bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical presentation of strokes confined to the insula: a systematic review of literature
Authors: Di Stefano Vincenzo , De Angelis Maria Vittoria , Montemitro Chiara , Russo Mirella , Carrarini Claudia , di Giannantonio Massimo , Brighina Filippo , Onofrj Marco , Werring David J. , Simister Robert 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Background and purpose
The insular cortex serves a wide variety of functions in humans, ranging from sensory and affective processing to high-level cognition. Hence, insular dysfunction may result in several different presentations. Ischemic strokes limited to the insular territory are rare and deserve a better characterization, to be quickly recognized and to receive appropriate treatment (e.g. thrombolysis).

Methods
We reviewed studies on patients with a first-ever acute stroke restricted to the insula. We searched in the Medline database the keywords “insular stroke” and “insular infarction”, to identify previously published cases. Afterwards, the results were divided depending on the specific insular region affected by the stroke: anterior insular cortex (AIC), posterior insular cortex (PIC) or total insula cortex (TIC). Finally, a review of the clinical correlates associated with each region was performed.

Results
We identified 25 reports including a total of 49 patients (59.7 ± 15.5 years, 48% male) from systematic review of the literature. The most common clinical phenotypes were motor and somatosensory deficits, dysarthria, aphasia and a vestibular-like syndrome. Atypical presentations were also common and included dysphagia, awareness deficits, gustatory disturbances, dysautonomia, neuropsychiatric or auditory disturbances and headache.

Conclusions
The clinical presentation of insular strokes is heterogeneous; however, an insular stroke should be suspected when vestibular-like, somatosensory, speech or language disturbances are combined in the same patient. Further studies are needed to improve our understanding of more atypical presentations.
Heteroclinic connections and Dirichlet problems for a nonlocal functional of oscillation type
Authors: Cesaroni Annalisa , Dipierro Serena , Novaga Matteo , Valdinoci Enrico 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWe consider an energy functional combining the square of the local oscillation of a one-dimensional function with a double-well potential. We establish the existence of minimal heteroclinic solutions connecting the two wells of the potential. This existence result cannot be accomplished by standard methods, due to the lack of compactness properties. In addition, we investigate the main properties of these heteroclinic connections. We show that these minimizers are monotone, and therefore they satisfy a suitable Euler–Lagrange equation. We also prove that, differently from the classical cases arising in ordinary differential equations, in this context the heteroclinic connections are not necessarily smooth, and not even continuous (in fact, they can be piecewise constant). Also, we show that heteroclinics are not necessarily unique up to a translation, which is also in contrast with the classical setting. Furthermore, we investigate the associated Dirichlet problem, studying existence, uniqueness and partial regularity properties, providing explicit solutions in terms of the external data and of the forcing source, and exhibiting an example of discontinuous solution.
Mutants of Lotus japonicus deficient in flavonoid biosynthesis
Authors: Aoki Toshio , Kawaguchi Masayoshi , Imaizumi-Anraku Haruko , Akao Shoichiro , Ayabe Shin-ichi , Akashi Tomoyoshi 
Published: February 2021

