bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The inconsistent microbiota of Budu, the Malaysian fermented anchovy sauce, revealed through 16S amplicon sequencing
Authors: Md Zoqratt Muhammad Zarul Hanifah , Gan Han Ming 
Published: October 2021

Budu is a Malaysian fermented anchovy sauce produced by immersing small fishes into a brine solution for 6 to 18 months. Microbial enzymes are known to contribute to fermentation; however, not much is known about the microbial community in Budu. Therefore, a better understanding of the Budu microbiome is necessary to improve the quality, consistency, and safety of the Budu products.
In this study, we collected 60 samples from 20 bottles of Budu produced by seven manufacturers. We analyzed their microbiota using V3–V4 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing when we first opened the bottle (month 0), as well as 3 and 7 months post-opening (months 3 and 7). Tetragenococcus was the dominant genus in many samples, reaching a maximum proportion of 98.62%, but was found in low abundance, or absent, in other samples. When Budu samples were not dominated by a dominant taxa, we observed a wider genera diversity such as Staphylococcus, Acinetobacter, Halanaerobium and Bacillus. While the taxonomic composition was relatively stable across sampling periods, samples from two brands showed a sudden increase in relative abundance of the genus Chromobacterium at month 7. Based on prediction of metagenome functions, non-Tetragenococcus-dominated samples were predicted to have enriched functional pathways related to amino acid metabolism and purine metabolism compared to Tetragenococcus-dominated samples; these two pathways are fundamental to fermentation quality and health attributes of fish sauce. Among the non-Tetragenococcus-dominated samples, contributions towards amino acid metabolism and purine metabolism were biased towards the dominant taxa when species evenness is low, while in samples with higher species evenness, the contributions towards the two pathways were predicted to be evenly distributed between taxa. Our results demonstrated that the utility of 16S sequencing to assess batch variation in fermented food production. The distinct microbiota was shown to correlate with characteristic metagenome function including functions potentially related to fermented food nutrition and quality.
Effect of Pharmacist Home Visits on Weight Control in Overweight Elderly Hypertensive African American Patients: Managing Your Blood Pressure (My Bp) Program
Authors: Poon Ivy O. , Pounds Kimberly , Morris-Moultry Aisha , Jemerson Terrica 
Published: October 2021

Objective: The objective was to investigate the effect of a home-based pharmacy intervention on body mass index (BMI) in a cohort of older hypertensive overweight African American (AA) patients.
Design: A secondary analysis of data collected in a community-based intervention study.
Setting: Community-based.
Participants: AA patients, ≥ 65 years old, residing independently, with hypertension diagnosis and BMI ≥ 25.
Interventions: During a 6month period, patients received 1) two in-home pharmacist-led consultations on weight management, 2) bi-weekly telephone counseling, and 3) health education strategies.
Main Outcome Measures: BMIs at baseline and 6 months; stages of behavioral change in diet and exercise based on the Transtheoretical Model.
Results: At baseline and 6-month follow-up, a total of 153 participants had BMI ≥ 25 and received a completed assessment of behavioral stages. Participants’ mean age was 74.2 years. A reduction of BMI from 31.7 (obese) at baseline to 29.8 (overweight) at 6-months (p=0.0008) was observed. For every stage of improvement in diet, there was a reduction of 1.24 points in BMI (p=0.008). For every stage of progress in exercise, there was a reduction of 0.77 points in BMI (p=0.013).
Conclusion: Pharmacists-led in-home consultations coupled with telephone follow-ups and health education strategies may improve lifestyle and lower BMIs in this cohort. Further studies are needed to investigate these strategies on weight management in geriatric patients with chronic illnesses.
Host‐Dopant Interaction between Organic Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitter and Host Material: Insight into the Excited State
Authors: Li Nengquan , Ni Fan , Lv Xialei , Huang Zhongyan , Cao Xiaosong , Yang Chuluo 
Published: October 2021

