bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Altered Response Dynamics and Increased Population Correlation to Tonal Stimuli Embedded in Noise in Aging Auditory Cortex
Authors: Shilling-Scrivo Kelson , Mittelstadt Jonah , Kanold Patrick O. 
Published: October 2021

Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is a chronic health condition that affects one-third of the world population. One hallmark of presbycusis is a difficulty hearing in noisy environments. Presbycusis can be separated into two components: alterations of peripheral mechanotransduction of sound in the cochlea and central alterations of auditory processing areas of the brain. Although the effects of the aging cochlea in hearing loss have been well studied, the role of the aging brain in hearing loss is less well understood. Therefore, to examine how age-related central processing changes affect hearing in noisy environments, we used a mouse model (Thy1-GCaMP6s X CBA) that has excellent peripheral hearing in old age. We usedin vivotwo-photon Ca2+imaging to measure the responses of neuronal populations in auditory cortex (ACtx) of adult (2–6 months, nine male, six female, 4180 neurons) and aging mice (15–17 months, six male, three female, 1055 neurons) while listening to tones in noisy backgrounds. We found that ACtx neurons in aging mice showed larger responses to tones and have less suppressed responses consistent with reduced inhibition. Aging neurons also showed less sensitivity to temporal changes. Population analysis showed that neurons in aging mice showed higher pairwise activity correlations and showed a reduced diversity in responses to sound stimuli. Using neural decoding techniques, we show a loss of information in neuronal populations in the aging brain. Thus, aging not only affects the responses of single neurons but also affects how these neurons jointly represent stimuli.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTAging results in hearing deficits particularly under challenging listening conditions. We show that auditory cortex contains distinct subpopulations of excitatory neurons that preferentially encode different stimulus features and that aging selectively reduces certain subpopulations. We also show that aging increases correlated activity between neurons and thereby reduces the response diversity in auditory cortex. The loss of population response diversity leads to a decrease of stimulus information and deficits in sound encoding, especially in noisy backgrounds. Future work determining the identities of circuits affected by aging could provide new targets for therapeutic strategies.
Disrupting Epileptiform Activity by Preventing Parvalbumin Interneuron Depolarization Block
Authors: Călin Alexandru , Ilie Andrei S. , Akerman Colin J. 
Published: October 2021

Inhibitory synaptic mechanisms oppose epileptic network activity in the brain. The breakdown in this inhibitory restraint and propagation of seizure activity has been linked to the overwhelming of feedforward inhibition, which is provided in large part by parvalbumin-expressing (PV) interneurons in the cortex. The underlying cellular processes therefore represent potential targets for understanding and preventing the propagation of seizure activity. Here we use an optogenetic strategy to test the hypothesis that depolarization block in PV interneurons is a significant factor during the loss of inhibitory restraint. Depolarization block results from the inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels and leads to impaired action potential firing. We used focal NMDA stimulation to elicit reproducible epileptiform discharges in hippocampal organotypic brain slices from male and female mice and combined this with targeted recordings from defined neuronal populations. Simultaneous patch-clamp recordings from PV interneurons and pyramidal neurons revealed epileptiform activity that was associated with an overwhelming of inhibitory synaptic mechanisms and the emergence of a partial, and then complete, depolarization block in PV interneurons. To counteract this depolarization block, we developed protocols for eliciting pulsed membrane hyperpolarization via the inhibitory opsin, archaerhodopsin. This optical approach was effective in counteracting cumulative inactivation of voltage-gated channels, maintaining PV interneuron action potential firing properties during the inhibitory restraint period, and reducing the probability of initiating epileptiform activity. These experiments support the idea that depolarization block is a point of weakness in feedforward inhibitory synaptic mechanisms and represents a target for preventing the initiation and spread of seizure activity.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTGABAAreceptor-mediated synaptic transmission opposes seizure activity by establishing an inhibitory restraint against spreading excitation. Parvalbumin-expressing (PV) interneurons contribute significantly to this inhibitory restraint, but it has been suggested that these cells are overwhelmed as they enter a state of “depolarization block.” Here we test the importance of this process by devising an optogenetic strategy to selectively relieve depolarization block in PV interneurons. By inducing brief membrane hyperpolarization, we show that it is possible to reduce depolarization block in PV interneurons, maintain their action potential firing in the face of strong excitation, and disrupt epileptiform activity in anin vitromodel. This represents a proof of principle that targeting rate-limiting processes can strengthen the inhibitory restraint of epileptiform activity.
