bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Species‐specific responses of a marsh‐forest ecotone plant community responding to climate change
Authors: Jobe Justus Grant Dalton , Gedan Keryn 
Published: February 2021

AbstractEcotones are responsive to environmental change and pave a path for succession as they move across the landscape. We investigated the biotic and abiotic filters to species establishment on opposite ends of a tidal marsh‐forest ecotone that is moving inland in response to sea level rise. We transplanted four plant species common to the ecotone to the leading or trailing edge of the migrating ecotone, with and without caging to protect them from ungulate herbivores. We found that species exhibited an individualistic response to abiotic and biotic pressures in this ecotone; three species performed better at the leading edge of the ecotone in the coastal forest, whereas one performed better at the trailing edge in the marsh. Specifically, grass species Phragmites australis and Panicum virgatum grew more in the low light and low salinity conditions of the leading edge of the ecotone (forest), whereas the shrub Iva frutescens grew better in the high light, high salinity conditions of the trailing edge of the ecotone (marsh). Furthermore, of the four species, only P. australis was affected by the biotic pressure of herbivory by an introduced ungulate, Cervus nippon, which greatly reduced its biomass and survival at the leading edge (forest). P. australis is an aggressive invasive species and has been observed to dominate in the wake of migrating marsh‐forest ecotones. Our findings detail the role of lower salinity stress to promote and herbivory pressure to inhibit the establishment of P. australis during shifts of this ecotone, and also highlight an interaction between two nonnative species, P. australis and C. nippon. Understanding migration of the marsh‐forest ecotone and the factors controlling P. australis establishment are critical for marsh conservation in the face of sea level rise. More generally, our findings support the conclusion that the abiotic and biotic filters of a migrating ecotone shape the resulting community.
GFI1/HDAC1‐axis differentially regulates immunosuppressive CD73 in human tumor‐associated FOXP3+Th17 and inflammation‐linked Th17 cells
Authors: Roy Dia , Bose Sayantan , Pati Subhadip , Guin Aharna , Banerjee Krishnendu , Saha Sudipto , Singhal Ayush K. , Chakraborty Jayati , Sarkar Diptendra K. , Sa Gaurisankar 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPlasticity between Th17 and Treg cells is regarded as a crucial determinant of tumor‐associated immunosuppression. Classically Th17 cells mediate inflammatory responses through production of cytokine IL17. Recently, Th17 cells have also been shown to acquire suppressive phenotypes in tumor microenvironment. However, the mechanism by which they acquire such immunosuppressive properties is still elusive. Here, we report that in tumor microenvironment Th17 cell acquires immunosuppressive properties by expressing Treg lineage‐specific transcription factor FOXP3 and ectonucleotidase CD73. We designate this cell as Th17reg cell and perceive that such immunosuppressive property is dependent on CD73. It was observed that in classical Th17 cell, GFI1 recruits HDAC1 to change the euchromatin into tightly‐packed heterochromatin at the proximal‐promoter region of CD73 to repress its expression. Whereas in Th17reg cells GFI1 cannot get access to CD73‐promoter due to heterochromatin state at its binding site and, thus, cannot recruit HDAC1, failing to suppress the expression of CD73.
Lexicon‐pointed hybrid N‐gram Features Extraction Model (LeNFEM) for sentence level sentiment analysis
Authors: Mutinda James , Mwangi Waweru , Okeyo George 
Published: February 2021

