bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Autophagy is deregulated in cancer-associated fibroblasts from oral cancer and is stimulated during the induction of fibroblast senescence by TGF-β1
Authors: Tan May Leng , Parkinson E. Kenneth , Yap Lee Fah , Paterson Ian C. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractMany of the characteristics ascribed to cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are shared by activated, autophagic and senescent fibroblasts. Whilst most oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) are genetically unstable (GU-OSCC), genetically stable variants (GS-OSCC) have been described and, notably, CAF activation (myofibroblast differentiation) and senescence are characteristics particularly associated with GU-OSCCs. However, it is not known whether autophagy is disrupted in these cells or whether autophagy regulates the development of the myofibroblast and senescent phenotypes. In this study, we show that senescent CAFs from GU-OSCCs contained more autophagosomes than normal human oral fibroblasts (NHOFs) and CAFs from GS-OSCCs possibly due to autophagic impairment. Further, we show that deregulation of autophagy in normal fibroblasts, either by inhibition with autophagy inhibitor, SAR405, or activation with TGF-β1, induced fibroblast activation and senescence: In response to TGF-β1, autophagy was induced prior to the development of the activated and senescent phenotypes. Lastly, we show that both SAR405- and TGF-β1-treated NHOFs enhance OSCC cell migration but only TGF-β1-treated cells increase OSCC invasion through Matrigel, indicating that TGF-β1 has additional effects that are independent of fibroblast activation/senescence. These results suggest a functional role for autophagy in the development of myofibroblast and CAF phenotypes.
Couette flow of viscoelastic dusty fluid in a rotating frame along with the heat transfer
Authors: Bilal Muhammad , Khan Salaha , Ali Farhad , Arif Muhammad , Khan Ilyas , Nisar Kottakkaran Sooppy 
Published: January 2021

AbstractViscoelastic fluid is an advanced fluid which exhibits both elastic and viscous properties. Whereas rotation of viscoelastic fluid is a very complex phenomenon and has an immense amount of applications in engineering and product making industries. Due to various applications in real life researchers are working to understand the rheology of viscoelastic fluids. Viscoelastic dusty fluids are used in gas cooling systems. In nuclear reactors, dusty fluids are used to lower the temperature of the system. Such fluids are also used in centrifugal separators, which separate solid particles from the liquid state, etc. Therefore, in the present study, viscoelastic dusty fluid is analyzed. More precisely free convective Couette flow under the influence of the transversely applied uniform magnetic field in a rotating frame is considered. The subject fluid is driven by the sine oscillations of the upper plate along with the effect of free convection. Due to rotation, the fluid and dust particles have complex velocities which is the sum of primary velocity and secondary velocity. The flow regime is modeled in terms of partial differential equations. To non-dimensionalize the system of governing equations, dimensionless variables have been derived through Buckingham-Pi theorem. The system of partial differential equations is solved through assumed periodic solutions (Poincare-Light Hill Technique). The expressions for skin friction (shear stresses at $$y = 0$$

y
=
0

) and Nusselt number (the rate of heat transfer) are also calculated. Moreover, parametric influence on Nusselt number, and velocity profile of the fluid and the dust particles, is discussed. It is observed that increase in rotation parameter η causes retardation in the velocity of dust particles and the fluid. This is due to the fact that the increase in η enhances the Coriolis forces that are in fact inertial forces, causing a retardation in the velocity of the fluid phase and the dust phase.
Electron-ion coincidence measurements of molecular dynamics with intense X-ray pulses
Authors: Li Xiang , Inhester Ludger , Osipov Timur , Boll Rebecca , Coffee Ryan , Cryan James , Gatton Ave , Gorkhover Tais , Hartman Gregor , Ilchen Markus , Knie André , Lin Ming-Fu , Minitti Michael P. , Weninger Clemens , Wolf Thomas J. A. , Son Sang-Kil , Santra Robin , Rolles Daniel , Rudenko Artem , Walter Peter 
Published: January 2021