AbstractSpatiotemporal features of anthocyanin accumulation in a model legume Lotus japonicus (Regel) K.Larsen were elucidated to develop criteria for the genetic analysis of flavonoid biosynthesis. Artificial mutants and wild accessions, with lower anthocyanin accumulation in the stem than the standard wild type (B-129 ‘Gifu’), were obtained by ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis and from a collection of wild-grown variants, respectively. The loci responsible for the green stem of the mutants were named as VIRIDICAULIS (VIC). Genetic and chemical analysis identified two loci, namely, VIC1 and VIC2, required for the production of both anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins), and two loci, namely, VIC3 and VIC4, required for the steps specific to anthocyanin biosynthesis. A mutation in VIC5 significantly reduced the anthocyanin accumulation. These mutants will serve as a useful system for examining the effects of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins on the interactions with herbivorous pests, pathogenic microorganisms and nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacteria, Mesorhizobium loti.
Statistical models to provide meaningful information to GNSS users in the presence of ionospheric scintillation
Authors: Vadakke Veettil S. , Aquino M. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractIonospheric scintillation is one of the most challenging problems in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) positioning and navigation. Scintillation occurrence can not only lead to an increase in the probability of losing the GNSS signal lock but also reduce the precision of the pseudorange and carrier phase measurements, thus leading to positioning accuracy degradation. Statistical models developed to estimate the probability of loss of lock and Geometric Dilution of Precision normalized 3D positioning errors as a function of scintillation levels are presented. The models were developed following the statistical approach of nonlinear regression on data recorded by Ionospheric Scintillation Monitoring Receivers operational at high and low latitudes. The validation of the probability of loss of lock models indicated average correlation coefficient values above 0.7 and average Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) values below 0.35. The validation of the positioning error models indicated average RMSE values below 10 cm. The good performance of the developed models indicates that these can provide GNSS users with information on the satellite loss of lock probability and the error in the 3D position under scintillation.
Time–frequency analysis of the Galileo satellite clocks: looking for the J2 relativistic effect and other periodic variations
Authors: Formichella Valerio , Galleani Lorenzo , Signorile Giovanna , Sesia Ilaria 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWhen observed from the ground, the frequency of the atomic clocks flying on the satellites of a Global Navigation Satellite System is referred to as apparent frequency, because it is observed through the on-board signal generation chain, the propagation path, the relativistic effects, the measurement system, and the clock estimation algorithm. As a consequence, the apparent clock frequency is affected by periodic variations of different origins such as, for example, the periodic component of the J2 relativistic effect, due to the oblateness of the earth, and the clock estimation errors induced by the orbital estimation errors. We present a detailed characterization of the periodic variations affecting the apparent frequency of the Galileo clocks, obtained by applying time–frequency analysis and other signal processing techniques on space clock data provided by the European Space Agency. In particular, we analyze one year of data from three Galileo Passive Hydrogen Masers, flying on two different orbital planes. Time–frequency analysis reveals how the spectral components of the apparent frequency change with time. For example, it confirms that the amplitude of the periodic signal due to the orbital estimation errors depends on the angle between the sun and the orbital plane. Moreover, it allows to find a more precise estimate of the amplitude of the J2 effect, in agreement with the prediction of the general theory of relativity, and it shows that such amplitude suddenly decreases when the corresponding relativistic correction is applied to the data, thus validating the analytical formula used for the correction.
Priming negatively affects feeding behaviour and aphid biomass of Rhopalosiphum padi on barley
Authors: Wehner Gwendolin , Schikora Adam , Ordon Frank , Will Torsten 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPlants have developed numerous strategies for responding to abiotic and biotic stresses. In particular, the microbiota surrounding plants may have a positive effect on plant stress responses. One is the reaction to rhizobacteria, which can lead to induced systemic resistance. Gram-negative soil bacteria that produce N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHL), for example, Ensifer meliloti, induce a primed state in plants that is part of the inducible resistance phenomenon. Observing Rhopalosiphum padi feeding behaviour on a priming sensitive barley genotype, treated with the AHL-producing E. meliloti strain expR + ch, using electrical penetration graph technique showed decreased ingestion of food. Aphids appear to overcome this effect within the eight-hour observation period, possibly explaining the absence of differences of reproduction. Reproduction was observed for a period of 14 days on primed and control-treated plants. Long-term observations over a period of 40 days after aphid infestation showed a lower aphid biomass in contrast to a control group, interpreted as delayed population growth, and an increase in the biomass of barley plants. Priming-related genotypic effects of the defence response to aphids were observed, with no beneficial effects on the plant genotype when its sensitivity to priming was low. Previously, an AHL-priming sensitive barley genotype showed enhanced resistance against fungi when primed with the expR + ch strain of E. meliloti. The present study reports the same effect against R. padi. These findings suggest that sensitivity to AHL-priming may represent a new approach for plant breeding, targeting multiple pests in parallel by induced plant resistance.
An efficient ensemble Kalman Filter implementation via shrinkage covariance matrix estimation: exploiting prior knowledge
Authors: Lopez-Restrepo Santiago , Nino-Ruiz Elias D. , Guzman-Reyes Luis G. , Yarce Andres , Quintero O. L. , Pinel Nicolas , Segers Arjo , Heemink A. W. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractIn this paper, we propose an efficient and practical implementation of the ensemble Kalman filter via shrinkage covariance matrix estimation. Our filter implementation combines information brought by an ensemble of model realizations, and that based on our prior knowledge about the dynamical system of interest. We perform the combination of both sources of information via optimal shrinkage factors. The method exploits the rank-deficiency of ensemble covariance matrices to provide an efficient and practical implementation of the analysis step in EnKF based formulations. Localization and inflation aspects are discussed, as well. Experimental tests are performed to assess the accuracy of our proposed filter implementation by employing an Advection Diffusion Model and an Atmospheric General Circulation Model. The experimental results reveal that the use of our proposed filter implementation can mitigate the impact of sampling noise, and even more, it can avoid the impact of spurious correlations during assimilation steps.
Heat Release Rate Characterization of NFPA 1403 Compliant Training Fuels
Authors: Regan John W. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWhen using solid fuels for live fire training,NFPA 1403: Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutionsrequires that the materials be wood based. While the standard offers guidance on the type of fuels that are permissible for use in training, it offers little in the way of quantitative methods of selecting an appropriately sized fuel package. In order to examine the effects of fuel mass and orientation on heat release behavior, free burn heat release rate (HRR) experiments were conducted on twenty-one wood-based training fuel packages and twelve comparison furniture items. Training fuel packages demonstrated peak HRRs ranging from 1.0 MW to 3.6 MW, with the total energy release between 210 MJ and 1615 MJ. The furniture items exhibited peak HRRs between 0.9 MW and 3.7 MW, with the total energy release between 180 MJ and 995 MJ. A least-squares linear regression analysis indicated a good linear fit between total energy release and fuel mass burned among the training fuel packages (R$$^2$$2 $$=$$= 0.98), suggesting that the effective heat of combustion is approximately constant at 14.2 MJ/kg. Generally, peak HRR increased as initial fuel mass increased, although the relationship was more variable, with the peak HRRs of similarly sized training fuel packages varying by nearly 1 MW. The results indicated that while total energy release was dependent largely on the initial fuel mass, peak HRR and peak burning duration were also dependent on the orientation and type of fuel in the fuel package. Wood-based training fuel packages were capable of producing peak HRRs comparable to individual items of furniture, although the total energy release was typically higher for the training fuel packages compared to corresponding furniture items.
Enacting Smart Pedagogy in Higher Education Contexts: Sensemaking through Collaborative Biography
Authors: Reyes Vicente , McLay Katherine , Thomasse Lauren , Olave-Encina Karen , Karimi Arafeh , Rahman Mohammed Tareque , Seneviratne Lalanthi , Tran Tran Le Nghi 
Published: February 2021