AbstractSentiment analysis of social media textual posts can provide information and knowledge that is applicable in social settings, business intelligence, evaluation of citizens' opinions in governance, and in mood triggered devices in the Internet of Things. Feature extraction and selection is a key determinant of accuracy and computational cost of machine learning models for such analysis. Most feature extraction and selection techniques utilize bag of words, N‐grams, and frequency‐based algorithms especially Term Frequency‐Inverse Document Frequency. However, these approaches do not consider relationships between words, they ignore words' characteristics and they suffer high feature dimensionality. In this paper we propose and evaluate a feature extraction and selection approach that utilizes a fixed hybrid N‐gram window for feature extraction and minimum redundancy maximum relevance feature selection algorithm for sentence level sentiment analysis. The approach improves the existing features extraction techniques, specifically the N‐gram by generating a hybrid vector from words, Part of Speech (POS) tags, and word semantic orientation. The vector is extracted by using a static trigram window identified by a lexicon where a sentiment word appears in a sentence. A blend of the words, POS tags, and the sentiment orientations of the static trigram are used to build the feature vector. The optimal features from the vector are then selected using minimum redundancy maximum relevance (MRMR) algorithm. Experiments were carried out using the public Yelp dataset to compare the performance of the proposed model and existing feature extraction models (BOW, normal N‐grams and lexicon‐based bag of words semantic orientations). Using supervised machine learning classifiers the experimental results showed that the proposed model had the highest F‐measure (88.64%) compared to the highest (83.55%) from baseline approaches. Wilcoxon test carried out ascertained that the proposed approach performed significantly better than the baseline approaches. Comparative performance analysis with other datasets further affirmed that the proposed approach is generalizable.
Reliability analysis of station autonomous computer system based on fuzzy dynamic fault tree and Markov model
Authors: Yan Lu , Zhang Tao , Gao Ying , Wang Rongsheng , Ding Shuxin 
Published: February 2021

AbstractStation autonomous computer system is the core of the centralized traffic control (CTC) system. The working mode is dual computer hot standby, and its reliability is very important. Due to the dynamic and fuzzy issue with the reliability analysis of station autonomous computer system, a reliability analysis method is formulated based on fuzzy dynamic fault tree (DFT) and Markov model. First, the structure and working principle of the dual computer hot standby autonomous computer system and the double 2‐vote‐2 autonomous computer system are analyzed, and two autonomous computer systems based on DFT are formulated. Then, the failure rates and the fault detection probabilities are considered as fuzzy variables and represented as triangular fuzzy variables. The fuzzy state transition matrix of the system is obtained by conversion of DFT to the Markov model. Finally, the fuzzy reliability of the system is calculated by Laplace transform. Simulation results show that the reliability of the dual computer hot standby autonomous computer system is higher than that of the double 2‐vote‐2 autonomous computer system. Besides, the reliability of the hardware system is not only related to the structure of the system, but also affected by the uncertain unit failure rate, fault detection probabilities, and so on.
Breakthrough studies of the adsorption of lead from synthetic solution using Liagora viscida in a fixed bed column
Authors: Srikanth Komarabathina , King Pulipati , Pujari Murali 
Published: February 2021

AbstractConsidering the toxicity, the removal of heavy metals from the liquid effluent is of great significance. This article addresses the impact of the adsorbent bed height and flowrate on the adsorption performance and breakthrough curves in column studies. To explore the potential of Liagora viscida biosorbent, adsorption experiments were conducted in a packed column at various bed heights in the range of 2 to 6 cm and flow rates in the range of 10 to 20 ml/min. The maximum uptake of 53.90 mg/g has been achieved at the flow rate of 20 ml/min for an initial metal solution concentration of 20 ppm and pH and bed height of 6 and 2 cm, respectively. In the current study, the breakthrough (tb) and exhaust times (ts) correspond to 0.1 and 0.9, respectively. To predict the breakthrough characteristics, the experimental data were tested using Bohart‐Adam (B‐A), Bed Depth Service Time (BDST), Thomas, and Yoon‐Nelson (Y‐N) models. The experimental results confirmed that all three models except the Bohart‐Adams model were suitable for the experimental data with a good correlation coefficient.
The ripples of modernity: How we can extend paleoanthropology with the extended evolutionary synthesis
Authors: Kissel Marc , Fuentes AgustÍn 
Published: February 2021

