bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation modulation of late Pleistocene to middle Holocene Asian summer monsoon variability and palaeoanthropological implications
Authors: Li Xinxia , Xiao Guoqiao , Lin Shan , Qiang Xiaoke , Ao Hong 
Published: September 2021

AbstractAsia contains more than half the world’s population, and their lives are significantly related to summer monsoon moisture supply. Here, we investigate features and dynamics of late Pleistocene–middle Holocene Asian summer monsoon variability in the Nihewan Basin, North China, which was a critical home for early humans in East Asia throughout the Quaternary. We present new mineral magnetic records between ∼16 and 6 ka from the Yujiagou archeological site in the northern Nihewan Basin, which contains &gt;40 000 stone tools, 2 pottery pieces and 19 686 mammal fossils. Magnetic properties of the Yujiagou section are dominated by pedogenic fine-grained magnetite/maghemite concentration, which ranges from superparamagnetic/single domain up to fine pseudo-single domain sizes. We use multiple environmental magnetic proxies, which measure pedogenic magnetite/maghemite concentration, to document that summer monsoon precipitation was low before ∼14.5 ka and high during the Bölling–Allerød warm period (14.5–12.8 ka), and shifted to low values at the onset of the Young Dryas cold period ∼12.4 ka, followed by a sustained long-term increasing trend from 12.4 to 6 ka. We relate these monsoon precipitation changes to the consistent Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation variability, which modulated North Hemisphere temperatures and displacements of Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and Walker circulation over the Pacific Ocean. The observed large-amplitude deglacial Asian monsoon changes may have played a role in several key evolutionary changes in Asia implicated by the Yujiagou archeological evidence, including Paleolithic to Neolithic culture transition, Asian pottery development, and early human dispersals from Asia to America.
Geography and Agricultural Productivity: Cross-Country Evidence from Micro Plot-Level Data
Authors: Adamopoulos Tasso , Restuccia Diego 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
We quantify the role of geography and land quality for agricultural productivity differences across countries using high-resolution micro-geography data and a spatial accounting framework. The rich spatial data provide for each cell of land covering the entire globe, the potential yield for 18 crops, which measures the maximum attainable crop output given soil quality, climate conditions, terrain topography, and a given level of cultivation inputs. While there is considerable heterogeneity in land quality across space, even within narrow geographic regions, we find that low agricultural land productivity is not due to unfavourable geographic endowments. If countries produced current crops in each cell according to potential yields, the rich-poor agricultural yield gap would virtually disappear, from 214% to 5%. We also find evidence of additional aggregate productivity gains attainable through spatial reallocation and changes in crop production.
Phenotype, function and clinical significance of innate lymphoid cells in immunoglobulin G4–related disease
Authors: Zhang Panpan , Liu Zheng , Peng Linyi , Zhou Jiaxin , Wang Mu , Li Jieqiong , Lu Hui , Hu Chaojun , Zhao Lidan , Yang Huaxia , Wang Qian , Fei Yunyun , Zhang Xuan , Zhao Yan , Zeng Xiaofeng , Zhang Wen 
Published: September 2021

Abstract

Objectives
The innate immune system participates in immunoglobulin G4–related disease (IgG4-RD). While the role of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in IgG4-RD remains to be elucidated, we aimed to evaluate the phenotype, function and clinical significance of ILCs in IgG4-RD patients.

Methods
Sixty-seven untreated IgG4-RD patients and 44 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Circulating and tissue infiltration of ILCs were detected by flow cytometry. Serum suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) was detected by ELISA and membrane-bound ST2 (ST2L) was detected by flow cytometry. Tissue infiltration of IL-33 was measured by immunohistochemistry staining. Real-time quantitative PCR was performed to analyse the expression pattern of ILC2-associated genes between HCs and IgG4-RD patients. In addition, correlation analysis was performed in order to evaluate the clinical significance of ILCs in IgG4-RD.

