bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Conserved bacterial de novo guanine biosynthesis pathway enables microbial survival and colonization in the environmental niche of the urinary tract
Authors: Ipe Deepak S , Sullivan Matthew J , Goh Kelvin G K , Hashimi Saeed M , Munn Alan L , Ulett Glen C 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
In bacteria, guaA encodes guanosine monophosphate synthetase that confers an ability to biosynthesize guanine nucleotides de novo. This enables bacterial colonization in different environments and, while guaA is widely distributed among Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, its contribution to the inhabitation of the human microbiome by commensal bacteria is unclear. We studied Streptococcus as a commensal urogenital tract bacterium and opportunistic pathogen, and explored the role of guaA in bacterial survival and colonization of urine. Analysis of guaA-deficient Streptococcus revealed guanine utilization is essential for bacterial colonization of this niche. The genomic location of guaA in other commensals of the human urogenital tract revealed substantial cross-phyla diversity and organizational structures of guaA that are divergent across phyla. Essentiality of guaA for Streptococcus colonization in the urinary tract establishes that purine biosynthesis is a critical element of the ability of this bacterium to survive and colonize in the host as part of the resident human microbiome.
Optimizing the CRISPR/Cas9 system for genome editing in grape by using grape promoters
Authors: Ren Chong , Liu Yanfei , Guo Yuchen , Duan Wei , Fan Peige , Li Shaohua , Liang Zhenchang 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe efficacy of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) has been documented, but the optimization of this system, as well as CRISPR/Cas9-mediated multiplex genome editing, has not been explored in this species. Herein, we identified four VvU3 and VvU6 promoters and two ubiquitin (UBQ) promoters in grapevine and demonstrated that the use of the identified VvU3/U6 and UBQ2 promoters could significantly increase the editing efficiency in grape by improving the expression of sgRNA and Cas9, respectively. Furthermore, we conducted multiplex genome editing using the optimized CRISPR/Cas9 vector that contained the conventional multiple sgRNA expression cassettes or the polycistronic tRNA-sgRNA cassette (PTG) by targeting the sugar-related tonoplastic monosaccharide transporter (TMT) family members TMT1 and TMT2, and the overall editing efficiencies were higher than 10%. The simultaneous editing of TMT1 and TMT2 resulted in reduced sugar levels, which indicated the role of these two genes in sugar accumulation in grapes. Moreover, the activities of the VvU3, VvU6, and UBQ2 promoters in tobacco genome editing were demonstrated by editing the phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Our study provides materials for the optimization of the CRISPR/Cas9 system. To our knowledge, our simultaneous editing of the grape TMT family genes TMT1 and TMT2 constitutes the first example of multiplex genome editing in grape. The multiplex editing systems described in this manuscript expand the toolbox of grape genome editing, which would facilitate basic research and molecular breeding in grapevine.
Evaluation of myocardial injury patterns and ST changes among critical and non-critical patients with coronavirus-19 disease
Authors: Liaqat Anam , Ali-Khan Rao Saad , Asad Muhammad , Rafique Zakia 
Published: March 2021

AbstractNovel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to a major public health crisis globally. Currently, myocardial damage is speculated to be associated with COVID-19, which can be seen as one of the main causes of death of patients with COVID-19. We therefore, aim to investigate the effects of COVID-19 disease on myocardial injury in hospitalized patients who have been tested positive for COVID-19 pneumonia in this study. A prospective study was conducted among 201 patients with COVID-19 in the Pakistan Military Hospital from April 1 to August 31, 2020, including non-critical cases and critical cases. COVID-19 patients were stratified as critical and non-critical according to the signs and symptoms severity; with those requiring intensive care and invasive mechanical ventilation as critical, and those did not requiring invasive mechanical ventilation as non-critical. A total of 201 COVID-19 patients with critical and non-critical categories presented with myocardial injury. All patients with myocardial injury had an elevation in CKMB and Troponin-I levels. Of these patients, 43.7% presented with new electrocardiography (ECG) changes, and ST depression was typically observed in 36.3% patients. In addition, 18.7% patients presented with abnormal echocardiography findings, with right ventricular dilatation and dysfunction commonly seen among critical group patients. Results analyzed by a logistic regression model showing COVID-19 direct contribution to myocardial injury in these patients. COVID-19 disease directly leads to cardiovascular damage among critical and non-critical patients. Myocardial injury is associated not only with abnormal ECG changes but also with myocardial dysfunction on echocardiography and more commonly observed among critical patients.
The Impact of Lexical and Articulatory Factors in the Automatic Selection of Test Materials for a Web-Based Assessment of Intelligibility in Dysarthria
Authors: Lehner Katharina , Ziegler Wolfram 
Published: March 2021

Purpose
The clinical assessment of intelligibility must be based on a large repository and extensive variation of test materials, to render test stimuli unpredictable and thereby avoid expectancies and familiarity effects in the listeners. At the same time, it is essential that test materials are systematically controlled for factors influencing intelligibility. This study investigated the impact of lexical and articulatory characteristics of quasirandomly selected target words on intelligibility in a large sample of dysarthric speakers under clinical examination conditions.