AbstractMolecules can sequentially absorb multiple photons when irradiated by an intense X-ray pulse from a free-electron laser. If the time delay between two photoabsorption events can be determined, this enables pump-probe experiments with a single X-ray pulse, where the absorption of the first photon induces electronic and nuclear dynamics that are probed by the absorption of the second photon. Here we show a realization of such a single-pulse X-ray pump-probe scheme on N$$_2$$

2

molecules, using the X-ray induced dissociation process as an internal clock that is read out via coincident detection of photoelectrons and fragment ions. By coincidence analysis of the kinetic energies of the ionic fragments and photoelectrons, the transition from a bound molecular dication to two isolated atomic ions is observed through the energy shift of the inner-shell electrons. Via ab-initio simulations, we are able to map characteristic features in the kinetic energy release and photoelectron spectrum to specific delay times between photoabsorptions. In contrast to previous studies where nuclear motions were typically revealed by measuring ion kinetics, our work shows that inner-shell photoelectron energies can also be sensitive probes of nuclear dynamics, which adds one more dimension to the study of light-matter interactions with X-ray pulses.
Concentration-dependent oscillation of specific loss power in magnetic nanofluid hyperthermia
Authors: Kim Ji-wook , Wang Jie , Kim Hyungsub , Bae Seongtae 
Published: January 2021

AbstractMagnetic dipole coupling between the colloidal superparamagnetic nanoparticles (SPNPs) depending on the concentration has been paid significant attention due to its critical role in characterizing the Specific Loss Power (SLP) in magnetic nanofluid hyperthermia (MNFH). However, despite immense efforts, the physical mechanism of concentration-dependent SLP change behavior is still poorly understood and some contradictory results have been recently reported. Here, we first report that the SLP of SPNP MNFH agent shows strong concentration-dependent oscillation behavior. According to the experimentally and theoretically analyzed results, the energy competition among the magnetic dipole interaction energy, magnetic potential energy, and exchange energy, was revealed as the main physical reason for the oscillation behavior. Empirically demonstrated new finding and physically established model on the concentration-dependent SLP oscillation behavior is expected to provide biomedically crucial information in determining the critical dose of an agent for clinically safe and highly efficient MNFH in cancer clinics.
FMRI-based identity classification accuracy in left temporal and frontal regions predicts speaker recognition performance
Authors: Aglieri Virginia , Cagna Bastien , Velly Lionel , Takerkart Sylvain , Belin Pascal 
Published: January 2021

AbstractSpeaker recognition is characterized by considerable inter-individual variability with poorly understood neural bases. This study was aimed at (1) clarifying the cerebral correlates of speaker recognition in humans, in particular the involvement of prefrontal areas, using multi voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) applied to fMRI data from a relatively large group of participants, and (2) at investigating the relationship across participants between fMRI-based classification and the group’s variable behavioural performance at the speaker recognition task. A cohort of subjects (N = 40, 28 females) selected to present a wide distribution of voice recognition abilities underwent an fMRI speaker identification task during which they were asked to recognize three previously learned speakers with finger button presses. The results showed that speaker identity could be significantly decoded based on fMRI patterns in voice-sensitive regions including bilateral temporal voice areas (TVAs) along the superior temporal sulcus/gyrus but also in bilateral parietal and left inferior frontal regions. Furthermore, fMRI-based classification accuracy showed a significant correlation with individual behavioural performance in left anterior STG/STS and left inferior frontal gyrus. These results highlight the role of both temporal and extra-temporal regions in performing a speaker identity recognition task with motor responses.
A model-based quantification of startle reflex habituation in larval zebrafish
Authors: Beppi Carolina , Straumann Dominik , Bögli Stefan Yu 
Published: January 2021

