bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Modelling and implementation of soft bio-mimetic turtle using echo state network and soft pneumatic actuators
Authors: Soliman MennaAllah , Mousa Mostafa A. , Saleh Mahmood A. , Elsamanty Mahmoud , Radwan Ahmed G. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractAdvances of soft robotics enabled better mimicking of biological creatures and closer realization of animals’ motion in the robotics field. The biological creature’s movement has morphology and flexibility that is problematic deportation to a bio-inspired robot. This paper aims to study the ability to mimic turtle motion using a soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) as a turtle flipper limb. SPA’s behavior is simulated using finite element analysis to design turtle flipper at 22 different geometrical configurations, and the simulations are conducted on a large pressure range (0.11–0.4 Mpa). The simulation results are validated using vision feedback with respect to varying the air pillow orientation angle. Consequently, four SPAs with different inclination angles are selected to build a bio-mimetic turtle, which is tested at two different driving configurations. The nonlinear dynamics of soft actuators, which is challenging to model the motion using traditional modeling techniques affect the turtle’s motion. Conclusively, according to kinematics behavior, the turtle motion path is modeled using the Echo State Network (ESN) method, one of the reservoir computing techniques. The ESN models the turtle path with respect to the actuators’ rotation motion angle with maximum root-mean-square error of $$1.04 \times 10^{-11}$$

1.04
×

10

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11

. The turtle is designed to enhance the robot interaction with living creatures by mimicking their limbs’ flexibility and the way of their motion.
The influence of δ-(Al,Fe)OOH on seismic heterogeneities in Earth’s lower mantle
Authors: Ohira Itaru , Jackson Jennifer M. , Sturhahn Wolfgang , Finkelstein Gregory J. , Kawazoe Takaaki , Toellner Thomas S. , Suzuki Akio , Ohtani Eiji 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe high-pressure phases of oxyhydroxides (δ-AlOOH, ε-FeOOH, and their solid solution), candidate components of subducted slabs, have wide stability fields, thus potentially influencing volatile circulation and dynamics in the Earth’s lower mantle. Here, we report the elastic wave velocities of δ-(Al,Fe)OOH (Fe/(Al + Fe) = 0.13, δ-Fe13) to 79 GPa, determined by nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. At pressures below 20 GPa, a softening of the phonon spectra is observed. With increasing pressure up to the Fe3+spin crossover (~ 45 GPa), the Debye sound velocity (vD) increases. At higher pressures, the low spin δ-Fe13 is characterized by a pressure-invariantvD. Using the equation of state for the same sample, the shear-, compressional-, and bulk-velocities (vS,vP, andvΦ) are calculated and extrapolated to deep mantle conditions. The obtained velocity data show that δ-(Al,Fe)OOH may cause low-vΦand low-vPanomalies in the shallow lower mantle. At deeper depths, we find that this hydrous phase reproduces the anti-correlation betweenvSandvΦreported for the large low seismic velocity provinces, thus serving as a potential seismic signature of hydrous circulation in the lower mantle.
Cross-sectional pilot study to assess primary healthcare workers’ knowledge of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a marginalized community in Mexico
Authors: Vidal-Cevallos Paulina , Ordóñez-Vázquez Ana L. , Procopio-Mosso Omar , Cardoso-Arias Rafael , Uribe Misael , Chávez-Tapia Norberto C. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe registered incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in primary healthcare centers is lower than expected, suggesting a lack of awareness by primary care healthcare professionals. The implementation of educational tools for healthcare workers has been found to increase timely referral and treatment of patients. We aimed to determine healthcare workers’ knowledge of NAFLD to identify their educational needs in one marginalized region. We performed a cross-sectional survey of 261 healthcare professionals in Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero, Mexico from October 2019 to December 2019. We created a questionnaire that assessed domains most relevant to NAFLD knowledge. Two hundred and forty-six questionnaires were completed. Of the respondents, 38.3% were nurses and 63.4% were women. Most nurses identified NAFLD as a prevalent (89%) and preventable (93%) disease. Hypertension (33%) and obesity (84%) were recognized as risk factors. The associations between NAFLD and cancer, cirrhosis and cardiovascular disease were identified by 53%, 67% and 72% of respondents, respectively. The largest gaps were found in diagnostic workup, therapeutic approach and the current treatments. We identify modifiable knowledge gaps in NAFLD. Educational strategies for primary care workers could enhance the identification of patients with NAFLD and prevent complications.
High precision implicit function learning for forecasting supercapacitor state of health based on Gaussian process regression
Authors: Ren Jiahao , Cai Junfei , Li Jinjin 
Published: June 2021

