bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The forensic analysis of homemade explosive suicides: Case report and systematic review of the literature
Authors: Sacco Matteo Antonio , Ricci Pietrantonio , Gratteri Santo , Scalise Carmen , Aquila Isabella 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe illegal construction of explosive devices for recreational purposes has become increasingly widespread in recent years. This phenomenon is spurred on by numerous websites that explain how to build a self‐made device. The correlation between the use of firearms and suicide is known in the literature, but the use of explosive devices and self‐harm is little studied. Unfortunately, the risk associated with the manufacture of homemade explosives is poorly known. For this purpose, we describe a rare suicide carried out by a man suffering from depressive disorder with psychotic and delusional features. The forensic investigations at the scene showed that the man had designed a homemade device, and disseminated numerous suicide notes in his home, transcribed in the previous weeks in which he revealed his suicidal motivation. Crime scene investigation showed on the body and on the road in front of the explosion point: multiple fragments of glass (zone 1), a lighter with blood stains (zone 2), and shreds of clothing scattered along the road (zone 3). Autopsy revealed that the cause of death was extensive blunt injury to head and trunk due to barotrauma due to the explosion of a homemade device. The case is compared with data from a systematic review of the forensic literature on suicides involving explosives. The study proposes the analysis of planimetric areas in these crime scene investigations and active surveillance in these subjects.
Investigation into the prevalence of Serratospiculum spp. in wild falcons of the greater Sydney region
Authors: Schader JA , Baron HR 
Published: May 2021

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of Serratospiculum spp. in falcons in the greater Sydney region.MethodsThis is a cross‐sectional study; a total of 57 falcons entering wildlife rehabilitation in Sydney and surrounding areas between 2017 and 2019 were recruited into the study. Presence of Serratospiculum spp. eggs in faeces using faecal wet prep technique was used as an indicator of infection.ResultsEvidence of Serratospiculum spp. infection was detected in 10 out of 57 falcons, (18%). There was no significant correlation with body condition score or age group. PCR analysis of a representative nematode in a Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) was revealed to be Serratospiculum tendo.ConclusionSerratospiculum spp are present in 18% of falcons coming into care in the Sydney region. The prevalence in this study is similar to that found in other parts of the world. This study provides evidence of the importance of faecal testing and treatment of falcons in a rehabilitation setting.
Remote clinical trials: A timely opportunity for a virtual reality approach and its potential application in neurology
Authors: Chiamulera Cristiano , Mantovani Elisa , Tamburin Stefano 
Published: May 2021

The COVID‐19 pandemic boosted the expansion and development of new remote models of care and clinical research modalities. Health systems are going to implement telemedical innovations in the near future. Virtual clinical trials (VCT), also known as remote or decentralized ones, may profoundly change the way how clinical studies are conducted, for the benefit of patients with chronic and neurological diseases who are often fragile and may have limited access to traditional healthcare facilities. Despite significant progress, several limitations still need to be addressed to implement telemedicine technologies for VCT. The information and communication technology (ICT) devices (e.g., mobile apps and wearables) may be applied to VCTs but show some practical issues that may hamper the compliance with rigorous research criteria and protocols. We herewith discuss the advantages and disadvantages of virtual reality (VR) in combination with other ICT devices and solutions to improve the conduction of VCT in patients with neurological disorders.The so‐called “digital divide,” that is, the gap between people who can and those who cannot access high‐speed and broadband internet connections, and issues related to VR, such as VR sickness, should be addressed to improve larger VCT participation to neurological patients.