Results
The frequency of circulating pan ILCs in IgG4-RD patients was lower than in HCs. ILC2s were higher in IgG4-RD compared with HCs, whereas ILC1s were lower in IgG4-RD. sST2 and ST2L were higher in IgG4-RD than in HCs. Infiltration of ILC1s in the submandibular glands of IgG4-RD patients was more prominent than ILC2s. Intracellular secretion of IL-9 was increased in ILC2s of IgG4-RD patients than in HCs. Circulating ILC2s correlated positively with Treg cells and the surface expression of CD154, PD-1 and CXCR5 in ILC2s correlated positively with CD19+ B cells, serum IgG4 levels and serum IgE, respectively.

Conclusion
ILCs and their subsets were significantly altered in IgG4-RD. We demonstrated the dysfunction of ILC2s in IgG4-RD by phenotype, correlation analysis and function investigation, revealing ILC2s participated in the pathogenesis of IgG4-RD.
Lower respiratory tract infections in early life are associated with obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis during childhood in a large birth cohort
Authors: Gutierrez Maria J , Nino Gustavo , Landeo-Gutierrez Jeremy S , Weiss Miriam R , Preciado Diego A , Hong Xiumei , Wang Xiaobin 
Published: September 2021

Abstract

Study Objectives
Several birth cohorts have defined the pivotal role of early lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in the inception of pediatric respiratory conditions. However, the association between early LRTI and the development of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children has not been established.

Methods
To investigate whether early LRTIs increase the risk of pediatric OSA, we analyzed clinical data in children followed during the first 5 years in the Boston Birth Cohort (n = 3114). Kaplan–Meier survival estimates and Cox proportional hazards models adjusted by pertinent covariates were used to evaluate the risk of OSA by the age of 5 years between children with LRTI during the first 2 years of life in comparison to those without LRTI during this period.

Results
Early life LRTI increased the risk of pediatric OSA independently of other pertinent covariates and risk factors (hazard ratio, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.15 to 2.05). Importantly, the association between LRTI and pediatric OSA was limited to LRTIs occurring during the first 2 years of life. Complementarily to this finding, we observed that children who had severe respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis during infancy had two times higher odds of OSA at 5 years in comparison with children without this exposure (odds ratio, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.12 to 3.88).

Conclusions
Children with severe LRTIs in early life have significantly increased risk of developing OSA during the first 5 years of life. Our results offer a new paradigm for investigating novel mechanisms and interventions targeting the early pathogenesis of OSA in the pediatric population.
Teacher to student feedback in distance education
Authors: Habala Petr 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
When mastering new topics, the importance of timely and topical feedback is hard to overestimate. Distance education forced recently on educational community by COVID brought obstacles to one-on-one interaction, making direct feedback difficult. However, it also inspired educators to consider new tools and ideas. A possible approach allowing for quality feedback is outlined, supported by a comparison of pre-COVID and COVID results.
A Distance-Learning Approach to Point-of-Care Ultrasound Training (ADAPT): A Multi-Institutional Educational Response During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Nix Kahra , Liu E. Liang , Oh Laura , Duanmu Youyou , Fong Tiffany , Ashenburg Nicholas , Liu Rachel B. 
Published: September 2021

Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) education. Medical schools and residency programs placed restrictions on bedside teaching and clinical scanning as part of risk mitigation. In response, POCUS faculty from 15 institutions nationwide collaborated on an alternative model of ultrasound education, A Distance-learning Approach to POCUS Training (ADAPT).

Approach
ADAPT was repeated monthly from April 1 through June 30, 2020. It accommodated 70 learners, who included 1- to 4-week rotators and asynchronous learners. The curriculum included assigned prework and learning objectives covering 20 core POCUS topics. A rotating group of 30 faculty and fellows delivered daily virtual teaching sessions that included gamification to increase learner engagement and hands-on instruction through teleguidance. After participation, faculty and learners completed anonymous surveys.