AbstractContemporary understandings of paleoanthropological data illustrate that the search for a line defining, or a specific point designating, “modern human” is problematic. Here we lend support to the argument for the need to look for patterns in the paleoanthropological record that indicate how multiple evolutionary processes intersected to form the human niche, a concept critical to assessing the development and processes involved in the emergence of a contemporary human phenotype. We suggest that incorporating key elements of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) into our endeavors offers a better and more integrative toolkit for modeling and assessing the evolution of the genusHomo. To illustrate our points, we highlight how aspects of the genetic exchanges, morphology, and material culture of the later Pleistocene complicate the concept of “modern” human behavior and suggest that multiple evolutionary patterns, processes, and pathways intersected to form the human niche.
High‐definition three‐dimensional exoscope for head and neck reconstruction: Prospective analysis of 27 consecutive patients
Authors: De Virgilio Armando , Costantino Andrea , Ferreli Fabio , Malvezzi Luca , Zocchi Jacopo , Pellini Raul , Mercante Giuseppe , Spriano Giuseppe 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPurposeTo analyze the advantages and disadvantages of a three‐dimensional (3D) operating exoscope (OE) in head and neck free flap reconstruction.MethodsTwenty‐seven consecutive patients (females: 8; mean age: 57.0) were included. After each procedure, both surgeon and nurse were asked to fill out a tailored questionnaire on a three‐point Likert scale including 12 items.ResultsAll microvascular anastomoses were successfully completed, and no related complications were detected with a final free flap survival rate of 100% (mean follow‐up of 5.6 months, SD: 3.1 months). The ergonomics, the ease of use, and the possibility to share the view among all the OR members were the best‐rated items by the surgeons, while the luminance of the surgical field and the eye strain determined by the 3D glasses can still be improved.ConclusionFurther comparative clinical studies are needed to clarify its real value in substitution to a conventional operating microscope.
Emerging applications of phase change materials: A concise review of recent advances
Authors: Faraji Hamza , Benkaddour Ayman , Oudaoui Kenza , El Alami Mustapha , Faraji Mustapha 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPhase change materials (PCMs) are used as latent heat thermal energy storage materials. The fields of application for PCMs are broad and diverse. Among these areas are thermal control of electronic components and thermal building regulations. These areas are used as heat and cold storage materials. The low thermal conductivity of PCMs is one of the significant and severe technological problems of PCMs. This paper presents a review of the latest works using PCMs in the thermal management of electronic components, buildings, and heat exchangers. Besides, it provides concise pieces of information on the classification of PCMs, their advantages, disadvantages, and thermal storage systems.
Micropolar couple stress thermofluidics and entropy in Forchheimer channel
Authors: Vyas Paresh , Khan Sahanawaz , Gajanand  
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis paper presents an analysis of the entropy generated in thermofluidic configuration involving micropolar couple stress fluid flow inside a Forchheimer channel. The channel is composed of a porous medium trapped between two parallel permeable plates separated by distance H through which the fluid can be sucked out/injected in. One of the plate bears a constant temperature and other is subjected to a uniform heat flux. A Cartesian coordinate system is chosen to model the flow configuration. The nondimensional nonlinear governing equations are solved by the differential transform method and Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method to ascertain the accuracy of the results. Both the methods do match to the order of 10−6 for the quantities velocity, microrotation, and temperature. These quantities and their gradients are required to the compute entropy generation number. The effects of the parameters on entropy generation and Bejan number are discussed through various plots.
The economic impact of legislative complexity and corruption: A cross‐country analysis
Authors: Di Vita Giuseppe 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis article analyses the relationship between corruption and legislative complexity, their impact on growth rate, and per capita income distribution. An econometric analysis is performed using a new index of legislative complexity, built in a way that makes it internationally comparable. In the dataset, 67 countries are considered, for a period of 21 years from 1995 to 2015. The OLS and 2SLS regressions are provided. The results of the econometric analysis support the hypothesis that legislative complexity is a constraint to growth, and that in countries with a long history of liberal democracy legislative complexity determines an income redistribution to the detriment of the poorer social classes.
Time‐varyingcausality between bond and oil markets of the United States: Evidence from over one and half centuries of data
Authors: Coronado Semei , Gupta Rangan , Nazlioglu Saban , Rojas Omar 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis paper analyzes the time‐varying causality between government bond and oil returns of the United States over the monthly period of 1859:10 to 2019:03, that is, the longest possible span of historical data, starting from the beginning of the modern era of the petroleum industry. While the standard constant parameter causality test fails to pick up any evidence of causality, the time‐varying framework shows evidence of bi‐directional spillovers over the entire sample period. The results are robust to the inclusion of stock returns as a control variable in the model. We also detect evidence of time‐varying causality‐in‐volatility between sovereign bond and oil markets, as well as spillovers in returns and volatility from the oil market to corporate bonds.
Motives and market reactions to convertible bonds and bonds with warrants issuance in an emerging market
Authors: Kim Woo Sung , Oh Sekyung , Kiymaz Halil 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWe examine why Korean firms issue hybrid securities, including convertible bonds and bonds with warrants. In particular, we investigate whether there exist any differences between companies issuing convertible bonds and those issuing bonds with warrants. Our findings show that younger firms with more growth opportunities, larger size, high leverage, low profitability, low credit rating, and low ownership concentrations are likely to issue more hybrid securities rather than straight debt or equity. Also, we find that firms with more growth opportunities, larger size, low profitability, and higher ownership concentrations prefer to issue convertible bonds rather than bonds with warrants. Although we find that the announcement effects of both convertible bonds and bonds with warrants are significantly positive, the cumulative abnormal returns are higher for convertible bonds than for bonds with warrants.
Local IPO waves, local shocks, and the going public decision
Authors: Baschieri Giulia , Carosi Andrea , Mengoli Stefano 
Published: February 2021

