bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rapid ATF4 Depletion Resets Synaptic Responsiveness after cLTP
Authors: Amar Fatou , Corona Carlo , Husson Johanna , Liu Jin , Shelanski Michael , Greene Lloyd 
Published: May 2021

AbstractActivating transcription factor 4 [ATF4 (also called CREB2)], in addition to its well studied role in stress responses, is proposed to play important physiologic functions in regulating learning and memory. However, the nature of these functions has not been well defined and is subject to apparently disparate views. Here, we provide evidence that ATF4 is a regulator of excitability during synaptic plasticity. We evaluated the role of ATF4 in mature hippocampal cultures subjected to a brief chemically induced LTP (cLTP) protocol that results in changes in mEPSC properties and synaptic AMPA receptor density 1 h later, with return to baseline by 24 h. We find that ATF4 protein, but not its mRNA, is rapidly depleted by ∼50% in response to cLTP induction via NMDA receptor activation. Depletion is detectable in dendrites within 15 min and in cell bodies by 1 h, and returns to baseline by 8 h. Such changes correlate with a parallel depletion of phospho-eIF2a, suggesting that ATF4 loss is driven by decreased translation. To probe the physiologic role of cLTP-induced ATF4 depletion, we constitutively overexpressed the protein. Reversing ATF4 depletion by overexpression blocked the recovery of synaptic activity and AMPA receptor density to baseline values that would otherwise occur 24 h after cLTP induction. This reversal was not reproduced by a transcriptionally inactive ATF4 mutant. These findings support the role of ATF4 as a required element in resetting baseline synaptic responsiveness after cLTP.
Effect of Ambient Illumination, Screen Resolution and Zoom Level on Performance of Typing on Computers
Authors: Samy A. M. Khamaj A., Ameer A. K., 
Published: May 2021

Objective: This work aims to investigate effect of the ambient illumination, screen resolution and Zoom levels on visual-related task performance. The job used in this research is typing on computers. Speed of typing paragraph and typing quality were defined as the task performance.
Background: In recent years, computers play a remarkable role in nearly everyone’s daily life. We use computers for various purposes and under a wide range of ambient illumination. High illumination level usually results in some problems. Adjusting screen resolution and zoom level are common solutions contra problems for visibility due to unsuitable illuminations.
Method: Ambient illuminations were examined 114, 230, 340, 420 and 520 lx. Screen resolution scales were diverse to cover all range of regulate ability pliable by characteristics of the offering used; 768*1024, 720*1280 and 768*1366. Zoom levels was tested 50, 100, 150 and 200%.
Results: Based on this study, can be found that, the more effective illumination level on average typing time was 340 followed by 420 lx. Average typing time decrease with increasing screen resolution, the minimum average typing time observed at 720*1280 and 168*1366 screen resolution. Change the zoom level of text show significant effect on typing time, which the average typing time decreases with increasing zoom level. The minimum typing time observed at 100 and 150% zoom level. Experimental results for all S/N ratio, mean, and standard deviation (real) response values show that, illumination level, screen resolution and zoom scale are the significant parameters among all controllable factors that influence the avearge typing time. Based on S/N Ratio the optimum parameters was 114 lx illumination level and 768*1024 screen Resolution and 50% zoom level. Based on standard deviation the optimum parameters was 114 lx illumination level and 768*1366 screen Resolution and 150% zoom level. Based on the means the optimum parameters was is 230lx illumination level and 768*1366 screen Resolution and 100% zoom level.
Conclusion: The provision of suitable illumination, screen resolution and zoom levels that feedback to enhancing the performance of typing performance on computers.
Application: This study can inform in-computer typing offices and policy makers concerned with human factors and work-study.