AbstractOrganic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) represent one of the most promising technologies for future displays and lighting sources, which have received extensive research attention. Purely organic thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters offer obvious advantages, including high efficiencies and low costs, and they are typically doped in host materials to achieve optimal device efficiencies. TADF emitters typically feature intramolecular charge transfer characteristics, and their excited states properties are sensitive to local environment, giving the implication that host materials can finely tune their emission properties. In recent years, the development of TADF emitters has been vigorous with abundant and fast‐growing reports on new design concepts and molecular structures. Comparatively, research on the host materials for TADF OLEDs has lagged, and reports on host materials, especially those providing insights into host‐dopant interactions are limited. This subject is at the interface of synthetic chemistry, physical chemistry, solid‐state physics, and computational modeling, etc. In this review article, current basic understanding of TADF and the reports on the impact of host materials on the photophysical properties/device performance of TADF emitters are reviewed to provide insights into the host‐dopant interactions, aiming to draw the attention of the research community from optoelectronics toward developing highly efficient TADF OLEDs.
Electric Load Forecasting based on Wavelet Transform and Random Forest
Authors: Peng Li‐Ling , Fan Guo‐Feng , Yu Meng , Chang Yu‐Chen , Hong Wei‐Chiang 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAiming at the problem of strong randomness and low forecasting accuracy in short‐term electric load, a method based on wavelet transform (WT) and random forest (RF) are proposed. In the proposed method, the noise is removed by WT, and the original data are decomposed into several groups with low or high frequencies, and then the decomposed column variables are used as characteristic variables to forecast by RF. It has three advantages: 1) due to the instability of electric load data, the decomposition and denoising of WT can be used to characterize the nonstationary signal characteristics; 2) WT has more advantages in time domain analysis because of its correlation to signal removal and the tendency of noise whitening after transformation; and 3) based on WT, RF still maintains forecasting accuracy even after the features of the analyzed data are lost. Electric load data from Australian‐Energy‐Market‐Operator are taken as an example for a case analysis. By comparing with other existed methods, the results have showed that the proposed model can reduce the influence of random noise during forecasting processes and improve the associated accuracy and reliability.
In‐kind credit provision through contract farming and formal credit markets
Authors: Ruml Anette , Parlasca Martin C. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAccess to credit is a key prerequisite for the development of smallholder agriculture. However, rural credit markets are typically characterized by market failures and smallholder credit access is limited. Resource‐providing contracts are an institutional tool to overcome credit market failures through the provision of production inputs in the form of in‐kind credit. Previous research has shown that interlinkage of contract and credit helps farmers overcome financial constraints, foster production investments, and hence increase productivities and income. However, if and how such contract schemes affect farmers' overall demand for and access to formal credit from other sources is not yet well understood. In this article, we therefore investigate the associations of the provision of in‐kind credit and farming households' formal credit demand and ability to receive formal credit. We use data of 463 oil palm producers in Ghana and show that participation in contract farming is associated with an increase in credit demand. Concerning credit approval, we find that the outstanding debt of the in‐kind credit scheme is associated with a substantially lower likelihood of credit acceptance. However, the results also suggest that farmers can fully compensate this negative effect by informing the bank about the contract, and thus the source of the debt. This indicates that debt acquired from resource‐providing contract schemes does not necessarily pose an additional credit constraint to farmers. [EconLit Citation G21, G23, O16, O17].
New Scoring System for Prediction of Surgical Difficulty During Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy After Percutaneous Transhepatic Gallbladder Drainage
Authors: Matsumoto Michinori , Abe Kyohei , Futagawa Yasuro , Furukawa Kenei , Haruki Koichiro , Onda Shinji , Kurogochi Takanori , Takeuchi Nana , Okamoto Tomoyoshi , Ikegami Toru 
Published: October 2021