The dorsal hippocampus is required for the formation of long‐term duration memories in rats
Authors: Hata Toshimichi , Yamashita Tatsuya , Kamada Taisuke 
Published: May 2021

AbstractInterval timing—the perception of durations mainly in seconds or minutes—is a ubiquitous behavior in organisms. Animal studies have suggested that the hippocampus plays an essential role in duration memory; however, the memory processes involved are unclear. To clarify the role of the dorsal hippocampus in the acquisition of long‐term duration memories, we adapted the “time‐shift paradigm” to a peak‐interval procedure. After a sufficient number of training with an initial target duration (20 s), the rats underwent “shift sessions” with a new target duration (40 s) under a muscimol (0.5 µg per side) infusion into the bilateral dorsal hippocampus. The memory of the new target duration was then tested in drug‐free “probe sessions,” including trials in which no lever presses were reinforced. In the probe sessions, the mean response rate distribution of the muscimol group was located leftward to the control group, but these two response rate distributions were superimposed on the standardized time axis, suggesting a scalar property. In the session‐by‐session analysis, the mean peak time (an index of timing accuracy) of the muscimol group was lower than that of the control group in the probe sessions, but not in the shift sessions. These findings suggest that the dorsal hippocampus is required for the formation of long‐term duration memories within the range of interval timing.
Human‐modified canids in human‐modified landscapes: The evolutionary consequences of hybridization for grey wolves and free‐ranging domestic dogs
Authors: Pilot Małgorzata , Moura Andre E. , Okhlopkov Innokentiy M. , Mamaev Nikolay V. , Manaseryan Ninna H. , Hayrapetyan Vahram , Kopaliani Natia , Tsingarska Elena , Alagaili Abdulaziz N. , Mohammed Osama B. , Ostrander Elaine A. , Bogdanowicz Wiesław 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIntrogressive hybridization between domestic animals and their wild relatives is an indirect form of human‐induced evolution, altering gene pools and phenotypic traits of wild and domestic populations. Although this process is well documented in many taxa, its evolutionary consequences are poorly understood. In this study, we assess introgression patterns in admixed populations of Eurasian wolves and free‐ranging domestic dogs (FRDs), identifying chromosomal regions with significantly overrepresented hybrid ancestry and assessing whether genes located within these regions show signatures of selection. Although the dog admixture proportion in West Eurasian wolves (2.7%) was greater than the wolf admixture proportion in FRDs (0.75%), the number and average length of chromosomal blocks showing significant overrepresentation of hybrid ancestry were smaller in wolves than FRDs. In wolves, 6% of genes located within these blocks showed signatures of positive selection compared to 23% in FRDs. We found that introgression from wolves may provide a considerable adaptive advantage to FRDs, counterbalancing some of the negative effects of domestication, which can include reduced genetic diversity and excessive tameness. In wolves, introgression from FRDs is mostly driven by drift, with a small number of positively selected genes associated with brain function and behaviour. The predominance of drift may be the consequence of small effective size of wolf populations, which reduces efficiency of selection for weakly advantageous or against weakly disadvantageous introgressed variants. Small wolf population sizes result largely from human‐induced habitat loss and hunting, thus linking introgression rates to anthropogenic processes. Our results imply that maintenance of large population sizes should be an important element of wolf management strategies aimed at reducing introgression rates of dog‐derived variants.
Aroma‐volatile profile and its changes in Australian grown black Périgord truffle (Tuber melanosporum) during storage
Authors: Choo Kenny S. O. , Bollen Maike , Dykes Gary A. , Coorey Ranil 
Published: May 2021

SummaryBlack Périgord truffle (Tuber melanosporum) is one of the most expensive fungi in the world that appreciated by gourmets. Studies have indicated the impact of growing location and soil microorganisms on the aroma profile of truffle. The aroma profile of West Australian black Périgord truffle (Tuber melanosporum) has not been previously reported, which was studied over a 14 day storage period. Sixty‐four compounds were identified in all truffle samples. Significant changes (P > 0.05) were observed in 11 key volatiles (carbon dioxide, acetaldehyde, 2‐butanone, 3‐methyl‐1‐butanal, toluene, 2‐butenal, formic acid 2‐methyl butyl ester, 3‐methyl‐1‐butanol, 6‐methyl‐2‐heptanol, 3‐octanol and dimethyl sulfoxide) over time. Comparison of these results against published aroma profile of European grown black Périgord truffle identified number of significant similarities and differences were also detected. Dimethyl sulfoxide, a compound previously identified in European grown white truffle (Tuber magnatum), was detected. Principle component analysis (PCA) showed that the major changes in the truffle aroma profile took place in the first 7 days of storage.