AbstractLocal IPO waves occur when firms from different industries, but located in the same area, go public in the same time period. We classify IPOs within industry IPO waves and within local IPO waves, and see that the sub‐samples of IPOs on the wave by industry only slightly overlap IPOs on the wave by region; IPO waves by region are similar to IPO waves by industry: for example, early‐in‐the‐wave IPOs are equally more underpriced than late‐in‐the‐wave IPOs. We also find the listing decision is sensitive not only to high valuations of firms in the same industry but also to high valuations of firms in the same region but in different industries. Our results do not support information spillover as a driver of local IPO waves, as the post‐IPO fall in profitability is more pronounced for on‐the‐wave than for off‐the‐wave IPO firms and the IPO price revision is not sensitive to the information revealed by concurrent IPOs. Using a difference‐in‐difference approach, we show that regions hosting IPO waves experience a parallel increase in several economic ratios post the wave. Overall, our results provide support to local IPO waves originating in positive local shocks.
Effectiveness of laparoscopic tubal anastomosis in tubal occlusion patients after laparoscopic salpingostomy for tubal pregnancy
Authors: Xiang Yingchun , Huang Wei , Fu Jing , Luo Li , Wang Qian , Ouyang Yunwei 
Published: February 2021

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of laparoscopic tubal anastomosis for tubal occlusions associated with infertility in patients with previous laparoscopic salpingostomy for ectopic pregnancy.MethodsThis study is a retrospective analysis of the pregnancy outcomes of 173 infertile patients who underwent hysteroscopy and laparoscopic tubal anastomosis treatment between January 2013 and August 2018 in the Department of Reproductive Endocrinology in West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University. All patients had a history of laparoscopic salpingostomy for tubal pregnancy. The primary outcomes were intrauterine pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, and delivery rates. We further studied the associated factors that could influence the change in pregnancy status.ResultsThe 24‐month cumulative clinical pregnancy rate of all patients was 107/173 (61.8%). The distribution of outcomes for the entire group of pregnancies was as follows: intrauterine pregnancy rate, 76/173 (43.9%); ectopic pregnancy rate, 31/173 (17.9%); delivery rate, 68/173 (39.3%); and miscarriage rate, 8/173 (4.6%). Age, type of anastomosis, hydrosalpinx, and endometrial polyps were significant prognostic factors in the multivariate model.ConclusionLaparoscopic tubal anastomosis is an effective treatment for tubal‐associated infertility due to previous laparoscopic salpingostomy for ectopic pregnancy, especially for women under 35 years of age.
Deep learning based Alzheimer's disease early diagnosis using T2w segmented gray matter MRI
Authors: Basheera Shaik , Ram M Satya Sai 
Published: February 2021

AbstractDiagnosing Alzheimer's disease at early stage required an effective classification mechanism to differentiate mild cognitive impairment from cognitive normal and AD. In this paper, we used data set collected from ADNI and OASIS. Instead of using the whole volume of the MRI, high informative slices are selected using entropy. The selected slices are pre‐processed by removing unwanted tissues using skull stripping algorithm and extracted gray matter using EICA. In this work, we used CNN model with inception blocks to extract deep features from the GM slices used to predict AD at early stage. The model avoids data leakage by considering all the slices of an MRI as a unit. The model trained with 80% of ADNI subject MRI volumes and tested with the remaining 20% subject MRI volumes, to provide great variance in training and testing data, the model further tested with OASIS data sets. 10‐fold cross‐validation is used to test the model without biasing. The model performance is evaluated using accuracy. The model achieves 98.73%, 100%, 93.72%, and 95.6% of accuracy for differentiating CN‐MCI, CN‐AD, AD‐ MCI and CN‐MCI and AD. At 10‐fold cross‐validation it gives 92.92 ± 3%, 98 ± 2%, 90 ± 4% and 94.9 ± 2% accuracy to differentiate CN‐MCI, CN‐AD, AD‐MCI, and CN‐MCI‐AD using ADNI. We further tested the model with 135 MRI volumes selected from OASIS data set, we achieved 92%, 91.76%, 88.23%, 81.48% of accuracy with CN‐AD, MCI‐AD, CN‐MCI, and three‐way classification. The model gives good accuracy and sensitivity of early AD Diagnosis.
Institutional Research and Human Resources: Partnering to Advance Decision Support for Our Greatest Investment
Authors: Bramblett Sandra 
Published: February 2021

AbstractHuman resources (HR) represent the most significant investment on most of our college campuses in terms of time and financial resources. The importance of good data about the workforce begins with establishing a need for a new position. That need for data continues with recruiting, hiring, training, promoting, retaining (or not), and retiring faculty and staff. Understanding how institutional research (IR) can provide evidence and decision support for this process should generate considerable returns for campus leadership with increased transactional efficiencies and enhanced strategic decisions. Identifying best practices and new approaches for collaboration between the functions involving human resources and institutional research benefits the institution, their stakeholders, and, ultimately, the faculty and staff.
Evaluation of the hepatoprotective effects of curcumin and nanocurcumin against paraquat‐induced liver injury in rats: Modulation of oxidative stress and Nrf2 pathway
Authors: Kheiripour Nejat , Plarak Alireza , Heshmati Ali , Asl Sara Soleimani , Mehri Fereshteh , Ebadollahi‐Natanzi Alireza , Ranjbar Akram , Hosseini Asieh 
Published: February 2021

AbstractParaquat (PQ) is a widely used herbicide all over the world, which is highly toxic for animals and humans. Its cytotoxicity is based on reactive radical generation. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the hepatoprotective effects of curcumin and nanocurcumin against liver damage caused by sub‐acute exposure with PQ via modulation of oxidative stress and genes expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway. Rats were exposed to PQ (5 mg/kg/day, orally) + curcumin or nanocurcumin (100 mg/kg/day, orally) for 7 days. Then rats were anesthetized and serum and liver samples were collected. Next, serum enzymatic activities, liver histopathology, oxidative stress, and expression of genes involved in Nrf2 signaling pathway were assessed by biochemical and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay methods, hematoxylin and eosin staining, and real‐time polymerase chain reaction analysis. PQ significantly increased malondialdehyde, alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase levels, and Kelch‐like ECH‐associated protein 1 gene expression and also decreased total antioxidant capacity, total thiol group levels, Glutathione S‐transferases, heme oxygenase 1, Nrf2, and NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 genes expression, causing histological damages to liver tissue. These changes were significantly modulated by curcumin and nanocurcumin treatments. Our findings showed that nanocurcumin had better hepatoprotective effect than curcumin in liver damage after PQ exposure most likely through modulation of oxidative stress and genes expression of Nrf2 pathway.