AbstractBackgroundThe surgical difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) after percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD) remains unknown. This study aimed to establish a scoring system (SS) to predict the necessity of a bailout procedure during LC after PTGBD and to evaluate the relationship between SS and perioperative complications.MethodsWe retrospectively studied 70 patients who underwent LC after PTGBD. Preoperative factors potentially predictive of the need for the bailout procedure were analyzed. The SS included significantly predictive factors, with their cutoff values determined by receiver operating characteristic curves. Patients were assigned a score of 1 when exhibiting only one of these abnormalities. We compared the perioperative factors between three groups with scores of 0, 1, or 2. The SS was applied to another series of 65 patients for validation. We compared the score‐2 patient perioperative factors between LC with the bailout procedure and open cholecystectomy from the beginning (OC).ResultsIndependent predictors were time until PTGBD after symptom onset and the maximal wall gallbladder thickness (cutoff values: 3 days and 10 mm, respectively). The high‐score group was significantly associated with bile duct injury (BDI). The sensitivity and specificity of our SS were 75.0% and 98.1% in validation, respectively. The score‐2 OC and laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy (LSC) groups had no BDI.ConclusionsThe SS using time until PTGBD after symptom onset and gallbladder wall thickness for predicting the need for the bailout procedure correctly predicted the need. The scores might be associated with the risk of BDI, and LSC or OC might be a better choice for score‐2 patients.
Decoherence of Dirac‐Quantumness for Open Particles in a Dilatonic Black Hole
Authors: Yao Cheng‐Jun , Yan Kai , Wu Quan‐Ying , Wu Yin‐Zhong , Hao Xiang 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe quantumness of Dirac particles for quantized fields in a dilatonic black hole is estimated by means of quantum channel. A general Bloch vector representation of quantum channel in black hole spacetimes beyond single mode approximation is developed. The nonclassicality of Dirac particles can be measured by the minimization of quantum coherence over all orthonormal basis sets. The quantumness of the channel decreases as the dilaton field increases. The interplay between the external reservoir noise and dilaton black hole on the dynamical behavior of quantum coherence and steerability is investigated in the Pauli basis. The external environment is modeled by a random telegraph noise channel. The monotonous decay of quantum nonlocality occurs in the weak coupling case. The degradation and revival of quantum nonlocality are observed in the strong coupling condition. It is found that quantum fluctuation effects of the external reservoir can protect quantum coherence and steerability from the information loss of the black hole.
The impact of young radio jets traced by cold molecular gas
Authors: Morganti Raffaella , Oosterloo Tom , Murthy Suma , Tadhunter Clive 
Published: October 2021

AbstractRanging from a few pc to hundreds of kpc in size, radio jets have, during their evolution, an impact on their gaseous environment on a large range of scales. While their effect on larger scales is well established, it is now becoming clear that they can also strongly affect the interstellar medium (ISM) inside the host galaxy. Particularly important is the initial phase ( years) of the evolution of the radio jet, when they expand into the inner few kpc of the host galaxy. Here we report on results obtained for a representative group of young radio galaxies using the cold molecular gas as a tracer of jet‐ISM interactions. The sensitivity and high spatial resolution of ALMA and NOEMA are ideal to study the details of this process. In many objects, we find massive molecular outflows driven by the plasma jet, even in low‐power radio sources. However, the observed outflows are limited to the circumnuclear regions and only a small fraction of the ISM is leaving the galaxy. Beyond this region, the impact of the jet seems to change. Fast outflows are replaced by a milder expansion driven by the expanding cocoon created by the jet‐ISM interaction, resulting in dispersing and heating the ISM. These findings are in line with predictions from simulations of jets interacting with a clumpy medium and suggest a more complex view of the impact of AGN than presently implemented in cosmological simulations.
Digestion‐Promoting Effects and Mechanisms of Dashanzha Pill Based on Raw and Charred Crataegi Fructus
Authors: Liu Cui , He Qian , Zeng Linlin , Shen Ling , Luo Qiaomei , Zhang Wentao , Zhou Xia , Wan Jun 
Published: October 2021