Recent advances in gelatinisation and retrogradation of starch by high hydrostatic pressure
Authors: Okur Ilhami , Sezer Purlen , Oztop Mecit Halil , Alpas Hami 
Published: May 2021

SummaryStarch is the major polysaccharide following cellulose, but native starch has limited application due to physicochemical and functional properties. To handle such problems, starch is usually modified with either thermal or more recently by non‐thermal technologies such as high hydrostatic pressure (HHP). HHP is a non‐thermal technique that can be applied to a variety of food materials with minimum effect on nutritional quality. High‐pressure levels can cause physicochemical changes in starch such as partial/completely gelatinisation, reduction in solubility and swelling power, increasing pasting temperature and content of slowly digestible starch (SDS) and retention of retrogradation. These physicochemical changes depend on the starch type, pressurisation level, treatment time and temperature. This review has evaluated and synthesised the current research about the effect of HHP on starch gelatinisation, retrogradation and physicochemical properties of starch.
Chromosomal microarray analysis for pregnancies with abnormal maternal serum screening who undergo invasive prenatal testing
Authors: Wu Xiaoqing , Li Ying , Lin Na , Xie Xiaorui , Su Linjuan , Cai Meiying , Lin Yuan , Wang Linshuo , Wang Meiying , Xu Liangpu , Huang Hailong 
Published: May 2021

AbstractRecently, chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) has been implemented as a first‐tier test in pregnancies with ultrasound anomalies. However, its application for pregnancies with abnormal maternal serum screening (AMSS) only is not widespread. This study evaluated the value of CMA compared to traditional karyotyping in pregnancies with increased risk following first‐ or second‐trimester maternal serum screening. Data from 3973 pregnancies with referral for invasive prenatal testing following AMSS were obtained from April 2016 to May 2020. Routine karyotyping was performed and single nucleotide polymorphism array was recommended. The foetuses were categorized according to the indications as AMSS only (group A) and AMSS with ultrasound anomalies (group B). CMA was performed on 713 prenatal samples. The proportion of women opting for CMA testing in both groups increased over the years. The incremental yield of clinically significant findings for pregnancies with high risk of screening results was similar to that for the foetuses with ultrasound soft markers (P > 0.05), but significantly lower than that for the foetuses with structural anomalies (P < 0.05). The total frequencies of variants of unknown significance in groups A and B showed no significant difference (P > 0.05). CMA should be performed for pregnant women undergoing prenatal invasive testing due to AMSS, especially with high‐risk results, regardless of ultrasound findings.
Identifying potential biomarkers in hepatitis B virus infection and its response to the antiviral therapy by integrated bioinformatic analysis
Authors: He Yi , Zhou Yingzhi , Wang Huimin , Yin Jingyang , Chang Yunan , Hu Peng , Ren Hong , Xu Hongmei 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe antiviral treatment efficacy varies among chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and the underlying mechanism is unclear. An integrated bioinformatics analysis was performed to investigate the host factors that affect the therapeutic responsiveness in CHB patients. Four GEO data sets (GSE54747, GSE27555, GSE66698 and GSE66699) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and analysed to identify differentially expressed genes(DEGs). Enrichment analyses of the DEGs were conducted using the DAVID database. Immune cell infiltration characteristics were analysed by CIBERSORT. Upstream miRNAs and lncRNAs of hub DEGs were identified by miRWalk 3.0 and miRNet in combination with the MNDR platform. As a result, seventy‐seven overlapping DEGs and 15 hub genes were identified including CCL5, CXCL9, MYH2, CXCR4, CD74, CCL4, HLA‐DRB1, ACTA1, CD69, CXCL10, HLA‐DRB5, HLA‐DQB1, CXCL13, STAT1 and CKM. The enrichment analyses revealed that the DEGs were mainly enriched in immune response and chemokine signalling pathways. Investigation of immune cell infiltration in liver samples suggested significantly different infiltration between responders and non‐responders, mainly characterized by higher proportions of CD8+ T cells and activated NK cells in non‐responders. The prediction of upstream miRNAs and lncRNAs led to the identification of a potential mRNA‐miRNA‐lncRNA regulatory network composed of 2 lncRNAs (H19 and GAS5) and 5 miRNAs (hsa‐mir‐106b‐5p, hsa‐mir‐17‐5p, hsa‐mir‐20a‐5p, hsa‐mir‐6720‐5p and hsa‐mir‐93‐5p) targeting CCL5 mRNA. In conclusion, our study suggested that host genetic factors could affect therapeutic responsiveness in CHB patients. The antiviral process might be associated with the chemokine‐mediated immune response and immune cell infiltration in the liver microenvironment.