Developmental Shifts in Amygdala Activity during a High Social Drive State
Authors: Ferrara Nicole C. , Trask Sydney , Avonts Brittany , Loh Maxine K. , Padival Mallika , Rosenkranz J. Amiel 
Published: October 2021

Amygdala abnormalities characterize several psychiatric disorders with prominent social deficits and often emerge during adolescence. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) bidirectionally modulates social behavior and has increased sensitivity during adolescence. We tested how an environmentally-driven social state is regulated by the BLA in adults and adolescent male rats. We found that a high social drive state caused by brief social isolation increases age-specific social behaviors and increased BLA neuronal activity. Chemogenetic inactivation of BLA decreased the effect of high social drive on social engagement. High social drive preferentially enhanced BLA activity during social engagement; however, the effect of social opportunity on BLA activity was greater during adolescence. While this identifies a substrate underlying age differences in social drive, we then determined that high social drive increased BLA NMDA GluN2B expression and sensitivity to antagonism increased with age. Further, the effect of a high social drive state on BLA activity during social engagement was diminished by GluN2B blockade in an age-dependent manner. These results demonstrate the necessity of the BLA for environmentally driven social behavior, its sensitivity to social opportunity, and uncover a maturing role for BLA and its GluN2B receptors in social engagement.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSocial engagement during adolescence is a key component of healthy development. Social drive provides the impetus for social engagement and abnormalities underlie social symptoms of depression and anxiety. While adolescence is characterized by transitions in social drive and social environment sensitivity, little is known about the neural basis for these changes. We found that amygdala activity is uniquely sensitive to social environment during adolescence compared with adulthood, and is required for expression of heightened social drive. In addition, the neural substrates shift toward NMDA dependence in adulthood. These results are the first to demonstrate a unique neural signature of higher social drive and begin to uncover the underlying factors that heighten social engagement during adolescence.
Patógenos respiratorios en niños con infección respiratoria baja aguda detectados mediante PCR multiplex en tiempo real
Authors: Montilla-Velásquez María del Pilar , Galvis-Trujillo Diego Mauricio , Lizcano-Gamboa Suli Liliana , Cobos Gisell Adriana , Rojas-Pinto Angela Tatiana , Rincón-Fernández Daniel Mauricio , Soler-Rincón Paola Jimena , Perdomo-Rivas María Alejandra , Orozco-Vanegas Diana Carolina , Mor-Rodríguez María Consuelo 
Published: October 2021

Introducción. La infección respiratoria aguda en niños tiene una alta carga de enfermedad. La detección de múltiples microorganismos a través de pruebas moleculares en hisopados nasales podría cambiar el paradigma de patógeno único causal de enfermedad respiratoria en niños y ser de utilidad en la práctica clínica.
Objetivo. Caracterizar los patógenos identificados mediante prueba de reacción en cadena de polimerasa multiplex en tiempo real (RT-PCR) en hisopado nasal, así como las variables clínicas y resultados de laboratorio en niños <5 años diagnosticados con infección respiratoria aguda baja (IRAB) y hospitalizados en Bogotá D.C., Colombia.
Materiales y métodos. Estudio transversal realizado en 81 niños hospitalizados entre septiembre de 2019 y marzo de 2020 en la clínica Cafam y en quienes se hizo hisopado nasal para realizar la identificación microbiológica mediante la prueba RT-PCR múltiplex Allplex Allplex. Las correlaciones entre el número de patógenos y los niveles de células del hemograma y el nivel de proteína C reactiva se determinaron mediante el coeficiente de correlación de Spearman.
Resultados. La edad promedio fue 17.23 meses (±14.44), 54.32% fueron varones y 51.85%, lactantes menores. Se identificaron 145 microorganismos (61.38% virales) en 63 niños (77.78%),. Hubo infección mixta en el 48.3% y coinfección en 11.2% de los niños. Respecto a los hallazgos clínicos, la dificultad respiratoria, la obstrucción de la vía respiratoria alta, la tos, la fiebre y la faringitis fueron más comunes en los casos de infección mixta (32.97%), coinfección (64.40%), infección mixta (29.78%) y ausencia de microorganismo (22.00%), respectivamente. Se observó una correlación negativa entre el número de leucocitos y neutrófilos y el número de microorganismos detectados en preescolares (r=-0.46; p=0.058 y r=-0.51; p=0.033) y una positiva entre el recuento de monocitos y el número de microorganismos detectados (r=0.53; p=0.0096).
Conclusión. La prueba RT-PCR multiplex permitió la identificación de microorganismos en la mayoría de niños, así como de casos de infección mixta y coinfección en más de la mitad de la muestra. Además, los hallazgos clínicos fueron altamente heterogéneos entre los niños según el resultado de la prueba.
Distribution of the Bandera Shale of the Marmaton Group, Middle Pennsylvanian of Southeastern Kansas
Authors: Brownfield Robert L. , Brenner Robert L. , Pope John P. 