Outcomes
Educators reported a significant decrease in preparatory time (6.2 vs 3.1 hours per week, P < .001) dedicated to ultrasound education after implementing ADAPT. The majority of 29 learners who completed surveys felt “somewhat confident” or “very confident” in their ability to acquire (n = 25, 86.2%) and interpret (n = 27, 93.1%) ultrasound images after the intervention; the majority of 22 educators completing surveys rated the program “somewhat effective” or “very effective” at contributing to learner’s ability to acquire (n = 13, 59.1%) and interpret (n = 20, 90.9%) images. Most learners (n = 28, 96.6%) and all educators (n = 22, 100%) were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with ADAPT as a whole, and the large majority of educators were “very likely” (n = 18, 81.8%) to recommend continued use of this program.

Next Steps
A virtual curriculum that pools the efforts of multiple institutions nationwide was implemented rapidly and effectively while satisfying educational expectations of both learners and faculty. This collaborative framework can be replicated and may be generalizable to other educational objectives.
The Ethics of Health Professions Education Research: Protecting the Integrity of Science, Research Subjects, and Authorship
Authors: ten Cate Olle 
Published: September 2021

The author was invited to write a commentary on the ethics of health professions education research. Based on the author’s own experiences, published guidelines, and discussions with international colleagues, the author found that research ethics can be roughly grouped into 3 distinct areas, each with its own distinct aims: protecting the integrity of science, protecting the integrity of research subjects, and protecting the integrity of authorship. The focus of this commentary is to provide some guiding thoughts on each of the 3 areas for mentors of emerging health professions education scholars.
While any framing logic is arbitrary, the 3 areas of research ethics can be illustrated by 9 distinct breaches of ethical principles, ranging from outright fraud to strategic authorship practices, and 27 practical lessons for learners to counter these and shape ethical research conduct. In general, the international variations in habits, rules, and regulations do not strike the author as being substantially different, but there are cultural variations in terms of what is emphasized and regulated.
The ethics of research in health professions education has developed quite extensively in the past few decades, following advances in biomedical and other research domains, and are now grounded in several useful and authoritative guidelines. At the end of the day, however, ethical research conduct is a matter of internalized rules and regulations that researchers must develop over time. Emerging scholars need both instruction and role models to develop their own moral compass to navigate the rules, regulations, and purposes of research ethics.
Legacy effect on neuropsychological function in HIV-infected men on combination antiretroviral therapy
Authors: Qu Yang , Weinstein Andrea , Wang Zheng , Cheng Yu , Kingsley Lawrence , Levine Andrew , Martin Eileen , Munro Cynthia , Ragin Ann B. , Rubin Leah H. , Sacktor Ned W. , Seaberg Eric C. , Becker James T. 
Published: September 2021

Objective:
To determine whether combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation alters the trajectory of cognitive performance in HIV+ men, and whether cognition prior to cART predicts postcART function.

Design:
Longitudinal cohort study. Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.

Methods:
From an initial set of 3701 men with complete neuropsychological data, men with HIV infection were initially matched with men without infection on cognitive status, race, age, and timeline (T0 defined as cART initiation). Propensity score matching was then used to match pairs on depressive symptoms at T0, education, T0 cognitive scores, and recruitment cohort. There were 506 matched pairs of infected and uninfected men in the final analysis. Mixed effect models were constructed to analyze the trajectories of cognitive functions and to test the effect of cART and HIV on cognitive functions over time.

Results:
Performance in each cognitive domain did not change following the initiation of cART among HIV-infected men with prior impairment and was comparable to the performance of their matched uninfected men. However, among the infected men who were unimpaired prior to cART, motor function declined significantly faster than it did for uninfected controls.

Conclusions:
Cognitive dysfunction is persistent in HIV-infected men and cART does not alter the trajectory of cognitive decline in men who were impaired prior to effective therapy. This suggests that current cognitive impairment in HIV+ men results from a legacy effect, and from factors other than the HIV itself. Furthermore, motor skills may be uniquely vulnerable to the virus, cART, or age-related co-morbidities.
Elite and viremic HIV-1 controllers in West Africa
Authors: N’takpé Jean Baptiste , Gabillard Delphine , Moh Raoul , Gardiennet Elise , Toni Thomas-d’Aquin , Kouame Gérard M. , Badje Anani , Emieme Arlette , Karcher Sophie , Le Carrou Jérome , Ménan Hervé , Danel Christine , Eholie Serge P. , Rouzioux Christine , Anglaret Xavier , Lambotte Olivier 
Published: September 2021

Background:
Data on HIV-1 controllers in Africa are scarce. We report the proportion of HIV-1 controllers in a group of adults prospectively monitored with frequent viral load measurements as part of a clinical trial in West Africa.