AbstractState of health (SOH) prediction of supercapacitors aims to provide reliable lifetime control and avoid system failure. Gaussian process regression (GPR) has emerged for SOH prediction because of its capability of capturing nonlinear relationships between features, and tracking SOH attenuations effectively. However, traditional GPR methods based on explicit functions require multiple screenings of optimal mean and covariance functions, which results in data scarcity and increased time consumption. In this study, we propose a GPR-implicit function learning, which is a prior knowledge algorithm for calculating mean and covariance functions from a preliminary data set instead of screening. After introducing the implicit function, the average root mean square error (Average RMSE) is 0.0056 F and the average mean absolute percent error (Average MAPE) is 0.6%, where only the first 5% of the data are trained to predict the remaining 95% of the cycles, thereby decreasing the error by more than three times than previous studies. Furthermore, less cycles (i.e., 1%) are trained while still obtaining low prediction errors (i.e., Average RMSE is 0.0094 F and Average MAPE is 1.01%). This work highlights the strength of GPR-implicit function model for SOH prediction of energy storage devices with high precision and limited property data.
HIV-1 sequences in lentiviral vector genomes can be substantially reduced without compromising transduction efficiency
Authors: Sertkaya Helin , Ficarelli Mattia , Sweeney Nathan P. , Parker Hannah , Vink Conrad A. , Swanson Chad M. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractMany lentiviral vectors used for gene therapy are derived from HIV-1. An optimal vector genome would include only the viral sequences required for transduction efficiency and gene expression to minimize the amount of foreign sequence inserted into a patient’s genome. However, it remains unclear whether all of the HIV-1 sequence in vector genomes is essential. To determine which viral sequences are required, we performed a systematic deletion analysis, which showed that most of the gag region and over 50% of the env region could be deleted. Because the splicing profile for lentiviral vectors is poorly characterized, we used long-read sequencing to determine canonical and cryptic splice site usage. Deleting specific regions of env sequence reduced the number of splicing events per transcript and increased the proportion of unspliced genomes. Finally, combining a large deletion in gag with repositioning the Rev-response element downstream of the 3’ R to prevent its reverse transcription showed that 1201 nucleotides of HIV-1 sequence can be removed from the integrated vector genome without substantially compromising transduction efficiency. Overall, this allows the creation of lentiviral vector genomes that contain minimal HIV-1 sequence, which could improve safety and transfer less viral sequence into a patient’s DNA.
Absence of Hall effect due to Berry curvature in phase space
Authors: Yokoyama Takehito 
Published: June 2021

AbstractTransverse current due to Berry curvature in phase space is formulated based on the Boltzmann equations with the semiclassical equations of motion for an electron wave packet. It is shown that the Hall effect due to the phase space Berry curvature is absent because the contributions from “anomalous velocity” and “effective Lorentz force” are completely cancelled out.
Mixed-effect Bayesian network reveals personal effects of nutrition
Authors: Turkia Jari , Mehtätalo Lauri , Schwab Ursula , Hautamäki Ville 
Published: June 2021