Lifelong Education in Business: Role of Simulation Games in the Teaching Process
Authors: Mammadova Ph.D. Sevar 
Published: May 2021

The significance of business simulation games (BSG) rapidly increases. And this quite understandable. Because simulation games are based on the model playback mode realistic processes, events, locations or situations. The necessity of BSG in the educational process can be explained on the one hand by the growing demand of the labor market in specialists with practical skills, and on the other hand by growing needs of students to be able to navigate themselves through unfamiliar situations and find their decision in a proper and responsible way, instead of blind copying teachers instructions. BSG offers a broad scope of the forms of competencies students such as an ability to work in group teamwork, find a common language and understand that is globally relevant and informed while providing space to adapt the framework to local contexts.
Business simulation games train students create risk-free spaces where everyone can work out specific skills and feel the effects of own decision-making, requiring a certain level of risk.
Entrepreneurial activity is pivotal to the continued dynamism of the private sector, as the generation of new businesses fosters competition and economic growth. This is particularly relevant for Azerbaijan, whose entrepreneurship and business innovation levels are low, and it faces a central challenge to create conditions that will facilitate growth in nonoil tradable sectors. Therefore the proposed paper has three objectives: development of teaching resources and tools for delivery of entrepreneurship education. BSG will facilitate strategic problem-solving in life-like simulated business environments and it will be attached to the existing UNEC incubator. BSG should become an integral part of the educational process. Simulation games allow students to practice and improve their entrepreneurial skills in a ‘virtual’ environment by making informed decisions and applying the knowledge and skills acquired in the class.
According to OECD LEARNING COMPASS 2030, the educational process should be focused on evolving learning framework that sets out an aspirational vision for the future of education. The wider goals of education open new horizons of orientation towards the tomorrow we want to see. Thinking globally acting locally we will create collective well-being for every society’s member.
Letramento literário: uma prática de leitura com Mãozinhas de seda, de Raduan Nassar
Authors: Inácio Francilda Araújo , Formiga Girlene Marques , Aguiar Hellen Jacqueline Ferreira de Souza Dantas , Sales Danillo Pablo 
Published: May 2021

<p>O conto <em>Mãozinhas de seda</em>, de Raduan Nassar, forma, em conjunto com outros quatro contos – <em>Menina a caminho</em>, <em>Hoje de madrugada</em>, <em>Ventre seco </em>e <em>Aí pelas três da tarde </em>– uma coletânea intitulada <em>Menina a caminho</em>, vencedora do prêmio Jabuti, em 1998. Considerando a premissa de ser a leitura um processo de necessária interação entre texto e leitor, o presente trabalho objetiva, em sentido geral, apresentar uma proposta de abordagem metodológica de leitura do conto <em>Mãozinhas de seda</em>, respaldada em princípios do letramento literário, defendidos por Cosson (2011, 2014a, 2014b, 2020) e, especificamente, refletir sobre questões voltadas à leitura literária na escola. Metodologicamente, optamos pela investigação de natureza analítico-interpretativa por ajustar-se adequadamente à análise da proposta. Ressaltamos que este trabalho empreende esforços de dar continuidade, mediante proposição de práticas de leitura, a discussões e investigações em torno de metodologias de abordagem do texto literário em sala de aula, desenvolvidas em projetos de pesquisa voltados à educação básica. Como resultado, esperamos, principalmente, contribuir para o processo de formação leitora de estudantes do ensino fundamental, para quem a experiência de leitura proposta está direcionada, assim como para a ampliação dos nossos horizontes quanto ao tratamento do texto literário em sala de aula. </p>
Clinical governance and continuous Quality Improvement in the veterinary profession: A mixed-method study
Authors: Ling Tom , Doorly Ashley , Gush Chris , Hocking Lucy 
Published: May 2021

96% of the veterinary profession agrees that Quality Improvement improves veterinary care. While clinical governance is an RCVS professional requirement, over the last year only 60% spent up to 3 days on the quality improvement activities which allow clinical governance to take place. 11% spent no time on it at all. A lack of time, know-how and organisational support were among the barriers preventing its adoption in practice.
Rather than being an individual reaction to a problem, Quality Improvement is a formal approach to embedding a set of recognised practices, including clinical audit, significant event audit, guidelines and protocols, benchmarking and checklists. This framework should be applied within a just culture where errors are redefined as learning opportunities, and precedence is given to communication, team-work and team-morale, patient safety, and distributed leadership.