AbstractZebrafish is an established animal model for the reproduction and study of neurobiological pathogenesis of human neurological conditions. The ‘startle reflex’ in zebrafish larvae is an evolutionarily preserved defence response, manifesting as a quick body-bend in reaction to sudden sensory stimuli. Changes in startle reflex habituation characterise several neuropsychiatric disorders and hence represent an informative index of neurophysiological health. This study aimed at establishing a simple and reliable experimental protocol for the quantification of startle reflex response and habituation. The fish were stimulated with 20 repeated pulses of specific vibratory frequency, acoustic intensity/power, light-intensity and interstimulus-interval, in three separate studies. The cumulative distance travelled, namely the sum of the distance travelled (mm) during all 20 stimuli, was computed as a group-level description for all the experimental conditions in each study. Additionally, by the use of bootstrapping, the data was fitted to a model of habituation with a first-order exponential representing the decay of locomotor distance travelled over repeated stimulation. Our results suggest that startle habituation is a stereotypic first-order process with a decay constant ranging from 1 to 2 stimuli. Habituation memory lasts no more than 5 min, as manifested by the locomotor activity recovering to baseline levels. We further observed significant effects of vibratory frequency, acoustic intensity/power and interstimulus-interval on the amplitude, offset, decay constant and cumulative distance travelled. Instead, the intensity of the flashed light did not contribute to significant behavioural variations. The findings provide novel insights as to the influence of different stimuli parameters on the startle reflex habituation and constitute a helpful reference framework for further investigation.
Win-stay/lose-switch, prospecting-based settlement strategy may not be adaptive under rapid environmental change
Authors: Kloskowski Janusz 
Published: January 2021

AbstractUnderstanding animal responses to environmental change is crucial for management of ecological traps. Between-year habitat selection was investigated in red‐necked grebes (Podiceps grisegena) breeding on semi-natural fish ponds, where differential stocking of fish created contrasting yet poorly predictable brood-stage food availabilities. Grebes lured to low-quality ponds were more likely to shift territories than birds nesting on high-quality ponds, and tended to move to ponds whose habitat quality had been high in the previous year, irrespective of the current quality of the new and old territories. The territory switchers typically visited their future breeding ponds during or immediately after the brood-rearing period. However, owing to rotation of fish stocks, the habitat quality of many ponds changed in the following year, and then switchers from low-quality ponds and stayers on previously high-quality ponds were ecologically trapped. Thus, although breeders were making an informed choice, their settlement decisions, based on the win–stay/lose–switch rule and prospecting a year in advance, were inappropriate in conditions of year-to-year habitat fluctuations. Effective adaptation to rapid environmental change may necessitate both learning to correctly evaluate uncertain environmental cues and abandonment of previously adaptive decision-making algorithms (here prioritizing past-year information and assuming temporal autocorrelation of habitat quality).
Estimating mouse and rat use in American laboratories by extrapolation from Animal Welfare Act-regulated species
Authors: Carbone Larry 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAlone among Western nations, the United States has a two-tier system for welfare protections for vertebrate animals in research. Because its Animal Welfare Act (AWA) excludes laboratory rats and mice (RM), government veterinarians do not inspect RM laboratories and RM numbers are only partially reported to government agencies1. Without transparent statistics, it is impossible to track efforts to reduce or replace these sentient animals’ use or to project government resources needed if AWA coverage were expanded to include them. I obtained annual RM usage data from 16 large American institutions and compared RM numbers to institutions’ legally-required reports of their AWA-covered mammals. RM comprised approximately 99.3% of mammals at these representative institutions. Extrapolating from 780,070 AWA-covered mammals in 2017–18, I estimate that 111.5 million rats and mice were used per year in this period. If the same proportion of RM undergo painful procedures as are publicly reported for AWA-covered animals, then some 44.5 million mice and rats underwent potentially painful experiments. These data inform the questions of whether the AWA needs an update to cover RM, or whether the NIH should increase transparency of funded animal research. These figures can benchmark progress in reducing animal numbers in general and more specifically, in painful experiments. This estimate is higher than any others available, reflecting the challenges of obtaining statistics without consistent and transparent institutional reports.
The overlap of genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia and cardiometabolic disease can be used to identify metabolically different groups of individuals
Authors: Strawbridge Rona J. , Johnston Keira J. A. , Bailey Mark E. S. , Baldassarre Damiano , Cullen Breda , Eriksson Per , deFaire Ulf , Ferguson Amy , Gigante Bruna , Giral Philippe , Graham Nicholas , Hamsten Anders , Humphries Steve E. , Kurl Sudhir , Lyall Donald M. , Lyall Laura M. , Pell Jill P. , Pirro Matteo , Savonen Kai , Smit Andries J. , Tremoli Elena , Tomainen Tomi-Pekka , Veglia Fabrizio , Ward Joey , Sennblad Bengt , Smith Daniel J. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractUnderstanding why individuals with severe mental illness (Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder) have increased risk of cardiometabolic disease (including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease), and identifying those at highest risk of cardiometabolic disease are important priority areas for researchers. For individuals with European ancestry we explored whether genetic variation could identify sub-groups with different metabolic profiles. Loci associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder from previous genome-wide association studies and loci that were also implicated in cardiometabolic processes and diseases were selected. In the IMPROVE study (a high cardiovascular risk sample) and UK Biobank (general population sample) multidimensional scaling was applied to genetic variants implicated in both psychiatric and cardiometabolic disorders. Visual inspection of the resulting plots used to identify distinct clusters. Differences between these clusters were assessed using chi-squared and Kruskall-Wallis tests. In IMPROVE, genetic loci associated with both schizophrenia and cardiometabolic disease (but not bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder) identified three groups of individuals with distinct metabolic profiles. This grouping was replicated within UK Biobank, with somewhat less distinction between metabolic profiles. This work focused on individuals of European ancestry and is unlikely to apply to more genetically diverse populations. Overall, this study provides proof of concept that common biology underlying mental and physical illness may help to stratify subsets of individuals with different cardiometabolic profiles.
Modelling adaptation strategies to reduce adverse impacts of climate change on maize cropping system in Northeast China
Authors: Jiang Rong , He Wentian , He Liang , Yang J. Y. , Qian B. , Zhou Wei , He Ping 
Published: January 2021

