bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Addressing unpredictability may be the key to improving performance with current clinically prescribed myoelectric prostheses
Authors: Chadwell A. , Kenney L. , Thies S. , Head J. , Galpin A. , Baker R. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe efferent control chain for an upper-limb myoelectric prosthesis can be separated into 3 key areas: signal generation, signal acquisition, and device response. Data were collected from twenty trans-radial myoelectric prosthesis users using their own clinically prescribed devices, to establish the relative impact of these potential control factors on user performance (user functionality and everyday prosthesis usage). By identifying the key factor(s), we can guide future developments to ensure clinical impact. Skill in generating muscle signals was assessed via reaction times and signal tracking. To assess the predictability of signal acquisition, we inspected reaction time spread and undesired hand activations. As a measure of device response, we recorded the electromechanical delay between electrode stimulation and the onset of hand movement. Results suggest abstract measures of skill in controlling muscle signals are poorly correlated with performance. Undesired activations of the hand or incorrect responses were correlated with almost all kinematics and gaze measures suggesting unpredictability is a key factor. Significant correlations were also found between several measures of performance and the electromechanical delay; however, unexpectedly, longer electromechanical delays correlated with better performance. Future research should focus on exploring causes of unpredictability, their relative impacts on performance and interventions to address this.
Evaluating very high energy electron RBE from nanodosimetric pBR322 plasmid DNA damage
Authors: Small K. L. , Henthorn N. T. , Angal-Kalinin D. , Chadwick A. L. , Santina E. , Aitkenhead A. , Kirkby K. J. , Smith R. J. , Surman M. , Jones J. , Farabolini W. , Corsini R. , Gamba D. , Gilardi A. , Merchant M. J. , Jones R. M. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis paper presents the first plasmid DNA irradiations carried out with Very High Energy Electrons (VHEE) over 100–200 MeV at the CLEAR user facility at CERN to determine the Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) of VHEE. DNA damage yields were measured in dry and aqueous environments to determine that ~ 99% of total DNA breaks were caused by indirect effects, consistent with other published measurements for protons and photons. Double-Strand Break (DSB) yield was used as the biological endpoint for RBE calculation, with values found to be consistent with established radiotherapy modalities. Similarities in physical damage between VHEE and conventional modalities gives confidence that biological effects of VHEE will also be similar—key for clinical implementation. Damage yields were used as a baseline for track structure simulations of VHEE plasmid irradiation using GEANT4-DNA. Current models for DSB yield have shown reasonable agreement with experimental values. The growing interest in FLASH radiotherapy motivated a study into DSB yield variation with dose rate following VHEE irradiation. No significant variations were observed between conventional and FLASH dose rate irradiations, indicating that no FLASH effect is seen under these conditions.
Involvement of MCH-oxytocin neural relay within the hypothalamus in murine nursing behavior
Authors: Kato Yoko , Katsumata Harumi , Inutsuka Ayumu , Yamanaka Akihiro , Onaka Tatsushi , Minami Shiro , Orikasa Chitose 
Published: February 2021

AbstractMultiple sequential actions, performed during parental behaviors, are essential elements of reproduction in mammalian species. We showed that neurons expressing melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) are more active in rodents of both sexes when exhibiting parental nursing behavior. Genetic ablation of the LHA-MCH neurons impaired maternal nursing. The post-birth survival rate was lower in pups born to female mice with congenitally ablated MCH neurons under control of tet-off system, exhibiting reduced crouching behavior. Virgin female and male mice with ablated MCH neurons were less interested in pups and maternal care. Chemogenetic and optogenetic stimulation of LHA-MCH neurons induced parental nursing in virgin female and male mice. LHA-MCH GABAergic neurons project fibres to the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) neurons. Optogenetic stimulation of PVN induces nursing crouching behavior along with increasing plasma oxytocin levels. The hypothalamic MCH neural relays play important functional roles in parental nursing behavior in female and male mice.
Rotational hyperspectral scanner and related image reconstruction algorithm
Authors: Luo Longqiang , Li Shuo , Yao Xinli , He Sailing 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWe design and implement a compact and lightweight hyperspectral scanner. Based on this, a novel rotational hyperspectral scanner was demonstrated. Different from translational scanning, rotational scanning is a moveless and stable scanning method. We also designed a relevant image algorithm to reconstruct the image from an angular recorded hyperspectral data cube. The algorithm works well even with uncertain radial and tangential offset, which is caused by mechanical misalignment. The system shown a spectral resolution of 5 nm after calibration. Finally, spatial accuracy and spectral precision were discussed, based on some additional experiments.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and gut microbiome communities associated with wild-caught shrimp from the United States versus imported farm-raised retail shrimp
Authors: Sharma Laxmi , Nagpal Ravinder , Jackson Charlene R. , Patel Dhruv , Singh Prashant 
Published: February 2021

AbstractIn the United States, farm-raised shrimp accounts for ~ 80% of the market share. Farmed shrimp are cultivated as monoculture and are susceptible to infections. The aquaculture industry is dependent on the application of antibiotics for disease prevention, resulting in the selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We aimed to characterize the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and gut microbiome communities in commercially available shrimp. Thirty-one raw and cooked shrimp samples were purchased from supermarkets in Florida and Georgia (U.S.) between March–September 2019. The samples were processed for the isolation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and isolates were characterized using an array of molecular and antibiotic susceptibility tests. Aerobic plate counts of the cooked samples (n = 13) varied from < 25 to 6.2 log CFU/g. Isolates obtained (n = 110) were spread across 18 genera, comprised of coliforms and opportunistic pathogens. Interestingly, isolates from cooked shrimp showed higher resistance towards chloramphenicol (18.6%) and tetracycline (20%), while those from raw shrimp exhibited low levels of resistance towards nalidixic acid (10%) and tetracycline (8.2%). Compared to wild-caught shrimp, the imported farm-raised shrimp harbored distinct gut microbiota communities and a higher prevalence of antibiotic-resistance genes in their gut. The presence of antibiotic-resistant strains in cooked shrimps calls for change in processing for their mitigation.
Dogs display owner-specific expectations based on olfaction
Authors: Bräuer Juliane , Blasi Damian 
Published: February 2021

AbstractMost current knowledge about dogs’ understanding of, and reacting to, their environment is limited to the visual or auditory modality, but it remains unclear how olfaction and cognition are linked together. Here we investigate how domestic dogs search for their owners using their excellent olfactory sense. We raise the question whether dogs have a representation of someone when they smell their track. The question is what they expect when they follow a trail or whether they perceive an odour as a relevant or non-relevant stimulus. We adopted a classical violation-of-expectation paradigm—and as targets we used two persons that were both important to the dog, usually the owners. In the critical condition subjects could track the odour trail of one target, but at the end of the trail they find another target. Dogs showed an increased activity when the person did not correspond with the trail compared to a control condition. Moreover, we found huge individual differences in searching behaviour supporting the assumption that dogs are only able to smell when they really sniff, and that the temperature has an influence on dogs performance. Results are discussed in the light of how cognitive abilities, motivation and odour perception influence each other.
Dynamic variations in salinity and potassium grade of a potassium-rich brine deposit in Lop Nor basin, China
Authors: Ma Lichun , Wang Kai , Zhang Yu , Tang Qingfeng , Yan Hui 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe Quaternary Lop Nor playa is the largest production base of potassium sulfate in the world. It has a mining history of more than 10 years, and its share in the Chinese potassium sulfate market is about 50% to-date. In this basin, the high-salinity potassium-rich brines are mainly contained in Middle Pleistocene–Holocene glauberite strata. Based on the monitoring of the underground brine table and geochemical analysis, this study reveals variations in the underground brine table and potassium-bearing grade before and after large-scale mining in the Lop Nor potash deposit. The results showed that the underground brine table and potassium sulfate grade decreased by varying degrees over sub-mineral areas after large-scale mining. The underground brine table declined by 8.5 m, on average, in the Luobei depression, by 6.4 m in the Tenglong platform and by 1.9 m in the Xinqing platform. However, the potassium-bearing grade showed the different trend. The Tenglong platform had the largest decline with average decreases in layers W1, W2 and W3 of 18.2%, 13.0% and 24.8%, respectively. In the Xinqing platform, the average decrease in layersW2 and W3 were 17.4% and 16.0% respectively. The Luobei depression decreases were relatively small (W1, W2 and W3 decreased 4.3%, 4.2% and 3.1%, respectively). This research provides a theoretical basis for the rational development and sustainable use of the potassium-rich brines in the Lop Nor basin.
Novel TLR 7/8 agonists for improving NK cell mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC)
Authors: Khanna Vidhi , Kim Hyunjoon , Zhang Wenqiu , Larson Peter , Shah Manan , Griffith Thomas S. , Ferguson David , Panyam Jayanth 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThere is a significant interest in designing therapeutic agents that can enhance ADCC and thereby improve clinical responses with approved antibodies. We recently reported the combination of an imidazoquinoline-based TLR7/8 agonist (522) with a monoclonal antibody improved ADCC in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we tested several new small molecule TLR7/8 agonists that induce significantly higher cytokines compared to both the FDA-approved TLR7 agonist, imiquimod, and 522. We evaluated these agonists in combination with monoclonal antibody therapy, with the main goal of enhancing ADCC. Our studies show these TLR7/8 agonists induce robust pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion and activate NK cells. Specifically, we found the agonists 574 and 558 significantly enhanced NK cell-mediated ADCC in vitro as well as enhanced the anti-cancer efficacy of monoclonal antibodies in two different in vivo mouse models. Additionally, we found the agonists were able to stimulate CD8 T cells, likely indicative of an early adaptive immune response.
Degradation of atrazine and bromacil in two forestry waste products
Authors: James Trevor K. , Ghanizadeh Hossein , Harrington Kerry C. , Bolan Nanthi S. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe persistence and degradation of two common herbicides, atrazine and bromacil in two organic media, wood pulp and sawdust were compared with two soils. The hypothesis tested was that herbicide degradation will be faster in high organic matter media compared to soil. Degradation of two herbicides was carried out in four different temperature regimes and in sterilised media. The degradation half-life (t½) was determined under above-mentioned conditions then compared to degradation in soil. The degradation as quantified by t½ of the herbicides was generally longer in both organic media. Although microbial degradation was an important factor in the mineralisation of these herbicides, overall, the pH of the media had a more profound effect on the desorption and subsequent degradation rate than the organic carbon content. The results of this study revealed that the hypothesis was only partially correct as organic matter content per se did not strongly relate to degradation rates which were mainly governed by pH and microbial activity.
Identification of immune-related lncRNAs to improve the prognosis prediction for patients with papillary thyroid cancer
Authors: Li Zhiyang , Lin Weixun , Zheng Jiehua , Hong Weida , Zou Juan , Zhang Taofeng , Chen Yexi , Lu Hai 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Objective: To identify immune-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).
Methods: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases were used to obtain the gene expression profile. Immune-related lncRNAs were screened from the Molecular Signatures Database v4.0 (MsigDB). We performed a survival analysis of critical lncRNAs. Further, the function of prognostic lncRNAs was inferred using the Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) to clarify the possible mechanisms underlying their predictive ability. The assessment was performed in clinical samples and PTC cells.
Results: We obtained 4 immune-related lncRNAs, 15 microRNAs (miRNAs), and 375 mRNAs as the key mediators in the pathophysiological processes of PTC from the GEO database. Further, Lasso regression analysis identified seven prognostic markers (LINC02550, SLC26A4-AS1, ACVR2B-AS1, AC005479.2, LINC02454, and AL136366.1), most of which were related to tumor development. The KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed different, changed genes mainly enriched in the cancer-related pathways, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and focal adhesion. Only SLC26A4-AS1 had an intersection in the results of the two databases.
Conclusion: LncRNA SLC26A4-AS1, which is the most associated with prognosis, may play an oncogenic role in the development of PTC.
Development and Functionality of an Internet-Based, Self-Managed Parent Training Program
Authors: Morris Lekeitha R. , Bellon-Harn Monica L. 
Published: February 2021

PurposeThis research note evaluated a self-managed, Internet intervention (i.e., Success With Stories) designed to facilitate parental reading practices and beliefs.MethodTwelve reviewers were composed of parents of young children, speech-language pathologists, and experts in self-managed, Internet intervention. Satisfaction of usability, content, presentation, suitability, and exercises of Success With Stories was examined using an intervention satisfaction rating. Value and usefulness of content was evaluated via a survey.ResultsReviewers found content to be valuable and useful for facilitating parental reading practices and beliefs. Results indicated high satisfaction across all reviewers.ConclusionResults point toward strengths and limitations of the protocol and future directions.
Multi‐level feature fusion network for crowd counting
Authors: Wang Luyang , Li Yun , Peng Sifan , Tang Xiao , Yin Baoqun 
Published: February 2021

AbstractCrowd counting has become a noteworthy vision task due to the needs of numerous practical applications, but it remains challenging. State‐of‐the‐art methods generally estimate the density map of the crowd image with the high‐level semantic features of various deep convolutional networks. However, the absence of low‐level spatial information may result in counting errors in the local details of the density map. To this end, a novel framework named Multi‐level Feature Fusion Network (MFFN) for single image crowd counting is proposed. The proposed MFFN, which is constructed in an encoder–decoder fashion, incorporates semantic and spatial information for generating high‐resolution density maps of input crowd images. Skip connections are developed between the encoder and the decoder so that low‐level spatial information and high‐level semantic features can be combined by element‐wise addition. In addition, a dense dilated convolution block is placed behind the encoder, extracting multi‐scale context features to guide feature fusion by a channel attention mechanism. The model is trained by multi‐task learning; semantic segmentation supervision is introduced to enhance feature representation. Extensive experiments are conducted on three crowd counting datasets (ShanghaiTech, UCF_CC_50, UCF‐QNRF), and the results show that MFFN outperforms state‐of‐the‐art methods. In addition, sufficient ablation studies are performed to verify the effectiveness of each component in our proposed method.
Was uns antreibt und bewegt: ein Fokus auf individuelle Motive und Ziele in der Bewegungs- und Sportförderung
Authors: Gut Vanessa 
Published: February 2021

„Liebe Leserinnen und Leser“,Eine langfristige Bindung an Bewegungs- und Sportaktivitäten ist von zentraler Bedeutung, damit Personen von den zahlreichen positiven Effekten körperlicher Aktivitäten profitieren können. Die hohe Dropoutquote von 40 bis 60 % aus Gesundheitssportprogrammen verdeutlicht jedoch, dass es vielen Personen schwerfällt, sportlich aktiv zu bleiben.
Ein vermeintliches hepatozelluläres Adenom stellt sich als intrahepatische Splenose heraus – ein Fallbericht
Authors: Dölle Michael , Ringe Kristina Imeen , Hartleben Björn , Braubach Peter , Thol Felicitas , Gebel Michael , Wedemeyer Heiner , Potthoff Andrej , Zender Steffen 
Published: February 2021

ZusammenfassungWir berichten über einen 62-jährigen Mann, der mit epigastrischen Beschwerden in unsere Klinik überwiesen wurde. Die initial durchgeführte Ultraschalluntersuchung des Abdomens zeigte eine dezent echoarme 26 mm große Läsion in Segment 2 der Leber. In der kontrastgestützten Sonografie (CE-US) zeigte sich eine Hypervaskularisation mit zentripetaler Auffüllung und angedeutetem radiärem Gefäßmuster. In der portalen Phase und in der venösen Spätphase wurde das Kontrastmittel stärker als in der übrigen Leber gehalten, was an einen benignen Lebertumor, u. a. an ein hepatozelluläres Adenom (HCA), denken ließ. Eine fokal noduläre Hyperplasie (FNH) wäre eine mögliche Differenzialdiagnose gewesen. Ein im Anschluss durchgeführtes MRT konnte zwischen einem HCA und einem hepatozellulären Karzinom (HCC) nicht sicher unterscheiden, weswegen letztlich die Entscheidung zur Stanzbiopsie getroffen wurde. Die histopathologische und immunhistochemische Aufarbeitung offenbarte das Bild einer intrahepatischen Splenose. Die Neuerhebung der Anamnese ergab ein stattgehabtes Abdominaltrauma mit Milzruptur 5 Jahre zuvor. Die intrahepatische Splenose ist somit eine wichtige Differenzialdiagnose bei Patienten mit unklarem Lebertumor und der Vorgeschichte eines Milztraumas.
Clinical comparison of toxicity pattern of two linear quadratic model-baesd fractionation schemes of high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy for cervical cancer
Authors: Batra Ankit 
Published: February 2021

Introduction: Carcinoma cervix is the fourth (GLOBACON 2012) most common cancer among women worldwide, and the main cancer affecting women in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and south-central Asia. In India, approx. 1,23,000 (GLOBACON 2012) new cases of carcinoma cervix are diagnosed each year. Brachytherapy is an integral part of treatment of cancer cervix. In the context of a developing country like us where maximum utilization of the resource is of prime importance to provide treatment to the large patient cohort, shortening the treatment duration and number of fractions always increases efficiency. In order to maximize the logistic benefits of HDR-BT while improving patient compliance and resource sparing, various fractionation regimens are used. Fractionation and dose adjustments of the total dose are radiobiologically important factors in lowering the incidence of complications without compromising the treatment results.
Aim: To compare patient outcomes and complications using two linear-quadratic model-based fractionation schemes of high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy (HDR-IC) used to treat cervical cancer.
Materials and Methods: A prospective randomized study on 318 patients, with histologically proven advanced carcinoma cervix (stages IIB-IIIB) was enrolled in the study. All patients received External Beam Radio Therapy (EBRT) 50 Gy in 25 fractions with concurrent chemotherapy (cisplatin 35 mg/m2) followed by IntraCavitary brachytherapy using high dose rate equipment. Patients were randomised after completion of EBRT into two arms: (1) Arm 1: HDR ICRT 6.5 Gy per fraction for 3 fractions, a week apart. (2) Arm 2: HDR ICRT, 9 Gy per fraction for 2 fractions, 1 week apart. On completion of treatment, patients were assessed monthly for 3 months followed by 3 monthly thereafter. Treatment response was assessed according to WHO criteria after one month of completion of radiotherapy. The RTOG criteria were used for radiation induced toxicities. We analyzed late toxicities in terms of Rectal, Bladder, Small Bowel toxicity and Vaginal Stenosis.
Results: Acute reactions in both the groups were comparable. None of the patient developed Grade 4 toxicity in our study and no toxicity related mortality was encountered. A slightly high frequency of late toxicity was observed in 9Gy Arm patients but was not statistically significant.
Conclusion: In our setup, HDR brachytherapy at 9 Gy per fraction in two fractions is safe, effective and resource saving method with good local control, survival, and manageable normal tissue toxicity.