Addressing this gap will require evolution – rather than a revolution. Persistent packages, given enough time and addressing the whole flow of the patient journey, trump one-off ‘heroic’ and narrowly-focused interventions. Creating a rhythm of learning alongside stability of practice allows lessons to be absorbed and improvements routinised. Doing good things well is better than doing perfect things sporadically and helps address the widespread concern that there is insufficient time for QI by making the time commitment more predictable and manageable.
The research provides a robust, evidence-based, roadmap for the entire sector including professional organisations, educators, those in management positions and care providers.
Late Cenozoic Coal Fires in the Liuhuanggou Area (Xinjiang, Northwestern China): Ages, Controlling Factors and Evolution
Authors: Chen B. , Franceschi M. , Wang Y. , Duan X. , Jin X. , Shi Z. 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
—Coal fires are a phenomenon that can be observed worldwide in areas where rocks containing coal seams are exposed and can pose major environmental threats. A coal fire can begin through spontaneous combustion when coals are exposed to dry and oxygen-rich near-surface conditions. Burning, depending on the temperature of heating, causes baking or even melting of the surrounding rocks and the formation of different types of combustion metamorphic rocks. In Northwestern China, coal fire occurrences are concentrated at the edges of the sedimentary basins or at the margins of orogenic belts, where coalrich units were exposed owing to the Indo-Eurasian collision. On the northern margin of the Tianshan range, evidence of coal fires is widespread in the Jurassic sedimentary units containing coal seams which outcrop along the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. In some cases, coal fires are active and can be linked to ongoing mining activity, but outcrops of combustion metamorphic rocks not associated with fires are also found and are indicative of past burning events. We examine combustion metamorphic rocks outcropping in the Toutunhe River valley (Liuhuangou area, Xinjiang, Northwestern China). Combustion metamorphic rocks in the study area were mapped and classified according to their morphological and mineralogical characteristics. Outcrops are exposed at various heights on the valley flanks, which are characterized by the presence of multiple levels of fluvial terraces. These terraces are indicative of the phases of erosion and deposition of the Toutunhe River and testify to tectonic uplift. The investigation of the stratigraphic and crosscutting relationship of combustion metamorphic rocks with terrace deposits and apatite fissiontrack dating made it possible to determine that at least four phases of coal fire activity occurred from late Miocene to Quaternary. The first and oldest burning phase dates back to 10 ± 1.3 Ma and terminated prior to 2–3 Ma; the second was active before ~550 ka; the third had terminated by ~140 ka; the fourth began later than ~5.7 ka. The relationships between combustion metamorphic rocks and fluvial terraces further suggest that coal fire ignition/extinction in the area since the Miocene have been linked to the interplay between the uplift of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and the phases of fluvial erosion and deposition in interglacial periods.
Characterizing Anisotropic Fracture Toughness of Shale Using Nanoindentation
Authors: Esatyana Erica , Alipour Mehdi , Sakhaee-Pour Ahmad 
Published: May 2021

SummaryShale, which has pores as small as 10 nm, is economically viable for hydrocarbon recovery when it is fractured. Although the fracture toughness dictates the required energy for the improvement, the existing techniques are not suitable for characterization at scales smaller than 1 cm. Developing practical methods for characterization is crucial because fractures can contribute to an accessible pore volume at different scales. This study proposes a conceptual model to characterize the anisotropic fracture toughness of shale using nanoindentations on a sub-1-cm scale. The conceptual model reveals the complexities of characterizing shales and explains why induced fractures differ from those observed in more-homogeneous media, such as fused silica. Samples from the Wolfcamp Formation were tested using Berkovich and cube-corner tips, and the interpreted fracture toughness values are promising. The conceptual model is the first application of the effective-medium theory for fracture toughness characterization using nanoindentation. In addition, it can quantify fracture toughness variations when using small samples, such as drill cuttings.