AbstractScholars and practitioners argue that information and communication technology (ICT) provides flexibility of time and place and softens boundaries between students’ learning lives. The fluid movement between formal and informal learning contexts afforded by digital technology has prompted a re-definition of higher education learning environments to harness its potential. Further, technology can cater to diverse learners and promote lifelong learning in ways that the traditional didactic settings characteristic of tertiary contexts cannot. Scholars and practitioners have labelled this new teaching and learning landscape as smart pedagogy. This article engages with this scholarship by analysing a specific Australian case study in which ICT reforms have been deliberately implemented to adhere to smart pedagogies. Using collective biographies as a methodological tool, this inquiry provides insights into sensemaking experiences of a group of university academics whilst implementing ICT reforms anchored on Smart Pedagogy.
Using Breeding Technologies to Improve Farm Animal Welfare: What is the Ethical Relevance of Telos?
Authors: Kramer K. , Meijboom F. L. B. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractSome breeding technology applications are claimed to improve animal welfare: this includes potential applications of genomics and genome editing to improve animals’ resistance to environmental stress, to genetically alter features which in current practice are changed invasively (e.g. by dehorning), or to reduce animals’ capacity for suffering. Such applications challenge how breeding technologies are evaluated, which paradigmatically proceeds from a welfare perspective. Whether animal welfare will indeed improve may be unanswerable until proposed applications have been developed and tested sufficiently and until agreement is reached on how to conceptualize animal welfare. Moreover, even if breeding technologies do improve animal welfare, they might be objected to on other ethical grounds. Ethical perspectives on earlier animal biotechnologies are relevant for today’s breeding technologies and their proposed applications, but may need reinterpretation. The current paper applies the concept oftelos, which previously figured mainly in debates on classical genetic engineering, to genomic selection and genome editing aimed at improving animal welfare. It critiques current (Rollin’s and Hauskeller’s) accounts oftelosand offers an alternative conceptualization that applies to recently proposed applications of breeding technologies. This account rejects both removing the desire to pursue characteristic activities and altering animal bodies in ways that compromise their ability to perform such activities, but conditionally allows increasing robustness against environmental stress. Our account oftelosenriches ethical debate on these breeding technology applications by insisting on the connection between the good life, an animal’s constitution, and its activities, thus countering reductive conceptions of welfare.
A Power Control Scheme to Exploit Capture Effect with Fairness Consideration in WLAN
Authors: Su Szu-Lin , Chih Tsung-Hsiu , Tsai Yuan-Chun , Liao Hsieh-Cheng , Wang Yu-Chia 
Published: February 2021