Modeling the drying kinetics of alginate particles considering shrinkage
Authors: Bastiani Fabio Henrique , Sufredini Stephani , Romio Ana Paula , Nicolin Douglas Junior 
Published: May 2021

AbstractAlginate is an anionic and biodegradable biopolymer of natural occurrence, typically obtained from brown algae, being studied, and used in several applications in biomedicine and food industry by its low toxicity, low cost, and its gelification obtained by the addition of bivalent cations (Ca2+), besides being able to storage large amounts of liquid in its structure. In this context, this work aims to study the drying and shrinkage kinetics of this biomaterial. Microparticles of alginate were synthesized by the ionic gelification method using calcium chloride as reticulant agent. These microparticles were submitted to drying experiments conducted at 40, 50, and 60°C. A mathematical model which considers the microparticles moisture and volume change with time was proposed to model the drying process. Considering that the radius depends on time as Page and Sigmoid equations, two mathematical models were obtained. Both models were able to describe the experimental data and the kinetic parameters were adjusted as an exponential function of temperature (R2 = 0.99). The statistical analysis of the residues between calculated and experimental data indicates an adequate prediction, with Page's model fitting more accurately to the data sets. Akaike's test also indicated the coupled Page model as the most adequate.Practical ApplicationsThe results presented in this paper provide mathematical methods of modelling the hydration kinetics of alginate particles and fitting the parameters which can help understanding the mass transfer and shrinkage phenomena during drying. Those characteristics are essential in describing alginate particles due to the high amount of water that they contain. Describing the drying kinetics of such particles may help to project and optimize equipment involved in alginate particles production process.
Sleep inhibition induced by amyloid‐β oligomers is mediated by the cellular prion protein
Authors: Del Gallo Federico , Bianchi Susanna , Bertani Ilaria , Messa Massimo , Colombo Laura , Balducci Claudia , Salmona Mario , Imeri Luca , Chiesa Roberto 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSleep is severely impaired in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid‐β deposition in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients is a key event in its pathogenesis and is associated with disrupted sleep, even before the appearance of cognitive decline. Because soluble amyloid‐β oligomers are the key mediators of synaptic and cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease and impair long‐term memory in rodents, the first aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that amyloid‐β oligomers would directly impair sleep in mice. The cellular prion protein is a cell surface glycoprotein of uncertain function. Because cellular prion protein binds oligomeric amyloid‐β with high affinity and mediates some of its neurotoxic effects, the second aim of the study was to test whether amyloid‐β oligomer‐induced sleep alterations were mediated by cellular prion protein. To address these aims, wild‐type and cellular prion protein‐deficient mice were given acute intracerebroventricular injections (on different days, at lights on) of vehicle and synthetic amyloid‐β oligomers. Compared to vehicle, amyloid‐β oligomers significantly reduced the amount of time spent in non‐rapid eye movement sleep by wild‐type mice during both the light and dark phases of the light–dark cycle. The amount of time spent in rapid eye movement sleep was reduced during the dark phase. Sleep was also fragmented by amyloid‐β oligomers, as the number of transitions between states increased in post‐injection hours 9–24. No such effects were observed in cellular prion protein‐deficient mice. These results show that amyloid‐β oligomers do inhibit and fragment sleep, and that these effects are mediated by cellular prion protein.
