bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mitogenome and phylogenetic analysis of typhlocybine leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)
Authors: Jiang Jia , Chen Xiaoxiao , Li Can , Song Yuehua 
Published: May 2021

AbstractMitogenomes have been widely used to estimate phylogenetic relationships among insects and provide data useful for augmenting traditional morphological characters in delimiting species. Here, complete mitogenome sequences of two closely related typhlocybine leafhoppers, Cassianeuracassiae (Ahmed, 1970) and C. bimaculata Dworakowska, 1984, were obtained and found to be 15,423 bp and 14,597 bp in length, respectively. The gene order was found to be similar to other published leafhopper mitogenomes, but the control region of C.bimaculata is the shortest among known leafhoppers and lacks tandem repeats. Phylogenetic analysis of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), the first and second codons of 13 PCGs, 13 PCGs and two rRNAs formed three well-supported tree topologies. The topologies of phylogenetic trees inferred from three datasets were almost identical, which was consistent with previous molecular phylogenies of this group. Comparative morphological study of the ovipositors revealed several characters potentially useful for diagnosing genera and resolving their phylogenetic relationships. Phylogenetic analysis of these and other morphological characters yielded a tree that is mostly consistent with the tree obtained from analysis of mitogenome sequences. In both molecular and morphological phylogenenies, Typhlocybini and Zyginellini clustered into one clade, but neither was recovered as monophyletic.
Spatial and temporal analysis of cumulative environmental effects of offshore wind farms in the North Sea basin
Authors: Gușatu Laura Florentina , Menegon Stefano , Depellegrin Daniel , Zuidema Christian , Faaij André , Yamu Claudia 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe North Sea basin is one of the busiest maritime areas globally with a considerable number of anthropogenic pressures impacting the functioning of the marine ecosystem. Due to growing EU ambitions for the deployment of large offshore wind farm projects (OWF), as part of the 2050 renewable energy roadmap, there is a key need for a holistic understanding of OWF potential impacts on the marine ecosystem. We propose a holistic Cumulative Effect Assessment methodology, applied using a geo-spatial open-source software, to assess impacts of OWF related pressures on selected seabed habitats, fish, seabird and mammal species. We take into account pressures specific to the three OWF development phases, spanning 1999–2050, for the entire North Sea basin. Our results underline 2022 as the peak year of cumulative impacts for the approved OWFs, followed by a considerable increase in potential impacts of the planned 212GWs, by 2050. The spatio-temporal analysis of the OWF environmental impacts presents the shift between highly impacted areas over the studied timeline and distinguishes between concentrated areas of high impacts (S–E of UK) and dispersed areas of high impacts (Germany). Our results can inform decision-makers and the OWF industry in a joint effort to mitigate the environmental impacts of future large OWF developments.
Clinical course and risk factors of fatal adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients in Korea: a nationwide retrospective cohort study
Authors: Song Juhyun , Park Dae Won , Cha Jae-hyung , Seok Hyeri , Kim Joo Yeong , Park Jonghak , Cho Hanjin 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWe investigated association between epidemiological and clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and clinical outcomes in Korea. This nationwide retrospective cohort study included 5621 discharged patients with COVID-19, extracted from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) database. We compared clinical data between survivors (n = 5387) and non-survivors (n = 234). We used logistic regression analysis and Cox proportional hazards model to explore risk factors of death and fatal adverse outcomes. Increased odds ratio (OR) of mortality occurred with age (≥ 60 years) [OR 11.685, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.655–34.150, p < 0.001], isolation period, dyspnoea, altered mentality, diabetes, malignancy, dementia, and intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The multivariable regression equation including all potential variables predicted mortality (AUC = 0.979, 95% CI 0.964–0.993). Cox proportional hazards model showed increasing hazard ratio (HR) of mortality with dementia (HR 6.376, 95% CI 3.736–10.802, p < 0.001), ICU admission (HR 4.233, 95% CI 2.661–6.734, p < 0.001), age ≥ 60 years (HR 3.530, 95% CI 1.664–7.485, p = 0.001), malignancy (HR 3.054, 95% CI 1.494–6.245, p = 0.002), and dyspnoea (HR 1.823, 95% CI 1.125–2.954, p = 0.015). Presence of dementia, ICU admission, age ≥ 60 years, malignancy, and dyspnoea could help clinicians identify COVID-19 patients with poor prognosis.
