adherence issues or worse clinical outcomes in asymptomatic PLHIV starting ART.
From pine to pasture: land use history has long-term impacts on soil bacterial community composition and functional potential
Authors: Hermans Syrie M , Taylor Matthew , Grelet Gwen , Curran-Cournane Fiona , Buckley Hannah L , Handley Kim M , Lear Gavin 
Published: March 2020

ABSTRACTBacterial communities are crucial to soil ecosystems and are known to be sensitive to environmental changes. However, our understanding of how present-day soil bacterial communities remain impacted by historic land uses is limited; implications for their functional potential are especially understudied. Through 16S rRNA gene amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing, we characterized the structure and functional potential of soil bacterial communities after land use conversion. Sites converted from pine plantations to dairy pasture were sampled five- and eight-years post conversion. The bacterial community composition and functional potential at these sites were compared to long-term dairy pastures and pine forest reference sites. Bacterial community composition and functional potential at the converted sites differed significantly from those at reference sites (P = 0.001). On average, they were more similar to those in the long-term dairy sites and showed gradual convergence (P = 0.001). Differences in composition and functional potential were most strongly related to nutrients such as nitrogen, Olsen P and the carbon to nitrogen ratio. Genes related to the cycling of nitrogen, especially denitrification, were underrepresented in converted sites compared to long-term pasture soils. Together, our study highlights the long-lasting impacts land use conversion can have on microbial communities, and the implications for future soil health and functioning.
What’s Genetic Variation Got to Do with It? Starvation-Induced Self-Fertilization Enhances Survival in Paramecium
Authors: Thind Amarinder Singh , Vitali Valerio , Guarracino Mario Rosario , Catania Francesco 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe pervasiveness of sex despite its well-known costs is a long-standing puzzle in evolutionary biology. Current explanations for the success of sex in nature largely rely on the adaptive significance of the new or rare genotypes that sex may generate. Less explored is the possibility that sex-underlying molecular mechanisms can enhance fitness and convey benefits to the individuals that bear the immediate costs of sex. Here, we show that the molecular environment associated with self-fertilization can increase stress resistance in the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia. This advantage is independent of new genetic variation, coupled with a reduced nutritional input, and offers fresh insights into the mechanistic origin of sex. In addition to providing evidence that the molecular underpinnings of sexual reproduction and the stress response are linked in P. tetraurelia, these findings supply an integrative explanation for the persistence of self-fertilization in this ciliate.
An array-based receiver function deconvolution method: methodology and application
Authors: Zhong Minyan , Zhan Zhongwen 
Published: March 2020