Methods:
For the Temprano trial, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive HIV-1 infected adults with no criteria for starting ART were randomized to start ART immediately or defer ART until the WHO starting criteria were met. Plasma viral load was measured every 6 months. The trial follow-up was 30 months. We considered all Temprano participants randomized to defer ART. Patients with all semestrial viral <2000 copies/ml and still off ART at month 30 were defined as HIV-1 controllers. Controllers with all viral loads <50 copies/ml were defined as elite controllers, the rest as viremic controllers.

Results:
Of the 1023 HIV-1-infected adults randomized in the Temprano deferred-ART group, 18 (1.8%) met the criteria for classification as HIV controllers, of whom seven (0.7%) were elite controllers and 11 (1.1%) viremic controllers. The HIV-1 controllers had low peripheral blood mononuclear cell HIV-1 DNA and low inflammatory marker levels. They maintained high CD4+ cell count and percentages and had a low morbidity rate.

Discussion:
HIV controllers exist in Africa at a proportion close to that reported elsewhere. They represent a small fraction of all HIV-1-infected patients but raise important questions. Further studies should assess whether starting ART might represent more risk than benefit for some controllers, and where it does, how to identify these patients before they start ART.
Synchronous Recurrence of Metachronous Lung Cancer and Hodgkin Lymphoma Within an Axillary Lymph Node Isolated on 18F-FDG PET/CT
Authors: Lee Marco Enoch , Jiang James Yuheng , Parry Nicholas Mckay , Karikios Deme , Mansberg Robert 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
An 82-year-old man with a background of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in remission, resected left lower lobe adenocarcinoma (stage IA), and resected cutaneous melanoma of the left forearm more than 5 years prior presented with cerebral metastatic disease. Excision biopsy confirmed adenocarcinoma of lung origin. Further evaluation with 18F-FDG PET/CT demonstrated FDG-avid disease in the right thorax, axilla, and lower neck and isolated cutaneous uptake in the right forearm. Lymph node biopsy confirmed synchronous mantle cell lymphoma and metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung.
A Triphasic Split-bolus Contrast Injection Protocol for Artery-vein Separation During Pulmonary Computed Tomographic Angiography
Authors: Tokurei Shogo , Takegami Kazuki , Ikushima Yoichiro , Sato Shusaku , Kudomi Shohei , Okada Munemasa 
Published: September 2021

Purpose:
Accurate artery-vein separation on pulmonary computed tomographic (CT) angiography is desirable for preoperative 3-dimensional image simulation, while using a minimal amount of contrast medium. This study aimed to verify whether a split-bolus contrast enhancement protocol with test-bolus tracking would provide contrast differentiation between the pulmonary arteries (PA) and pulmonary veins (PV) during high-pitch single-pass CT angiography.

Materials and Methods:
Fifty patients underwent pulmonary CT angiography with a triphasic split-bolus injection protocol with the main bolus of contrast medium for 6 seconds, followed by a subsequent bolus of 20% diluted contrast medium/80% saline for another 6 seconds and a 5-second saline chaser. The single-scan timing was individually tailored to the peak enhancement at the left atrium, that is, the pulmonary-venous dominant phase, by monitoring a time-enhancement curve with test bolus.

Results:
Time-enhancement curves of the test bolus demonstrated that the interval times between the peak enhancements at the PA and PV were ~6 seconds. For contrast enhancement image analyses with our protocol, the attenuation measurements at the main PA and left atrium were performed. The mean (SD) CT numbers were 246.4 (50.0) HU at the main PA, and 410.8 (59.0) HU at the left atrium. The mean difference in the CT numbers was 164.4 HU (95% confidence interval: 149.2-179.6, P<0.001) between the main PA and left atrium.