Life cycle impact assessment of metal production industries in Australia
Authors: Strezov Vladimir , Zhou Xiaoteng , Evans Tim J. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractMetal production industries are associated with positive economic benefits, however their activities are significantly resource and energy intensive, contributing to emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases to the environment. The balance between the economic inputs and environmental footprint of the metal production industries determines their contribution to sustainability. This work provides environmental impact assessment of the production of aluminium, copper, gold, iron and steel, lead, nickel and zinc, and considers their contribution to the economy. The emissions of selected representative industries in Australia were sourced from public national emission inventories and used as input parameters in the openLCA software. ReCiPe midpoint and endpoint hierarchist impact assessment methods were used to investigate the environmental impacts of the selected industries. The results indicate that lead, followed by aluminium and nickel production had the largest environmental impacts. The work further revealed the specific emissions for better control for each industry taking into consideration their relative environmental and economic impacts. For instance, adoption of renewable energy sources would significantly decrease the greenhouse gas emissions and the associated environmental impacts of the copper, zinc, gold, and iron and steel production industries. Improvement of sustainability of the production of lead would require further control of trace metal emissions, while for aluminium and nickel production, improved control of emissions of particles and the acidic gases SO2 and NOx.
Insights into the taxonomic and functional characterization of agricultural crop core rhizobiomes and their potential microbial drivers
Authors: Castellano-Hinojosa Antonio , Strauss Sarah L. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWhile our understanding of plant–microbe interactions in the rhizosphere microbiome (rhizobiome) has increased, there is still limited information on which taxa and functions drive these rhizobiome interactions. Focusing on the core rhizobiome (members common to two or more microbial assemblages) of crops may reduce the number of targets for determining these interactions, as they are expected to have greater influence on soil nutrient cycling and plant growth than the rest of the rhizobiome. Here, we examined whether the characterization of a core rhizobiome on the basis of only taxonomic or functional traits rather than the combined analysis of taxonomic and functional traits provides a different assessment of the core rhizobiome of agricultural crops. Sequences of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene from six globally important crops were analyzed using two different approaches in order to identify and characterize the taxonomic and functional core rhizobiome. For all crops examined, we found significant differences in the taxonomic and functional composition between the core rhizobiomes, and different phyla, genera, and predicted microbial functions were dominant depending on the core rhizobiome type. Network analysis indicated potentially important taxa were present in both taxonomic and functional core rhizobiomes. A subset of genera and predicted functions were exclusively or predominately present in only one type of core rhizobiome while others were detected in both core rhizobiomes. These results highlight the necessity of including both taxonomy and function when assessing the core rhizobiome, as this will enhance our understanding of the relationships between microbial taxa and soil health, plant growth, and agricultural sustainability.
Sex-dependent effects of forced exercise in the body composition of adolescent rats
Authors: Kutsenko Y. , Barreda A. , Toval A. , Garrigos D. , Martínez-Morga M. , Ribeiro Do Couto B. , Ferran J. L. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractDetermining the body composition during adolescence can predict diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndromes later in life; and physical activity became an effective way to restore changes in body composition. However, current available literature assessing the body composition before, during and after adolescence in female and male rodents by in vivo techniques is scarce. Thus, by using computerized tomography, we aimed to define the baseline of the weight and body composition during the adolescence and young adulthood of female and male Sprague–Dawley rats (on P30, P60 and P90) under standard diet. Then, we determined the effect of 18 days of forced exercise on the body weight and composition during the early adolescence (P27-45). The highest percentual increments in weight, body volume and relative adipose contents occurred during the female and male adolescence. Forced running during the early adolescence decreased weight, body volume and relative adipose delta and increment values in males only. The adolescence of rats is a period of drastic body composition changes, where exercise interventions have sex-dependent effects. These results support a model that could open new research windows in the field of adolescent obesity.