AbstractMaize (Zea mays L.) production in Northeast China is vulnerable to climate change. Thus, exploring future adaptation measures for maize is crucial to developing sustainable agriculture to ensure food security. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the impacts of climate change on maize yield and partial factor productivity of nitrogen (PFPN) and explore potential adaptation strategies in Northeast China. The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) model was calibrated and validated using the measurements from nine maize experiments. DSSAT performed well in simulating maize yield, biomass and N uptake for both calibration and validation periods (normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) < 10%, −5% < normalized average relative error (nARE) < 5% and index of agreement (d) > 0.8). Compared to the baseline (1980–2010), the average maize yields and PFPN would decrease by 7.6–32.1% and 3.6–14.0 kg N kg−1 respectively under future climate scenarios (2041–2070 and 2071–2100) without adaptation. Optimizing N application rate and timing, establishing rotation system with legumes, adjusting planting dates and breeding long-season cultivars could be effective adaptation strategies to climate change. This study demonstrated that optimizing agronomic crop management practices would assist to make policy development on mitigating the negative impacts of future climate change on maize production.
Double transition metal MXene (TixTa4−xC3) 2D materials as anodes for Li-ion batteries
Authors: Syamsai Ravuri , Rodriguez Jassiel R. , Pol Vilas G. , Van Le Quyet , Batoo Khalid Mujasam , Adil Syed Farooq , Pandiaraj Saravanan , Muthumareeswaran M. R. , Raslan Emad H. , Grace Andrews Nirmala 
Published: January 2021

AbstractA bi-metallic titanium–tantalum carbide MXene, TixTa(4−x)C3 is successfully prepared via etching of Al atoms from parent TixTa(4−x)AlC3 MAX phase for the first time. X-ray diffractometer and Raman spectroscopic analysis proved the crystalline phase evolution from the MAX phase to the lamellar MXene arrangements. Also, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study confirmed that the synthesized MXene is free from Al after hydro fluoric acid (HF) etching process as well as partial oxidation of Ti and Ta. Moreover, the FE-SEM and TEM characterizations demonstrate the exfoliation process tailored by the TixTa(4−x)C3 MXene after the Al atoms from its corresponding MAX TixTa(4−x)AlC3 phase, promoting its structural delamination with an expanded interlayer d-spacing, which can allow an effective reversible Li-ion storage. The lamellar TixTa(4−x)C3 MXene demonstrated a reversible specific discharge capacity of 459 mAhg−1 at an applied C-rate of 0.5 °C with a capacity retention of 97% over 200 cycles. An excellent electrochemical redox performance is attributed to the formation of a stable, promising bi-metallic MXene material, which stores Li-ions on the surface of its layers. Furthermore, the TixTa(4−x)C3 MXene anode demonstrate a high rate capability as a result of its good electron and Li-ion transport, suggesting that it is a promising candidate as Li-ion anode material.
The effectiveness of Bacopa monnieri (Linn.) Wettst. as a nootropic, neuroprotective, or antidepressant supplement: analysis of the available clinical data
Authors: Brimson James M. , Brimson Sirikalaya , Prasanth Mani Iyer , Thitilertdecha Premrutai , Malar Dicson Sheeja , Tencomnao Tewin 
Published: January 2021