Conclusions:
Our contrast enhancement protocol for high-pitch single-pass pulmonary CT angiography could provide the desired artery-vein separation while maintaining adequate attenuations of the pulmonary vasculature.
Causal effect of C-reactive protein and vitamin D on human cerebral anatomy observed among genetically correlated biomarkers in blood
Authors: Kiltschewskij Dylan J. , Reay William R. , Cairns Murray J. 
Published: September 2021

ABSTRACTPsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are commonly associated with structural brain alterations affecting the cortex, which frequently vary with clinically relevant factors including antipsychotic treatment, duration of illness and age of onset. While the underlying variables mediating these structural changes are poorly understood, recent genetic evidence suggests circulating metabolites and other biochemical traits play a causal role in a number of psychiatric disorders which could be mediated by changes in the cerebral cortex. In the current study, we leveraged publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) data to explore shared genetic architecture and evidence for causal relationships between a panel of 50 biochemical traits and measures of cortical thickness and surface area at both the global and regional levels. Linkage disequilibrium score regression identified a total of 20 significant and 156 suggestive genetically correlated biochemical-cortical trait pairings, of which six exhibited strong evidence for causality in a latent causal variable model. Interestingly, a negative causal relationship was identified between a unit increase in serum C-reactive protein levels and thickness of the lingual and lateral occipital regions that was also supported by Mendelian randomisation, while circulating vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) levels exhibited a positive causal effect on temporal pole thickness. Taken together, our findings suggest a subset of biochemical traits exhibit shared genetic architecture and potentially causal relationships with cortical thickness in functionally distinct regions, which may contribute to alteration of cortical structure in psychiatric disorders.
Drought stress increases the expression of barley defence genes with negative consequences for infesting cereal aphids
Authors: Leybourne Daniel J. , Valentine Tracy A , Binnie Kirsty , Taylor Anna , Karley Alison J , Bos Jorunn IB 
Published: September 2021

AbstractCrops are exposed to myriad abiotic and biotic stressors with negative consequences. Two stressors that are expected to increase under climate change are drought and infestation with herbivorous insects, including important aphid species. Expanding our understanding of the impact drought has on the plant-aphid relationship will become increasingly important under future climate scenarios. Here we use a previously characterised plant-aphid system comprising a susceptible variety of barley, a wild relative of barley with partial-aphid resistance, and the bird cherry-oat aphid to examine the drought-plant-aphid relationship. We show that drought has a negative effect on plant physiology and aphid fitness and provide evidence to suggest that plant resistance influences aphid responses to drought stress, with the expression of aphid detoxification genes increasing under drought when feeding on the susceptible plant but decreasing on the partially-resistant plant. Furthermore, we show that the expression of thionin genes, plant defensive compounds that contribute aphid resistance, increase ten-fold in susceptible plants exposed to drought stress but remain at constant levels in the partially-resistant plant, suggesting they play an important role in modulating aphid populations. This study highlights the role of plant defensive processes in mediating the interactions between the environment, plants, and herbivorous insects.
Disentangling five dimensions of animacy in human brain and behaviour
Authors: Jozwik Kamila M , Najarro Elias , van den Bosch Jasper JF , Charest Ian , Cichy Radoslaw M , Kriegeskorte Nikolaus 
Published: September 2021

AbstractDistinguishing animate from inanimate things is of great behavioural importance. Despite distinct brain and behavioural responses to animate and inanimate things, it remains unclear which object properties drive these responses. Here, we investigate the importance of five object dimensions related to animacy (“being alive”, “looking like an animal”, “having agency”, “having mobility”, and “being unpredictable”) in brain (fMRI, EEG) and behaviour (property and similarity judgements) of 19 participants. We used a stimulus set of 128 images, optimized by a genetic algorithm to disentangle these five dimensions. The five dimensions explained much variance in the similarity judgments. Each dimension also explained a modest but significant amount of variance in the brain representations, except, surprisingly, “being alive”. Different brain regions sensitive to animacy may represent distinct dimensions, either as accessible perceptual stepping stones toward detecting whether something is alive or because they are of behavioural importance in their own right.