Low SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in the Austrian capital after an early governmental lockdown
Authors: Breyer Marie-Kathrin , Breyer-Kohansal Robab , Hartl Sylvia , Kundi Michael , Weseslindtner Lukas , Stiasny Karin , Puchhammer-Stöckl Elisabeth , Schrott Andrea , Födinger Manuela , Binder Michael , Fiedler Markus , Wouters Emiel F. M. , Burghuber Otto C. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWe analyzed SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in a large, well-described representative Viennese cohort after an early governmental lockdown with respect to the occurrence of symptoms and household transmission. Participants of the LEAD Study, a population-based cohort study from Vienna, Austria, were invited along with their household members (April 20th to May20th 2020). Sera were analyzed using anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay including a neutralization test as a confirmatory assay. A total of 12,419 individuals participated (5984 LEAD participants; 6435 household members), 163 (1.31%; 59 LEAD cohort members) of whom were SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive. The estimated number of COVID-19 cases projected from our findings by age and sex for Vienna was 21,504 (1.13%). Cumulative number of positively tested cases in Vienna until May 20th 2020 was 3020, hence 7.1 times (95% confidence interval 5.5–9.1) lower than projected. Relative risk (RR) of seropositivity by age was highest for children aged 6–9 years [RR compared to age group 20–49: 1.21 (CI 0.37–4.01)], lowest for ≥ 65 years [RR 0.47 (CI 0.21–1.03)]. Half of the positive individuals developed no or mild symptoms. In a multivariate analysis, taste and smell disturbances were most strongly related to SARS-CoV-2 positivity. Infection probability within households with one confirmed SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody-positive person was 31%. Although seroprevalence was very low (1.13%) for a central European capital city, due to an early governmental lockdown, SARS-CoV-2 infections were more prevalent than officially reported polymerase chain reaction-positive cases. Of note, seroprevalence was highest in young children. Half of SARS-CoV-2 antibody-positive subjects had no or only mild symptoms. Taste and smell disturbances were most prominent, possibly guiding clinicians in diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The anesthetic sevoflurane induces tau trafficking from neurons to microglia
Authors: Dong Yuanlin , Liang Feng , Huang Lining , Fang Fang , Yang Guang , Tanzi Rudolph E. , Zhang Yiying , Quan Qimin , Xie Zhongcong 
Published: May 2021

AbstractAccumulation and spread of tau in Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies occur in a prion-like manner. However, the mechanisms and downstream consequences of tau trafficking remain largely unknown. We hypothesized that tau traffics from neurons to microglia via extracellular vesicles (EVs), leading to IL-6 generation and cognitive impairment. We assessed mice and neurons treated with anesthetics sevoflurane and desflurane, and applied nanobeam-sensor technology, an ultrasensitive method, to measure tau/p-tau amounts. Sevoflurane, but not desflurane, increased tau or p-tau amounts in blood, neuron culture medium, or EVs. Sevoflurane increased p-tau amounts in brain interstitial fluid. Microglia from tau knockout mice took up tau and p-tau when treated with sevoflurane-conditioned neuron culture medium, leading to IL-6 generation. Tau phosphorylation inhibitor lithium and EVs generation inhibitor GW4869 attenuated tau trafficking. GW4869 mitigated sevoflurane-induced cognitive impairment in mice. Thus, tau trafficking could occur from neurons to microglia to generate IL-6, leading to cognitive impairment.
CellectSeq: In silico discovery of antibodies targeting integral membrane proteins combining in situ selections and next-generation sequencing
Authors: Kelil Abdellali , Gallo Eugenio , Banerjee Sunandan , Adams Jarrett J. , Sidhu Sachdev S. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSynthetic antibody (Ab) technologies are efficient and cost-effective platforms for the generation of monoclonal Abs against human antigens. Yet, they typically depend on purified proteins, which exclude integral membrane proteins that require the lipid bilayers to support their native structure and function. Here, we present an Ab discovery strategy, termed CellectSeq, for targeting integral membrane proteins on native cells in complex environment. As proof of concept, we targeted three transmembrane proteins linked to cancer, tetraspanin CD151, carbonic anhydrase 9, and integrin-α11. First, we performed in situ cell-based selections to enrich phage-displayed synthetic Ab pools for antigen-specific binders. Then, we designed next-generation sequencing procedures to explore Ab diversities and abundances. Finally, we developed motif-based scoring and sequencing error-filtering algorithms for the comprehensive interrogation of next-generation sequencing pools to identify Abs with high diversities and specificities, even at extremely low abundances, which are very difficult to identify using manual sampling or sequence abundances.
CRISPRi-mediated functional analysis of NKX2-1-binding sites in the lung
Authors: Stuart William D. , Fink-Baldauf Iris M. , Tomoshige Koichi , Guo Minzhe , Maeda Yutaka 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe transcription factor NKX2-1/TTF-1 is involved in lung pathophysiology, including breathing, innate defense and tumorigenesis. To understand the mechanism by which NKX2-1 regulates genes involved in such pathophysiology, we have previously performed ChIP-seq and identified genome-wide NKX2-1-binding sites, which revealed that NKX2-1 binds to not only proximal promoter regions but also multiple intra- and inter-genic regions of the genes regulated by NKX2-1. However, the roles of such regions, especially non-proximal ones, bound by NKX2-1 have not yet been determined. Here, using CRISPRi (CRISPR/dCas9-KRAB), we scrutinize the functional roles of 19 regions/sites bound by NKX2-1, which are located in genes involved in breathing and innate defense (SFTPB, LAMP3,SFTPA1, SFTPA2) and lung tumorigenesis (MYBPH, LMO3, CD274/PD-L1). Notably, the CRISPRi approach reveals that a portion of NKX2-1-binding sites are functionally indispensable while the rest are dispensable for the expression of the genes, indicating that functional roles of NKX2-1-binding sites are unequally yoked.
Surface Electromyography–Based Recognition, Synthesis, and Perception of Prosodic Subvocal Speech
Authors: Vojtech Jennifer M. , Chan Michael D. , Shiwani Bhawna , Roy Serge H. , Heaton James T. , Meltzner Geoffrey S. , Contessa Paola , De Luca Gianluca , Patel Rupal , Kline Joshua C. 