Method

Using the clinical assessment tool
KommPaS
, a total of 2,700 sentence-embedded target words, quasirandomly drawn from a large corpus, were spoken by a group of 100 dysarthric patients and later transcribed by listeners recruited via online crowdsourcing. Transcription accuracy was analyzed for influences of lexical frequency, phonological neighborhood structure, articulatory complexity, lexical familiarity, word class, stimulus length, and embedding position. Classification and regression analyses were performed using random forests and generalized linear mixed models.

Results
Across all degrees of severity, target words with higher frequency, fewer and less frequent phonological neighbors, higher articulatory complexity, and higher lexical familiarity received significantly higher intelligibility scores. In addition, target words were more challenging sentence-initially than in medial or final position. Stimulus length had mixed effects; word length and word class had no effect.

Conclusions
In a large-scale clinical examination of intelligibility in speakers with dysarthria, several well-established influences of lexical and articulatory parameters could be replicated, and the roles of new factors were discussed. This study provides clues about how experimental rigor can be combined with clinical requirements in the diagnostics of communication impairment in patients with dysarthria.
How many suns are in the sky? A SPHERE multiplicity survey of exoplanet host stars
Authors: Ginski C. , Mugrauer M. , Adam C. , Vogt N. , van Holstein R. G. 
Published: March 2021

Aims. We are studying the influence of stellar multiplicity on exoplanet systems and, in particular, systems that have been detected via radial-velocity searches. We are specifically interested in the closest companions as they would have a strong influence on the evolution of the original planet-forming disks. In this study, we present new companions that have been detected during our ongoing survey of exoplanet hosts with VLT/SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research).
Methods. We are using the extreme adaptive optics imager SPHERE at the ESO/VLT to search for faint (sub)stellar companions. We utilized the classical coronagraphic imaging mode to perform a snapshot survey (3–6 min integration time) of exoplanet host stars in the Ks-band.
Results. We detected new stellar companions to the exoplanet host stars HD 1666, HIP 68468, HIP 107773, and HD 109271. With an angular separation of only 0.38′′ (40 au of projected separation), HIP 107773 is among the closest companions found for exoplanet host stars. The presence of the stellar companion explains the linear radial-velocity trend seen in the system. At such a small separation, the companion likely had a significant influence on the evolution of the planet-forming disk around the primary star. We find that the companion in the HD 1666 system may well be responsible for the high orbit eccentricity (0.63) of the detected Jupiter class planet, making this system one of only a few where such a connection can be established. A cross-match with the Gaia DR2 catalog shows, furthermore, that the near infrared faint companion around HD 109271 was detected in the optical and it is significantly brighter than in the near infrared, making it a white dwarf companion.
Orbital Surgical Guidelines: Pediatric Considerations
Authors: Tran Ann Q. , Kazim Michael 
Published: March 2021

