bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Innovative Solid-State Micro-Anaerobic Digestion Process to Valorize Food Waste: Technical Development Constraints and Consequences on Biological Performances
Authors: Degueurce Axelle , Dabert Patrick , Argence Victor , Blondel Laurent , Le Bihan Anne , Lebreton Megane , Peu Pascal , Sarrazin Martine , Picard Sylvie , Trémier Anne 
Published: August 2021

AbstractTo face the increase of waste production and meet the energy demand of urban areas, municipal waste management systems should be rethought. Innovative solutions such as decentralised small-scale anaerobic digestion could be developed. This work presents the design, operation and performances of a new micro-scale anaerobic digester (AD) developed to degrade food waste (FW) in urban areas i.e. highly compact and with low water and energy demand. To meet these objectives, the new micro-scale AD is a semi-continuous and two-stage process built vertically to take advantage of the gravity to mix and move the digested matter instead of using mechanical devices. The first stage consists in a tubular reactor fed weekly with FW and periodically watered with leachate from the second stage reactor located below the tubular reactor. Results show that AD performances were highly correlated to the efficiency of hydric transfer between the tubular reactor and the leachate tank. Indeed, pH, volatile fatty acids and microbial community analysis showed that the hydrolysis occurred in the tubular reactor, while the methanogenesis step occurred in the leachate tank. Overall, the average methane production was 143 ± 87 NL/kgvs with an average methane content of 44 ± 10% and the operation mode of the process has still to be improved.
Graphic Abstract
Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy
Authors: Sun Qiang , Melino Gerry , Amelio Ivano , Jiang Jingting , Wang Ying , Shi Yufang 
Published: August 2021

AbstractCancer immunotherapy represents a major advance in the cure of cancer following the dramatic advancements in the development and refinement of chemotherapies and radiotherapies. In the recent decades, together with the development of early diagnostic techniques, immunotherapy has significantly contributed to improving the survival of cancer patients. The immune-checkpoint blockade agents have been proven effective in a significant fraction of standard therapy refractory patients. Importantly, recent advances are providing alternative immunotherapeutic tools that could help overcome their limitations. In this mini review, we provide an overview on the main steps of the discovery of classic immune-checkpoint blockade agents and summarise the most recent development of novel immunotherapeutic strategies, such as tumour antigens, bispecific antibodies and TCR-engineered T cells.
A Robot Mimicking Heart Motions: An Ex-Vivo Test Approach for Cardiac Devices
Authors: Zurbuchen Adrian , Pfenniger Aloïs , Omari Sammy , Reichlin Tobias , Vogel Rolf , Haeberlin Andreas 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Purpose
The pre-clinical testing of cardiovascular implants gains increasing attention due to the complexity of novel implants and new medical device regulations. It often relies on large animal experiments that are afflicted with ethical and methodical challenges. Thus, a method for simulating physiological heart motions is desired but lacking so far.

Methods
We developed a robotic platform that allows simulating the trajectory of any point of the heart (one at a time) in six degrees of freedom. It uses heart motion trajectories acquired from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging or accelero-meter data. The rotations of the six motors are calculated based on the input trajectory. A closed-loop controller drives the platform and a graphical user interface monitors the functioning and accuracy of the robot using encoder data.

Results
The robotic platform can mimic physiological heart motions from large animals and humans. It offers a spherical work envelope with a radius of 29 mm, maximum acceleration of 20 m/s2 and maximum deflection of ±19° along all axes. The absolute mean positioning error in x-, y- and z-direction is 0.21 ±0.06, 0.31 ±0.11 and 0.17 ±0.12 mm, respectively. The absolute mean orientation error around x-, y- and z-axis (roll, pitch and yaw) is 0.24 ±0.18°, 0.23 ±0.13° and 0.18 ±0.18°, respectively.