SUMMARYReceiver functions (RFs) estimated on dense arrays have been widely used for the study of Earth structures across multiple scales. However, due to the ill-posedness of deconvolution, RF estimation faces challenges such as non-uniqueness and data overfitting. In this paper, we present an array-based RF deconvolution method in the context of emerging dense arrays. We propose to exploit the wavefield coherency along a dense array by joint inversions of waveforms from multiple events and stations for RFs with a minimum number of phases required by data. The new method can effectively reduce the instability of deconvolution and help retrieve RFs with higher fidelity. We test the algorithm on synthetic waveforms and show that it produces RFs with higher interpretability than those by the conventional RF estimation practice. Then we apply the method to real data from the 2016 Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) community wavefield experiment in Oklahoma and are able to generate high-resolution RF profiles with only three teleseismic earthquakes recorded by the temporary deployment. This new method should help enhance RF images derived from short-term high-density seismic profiles.
Functional exploration of the GH29 fucosidase family
Authors: Grootaert Hendrik , Van Landuyt Linde , Hulpiau Paco , Callewaert Nico 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
The deoxy sugar l-fucose is frequently found as a glycan constituent on and outside living cells, and in mammals it is involved in a wide range of biological processes including leukocyte trafficking, histo-blood group antigenicity and antibody effector functions. The manipulation of fucose levels in those biomedically important systems may provide novel insights and therapeutic leads. However, despite the large established sequence diversity of natural fucosidases, so far, very few enzymes have been characterized. We explored the diversity of the α-l-fucosidase-containing CAZY family GH29 by bio-informatic analysis, and by the recombinant production and exploration for fucosidase activity of a subset of 82 protein sequences that represent the family’s large sequence diversity. After establishing that most of the corresponding proteins can be readily expressed in E. coli, more than half of the obtained recombinant proteins (57% of the entire subset) showed activity towards the simple chromogenic fucosylated substrate 4-nitrophenyl α-l-fucopyranoside. Thirty-seven of these active GH29 enzymes (and the GH29 subtaxa that they represent) had not been characterized before. With such a sequence diversity-based collection available, it can easily be used to screen for fucosidase activity towards biomedically relevant fucosylated glycoproteins. As an example, the subset was used to screen GH29 members for activity towards the naturally occurring sialyl-Lewis x-type epitope on glycoproteins, and several such enzymes were identified. Together, the results provide a significant increase in the diversity of characterized GH29 enzymes, and the recombinant enzymes constitute a resource for the further functional exploration of this enzyme family.
Pattern Equivariant Mass Transport in Aperiodic Tilings and Cohomology
Authors: Kelly Michael , Sadun Lorenzo 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Suppose that we have a repetitive and aperiodic tiling ${\textbf{T}}$ of ${\mathbb{R}}^n$ and two mass distributions $f_1$ and $f_2$ on ${\mathbb{R}}^n$, each pattern equivariant (PE) with respect to ${\textbf{T}}$. Under what circumstances is it possible to do a bounded transport from $f_1$ to $f_2$? When is it possible to do this transport in a strongly or weakly PE way? We reduce these questions to properties of the Čech cohomology of the hull of ${\textbf{T}}$, properties that in most common examples are already well understood.
Increasing calcium from deficient to adequate concentration in diets for gestating sows decreases digestibility of phosphorus and reduces serum concentration of a bone resorption biomarker
Authors: Lee Su A , Lagos L Vanessa , Bedford Mike R , Stein Hans H 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
The objective of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that the concentration of Ca in diets fed to late gestating sows affects the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and retention of Ca and P, serum concentrations of Ca and P, hormones, and blood biomarkers for bone formation and resorption. Thirty-six sows (average parity = 2.8) were housed in metabolism crates from day 91 to day 104 of gestation and fed 1 of 4 experimental diets containing 25, 50, 75, or 100% of the requirement for Ca. All diets met the requirement for P. The initial 5 d of each period were the adaptation period, which was followed by 4 d of quantitative collection of feces and urine. At the end of the collection period, a blood sample was collected from all sows. Results indicated that feed intake, weights of dried fecal and urine samples, and the ATTD of DM were not affected by dietary Ca, but ATTD of Ca increased (quadratic, P &lt; 0.05) as Ca in diets increased. Urine Ca output was not affected by dietary Ca, but Ca retention increased (quadratic, P &lt; 0.05) as Ca intake increased. Fecal P output increased (linear, P &lt; 0.001) as dietary Ca increased, which resulted in a linear decrease (P &lt; 0.001) in the ATTD of P. Urine P output also decreased (linear, P &lt; 0.001) as dietary Ca increased, but P retention increased (linear, P &lt; 0.05). Regressing the apparent total tract digestible Ca against dietary Ca intake resulted in a regression line with a slope of 0.33, indicating that true total tract digestibility of Ca in calcium carbonate was 33%. Serum concentrations of Ca and P and estrogen, calcitonin, and parathyroid hormone were not affected by dietary Ca. Serum concentration of carboxyterminal cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX-I) decreased (linear, P &lt; 0.05) as dietary Ca increased, which is a result of reduced bone resorption as dietary Ca increased. Serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase tended to decrease (linear, P &lt; 0.10) as Ca in diets increased, but the concentration of osteocalcin (OC) in serum was not affected by dietary Ca. The ratio between OC and CTX-I tended to increase (P &lt; 0.10) as dietary Ca increased, which indicated that there was more bone formation than resorption in sows as dietary Ca increased. In conclusion, P digestibility in late gestating sows decreased, but retention of P increased, as dietary Ca increased from inadequate to adequate levels and blood biomarkers for bone resorption changed as Ca and P retention increased.
Precarious Freedom: Manumission in Eighteenth-Century Colombo
Authors: Ekama Kate 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
In the historiography of slave-owning societies, manumission has been a contentious topic. Based on the assumption that manumission rates and the level of cruelty in a slave-owning society were closely related, historians have used research on manumission to rank slave societies based on a scale from “mild” to “harsh.” More recent research on manumission has eschewed this problematic approach, instead probing gradations of freedom. This article aims to contribute to our understanding of manumission and slavery by questioning how the formal, legal process of manumission altered the lived experience of individuals. Examining legal sources that shed light on the complexities of manumission in eighteenth-century Colombo, it considers the social strategies employed to achieve and defend free status. The records show that manumission did not sever the master-slave relationship: obligations and relations of debt continued to bind the formerly enslaved to former slave-owning families. Studying court records involving individuals responding to the possibilities and limitations of manumission, this study shows that freed status was precarious and, like bondage, was not an unalterable state.
Presepsin and Midregional Proadrenomedullin in Pediatric Oncologic Patients with Febrile Neutropenia
Authors: Agnello Luisa , Bivona Giulia , Parisi Elisa , Lucido Giuseppe Dejan , Iacona Alessandro , Ciaccio Anna Maria , Giglio Rosaria Vincenza , Ziino Ottavio , Ciaccio Marcello 
Published: March 2020