Published: October 2021

In southeastern Kansas, the Middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) Bandera Shale consists of sandstone, shale, limestone, and coal deposited between two carbonate formations, the underlying Pawnee Limestone and the overlying Altamont Limestone. Isopach maps and cross sections indicate that the Bandera Shale thickens southeastward towards the Oklahoma and Missouri borders. Analysis of gamma-ray-log signatures, augmented by neutron-log signatures, indicates that the Bandera Shale is rich in mudstone, with sandstones limited to intervals ranging from 10 ft to 30 ft (3-9.1 m) in thickness. Comparisons with previously studied cored and logged siliciclastic portions of overlying Missourian lithologies suggest that the Bandera Shale consists of various proportions of sandstone, siltstone, clay-rich shale, and calcite-cemented sandstone.
Exposures of the Bandera Shale in Bourbon County, Kansas, consist of interbedded shale and calcite-cemented, fine-grained sandstone. Sandstone beds, ranging from 3 cm to 20 cm (1.2-7.9 in) in thickness, are, in places, rhythmically laminated with organic-rich and organic-poor lamina forming 2-mm (0.8-in)-thick couplets. Many sandstone bedding surfaces in the lower and middle portion of the Bandera Shale are bioturbated with horizontal feeding trails and some vertical burrows that suggest marine environments. Thicker sandstone units are either trough cross-bedded, with sets up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) thick, or amalgamated ripple cross-laminated and flaser-laminated.
Outcrop observations coupled with subsurface analysis indicated that Bandera Shale in southeastern Kansas was deposited as a siliciclastic complex that prograded westward during a sea-level lowstand. Siliciclastic sediments may have been deposited in a clastic wedge or deltaic complex, but sedimentary characteristics observed in outcrops record marine influence at least along the margins of the complex. Rhythmic stratification within sandstone beds that are interbedded with shale resemble tidal features described elsewhere in the Pennsylvanian of North America and suggest that embayments were present where tidal cells were amplified along a morphologically irregular shoreline. Bioturbated sandstone units, interbedded with clay shale, record high-energy events that influenced sand distribution.
Modeling Dielectric-Constant Values of Geologic Materials
Authors: Martinez Alex , Byrnes Alan P. 
Published: October 2021

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a near-surface geophysical imaging technique used for non-intrusive subsurface geologic and engineering investigations. Dielectric constant is a critical parameter for GPR surveys because it controls propagation velocity of electromagnetic waves through material, reflection coefficients across interfaces of different materials, and vertical and horizontal imaging resolution. Dielectric constant in rocks and sediments is primarily a function of mineralogy, porosity, pore fluids, frequency, geometries, and electrochemical interactions between rock components. Reported dielectric-constant values for sedimentary rocks provide general ranges of expected values, but these values may not adequately represent rocks in specific field conditions.
Time-propagation mixing modeling, a forward-modeling technique, was performed and showed good correlation between modeled and measured dielectric constants of selected sandstones and limestones. Additional models were constructed to investigate the role of lithology and fluid saturation on dielectric constant and GPR response. Three modeled rock examples of variable mineralogy, porosity, and saturation illustrate that bulk dielectric constant, which generally ranges from 2 to 38 in the materials modeled, is primarily controlled by water saturation and, secondarily, by porosity and mineralogy, although these variables are interdependent. Without data stacking, differences in dielectric constant must be greater than 2 to produce reflections that can be recorded above background noise. For the examples modeled, saturation differences of less than 35% between layers produced reflection signals above background noise, but in completely dry material, normal mineralogic and porosity differences may not produce discernible reflections without stacking.
Provenance of Carboniferous strata (the Meishan Group) on the northern margin of the Dabie orogenic belt and implications of oblique convergence between the North and South China blocks
Authors: Cheng Cheng , Li Shuangying , Xie Xiangyang , Lu Yanlin , Busbey Arthur B. , Chai Guanglu 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
The newly defined Carboniferous Meishan Group, along the northern margin of the Dabie orogenic belt, provides unique opportunities to document the poorly understood Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Dabie orogenic belt and the Paleozoic convergence between the North and South China blocks. We apply sandstone petrology, geochemistry, and U-Pb detrital-zircon geochronology to constrain the provenance of the Carboniferous Meishan Group and to document its potential tectonic significance. We conclude that the Meishan Group received most sediment directly from early Paleozoic continental island arc rocks that are currently missing in the Dabie orogenic belt, with minor contributions from middle Neoproterozoic magmatic rocks of the South China Block and recycling of Archean to Proterozoic basement rocks of both the North and South China blocks. Compilation and comparison of detrital zircons and geochemistry data of the Silurian–Devonian and Carboniferous units suggests that all of them share similar source areas, but that individual contributions from each source were different. These results support the hypothesis that the Dabie orogenic belt developed a similar Paleozoic accretionary system, and shares a similar tectonic history, with the Qinling orogenic belt. These provenance patterns can be explained by a model of oblique convergence between the North and South China blocks during the Paleozoic. The South China Block was obliquely subducted beneath the North China Block with its opening to the east, forming an eastward-widening sedimentary basin. As a result, the eastern part of the basin received more sediment from the northern passive margin of the South China Block, while the western part of the basin received more material from the southern active margin of the North China Block.