AbstractEmerging evidence suggests that a high‐fat diet (HFD) can influence endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and gut microbiota. Crataegi Fructus is a traditional Chinese herb widely used in formulas for dyspepsia, with Dashanzha Pill composed of raw Crataegi Fructus (DR) being a representative drug. Processing products of Crataegi Fructus, however, have a stronger pro‐digestive effect, and we hypothesized that Dashanzha Pill composed of charred Crataegi Fructus (DC) is more effective. We found that the contents of glucose 1‐phosphate and luteolin in DR and DC were substantially different via ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐hybrid quadrupole‐Orbitrap high‐resolution mass spectrometry. DC outperformed DR in improving histopathological changes, increasing gastrin and motilin, and decreasing vasoactive intestinal peptides in rats with HFD induced dyspepsia. Fecal microbiota analysis revealed that DC could restore the disturbed intestinal microbiota composition, including that of Bacteroides, Akkermansia, and Intestinimonas to normal levels. Furthermore, DC significantly reduced the mRNA and protein levels of glucose‐regulated protein 78, protein kinase R‐like ER kinase, and eukaryotic initiation factor 2α. Taken together, DC outperformed DR in relieving dyspepsia by regulating gut microbiota and alleviating ER stress.
Iron sulfate and phosphite products fail to suppress snow mold on amenity turfgrass in Wisconsin
Authors: Koch Paul L. , Hockemeyer Kurt 
Published: October 2021

AbstractSnow molds are an important group of diseases of amenity turfgrass in temperate climates. Acceptable control is typically achieved through one or two fungicide applications prior to snow cover, though there is increasing interest in exploring alternative control products such as iron sulfate and/or potassium phosphite. Previous research has demonstrated that poor snow mold control is achieved when these alternative products are applied once prior to snow cover, so the objective of this study was to assess their efficacy when applied repeatedly throughout the fall. Iron sulfate heptahydrate, potassium phosphite, and the fungicide propiconazole were applied six times, every 2 weeks, throughout the fall of 2019 at three locations in Wisconsin that typically produce high, medium, and low snow mold pressure. No reduction in disease relative to the nontreated control was observed at any location in response to the iron sulfate and potassium phosphite treatments. Propiconazole did provide effective snow mold control at the low and moderate pressure locations but not at the high pressure location. Both iron sulfate and potassium phosphite have shown efficacy against select turfgrass diseases, but do not appear to provide control of snow mold in areas where snow cover persists during winter.
Strong, Self‐Healing Gelatin Hydrogels Cross‐Linked by Double Dynamic Covalent Chemistry
Authors: Zhang Ye , Wang Qimeng , Wang Ziyan , Zhang Difei , Gu Jieyu , Ye Kewei , Su Dandan , Zhang Yan , Chen Jinghua , Barboiu Mihail 
Published: October 2021

AbstractHydrogels constructed from natural sources have received increased attention recently, including applications in biomedical fields. They are protein or polysaccharide cross‐linked scaffolds that display water retention and are able to recognize host cargos. Their excellent biocompatibility does not always combine with high mechanical strength (up to 136 kPa) and thermostability, making them less useful in biomedical applications. This paper reports biocompatible gelatin hydrogels, double cross‐linked via imine and Diels‐Alder (DA) dynamic covalent frameworks. They showed integrated advantages of adjustable and durable mechanical strength, good thermal stability, biocompatibility for promoting cell growth and reasonable degradable rate. These hydrogels possess remarkable self‐healing property, acid/alkali resistance at 65 °C and good integrity in organic solvents at 130 °C, holding great potential for biomedical applications in the areas such as cartilage regeneration, articular reconstruction or soft robotics.
Temporal stability and maintenance mechanisms of alpine meadow communities under clipping and fertilization
Authors: Wang Ting , Guo Chenglong , Sang Silin , Liu Yiting , Liu Gang , Qi Desheng , Zhu Zhihong 
Published: October 2021