Conclusion
The novel robotic approach allows reproducing heart motions with high accuracy and repeatability. This may benefit the device development process and allows re-using previously acquired heart motion data repeatedly, thus avoiding animal trials.
Small rodent cycles influence interactions among predators in a boreal forest ecosystem
Authors: Cano-Martínez Rocío , Carricondo-Sanchez David , Devineau Olivier , Odden Morten 
Published: August 2021

AbstractCyclic fluctuations of prey have profound effects on the functioning of ecosystems, for example, by changing the dynamics, behavior, and intraguild interactions of predators. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of rodent cyclic fluctuations in the interspecific interactions of a guild of small- and medium-sized predators: red fox (Vulpes vulpes), pine marten (Martes martes), and weasels (Mustela erminea and Mustela nivalis) in the boreal ecosystem. We analyzed eight years (2007–2014) of snow tracking data from southeastern Norway using structural equation models to assess hypothesized networks of causal relationships. Our results show that fluctuations in rodent abundance alter the strength of predator’s interactions, as well as the effect of determinant environmental variables. Pine marten and weasel abundances were positively associated with rodent population growth rate, but not red fox abundance. All predators were positively associated with each other; however, the association between red fox and the other predators weakened when rodents increased. Rodent fluctuations had variable effects on the habitat use of the predators. The presence of agricultural land was important for all predators, but this importance weakened for the mustelids as rodent abundance increased. We discuss the shifting role of interference and exploitative competition as possible mechanisms behind these patterns. Overall, we highlight the importance of accounting for the dynamics of prey resources when studying interspecific interactions among predators. Additionally, we demonstrate the importance of monitoring the predator populations in order to anticipate undesirable outcomes such as increased generalist predator abundances to the detriment of specialists.
Predicting 10-year stroke mortality: development and validation of a nomogram
Authors: Szlachetka Weronika A. , Pana Tiberiu A. , Mamas Mamas A. , Bettencourt-Silva Joao H. , Metcalf Anthony K. , Potter John F. , McLernon David J. , Myint Phyo K. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractPredicting long-term stroke mortality is a clinically important and unmet need. We aimed to develop and internally validate a 10-year ischaemic stroke mortality prediction score. In this UK cohort study, 10,366 patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke between January 2003 and December 2016 were followed up for a median (interquartile range) of 5.47 (2.96–9.15) years. A Cox proportional-hazards model was used to predict 10-year post-admission mortality. The predictors associated with 10-year mortality included age, sex, Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project classification, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), pre-stroke modified Rankin Score, admission haemoglobin, sodium, white blood cell count and comorbidities (atrial fibrillation, coronary heart disease, heart failure, cancer, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver disease and peripheral vascular disease). The model was internally validated using bootstrap resampling to assess optimism in discrimination and calibration. A nomogram was created to facilitate application of the score at the point of care. Mean age (SD) was 78.5 ± 10.9 years, 52% female. Most strokes were partial anterior circulation syndromes (38%). 10-year mortality predictors were: total anterior circulation stroke (hazard ratio, 95% confidence intervals) (2.87, 2.62–3.14), eGFR < 15 (1.97, 1.55–2.52), 1-year increment in age (1.04, 1.04–1.05), liver disease (1.50, 1.20–1.87), peripheral vascular disease (1.39, 1.23–1.57), cancers (1.37, 1.27–1.47), heart failure (1.24, 1.15–1.34), 1-point increment in pre-stroke mRS (1.20, 1.17–1.22), atrial fibrillation (1.17, 1.10–1.24), coronary heart disease (1.09, 1.02–1.16), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1.13, 1.03–1.25) and hypertension (0.77, 0.72–0.82). Upon internal validation, the optimism-adjusted c-statistic was 0.76 and calibration slope was 0.98. Our 10-year mortality model uses routinely collected point-of-care information. It is the first 10-year mortality score in stroke. While the model was internally validated, further external validation is also warranted.
Morphological residual convolutional neural network (M-RCNN) for intelligent recognition of wear particles from artificial joints
Authors: Hu Xiaobin , Song Jian , Liao Zhenhua , Liu Yuhong , Gao Jian , Menze Bjoern , Liu Weiqiang 
Published: August 2021