Plasma P-tau181 levels reflects white matter microstructural changes across Alzheimer’s disease progression
Authors: Nabizadeh Fardin , Jameie Seyed Behnamedin , Khani Saghar , Rezaei Aida , Ranjbaran Fatemeh , Deravi Niloofar , Pourhamzeh Mahsa 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is characterized by cognitive impairments and memory difficulties that hinder daily activities and lead to personal and behavioral problems. Plasma hyperphosphorylated tau protein at threonine 181 (p-tau181), a blood-based biomarker, has recently emerged as a new tool with sufficient sensitivity for distinguishing AD patients from healthy people. We herein investigated the association of plasma P-tau181 and white matter (WM) microstructural changes in AD. We examined data from a large prospective cohort of elderly individuals participating in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) which covers a wide clinical spectrum from normal cognition to AD dementia with measurements of plasma P-tau181 and imaging findings at baseline. A subset of 41 patients with AD, 119 patients with mild cognitive impairments (MCI), and 43 healthy controls (HC) were included in the study, all of whom had baseline blood P-tau181 levels and had also undergone Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). The analysis revealed that the plasma level of P-tau181 have positive correlation with changes in Mean Diffusivity (MD), Radial Diffusivity (RD), and Axial Diffusivity (AxD), but a negative with Fractional Anisotropy (FA) parameters in WM regions of all participants. There is also a significant association between WM microstructural changes in different regions and P-tau181 plasma measurements within each MCI, HC and AD group. In conclusion, our findings clarified that plasma P-tau181 levels are associated with changes in WM integrity in AD. P-tau181 could improve the accuracy of diagnostic procedures and support the application of blood-based biomarkers to diagnose WM neurodegeneration. Longitudinal clinical studies are also needed to demonstrate the efficacy of the P-tau181 biomarker and predict its role in structural changes.
Intergrated metagenomics and metabolomics analysis discovers nematicidal microbes, enzymes and metabolites from the plant rhizosphere microbiota
Authors: Zhao Xiuyun , Lin Changchun , Yuan Wenfang , Ruan Song , Qi Gaofu 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Background: Root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita infects root systems of many crops resulting in huge decrease of crop production. Nematicidal microorganisms provides a safe and effective strategy to control M. incognita infection. In order to find microorganisms with high activity and new nematicidal metabolites, we collected the M. incognita infected tobacco rhizosphere soils (RNI) and non-infected tobacco rhizosphere soils (NS), and investigated their microbial community and network via metagenomics and metabolomics analysis. Results: Microbial networks of RNI soils were very different from the NS soils. Many nematicidal microorganisms were enriched in the NS soils, including isolates of Aspergillus , Achromobacter , Acinetobacter , Bacillus , Burkholderia , Comamonas , Enterobacter , Lysobacter , Microbacterium , Paenibacillus , Pantoea , Pseudomonas , Streptomyces and Variovorax. Enzymes analysis showed these nematicidal microorganisms can produce proteases, chitinase and lipases. The functions genes belonging to pathways of secondary metabolites biosynthesis and carbohydrate transport and metabolism were overrepresented in the rhizophere microbiota of NS soils comparing with the RNI soils. 102 metabolites contents were significantly different between the RNI and NS rhizosphere microbiota. 35 metabolites were overrepresented in the NS soils comparing the RNI samples, including acetophenone. Acetophenone showed high nematicidal (LC 50 = 0.66 μg/ml) and avoidance activity against M. incognita . Bacillus amyloliquefaciens W1 could produce acetophenone. Liquid culture of W1 could kill 98.8% of M . incognita J2 juveniles after treatment for 24 h.Conclusions: In general, the rhizophere microbiota of NS soils could produce volatile materials, multiple enzymes and secondary metabolites against nematode. Collectively, the microbiota of NS and RNI rhizophere differed significantly in microbial network structure, community composition, function genes and metabolites. Collectively, combination of multi-omics analysis and culture-dependent technology is powerful for finding nematicidal microorganisms and metabolites from soil.