Abstract

Objective
In this study, we investigated the roles of presepsin (PSP) and midregional proadrenomedullin (mr-proADM) in children with febrile neutropenia (FN) due to chemotherapy.

Methods
We assessed 36 FN episodes in 26 children. Patients were classified into bacteremia (B) and fever of unknown origin (FUO) groups. We evaluated PSP and mr-proADM at admission (T0), after 24/48 h (T1), and after 5 days (T2).

Results
PSP and mr-proADM levels were elevated at T0 and significantly decreased at T2. mr-proADM levels did not significantly differ between the B and FUO groups. PSP levels significantly differed between the B and FUO groups only at T1. Both PSP and mr-proADM levels at T0 were a predictor of length of hospital stay but not of the duration of fever. Finally, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that PSP and mr-proADM had low diagnostic accuracy for blood culture positivity.

Conclusion
PSP and mr-proADM display poor clinical usefulness for FN in oncologic children.
Imbalance learning for variable star classification
Authors: Hosenie Zafiirah , Lyon Robert , Stappers Benjamin , Mootoovaloo Arrykrishna , McBride Vanessa 
Published: March 2020

ABSTRACTThe accurate automated classification of variable stars into their respective subtypes is difficult. Machine learning–based solutions often fall foul of the imbalanced learning problem, which causes poor generalization performance in practice, especially on rare variable star subtypes. In previous work, we attempted to overcome such deficiencies via the development of a hierarchical machine learning classifier. This ‘algorithm-level’ approach to tackling imbalance yielded promising results on Catalina Real-Time Survey (CRTS) data, outperforming the binary and multiclass classification schemes previously applied in this area. In this work, we attempt to further improve hierarchical classification performance by applying ‘data-level’ approaches to directly augment the training data so that they better describe underrepresented classes. We apply and report results for three data augmentation methods in particular: Randomly Augmented Sampled Light curves from magnitude Error (RASLE), augmenting light curves with Gaussian Process modelling (GpFit) and the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE). When combining the ‘algorithm-level’ (i.e. the hierarchical scheme) together with the ‘data-level’ approach, we further improve variable star classification accuracy by 1–4 per cent. We found that a higher classification rate is obtained when using GpFit in the hierarchical model. Further improvement of the metric scores requires a better standard set of correctly identified variable stars, and perhaps enhanced features are needed.