AbstractFinding the correct category of wear particles is important to understand the tribological behavior. However, manual identification is tedious and time-consuming. We here propose an automatic morphological residual convolutional neural network (M-RCNN), exploiting the residual knowledge and morphological priors between various particle types. We also employ data augmentation to prevent performance deterioration caused by the extremely imbalanced problem of class distribution. Experimental results indicate that our morphological priors are distinguishable and beneficial to largely boosting overall performance. M-RCNN demonstrates a much higher accuracy (0.940) than the deep residual network (0.845) and support vector machine (0.821). This work provides an effective solution for automatically identifying wear particles and can be a powerful tool to further analyze the failure mechanisms of artificial joints.
Prevascularized Micro-/Nano-Sized Spheroid/Bead Aggregates for Vascular Tissue Engineering
Authors: Rahimnejad Maedeh , Nasrollahi Boroujeni Narges , Jahangiri Sepideh , Rabiee Navid , Rabiee Mohammad , Makvandi Pooyan , Akhavan Omid , Varma Rajender S. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractEfficient strategies to promote microvascularization in vascular tissue engineering, a central priority in regenerative medicine, are still scarce; nano- and micro-sized aggregates and spheres or beads harboring primitive microvascular beds are promising methods in vascular tissue engineering. Capillaries are the smallest type and in numerous blood vessels, which are distributed densely in cardiovascular system. To mimic this microvascular network, specific cell components and proangiogenic factors are required. Herein, advanced biofabrication methods in microvascular engineering, including extrusion-based and droplet-based bioprinting, Kenzan, and biogripper approaches, are deliberated with emphasis on the newest works in prevascular nano- and micro-sized aggregates and microspheres/microbeads.
Enhancing crop yield by using Rubisco activase to improve photosynthesis under elevated temperatures
Authors: Wijewardene Inosha , Shen Guoxin , Zhang Hong 
Published: August 2021

AbstractWith the rapid growth of world population, it is essential to increase agricultural productivity to feed the growing population. Over the past decades, many methods have been used to increase crop yields. Despite the success in boosting the crop yield through these methods, global food production still needs to be increased to be on par with the increasing population and its dynamic consumption patterns. Additionally, given the prevailing environmental conditions pertaining to the global temperature increase, heat stress will likely be a critical factor that negatively affects plant biomass and crop yield. One of the key elements hindering photosynthesis and plant productivity under heat stress is the thermo-sensitivity of the Rubisco activase (RCA), a molecular chaperone that converts Rubisco back to active form after it becomes inactive. It would be an attractive and practical strategy to maintain photosynthetic activity under elevated temperatures by enhancing the thermo-stability of RCA. In this context, this review discusses the need to improve the thermo-tolerance of RCA under current climatic conditions and to further study RCA structure and regulation, and its limitations at elevated temperatures. This review summarizes successful results and provides a perspective on RCA research and its implication in improving crop yield under elevated temperature conditions in the future.
Cell wall associated immunity in plants
Authors: Wan Jiangxue , He Min , Hou Qingqing , Zou Lijuan , Yang Yihua , Wei Yan , Chen Xuewei 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe plant cell wall is the first physical and defensive barrier against pathogens. The plant cell wall usually undergoes dynamic remodeling as an immune response to prevent infection by pathogens. In this review, we summarize advances on relationship between cell wall and immunity in plants. In particular, we outline current progresses regarding the regulation of the cell wall components, including cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and lignin, on plant disease resistance. We also discuss the impacts of cell wall-derived cellodextrin, oligogalacturonic acid and xyloglucan/xylan oligosaccharides as potent elicitors or signal molecules to trigger plant immune response. We further propose future studies on dissecting the molecular regulation of cell wall on plant immunity, which have potentials in practical application of crop breeding aiming at improvement of plant disease resistance.
Regulation of biotic interactions and responses to abiotic stresses by MAP kinase pathways in plant pathogenic fungi
Authors: Zhang Xue , Wang Zeyi , Jiang Cong , Xu Jin-Rong 
Published: August 2021