Intermediate phenotypes of childhood obstructive sleep apnea
Authors: Au Chun Ting , Chan Kate Ching‐ching , Zhang Jihui , Liu Kin Hung , Chu Winnie Chiu Wing , Wing Yun Kwok , Li Albert Martin 
Published: May 2021

AbstractAn intermediate phenotype of a disease is a trait in the path of pathogenesis from genetic predisposition to disease manifestation. Identifying intermediate phenotypes with high heritability is helpful in delineating the genetics of a disorder. In this study, we aimed to examine various traits with regards to obesity, cardiovascular risk and upper airway structure to identify potential intermediate phenotypes of childhood obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Children aged between 6 and 18 years and their parents and siblings were recruited. All subjects underwent anthropometric measurements, cardiovascular risk assessment, sonographic measurement of lateral parapharyngeal wall (LPW) thickness, X‐ray cephalometry and overnight polysomnography. A total of 34 phenotypes were examined. One hundred and one families consisting of 127 children (46 overweight) and 198 adults (84 overweight) were recruited. Heritability of obstructive apnea–hypopnea index (OAHI) was significant in overweight (h2 = 0.54) but not normal‐weight individuals (h2 = 0.12). LPW thickness (h2 = 0.68) and resting blood pressure (h2 = 0.36 and 0.43 for systolic blood pressure [SBP] and diastolic blood pressure [DBP], respectively) were significantly heritable and associated with OAHI. Moreover, these traits were found to have shared genetic variance with OAHI in the overweight subgroup. Hyoid bone position also had significant heritability (h2 = 0.55) and association with OAHI but genetic correlation with OSA severity was not demonstrated. These findings suggest that LPW thickness and resting blood pressure are possible intermediate phenotypes of OSA independent of body mass index, especially in overweight patients. Identifying genes relevant to these phenotypes may help to elucidate the genetic susceptibility of OSA.
Whose lives mattered? How White and Black Americans felt about Black Lives Matter in 2016
Authors: Drakulich Kevin , Wozniak Kevin H. , Hagan John , Johnson Devon 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWhite Americans, on average, do not support Black Lives Matter, while Black Americans generally express strong support. The lack of support among white Americans is striking, and we argue that it matterswhythis racial gap exists. Using a nationally representative survey collected during the crest of the first wave of widespread attention to the movement, we explore four potential explanations for interracial differences in feelings toward Black Lives Matter. These explanations reflect competing claims made by advocates and opponents of the movement and have distinct implications for understanding the meaning of these racial differences. Two explanations focus on attitudes toward the police, and two focus on racial prejudice. The results suggest that interracial differences in contact with the police mattered to views of the movement, though in opposite ways for white and Black Americans. Support for the movement among Black Americans was not motivated by an animosity toward the police. Ultimately, the lack of white support for Black Lives Matter was best explained by anti-Black animus and racial resentment, reflecting a concern about the threat this contemporary civil rights movement presents to the racial status quo.
Marginalized legal categories: Social inequality, family structure, and the laws of intestacy
Authors: Bea Megan Doherty , Taylor Poppe Emily S. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSocial classifications are increasingly interrelated, far-reaching, and consequential for socioeconomic outcomes. We use the concept of marginalized legal categories to describe how the law disadvantages individuals or groups by transforming inherently ordered social classifications into consequential legal categories, employing intestacy laws as an illustration. Using the Survey of Consumer Finances, we find that more than 21% of American families have forms that are marginalized by intestacy classifications, and that such forms are more common among individuals of color and those with less wealth. Yet, many individuals with these family structures hold assets and lack access to intestacy-avoidance mechanisms, giving consequence to the application of these laws. We conclude by discussing implications of legal classification for inequality.