The Use of Neural Network Technologies in Prediction the Reservoir Properties of Unconsolidated Reservoir Rocks of Shallow Bitumen Deposits
Authors: Validov Marat F , Nurgaliev Danis K , Sudakov Vladislav A , Murtazin Timur A , Golod Kseniya A , Galimova Albina R , Shamsiev Ruslan R , Lutfullin Azat A , Amerhanov Marat I , Aslyamov Niyaz A 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
In the conditions of the dynamically changing conjuncture of the oil and gas market, there is an urgent need to reduce the cost of oil production and increase the efficiency of development, this is especially important for the local ultra-viscous oil. In this regard, it is necessary to optimize costs at all stages, starting from the geological exploration and even at the stage of completion of the development process. For ultra-viscous oil deposits, this is especially relevant at the stage of assessing the resource potential of a separate uplift of any of the fields, when the only reliable way to perform a high-frequency section at shallow depths is to drill appraisal wells with full core sampling. An additional load is exerted by the period between core extraction and obtaining information about the flow properties of each of the samples. By themselves, standard core studies are complicated by the fact that sand rocks of weakly cemented bitumoids can often be destroyed during experiments.
In this regard, the use of new approaches, including digital ones, which allow us to make quick decisions on a part of the geological section in the area of the appraisal well and on the uplift as a whole, are highly in demand.
This article describes the methods that allow the determining of flow properties for uncemented (loose sands) rocks in Permian sediments. More than 25,000 core samples were studied from 805 wells at several fields of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The technology used allows us to calculate a continuous curve of volumetric bitumen saturation in the conditions of complete or partial absence of core at the well.
This paper presents the results of creating an algorithm for automatic prediction of weight bitumen saturation in a sand pack of the Sheshminsky horizon of the Permian system using neural network technologies, as well as using an alternative calculation method.
The Implementation of Laser Shaft Alignment System on Rotating Machines in the Bulla Field, Platform 6
Authors: Bayramov Rovshan , Asgarov Emil 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Shaft misalignment is a common fault in rotating machines in the industry. Inadequate coupling alignment of rotating shafts often results in serious vibration problems and premature machine component failure. This article introduces the concept of using a laser shaft alignment system to improve equipment reliability, maintenance efficiency, and reduce rotating component wear.
This paper explores the concept of implementation of laser shaft alignment system on rotating machines in the Bulla field, Platform 6. For this purpose, an appropriate tool has been selected for further implementation. As compared to a traditional mechanical method, the proposed electronic approach has more accurate results and optimize the performance gained via the previous techniques. Additionally, the application of the proposed system is user friendly and faster compared to the previous method. The measurement procedure is issued as per system manufacturer recommendation, and manufacturer video training will be submitted to appropriate maintenance staff.
The novelty of the approach is to increase the reliability of rotating machines on Platform 6 in the Bulla field and develop Company maintenance processes by implementing a new laser measurement system.
A Fast Method of Selecting Offshore Oil Well Candidates for Multi Zone Cased Hole Frac Pack or Open Hole Completions for CNPC-Dagang Zhaodong Mature Oilfield: Case Study
Authors: Wang Heqiang , Chi Chengliang , Wang Ziyu , Zhou Shubo , Ma Xifeng , Wang Zichao , Zhang Wendi 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
To remain economical, mature offshore oil fields require unique, time-efficient and cost-efficient drilling and completion operations for each well. This paper is a case study of a rapid selection method for determining the operational process for each offshore oil well candidate and its application in the Zhaodong oilfield.
In mature oilfields, maintaining production requires drilling and completing sidetrack wells. There are 3 key steps to rapidly selecting the most suitable drilling, completion and operational strategy for each well. First, review historical production data and operational costs to set production targets for each well. Second, evaluate the potential drilling and completion operations both technically and economically to achieve the target. Third, optimize the selected operations based on prior field application and production results.
This process was applied with newly sidetracked wells in the Zhaodong oilfield. The wells were either completed using a multi-zone cased hole fracturing technique or an open hole completion technique, per the selection process. One candidate well completed with the multi-zone fracturing technique had a daily production rate of 134 tons of oil, and another candidate well completed with an open hole technique had a production rate of 236 tons of oil. These two wells were the most prolific in the Zhaodong oilfield.
Using relatively basic engineering work integrated with simple economic calculations, this methodology is far less complicated and costly than computer simulation modeling for the operator. The performance in the Zhaodong oilfield reinforces this methodology used for selecting the proper candidate and completion process, providing more value and confidence for offshore operators.