AbstractNegative effects of long‐term overgrazing have been seriously, grasslands temporal stability is an important ecological concern we need to research. Here, we performed a 12‐year‐long (2007–2018) two‐factor controlled experiment on Kobresia humilis meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. The manipulations included three clipping levels (no clipping, NC; moderate clipping, MC; heavy clipping, HC) and two fertilization levels (no fertilization, NF; fertilization, F). Our results revealed that the two clipping manipulations significantly increased the temporal stability of alpine meadow communities, whose significant increase was more pronounced under the MC than HC treatment. Species asynchrony had a significant positive correlation with species abundance along with compound community gradient. Moreover, asynchrony effects, portfolio effects, and facilitation interactions were all present in the communities under the six types of experimental treatment combinations. Additionally, a selection effect was detected in the compound communities, demonstrating characteristics that are common to different mechanisms. There were no significant differences in the effects of these mechanisms on community temporal stability between the NC–NF and MC–NF interactive communities. The portfolio effects predominated when clipping intensity was moderate under both fertilization and nonfertilization conditions. By contrast, in the compound communities, the selection effect predominated. In summary, we conclude that in meadow communities that undergo clipping and fertilization disturbances, facilitation interactions and weak interactions make a greater contribution toward maintaining their temporal stability.
Plastome sequencing reveals phylogenetic relationships among Comastoma and related taxa (Gentianaceae) from the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Zhang Yu , Yu Jingya , Xia Mingze , Chi Xiaofeng , Khan Gulzar , Chen Shilong , Zhang Faqi 
Published: October 2021

AbstractGenus Comastoma (subt. Swertiinae, Gentianaceae) contains species, such as “Zangyinchen,” that are important herbs in Tibetan medicine. The phylogenetic relationship of this within Gentianaceae and the circumscriptions of its species have long been controversial with conflicting morphological and molecular data reported. Here, we used whole chloroplast genome sequences for Comastoma species and related taxa to reconstruct their phylogeny and clarify their taxonomic relationships. The results revealed that the length of all plastome sequenced varied from 149 to 151 kb and have high similarity in structure and gene content. Phylogenomic analysis showed that Comastoma is a monophyletic group, closely related to the genus Lomatogonium. The divergence time estimation showed that Gentianaceae diverged at about 21.81 Ma, while the split of Comastoma occurred at 7.70 Ma. However, the results suggested the crown age of species formation in this genus is after 4.19 Ma. Our results suggest that QTP uplift, the alternation of Quaternary glaciation and interglaciation, and monsoon changes might have acted as drivers of speciation in Comastoma.
An efficient single‐cell based method for linking human T cell phenotype to T cell receptor sequence and specificity
Authors: Wahl Ilka , Hoffmann Sandro , Hundsdorfer Rebecca , Puchan Julia , Hoffman Stephen L. , Kremsner Peter G. , Mordmüller Benjamin , Busse Christian E. , Wardemann Hedda 
Published: October 2021

AbstractSingle‐cell antigen‐receptor gene amplification and sequencing platforms have been used to characterize T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires but typically fail to generate paired full‐length gene products for direct expression cloning and do not enable linking this data to cell phenotype information. To overcome these limitations, we established a high‐throughput platform for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of human TCR repertoires that provides insights into the clonal and functional composition of human CD4+ and CD8+ αβ T cells at the molecular and cellular level. The strategy is a powerful tool to qualitatively assess differences between antigen receptors of phenotypically defined αβ T cell subsets, e.g. in immune responses to cancer, vaccination, or infection, and in autoimmune diseases.
Monocytes in central nervous system remyelination
Authors: Forbes Lindsey H. , Miron Veronique E. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractRemyelination failure with aging and progression of neurodegenerative disorders contributes to axonal dysfunction, highlighting the importance of understanding the mechanisms underpinning this process to develop regenerative therapies. Central nervous system (CNS) macrophages, encompassing both resident microglia and blood monocyte‐derived cells, play a crucial role in driving successful remyelination. Although there has been a focus on the critical roles of microglia in remyelination, the specific contribution of monocyte‐derived macrophages is still not fully understood. Until recently, the lack of tools enabling distinction between CNS macrophage populations has hindered our understanding of monocyte influence on remyelination. Recent advances have allowed for identification and characterization of monocyte populations in health, aging and in neurodegenerative conditions like multiple sclerosis, indicating heterogeneity of monocyte subsets impacted by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Here, we discuss the new tools enabling distinction between macrophage populations and advancements in understanding the importance of monocytes in remyelination, and reflect on the potential for therapeutic targeting of monocytes to promote remyelination.