AbstractIn this paper, we develop a physical/medium-access-control cross layer design to improve system throughput with the consideration of fairness for IEEE 802.11 WLAN. From PHY layer perspective, when an access collision occurs, the access point can still decode the corresponding data successfully if the received signal to interference plus noise ratio is larger than the threshold. This phenomenon is referred to as the capture effect. To improve system throughput, this work proposes a Differential Reception-Power Power Control scheme to take advantage of the capture effect. However, the proposed power control scheme cannot provide a fair transmission environment even though it improves the system throughput. To resolve this problem, this work proposes two methods: the adjustment of contention window size and the modification of probability mass function for the selection of the backoff value. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed schemes can not only remarkably improve system throughput, but also provide a fair transmission environment.
Assessment of the impacts of microbial plant protection products containing Bacillus thuringiensis on the survival of adults and larvae of the honeybee (Apis mellifera)
Authors: Steinigeweg Charlotte , Alkassab Abdulrahim T. , Beims Hannes , Eckert Jakob H. , Richter Dania , Pistorius Jens 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis study was aimed at evaluating the effect of a microbial pest-controlling product (MPCP) with the active substance Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. aizawai (strain: ABTS-1857) on adults and larvae of honeybees. To determine the contamination levels of Bt spores in different matrices, a colony-feeding study under semi-field conditions was performed. Furthermore, two chronic adult trials and a chronic larval study were conducted under laboratory conditions to test the effects of different concentrations of the plant protection product (PPP) on the development and mortality. Possible modifications of the chronic oral toxicity test were assessed by additional pollen feeding. Our results showed that Bt spores were detected in all matrices over the entire test duration in different concentrations, decreasing over time. The survival of adult bees and larvae was negatively affected in laboratory conditions after a chronic exposure to the MPCP depending on the tested concentrations. Moreover, the earliest sign of bee mortality, resulting from exposure to ABTS-1857, was recorded only after 96 h at the highest tested concentration. Pollen feeding to adults significantly increased the survival of the treated bees. In conclusion, the PPP with the Bt strain ABTS-1857 showed an effect on the mortality of adults and larvae under laboratory conditions. Further studies with Bt-based PPPs under realistic field conditions are necessary to evaluate the potential risk of those MPCPs on honeybees.
Effect of filter extraction solvents on the measurement of the oxidative potential of airborne PM2.5
Authors: Pietrogrande Maria Chiara , Bacco Dimitri , Trentini Arianna , Russo Mara 
Published: February 2021

AbstractSolvent extraction of PM2.5 samples collected on the filter is a preliminary step for assessing the PM2.5 oxidative potential (OP) using cell-free assays, as the dithiothreitol (DTT) and the ascorbic acid (AA) assays. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the solvent choice by extracting ambient PM2.5 samples with different solvents: methanol, as organic solvent, and two aqueous buffers, i.e., phosphate buffer (PB) and Gamble’s solution (G), as a lung fluid surrogate solution. Both the measured volume-based OPVDTT and OPVAA responses varied for the different extraction methods, since methanol extraction generated the lowest values and phosphate buffer the highest. Although all the tested solvents produced intercorrelated OPVDTT values, the phosphate buffer resulted the most useful for OPDTT assessment, as it provided the most sensible measure (nearly double values) compared with other extractions. The association of the measured OPV values with PM chemical composition suggested that oxidative properties of the investigated PM2.5 samples depend on both transition metals and quinones, as also supported by additional experimental measurements on standard solutions of redox-active species.
Photoelectrocatalysis on TiO2 meshes: different applications in the integrated urban water management
Authors: Collivignarelli Maria Cristina , Abbà Alessandro , Carnevale Miino Marco , Bertanza Giorgio , Sorlini Sabrina , Damiani Silvestro , Arab Hamed , Bestetti Massimiliano , Franz Silvia 
Published: February 2021

AbstractRecently, among AOPs, photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) on TiO2 is gaining interest. In this study, five different real waters sampled in four different points of the integrated urban water management (IUWM) system were tested with PEC and UV alone, for comparison. This work aims to verify the effect of the PEC suggesting the optimal position in IUWM system where the PEC should be located to obtain the best performance. In groundwaters (GWs), PEC effectively removed atrazine-based compounds (> 99%), trichloroethylene, and perchloroethylene (96%), after 15 min of reaction time. However, given the low concentrations of emerging compounds, the synergistic effect of UV radiation with the catalyst and with the polarization of the mesh was not visible, with very few differences compared with the results obtained with UV alone. Pharmaceutical industrial wastewater (IWW) showed a significant increase in biodegradability after 2 h, both if subjected to PEC or UV (200%), despite the absence of COD removal. The PEC applied on IWW from a sewage sludge treatment plant allowed to effectively remove the COD (39.6%) and increase the biodegradability (300%). Good results in terms of COD removal (33.9%) and biodegradability increase (+900%) were also achieved testing PEC on wastewater treatment plant effluent. Except for GWs, PEC allowed significant EEO savings respect to UV alone (76.2–99.1%).