AbstractPediatric orbital and skull base surgery comprises a wide array of tumors. An understanding of the location of the lesion, nature of the disease, and surrounding anatomy is paramount to surgical planning in these small spaces. The goals of pediatric skull base surgery are to avoid injury to the surrounding structures, minimize cosmetic deformities, and remove some or all of the tumors based on anticipated pathology and biologic cost of removal. Safe surgery on many of these tumors requires an understanding of the location of the lesion relative to the optic nerve or orbit. This is particularly challenging because the dimensions of the orbital confines change continuously as one navigates from rostral to caudal. Management of these tumors may require a multidisciplinary approach including orbital surgery, neurosurgery, otolaryngology, oral maxillofacial surgery, plastic surgery, and interventional neuroradiology.
Weyl-invariant gravity and the nature of dark matter
Authors: Shimon Meir 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
The apparent missing mass in Galaxies and Galaxy clusters, commonly viewed as evidence for dark matter, could possibly originate from gradients in the gravitational coupling parameter, G, and active gravitational mass, M
act, rather than hypothetical beyond-the-standard-model particles. We argue that in (the weak field limit of) a Weyl-invariant extension of general relativity, one can simply affect the change Φb(x) → Φb(x) + ΦDM(x), where Φb is the baryon-sourced potential and ΦDM is the ‘excess’ potential. This is compensated by gradients of GM
act and a fractional increase of O(−4ΦDM(x)) in the baryon density, well below current detection thresholds on all relevant scales.
Substrate effect on excitonic shift and radiative lifetime of two-dimensional materials
Authors: Guo Chunhao , Xu Junqing , Ping Yuan 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Substrates have strong effects on optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials, which have emerged as promising platforms for exotic physical phenomena and outstanding applications. To reliably interpret experimental results and predict such effects at 2D interfaces, theoretical methods accurately describing electron correlation and electron-hole interaction such as first-principles many-body perturbation theory are necessary. In our previous work (2020 Phys. Rev. B
102 205113), we developed the reciprocal-space linear interpolation method that can take into account the effects of substrate screening for arbitrarily lattice-mismatched interfaces at the GW level of approximation. In this work, we apply this method to examine the substrate effect on excitonic excitation and recombination of 2D materials by solving the Bethe–Salpeter equation. We predict the nonrigid shift of 1s and 2s excitonic peaks due to substrate screening, in excellent agreements with experiments. We then reveal its underlying physical mechanism through 2D hydrogen model and the linear relation between quasiparticle gaps and exciton binding energies when varying the substrate screening. At the end, we calculate the exciton radiative lifetime of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride with various substrates at zero and room temperature, as well as the one of WS2 where we obtain good agreement with experimental lifetime. Our work answers important questions of substrate effects on excitonic properties of 2D interfaces.
Reducing vehicle cold start emissions through carbon pricing: evidence from Germany
Authors: Frondel Manuel , Marggraf Clemens , Sommer Stephan , Vance Colin 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
A large proportion of local pollutants originating from the road transport sector is generated during the so-called cold-start phase of driving, that is, the first few minutes of driving after a car has stood inactive for several hours. Drawing on data from the German Mobility Panel (MOP), this paper analyzes the factors that affect the frequency of cold starts, approximated here by the number of car tours that a household takes over the course of a week. Based on fixed-effects panel estimations, we find a negative and statistically significant effect of fuel prices on the number of tours and, hence, cold starts. Using our estimates to explore the spatial implications arising from fuel price increases stipulated under Germany’s Climate Programme 2030, we find substantial impacts on the number of avoided tours even for modest fuel price increases of 20 cents per liter, particularly in urban areas. This outcome lends support to using carbon pricing as a means to improve both global climate and local air quality, pointing to a co-benefit of climate policy.
Photon and positron production by ultrahigh-intensity laser interaction with various plasma foils
Authors: BAKE Mamat Ali , ELAJI Arzigul 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
The generation of γ photons and positrons using an ultrahigh-intensity laser pulse interacting with various plasma solid foils is investigated with a series of quantum electrodynamic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. When ultrahigh-intensity lasers interact with plasma foils, a large amount of the laser energy is converted into γ photon energy. The simulation results indicate that for a fixed laser intensity with different foil densities, the conversion efficiency of the laser to γ photons and the number of produced photons are highly related to the foil density. We determine the optimal foil density by PIC simulations for high conversion efficiencies as approximately 250 times the critical plasma density, and this result agrees very well with our theoretical assumptions. Four different foil thicknesses are simulated and the effects of foil thickness on γ photon emission and positron production are discussed. The results indicate that optimal foil thickness plays an important role in obtaining the desired γ photon and positron production according to the foil density and laser intensity. Further, a relation between the laser intensity and conversion efficiency is present for the optimal foil density and thickness.
Deconstructing Discourses in Assessments of Child Neglect
Authors: Casey B , Hackett S 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
This article presents the findings of a qualitative study exploring how child neglect is ‘performed’ in social work practice. Informed by Foucauldian and feminist theoretical positions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten local authority social workers, eight Children’s Centre professionals in England and eight parents who had received professional intervention due to concerns about child neglect. In addition, ten case files were analysed where child neglect was a substantive concern. This article explores the discourses that were produced in social workers’ assessments of child neglect. In a neo-liberal context in which cuts are being made to childcare services, professionals were preoccupied with the identification and management of neglectful families by risk. Professional debates surrounding contested thresholds into services and categorisation of neglectful families are explored. Judgements of ‘good enough’ mothering as well as bureaucratic and managerial constraints to holistic, analytical and quality assessments are identified. The article also explores the bureaucratic performance of children’s assessed identities through which children become the objects of the assessment rather than active subjects. The article concludes with recommendations for practice and future research.
Challenges Faced by Highly Polyploid Bacteria with Limits on DNA Inheritance
Authors: Angert Esther R 
Published: March 2021