Torsion-shear behaviour at the interfaces of rigid interlocking blocks in masonry assemblages. Experimental investigation and analytical approaches
Authors: Casapulla Claudia , Mousavian Elham , Argiento Luca , Ceraldi Carla , Bagi Katalin 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Increasing interest has recently been devoted to interlocking blocks/interfaces capable to enhance the sliding resistance of masonry joints to external forces. In this framework, this paper deals with the assessment of the torsion-shear capacity of the contact interface between the lock and the main body of an interlocking block, assumed to have a cohesive behaviour. The interlocking block is a rigid unit which, on its faces, have locks keeping the adjacent/overlapped blocks together and preventing blocks from sliding. Two numerical approaches and a novel ad hoc experimental investigation are proposed to simulate the torsion-shear behaviour by applying eccentrical shear forces to the lock. First, concave, convex and corrected concave formulations provided by the literature for assemblages of rigid blocks with conventional planar joints are extended to model the interlocking block behaviour. Then, according to a second approach based on the discrete element method, the concave-shaped interlocking block is modelled by convex polyhedrons representing the lock and the main body of the block, considered as individual rigid units stacked over each other with a cohesive contact in between. A novel experimental investigation on the limiting pure shear and torsion-shear combinations at the lock interface made of cohesive material is also presented. Two different mortars were chosen to make the specimens, which were casted using 3D printed moulds, and different test configurations were set up to simulate shear and torsion-shear failures. The analytical and numerical results are compared with each other and against the experimental ones, with interesting remarks on the application of the different approaches.
The Element Composition Strategies in Chenopodiaceae Halophytes Reveal Complex Plant-Soil Interactions in Saline-Alkali Grassland
Authors: Song Xiaoqian , Zhang Zhonghua , Su Yuhang , Zheng Jingwen , Liang Zhengwei , Tang Zhonghua 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
With the continuous increase of saline-alkali land, sustainable development of the global environment and ecology has been seriously affected. Chenopodiaceae is a pioneer plant family living in saline-alkali land, which plays a crucial role in sustaining the stability, composition and function of saline-alkali arid ecosystems. In this study, 11 elements were analyzed in different plant organs and rhizosphere soil of eight Chenopodiaceae species. Descriptive statistics of the leaf, stem and root element concentrations in eight halophyte species of contrasting salt tolerance types (salt-dilution halophytes and recretohalophytes) were calculated. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients were used to compare the correlations of elements among the leaf, stem, root and soil property, as well as between the plant and soil. General linear model was employed to explore how the variance of element concentrations in leaves, stems and roots depends on salt tolerance type, soil salinity property and soil mineral elements. The results showed that salt tolerance type and soil mineral element concentrations explained most of the variation observed in element concentrations in Chenopodiaceae plants; the soil salinity property played only a minor role. It was concluded that the genetic factors are the prerequisite in the composition pattern of leaf elements in Chenopodiaceae, and soil factors are the key to determine element accumulation. These conclusions provide an effective reference for evaluating plant breeding and its response to environmental change in saline-alkali arid areas in Hulunbuir grassland and other parts of the world.
The concept of creating thrust based on angular momentum change
Authors: Kupreev Sergei 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
The change in the kinetic moment of a material body is considered regarding to classical and quantum mechanics. The possibility of creating the propulsion system in terms of energy efficiency exceeding the photon engine has been theoretically proved. The proposed new principle of motion is based on the law of conservation of angular momentum and is fully consistent with the basic fundamental laws of physics. It is proposed to use the emission/absorption of streams of low-energy particles with spin in the direction perpendicular to the movement of the material body. The practical implementation of this idea is confirmed by the presence of promising approaches to solving the problem of quantizing gravity (string theory, loop quantum gravity, etc.) recognized by the world scientific community and by the successful results of experiments conducted by the authors with the motion of bodies in a vacuum chamber. The proposed idea, the examples and experiments has given grounds for the formation of new physical concepts of the speed, mass and inertia of bodies. The obtained results can be used in experiments to search for elementary particles with low energy, to explain a number of physics phenomena and to develop transport of objects based on new physical principles.