AbstractLike other eukaryotes, fungi use MAP kinase (MAPK) pathways to mediate cellular changes responding to external stimuli. In the past two decades, three well-conserved MAP kinase pathways have been characterized in various plant pathogenic fungi for regulating responses and adaptations to a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses encountered during plant infection or survival in nature. The invasive growth (IG) pathway is homologous to the yeast pheromone response and filamentation pathways. In plant pathogens, the IG pathway often is essential for pathogenesis by regulating infection-related morphogenesis, such as appressorium formation, penetration, and invasive growth. The cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway also is important for plant infection although the infection processes it regulates vary among fungal pathogens. Besides its universal function in cell wall integrity, it often plays a minor role in responses to oxidative and cell wall stresses. Both the IG and CWI pathways are involved in regulating known virulence factors as well as effector genes during plant infection and mediating defenses against mycoviruses, bacteria, and other fungi. In contrast, the high osmolarity growth (HOG) pathway is dispensable for virulence in some fungi although it is essential for plant infection in others. It regulates osmoregulation in hyphae and is dispensable for appressorium turgor generation. The HOG pathway also plays a major role for responding to oxidative, heat, and other environmental stresses and is overstimulated by phenylpyrrole fungicides. Moreover, these three MAPK pathways crosstalk and coordinately regulate responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses. The IG and CWI pathways, particularly the latter, also are involved in responding to abiotic stresses to various degrees in different fungal pathogens, and the HOG pathway also plays a role in interactions with other microbes or fungi. Furthermore, some infection processes or stress responses are co-regulated by MAPK pathways with cAMP or Ca2+/CaM signaling. Overall, functions of individual MAP kinase pathways in pathogenesis and stress responses have been well characterized in a number of fungal pathogens, showing the conserved genetic elements with diverged functions, likely by rewiring transcriptional regulatory networks. In the near future, applications of genomics and proteomics approaches will likely lead to better understanding of crosstalk among the MAPKs and with other signaling pathways as well as roles of MAPKs in defense against other microbes (biotic interactions).
The Arabidopsis spliceosomal protein SmEb modulates ABA responses by maintaining proper alternative splicing of HAB1
Authors: Hong Yechun , Yao Juanjuan , Shi Huazhong , Chen Yunjuan , Zhu Jian-Kang , Wang Zhen 
Published: August 2021

AbstractAbscisic acid (ABA) signaling is critical for seed germination and abiotic stress responses in terrestrial plants. Pre-mRNA splicing is known to regulate ABA signaling. However, the involvement of canonical spliceosomal components in regulating ABA signaling is poorly understood. Here, we show that the spliceosome component Sm core protein SmEb plays an important role in ABA signaling. SmEb expression is up-regulated by ABA treatment, and analysis of Arabidopsis smeb mutant plants suggest that SmEb modulates the alternative splicing of the ABA signaling component HAB1 by enhancing the HAB1.1 splicing variant while repressing HAB1.2. Overexpression of HAB1.1 but not HAB1.2 rescues the ABA-hypersensitive phenotype of smeb mutants. Mutations in the transcription factor ABI3, 4, or 5 also reduce the ABA hypersensitivity of smeb mutants during seed germination. Our results show that the spliceosomal component SmEb plays an important role in ABA regulation of seed germination and early seedling development.
Tailoring Public Health Policies
Authors: Persad Govind 
Published: August 2021