AbstractMost studies of bacterial reproduction have centered on organisms that undergo binary fission. In these models, complete chromosome copies are segregated with great fidelity into two equivalent offspring cells. All genetic material is passed on to offspring, including new mutations and horizontally acquired sequences. However, some bacterial lineages employ diverse reproductive patterns that require management and segregation of more than two chromosome copies. Epulopiscium spp., and their close relatives within the Firmicutes phylum, are intestinal symbionts of surgeonfish (family Acanthuridae). Each of these giant (up to 0.6 mm long), cigar-shaped bacteria contains tens of thousands of chromosome copies. Epulopiscium spp. do not use binary fission but instead produce multiple intracellular offspring. Only ∼1% of the genetic material in an Epulopiscium sp. type B mother cell is directly inherited by its offspring cells. And yet, even in late stages of offspring development, mother-cell chromosome copies continue to replicate. Consequently, chromosomes take on a somatic or germline role. Epulopiscium sp. type B is a strict anaerobe and while it is an obligate symbiont, its host has a facultative association with this intestinal microorganism. Therefore, Epulopiscium sp. type B populations face several bottlenecks that could endanger their diversity and resilience. Multilocus sequence analyses revealed that recombination is important to diversification in populations of Epulopiscium sp. type B. By employing mechanisms common to others in the Firmicutes, the coordinated timing of mother-cell lysis, offspring development and congression may facilitate the substantial recombination observed in Epulopiscium sp. type B populations.
Children In Between: Child Migrants from England to the Cape in the 1830s
Authors: Swartz Rebecca 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Between 1833 and 1841 the Children’s Friend Society, a London-based philanthropic organization, sent some eight hundred children from England to the Cape, where they were apprenticed to local settlers. This article focuses on two of them: Alfred Brooks, aged thirteen or fourteen, and twelve-year-old Elizabeth Foulger. Both of these children appear in archival traces because they transgressed and were subsequently disciplined by their masters. The article argues that a series of binaries shaped these young migrants’ lives: between infant and adult, black and white, and colonizer and colonized. The in-between status of the CFS apprentices had the potential to disrupt increasingly rigid hierarchies at the colonial Cape, during a time of significant social and political turmoil. The context of slave emancipation, as well as concerns over juvenile delinquency in London, affected these children’s experiences. Concerns over their categorization illustrate the complicated range of positions that migrant workers in the British empire could hold beyond simply ‘free’ and ‘unfree’. Thinking through the position of these young white emigrant workers in the post-emancipation Cape sheds light on the fragility of classed, gendered, racialized, adult and free identities in that context.
Effects of Parenting and Perceived Stress on BMI in African American Adolescents
Authors: Kipp Colby , Wilson Dawn K , Sweeney Allison M , Zarrett Nicole , Van Horn M Lee 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Objective
This study set out to examine the role of parenting practices in protecting or exacerbating the negative effects of parent and adolescent stress on adolescent body mass index (BMI) over time. Separate longitudinal models were conducted to evaluate how parenting practices interacted with parental perceived stress and adolescent perceived stress in predicting adolescent BMI.

Methods
Baseline data were collected from 148 African American adolescents (Mage = 12.93, SD = 1.75; Mz-BMI = 0.78, SD = 0.50; MBMI%-ile = 96.7, SD = 3.90) and their caregivers (Mage = 44.45, SD = 8.65; MBMI = 37.63, SD = 8.21) enrolled in the Families Improving Together for Weight Loss trial. Adolescents self-reported their perceptions of caregiver parenting style and feeding practices. Both caregivers and adolescents self-reported their perceptions of chronic stress. BMI for parents and adolescents was assessed objectively at baseline and 16 weeks post-intervention.

Results
Hierarchical regression models predicting adolescent BMI z-score (z-BMI) indicated a significant interaction between parental perceived stress and parental pressure to eat. Simple slopes analyses demonstrated that for those parents that exhibit higher pressure to eat, parent stress was positively associated with adolescent z-BMI.

Conclusions
These findings provide preliminary support suggesting that certain parenting practices interact with chronic stress on adolescent weight-related outcomes and that future interventions may consider integrating these factors.
Antifungal Activity of Chaetoviridin A from Chaetomium globosum CEF-082 Metabolites Against Verticillium dahliae in Cotton
Authors: Zhang Yun , Zhu Heqin , Ye Yonghao , Tang Canming 
Published: March 2021

Cotton Verticillium wilt (CVW) is a severe soilborne disease caused by the pathogen Verticillium dahliae, and it has a great impact on cotton production. Previous studies found that the biocontrol agent Chaetomium globosum CEF-082 and its metabolic filtrate could reduce the incidence of CVW; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The metabolic crude extract of CEF-082 increased the sensitivity of V. dahliae to stress, degraded the cell wall of V. dahliae, and increased the emergence and plant height of cotton. Through separation and purification of the metabolic crude extract of CEF-082, chaetoviridin A was identified and found to be highly active against V. dahliae. The compound caused cell necrosis and mycelial deformation, increased the production of reactive oxygen species and nitrous oxide, and inhibited the germination of microsclerotia of V. dahliae, enhancing the cotton plant defense response. In addition, CEF-082 also colonized cotton plants. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .