bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dependence of the polycarbonate mechanical performances on boron nitride flakes morphology
Authors: Lago Emanuele , Toth Peter S , Gentiluomo Silvia , Thorat Sanjay B , Pellegrini Vittorio , Bonaccorso Francesco 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
A key requirement for the exploitation of two-dimensional (2D)-crystals in the field of composites relies on their large-scale production. In this respect, liquid phase exfoliation of layered-crystals is emerging as one of the most promising approaches for the scalable production of high-quality 2D-crystals. However, the dependence of the 2D crystal flakes morphology, i.e. thickness and lateral size, on the mechanical properties of the polymer composites is not fully understood yet. Herein, we tackle this issue by designing an environmentally friendly approach, based on the exfoliation of bulk hexagonal-boron nitride (h-BN), widely used as filler in polymer composites for its high intrinsic stiffness, i.e. approaching 1 TPa, in a water/surfactant solution with controlled thickness and lateral size by using cascade ultra-centrifugation. Our approach allows us to obtain two populations of flakes with aspect ratio, i.e. lateral size over thickness, equal to 250 and 350, respectively. The h-BN flakes with tuned aspect ratio are subsequently used as filler in a polycarbonate (PC) matrix by exploiting solution blending in 1,3-dioxolane, a solvent with Hansen’s solubility parameters matching the ones of h-BN, thus enhancing the dispersion of the filler inside the matrix, as evaluated by Raman mapping. We tested the composite mechanical properties finding that flakes with higher aspect ratio show superior reinforcements in terms of both ultimate tensile strength and Young’s modulus, compared with their lower aspect ratio counterparts. As example, at 0.1 wt% of loading, the difference in reinforcement in terms of Young’s Modulus is of 56 MPa, being the increment, compared to pristine PC, of ∼22% for composites produced with higher aspect ratio fillers, whereas it is instead of only ∼17% for lower aspect ratio fillers.
National Health Spending, Health-Care Resources, Service Utilization, and Health Outcomes
Authors: Tanaka Takanao , Okamoto Shohei , Canning David 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Cross-national studies of the linkage of health-care spending with population health have found surprisingly limited evidence of benefits. In this study, we investigated associations between national health spending and key health resources (numbers of hospital beds, physicians, and nurses) and utilization of cost-effective health services (antenatal care, attendance of trained staff at childbirth, and measles vaccination), sometimes in ways that curtail the benefits of that expenditure. Using annual panel data from 1990–2014 covering 140 countries, we show that variation in health spending as a share of gross domestic product is not associated with decreased mortality rates. It is also very weakly associated with increased health-care resources and health service utilization (elasticity smaller than 0.08), with the association being close to 0 in low-income countries. In addition, countries with a higher share of out-of-pocket spending have a significantly lower level of health resources and service utilization. These findings, rather than the ineffectiveness of health care, could explain the lack of impact of health spending. In contrast, gross domestic product per capita is significantly associated with increased health resources, a higher rate of service utilization, and lower mortality rates, suggesting that income is an important determinant of public health.
How Can Cognitive Reserve Promote Cognitive and Neurobehavioral Health?
Authors: Stern Yaakov 
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Objective
This review is aimed at understanding how cognitive reserve and related concepts contribute to promoting neurobehavioral and cognitive health, consistent with goal of the 2020 national academy of neuropsychology (NAN) Annual Meeting.
Research indicates that lifestyle factors such as achieving educational and work milestones, participating in leisure and social activities and IQ are all associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline in normal aging and of developing dementia. Many of these lifestyle factors have also been associated with better cognition in other psychiatric and neurological conditions. The cognitive reserve hypothesis posits that these lifestyle factors result in individual differences in the flexibility and adaptability of brain networks that may allow some people to cope better than others with age- or dementia-related brain changes. Recent evidence also supports the idea that specific genetic and lifestyle factors may help preserve a healthy brain or enhance brain reserve, a process that has been called brain maintenance. The complementary concept of brain reserve posits that structural brain features can guard against dementia and related conditions. This review defines these theoretical concepts, their research basis, how they are studied and their clinical applications.

Conclusion
Evidence supports the concept of reserve, which can be influenced by experiences in every stage of life. Focused research in this area can maximize the chance for successful intervention.
AniAMPpred: artificial intelligence guided discovery of novel antimicrobial peptides in animal kingdom
Authors: Sharma Ritesh , Shrivastava Sameer , Kumar Singh Sanjay , Kumar Abhinav , Saxena Sonal , Kumar Singh Raj 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
With advancements in genomics, there has been substantial reduction in the cost and time of genome sequencing and has resulted in lot of data in genome databases. Antimicrobial host defense proteins provide protection against invading microbes. But confirming the antimicrobial function of host proteins by wet-lab experiments is expensive and time consuming. Therefore, there is a need to develop an in silico tool to identify the antimicrobial function of proteins. In the current study, we developed a model AniAMPpred by considering all the available antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) of length $\in $[10 200] from the animal kingdom. The model utilizes a support vector machine algorithm with deep learning-based features and identifies probable antimicrobial proteins (PAPs) in the genome of animals. The results show that our proposed model outperforms other state-of-the-art classifiers, has very high confidence in its predictions, is not biased and can classify both AMPs and non-AMPs for a diverse peptide length with high accuracy. By utilizing AniAMPpred, we identified 436 PAPs in the genome of Helobdella robusta. To further confirm the functional activity of PAPs, we performed BLAST analysis against known AMPs. On detailed analysis of five selected PAPs, we could observe their similarity with antimicrobial proteins of several animal species. Thus, our proposed model can help the researchers identify PAPs in the genome of animals and provide insight into the functional identity of different proteins. An online prediction server is also developed based on the proposed approach, which is freely accessible at https://aniamppred.anvil.app/.
ITSoneWB: profiling global taxonomic diversity of eukaryotic communities on Galaxy
Authors: Tangaro Marco A , Defazio Giuseppe , Fosso Bruno , Licciulli Vito Flavio , Grillo Giorgio , Donvito Giacinto , Lavezzo Enrico , Baruzzo Giacomo , Pesole Graziano , Santamaria Monica 
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Summary
ITSoneWB (ITSone WorkBench) is a Galaxy-based bioinformatic environment where comprehensive and high-quality reference data are connected with established pipelines and new tools in an automated and easy-to-use service targeted at global taxonomic analysis of eukaryotic communities based on Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 variants high-throughput sequencing.

Availability and implementation
ITSoneWB has been deployed on the INFN-Bari ReCaS cloud facility and is freely available on the web at http://itsonewb.cloud.ba.infn.it/galaxy.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
MecCog: a knowledge representation framework for genetic disease mechanism
Authors: Kundu Kunal , Darden Lindley , Moult John 
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Motivation
Experimental findings on genetic disease mechanisms are scattered throughout the literature and represented in many ways, including unstructured text, cartoons, pathway diagrams and network graphs. Integration and structuring of such mechanistic information greatly enhances its utility.

Results
MecCog is a graphical framework for building integrated representations (mechanism schemas) of mechanisms by which a genetic variant causes a disease phenotype. A MecCog mechanism schema displays the propagation of system perturbations across stages of biological organization, using graphical notations to symbolize perturbed entities and activities, hyperlinked evidence tagging, a mechanism ontology and depiction of knowledge gaps, ambiguities and uncertainties. The web platform enables a user to construct, store, publish, browse, query and comment on schemas. MecCog facilitates the identification of potential biomarkers, therapeutic intervention sites and critical future experiments.

Availability and implementation
The MecCog framework is freely available at http://www.meccog.org.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Development of a Validated Bioanalytical UPLC–MS/MS Method for Quantification of Neratinib: A Recent Application to Pharmacokinetic Studies in Rat Plasma
Authors: Alrobaian Majed , Panda Sagar Suman , Afzal Obaid , Kazmi Imran , Alossaimi Manal A , Al-Abbasi Fahad A , Almalki Waleed H , Soni Kriti , Alam Ozair , Alam Md Naushad , Rub Rehan A , Rahman Mahfoozur , Beg Sarwar 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Neratinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was very recently approved by USFDA in 2017 as an anticancer drug to treat of HER2 positive breast cancers. The present work provides an account on the development of a validated bioanalytical UPLC–MS/MS method for quantification of neratinib and internal standard (imatinib) in rat plasma and tissue homogenates. A UPLC having a 100 mm C18 column (1.7 μm sized particles) was used with acetonitrile (0.1% formic acid): 2 mMol of ammonium acetate in water (pH 3.5) as the mobile phase. An efficient chromatographic separation was performed and detection was achieved by monitoring precursor-to-product ion transitions with m/z 557.29 → 112.06 for neratinib and m/z 494.43 → 294.17 for IS. The method demonstrated excellent linearity in the spiked plasma drug concentrating ranging between 1 and 800 ng.mL−1 (r2 = 0999), with lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was observed at 1 ng.mL−1. Intra-assay and inter-assay precision relative standard deviations were found to be within 6.58. Mean extraction recovery for neratinib and IS were 99.44 and 99.33%, while matrix effect for neratinib and IS was ranging between −4.35 and − 3.66%, respectively. Overall, the method showed successful applicability in pharmacokinetic analysis of pure various formulations in Wistar rat plasma.
An organizing feature of bumble bee life history: worker emergence promotes queen reproduction and survival in young nests
Authors: Sarro Erica , Sun Penglin , Mauck Kerry , Rodriguez-Arellano Damaris , Yamanaka Naoki , Woodard S Hollis 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Bumble bee queens initiate nests solitarily and transition to living socially once they successfully rear their first cohort of offspring. Bumble bees are disproportionately important for early season pollination, and many populations are experiencing dramatic declines. In this system, the onset of the social stage is critical for nest survival, yet the mechanisms that facilitate this transition remain understudied. Further, the majority of conservation efforts target the social stage of the bumble bee life cycle and do not address the solitary founding stage. We experimentally manipulated the timing of worker emergence in young nests of bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) queens to determine whether and how queen fecundity and survival are impacted by the emergence of workers in the nest. We found that queens with workers added to the nest exhibit increased ovary activation, accelerated egg laying, elevated juvenile hormone (JH) titres and also lower mortality relative to solitary queens. We also show that JH is more strongly impacted by the social environment than associated with queen reproductive state, suggesting that this key regulator of insect reproduction has expanded its function in bumble bees to also influence social organization. We further demonstrate that these effects are independent of queen social history, suggesting that this underlying mechanism promoting queen fecundity is reversible and short lived. Synchronization between queen reproductive status and emergence of workers in the nest may ultimately increase the likelihood of early nesting success in social systems with solitary nest founding. Given that bumble bee workers regulate queen physiology as we have demonstrated, the timing of early worker emergence in the nest likely impacts queen fitness, colony developmental trajectories and ultimately nesting success. Collectively, our findings underline the importance of conservation interventions for bumble bees that support the early nesting period and facilitate the production and maintenance of workers in young nests.
Automatization and self-maintenance of the O-GlcNAcome catalog: a smart scientific database
Authors: Malard Florian , Wulff-Fuentes Eugenia , Berendt Rex R , Didier Guillaume , Olivier-Van Stichelen Stephanie 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are ubiquitous and essential for protein function and signaling, motivating the need for sustainable benefit and open models of web databases. Highly conserved O-GlcNAcylation is a case example of one of the most recently discovered PTMs, investigated by a growing community. Historically, details about O-GlcNAcylated proteins and sites were dispersed across literature and in non-O-GlcNAc-focused, rapidly outdated or now defunct web databases. In a first effort to fill the gap, we recently published a human O-GlcNAcome catalog with a basic web interface. Based on the enthusiasm generated by this first resource, we extended our O-GlcNAcome catalog to include data from 42 distinct organisms and released the O-GlcNAc Database v1.2. In this version, more than 14 500 O-GlcNAcylated proteins and 11 000 O-GlcNAcylation sites are referenced from the curation of 2200 publications. In this article, we also present the extensive features of the O-GlcNAc Database, including the user-friendly interface, back-end and client–server interactions. We particularly emphasized our workflow, involving a mostly automatized and self-maintained database, including machine learning approaches for text mining. We hope that this software model will be useful beyond the O-GlcNAc community, to set up new smart, scientific online databases, in a short period of time. Indeed, this database system can be administrated with little to no programming skills and is meant to be an example of a useful, sustainable and cost-efficient resource, which exclusively relies on free open-source software elements (www.oglcnac.mcw.edu).
Development of a patient-oriented Hololens application to illustrate the function of medication after myocardial infarction
Authors: Hilt Alexander D , Hierck Beerend P , Eijkenduijn Joep , Wesselius Fons J , Albayrak Armagan , Melles Marijke , Schalij Martin J , Scherptong Roderick W C 
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Aims
Statin treatment is one of the hallmarks of secondary prevention after myocardial infarction. Adherence to statins tends to be difficult and can be improved by patient education. Novel technologies such as mixed reality (MR) expand the possibilities to support this process. To assess if an MR medication-application supports patient education focused on function of statins after myocardial infarction.

Methods and results
A human-centred design-approach was used to develop an MR statin tool for Microsoft HoloLens™. Twenty-two myocardial infarction patients were enrolled; 12 tested the application, 10 patients were controls. Clinical, demographic, and qualitative data were obtained. All patients performed a test on statin knowledge. To test if patients with a higher tendency to become involved in virtual environments affected test outcome in the intervention group, validated Presence- and Immersive Tendency Questionnaires (PQ and ITQ) were used. Twenty-two myocardial infarction patients (ST-elevation myocardial infarction, 18/22, 82%) completed the study. Ten out of 12 (83%) patients in the intervention group improved their statin knowledge by using the MR application (median 8 points, IQR 8). Test improvement was mainly the result of increased understanding of statin mechanisms in the body and secondary preventive effects. A high tendency to get involved and focused in virtual environments was moderately positive correlated with better test improvement (r = 0.57, P &lt; 0.05). The median post-test score in the control group was poor (median 6 points, IQR 4).

Conclusions
An MR statin education application can be applied effectively in myocardial infarction patients to explain statin function and importance.
Influence of logging on nest density and nesting microsites of cavity-nesting birds in the subtropical forests of the Andes
Authors: Schaaf Alejandro A , García Cecilia G , Ruggera Román A , Tallei Ever , Vivanco Constanza G , Rivera Luis , Politi Natalia 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Birds select nesting sites with certain characteristics associated with tree age and species that help to prevent or reduce the risk of clutch loss due to predation or unfavourable weather conditions. Logging may reduce the availability of trees and their related features that may be important for cavity nesters. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of logging on nest density, nesting microsite and nest success of cavity nesting birds at Piedmont forests of northwestern Argentina. We monitored these variables at different logged and unlogged sites during four consecutive reproductive seasons and analysed them using univariate analysis and generalized linear models. The main results indicate that logging reduces nest density and changes the characteristics of the nesting microsites. We found that nest success was greater in cavities located higher above the ground and found no evidence of lower nest success at logged sites. This study suggests the need for forest management actions aimed at increasing nesting sites for cavity-nesting birds. For this purpose, management should be focused on the retention of old trees with a diameter &gt;50 cm (both living and dead). The use of reduced-impact logging techniques or forest certifications (e.g. Forest Stewardship Council) could provide alternatives in subtropical forests, as these forestry practices can ensure tree abundance and richness, providing features suitable for cavity-nesting birds (e.g. tree diameter, cavity size and height).
Developmental Nutrition Affects the Structural Integrity of a Sexually Selected Weapon
Authors: Woodman T E , Chen S , Emberts Z , Wilner D , Federle W , Miller C W 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Males in many species engage in physical combat over access to mates, and sexual selection has led to the evolution of weapons to enhance contest performance. The size of these often-elaborate structures is known to be exquisitely sensitive to nutrition. However, we know very little about the degree to which nutrition affects other attributes of animal weapons that can be crucial to fighting. In this study, we investigated the impact of natural dietary variation on weapon structural integrity in a fighting insect, Narnia femorata (Hemiptera: Coreidae). Males in this species display their enlarged, spiny hind legs to other males, and these legs serve as weapons in aggressive physical contests where they are used to strike and squeeze opponents. N. femorata feeds on the fruit of prickly pear cactus and sets up territories on this plant. In North Central Florida the prickly pear Opuntia mesacantha ssp. lata blooms and begins to produce fruits in April and May. N. femorata has multiple, overlapping generations while the green fruits slowly ripen over the next several months. We examined insects reaching adulthood at two nearby time points in this range, June and July, to test the influence of the nutrition provided by ripening green cactus fruit on weapon size and its ability to resist puncture. We also raised insects on cactus with red, ripe fruit for comparison. We found a striking effect of cactus fruit phenology on weapons. Insects raised with the more mature green fruit (those in the second cohort) had 71% larger weapon area and 4.4 times greater puncture resistance than those raised on the early green fruit (those in the first cohort). In contrast, insects raised on red, ripe fruit were moderate in size, had high puncture resistance, and they changed little phenotypically from the first to second cohort. Increased structural integrity of the hind femur weapon was associated with the increased body size that came with better nutrition. This pattern highlights that cuticle thickness increased or its material properties changed when weapons were larger. Importantly, effects of nutrition on puncture resistance also transcended size. Insects of the same size had greater structural integrity if they received superior nutrition. Sexually selected weapons are often used as visual signals to conspecifics before fights, and this work hints that the size of the weapons may be a poor signal of weapon performance when nutrition is variable.
Appraising the Socio-Economic Turn in Reparations: Transitional Justice for Cholera Victims in Haiti
Authors: Lemay-Hébert Nicolas , Freedman Rosa 
Published: June 2021

Abstract∞
After belatedly apologizing for the cholera epidemic in Haiti, the ‘New Approach to Cholera in Haiti’ by the UN and the promise of material assistance to victims through a ‘victim-centred approach’ highlight how the victims turn and the socio-economic turn are increasingly pivotal in the field of transitional justice. In light of these growing calls, we suggest a matrix to clarify the debate made of two separate dimensions: the focus of reparations – collective versus individual – and the means of reparations – symbolic versus material. Based on fieldwork conducted in March 2017 in the communities most affected by the cholera outbreak, this article demonstrates how the tensions between reparations offered by the UN (with a preference for collective symbolic reparations) and the reparations demanded by the victims (individual material reparations) can help understand the current stalemate in Haiti, and hopefully inform the next steps in the process of remedy for the victims.