In an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, many states and countries have adopted public health restrictions on activities previously considered commonplace: crossing state borders, eating indoors, gathering together, and even leaving one’s home. These policies often focus on specific activities or groups, rather than imposing the same limits across the board. In this Article, I consider the law and ethics of these policies, which I call tailored policies.In Part II, I identify two types of tailored policies: activity-based and group-based. Activity-based restrictions respond to differences in the risks and benefits of specific activities, such as walking outdoors and dining indoors. Group-based restrictions consider differences between groups with respect to risk and benefit. Examples are policies that treat children or senior citizens differently, policies that require travelers to quarantine when traveling to a new destination, and policies that treat individuals differently based on whether they have COVID-19 symptoms, have tested positive for COVID-19, have previous COVID-19 infection, or have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
In Part III, I consider the public health law grounding of tailored policies in the principles of “least restrictive means” and “well-targeting.” I also examine how courts have analyzed tailored policies that have been challenged on fundamental rights or equal protection grounds. I argue that fundamental rights analyses typically favor tailored policies and that equal protection does not preclude the use of tailored policies even when imperfectly crafted.
In Part IV, I consider three critiques of tailored policies, centering on the claims that they produce inequity, cause harm, or unacceptably limit liberty. I argue that we must evaluate restrictions comparatively: the question is not whether tailored policies are perfectly equitable, wholly prevent harm, or completely protect liberty, but whether they are better than untailored ones at realizing these goals in a pandemic. I also argue that evaluation must consider indirect harms and benefits as well as direct and apparent ones.
Ruthless Utilitarianism? COVID-19 State Triage Protocols May Subject Patients to Racial Discrimination and Providers to Legal Liability
Authors: Weismann Miriam F. , Holder Cheryl 
Published: August 2021

As the coronavirus pandemic intensified, many communities in the United States experienced shortages of ventilators, intensive care beds, and other medical supplies and treatments. Currently, there is no single national response to provide guidance on allocation of scarce health care resources. Accordingly, states have formulated various “triage protocols” to prioritize those who will receive care and those who may not have the same access to health care services when the population demand exceeds the supply. Triage protocols address general concepts of “fairness” under accepted medical ethics rules and the consensus is that limited medical resources “should be allocated to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people.”1 The actual utility of this utilitarian ethics approach is questionable, however, leaving many questions about what is “fair” unanswered. Saving as many people as possible during a health care crisis is a laudable goal but not at the expense of ignoring patients’s legal rights, which are not suspended during the crisis. This Article examines the triage protocols from six states to determine whose rights are being recognized and whose rights are being denied, answering the pivotal question: If there is potential for disparate impact of facially neutral state triage protocols against Black Americans and other ethnic groups, is this legally actionable discrimination? This may be a case of first impression for the courts to resolve.“[B]lack Americans are 3.5 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than [W]hite Americans … . Latinx people are almost twice as likely to die of the disease, compared with [W]hite people.”
2
“Our civil rights laws protect the equal dignity of every human life from ruthless utilitarianism … . HHS is committed to leaving no one behind during an emergency, and this guidance is designed to help health care providers meet that goal.” — Roger Severino, Office of Civil Rights Director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
3
A Puzzle for Social Essences
Authors: RAVEN MICHAEL J. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe social world contains institutions (nations, clubs), groups (races, genders), objects (talismans, borders), and more. This essay explores a puzzle about the essences of social items. There is widespread consensus against social essences because of problematic presuppositions often made about them. But it is argued that essence can be freed from these presuppositions and their problems. Even so, a puzzle still arises. In a Platonic spirit, essences in general seem detached from the world. In an Aristotelian spirit, social essences in particular seem embedded in the world. The puzzle is that these inclinations are individually plausible but jointly incompatible. The essay has four aims: to clarify and refine the puzzle; to explore the puzzle's implications for essence in general and for social essences in particular; to illustrate the fruitfulness of the general distinction between detached and embedded; and to develop this distinction to sketch a novel solution to the puzzle.