AbstractBacopamonnieri (Linn.) Wettst. has been used in traditional medicine as a drug to enhance and improve memory. In this regard, this study aims to provide B. monnieri's efficacy as a neuroprotective drug and as a nootropic against various neurological diseases. Literatures were collected, following Prisma guidelines, from databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct and were scrutinized using a quality scoring system. Means, standard deviations and ‘n’ numbers were extracted from the metrics and analyzed. Jamovi computer software for Mac was used to carry out the meta-analysis. The selected studies suggested that the plant extracts were able to show some improvements in healthy subjects which were determined in Auditory Verbal Learning Task, digit span-reverse test, inspection time task and working memory, even though it was not significant, as no two studies found statistically significant changes in the same two tests. B. monnieri was able to express modest improvements in subjects with memory loss, wherein only a few of the neuropsychological tests showed statistical significance. B. monnieri in a cocktail with other plant extracts were able to significantly reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, and depression which cannot be solely credited as the effect of B. monnieri. Although in one study B. monnieri was able to potentiate the beneficial effects of citalopram; on the whole, currently, there are only limited studies to establish the memory-enhancing and neuroprotective effects of B. monnieri. More studies have to be done in the future by comparing the effect with standard drugs, in order to establish these effects clinically in the plant and corroborate the preclinical data.
Hybrid quantum-classical approach to enhanced quantum metrology
Authors: Yang Xiaodong , Chen Xi , Li Jun , Peng Xinhua , Laflamme Raymond 
Published: January 2021

AbstractQuantum metrology plays a fundamental role in many scientific areas. However, the complexity of engineering entangled probes and the external noise raise technological barriers for realizing the expected precision of the to-be-estimated parameter with given resources. Here, we address this problem by introducing adjustable controls into the encoding process and then utilizing a hybrid quantum-classical approach to automatically optimize the controls online. Our scheme does not require any complex or intractable off-line design, and it can inherently correct certain unitary errors during the learning procedure. We also report the first experimental demonstration of this promising scheme for the task of finding optimal probes for frequency estimation on a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) processor. The proposed scheme paves the way to experimentally auto-search optimal protocol for improving the metrology precision.
Kinetics and thermodynamics evaluation of carbon dioxide enhanced oil shale pyrolysis
Authors: Zhao Shuai , Sun Youhong , Lü Xiaoshu , Li Qiang 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe pyrolysis process of oil shale is significantly affected by atmospheric conditions. In this paper, the pyrolysis experiments of oil shale under non-isothermal conditions are carried out using nitrogen and carbon dioxide as heat-carrying fluids. The results show that the activation energy of the second stage of oil shale pyrolysis under carbon dioxide is less than that under nitrogen. The thermodynamic analysis of the second stage of oil shale pyrolysis shows that Gibbs free energy, activation enthalpy and activation entropy are higher under carbon dioxide than those under nitrogen, which obeys the law of carbon dioxide promoting oil shale pyrolysis. In addition, the volatile release characteristics of oil shale in the second stage of pyrolysis were analyzed, which proves that the volatile release characteristics of oil shale under carbon dioxide are higher than that under nitrogen. Therefore, carbon dioxide is helpful to promote the pyrolysis of oil shale and increases the release of volatile substances during pyrolysis.