Published: May 2021

PurposeThis study aimed to evaluate a novel communication system designed to translate surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals from articulatory muscles into speech using a personalized, digital voice. The system was evaluated for word recognition, prosodic classification, and listener perception of synthesized speech.MethodsEMG signals were recorded from the face and neck as speakers with (n = 4) and without (n = 4) laryngectomy subvocally recited (silently mouthed) a speech corpus comprising 750 phrases (150 phrases with variable phrase-level stress). Corpus tokens were then translated into speech via personalized voice synthesis (n = 8 synthetic voices) and compared against phrases produced by each speaker when using their typical mode of communication (n = 4 natural voices,n = 4 electrolaryngeal [EL] voices). Naïve listeners (n = 12) evaluated synthetic, natural, and EL speech for acceptability and intelligibility in a visual sort-and-rate task, as well as phrasal stress discriminability via a classification mechanism.ResultsRecorded sEMG signals were processed to translate sEMG muscle activity into lexical content and categorize variations in phrase-level stress, achieving a mean accuracy of 96.3% (SD = 3.10%) and 91.2% (SD = 4.46%), respectively. Synthetic speech was significantly higher in acceptability and intelligibility than EL speech, also leading to greater phrasal stress classification accuracy, whereas natural speech was rated as the most acceptable and intelligible, with the greatest phrasal stress classification accuracy.ConclusionThis proof-of-concept study establishes the feasibility of using subvocal sEMG-based alternative communication not only for lexical recognition but also for prosodic communication in healthy individuals, as well as those living with vocal impairments and residual articulatory function.Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14558481
Secrecy outage probability analysis of energy‐aware relay selection for energy‐harvesting cooperative systems
Authors: Zhang Yujie , Li Peng , Fan Weibei , Wang Ruchuan 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe secrecy outage performance for a cooperative cognitive radio energy‐harvesting network is analyzed. The cognitive network is composed of an energy‐constrained cognitive source (CS), multiple energy‐constrained cognitive relays (CRs) and a cognitive destination (CD) as well as an eavesdropper (E) coexists with a primary network consisting of a primary transmitter (PT) and a primary receiver (PR). The CS and CRs are equipped with energy harvesters for collecting energy from the radio frequency signal from PT and their transmit powers are limited by the interference threshold at PR. To prevent confidential information leaking to E, an optimal relay selection (ORS) scheme and a suboptimal relay selection (SRS) scheme are proposed. In ORS scheme, the whole channels state information (CSI) of wireless links is available to CRs while SRS only needs to know the CSI of main channels from CRs to CD. Moreover, the closed‐form expressions of secrecy outage probabilities for both ORS and SRS schemes are derived. For the purpose of comparison, the classical round‐robin relay selection (RRRS) is also analyzed in terms of secrecy outage probability. Furthermore, the numerical results show that ORS achieves the best performance and RRRS performs the worst in terms of secrecy outage probability.
Delay dependent criteria for the consensus of second‐order multi‐agent systems subject to communication delay
Authors: Nejadvali Amir , Esfanjani Reza Mahboobi , Farnam Arash , Crevecoeur Guillaume 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIn this paper, a distributed controller is designed for the consensus of multi‐agent systems in which each agent has a general second‐order linear dynamic and the information is exchanged over a data‐delaying communication network. Using the sensitivity of system poles to the parameters of the control protocol, graphical delay‐dependent synthesis conditions are derived to tune the controller gains. A systematic procedure is developed to attain maximum tolerable transmission delay in the system. Moreover, simpler condition is provided for the special case where the second‐order model is reduced to a double integrator. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the merits of the proposed scheme compared to some recent rival ones in the literature.
The distributed economic dispatch of smart grid based on deep reinforcement learning
Authors: Fu Yang , Guo Xiaoyan , Mi Yang , Yuan Minghan , Ge Xiaolin , Su Xiangjing , Li Zhenkun 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIn order to solve the problems of inefficient, inflexible and insecure for traditional centralized algorithm in the process of optimization dispatch, and with the application of artificial intelligence technology to smart grids, the novel distributed solution is proposed by using the deep reinforcement learning and the consensus theory to optimize the economic dispatch. Firstly, the optimal commitment sequence of massive units is realized through constructing deep reinforcement learning model. Secondly, the optimal unit output and efficient economic dispatch can be obtained by utilizing the improved consensus algorithm together with Adam's algorithm. Finally, simulation results of IEEE‐14 and IEEE‐162 node systems may demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution for the smart grids with complex network structures, which can not only solve the problem of massive data processing, but also it may reduce the dependence on the exact objective function when dealing with extremely complex load distribution scenes and distributed powers.