AbstractNutrition experts know by their experience that people can react very differently to the same nutrition. If we could systematically quantify these differences, it would enable more personal dietary understanding and guidance. This work proposes a mixed-effect Bayesian network as a method for modeling the multivariate system of nutrition effects. Estimation of this network reveals a system of both population-wide and personal correlations between nutrients and their biological responses. Fully Bayesian estimation in the method allows managing the uncertainty in parameters and incorporating the existing nutritional knowledge into the model. The method is evaluated by modeling data from a dietary intervention study, called Sysdimet, which contains personal observations from food records and the corresponding fasting concentrations of blood cholesterol, glucose, and insulin. The model’s usefulness in nutritional guidance is evaluated by predicting personally if a given diet increases or decreases future levels of concentrations. The proposed method is shown to be comparable with the well-performing Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) decision tree method in classifying the directions of concentration increases and decreases. In addition to classification, we can also predict the precise concentration level and use the biologically interpretable model parameters to understand what personal effects contribute to the concentration. We found considerable personal differences in the contributing nutrients, and while these nutritional effects are previously known at a population level, recognizing their personal differences would result in more accurate estimates and more effective nutritional guidance.
Deep-red circularly polarised luminescent C70 derivatives
Authors: Kano Haruka , Hayashi Hironobu , Matsuo Kyohei , Fujiki Michiya , Yamada Hiroko , Aratani Naoki 
Published: June 2021

AbstractOptically active fullerenes, including C60 and C70 derivatives carrying organic substituents, are used in a range of applications because of their unique spectroscopic, catalytic, and chiral recognition properties. However, their inherent photoexcited chirality is yet to be elucidated because of their very poor fluorescence quantum yield (Φf). We synthesised a new chiral C70 derivative, X70A, with 20% yield, by reacting bis-borylated xanthene with C70 in a one-step double addition reaction, followed by a successful optical resolution. The isolation of two separate X70A enantiomers was confirmed by mirror-image circular dichroism spectroscopy in the range of 300–750 nm. In toluene, the enantiomeric pair of X70A clearly revealed mirror-image circularly polarised luminescence (CPL) spectra with a high |glum| value of 7.0 ×  10−3 at 690 nm. The first fullerene-based deep-red CPL of X70A should provide a new guideline for the design of chiral nanocarbon materials.
Responses of small mammals to habitat characteristics in Southern Carpathian forests
Authors: Benedek Ana Maria , Sîrbu Ioan , Lazăr Anamaria 
Published: June 2021

AbstractCompared to Northern Carpathians, the small mammal fauna of Southern Carpathian forests is poorly known, with no data on habitat use; our study seeks to fill this gap. To this end, we conducted a survey in the Southern Carpathians for five years, assessing habitat use by small mammals in forests along an elevational gradient. Trapping was done using live traps set in transects at elevations between 820 and 2040 m. For each transect we evaluated variables related to vegetation structure, habitat complexity, and geographical location. We considered abundance, species composition and species richness as response variables. The rodentsApodemus flavicollisandMyodes glareolusand the shrewSorex araneuswere common and dominant. Their abundance were positively correlated with tree cover, the best explanatory variable. Responses to other variables were mixed. The strong divergence in the relative habitat use by the three most abundant species may act as a mechanism that enables their coexistence as dominant species, exploiting the same wide range of habitat resources. Overall, habitat use in our study area was similar to that reported from Northern Carpathians, but we found also important differences probably caused by the differences in latitude and forest management practices.
Npas4a expression in the teleost forebrain is associated with stress coping style differences in fear learning
Authors: Baker Matthew R. , Wong Ryan Y. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractLearning to anticipate potentially dangerous contexts is an adaptive behavioral response to coping with stressors. An animal’s stress coping style (e.g. proactive–reactive axis) is known to influence how it encodes salient events. However, the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying these stress coping style differences in learning are unknown. Further, while a number of neuroplasticity-related genes have been associated with alternative stress coping styles, it is unclear if these genes may bias the development of conditioned behavioral responses to stressful stimuli, and if so, which brain regions are involved. Here, we trained adult zebrafish to associate a naturally aversive olfactory cue with a given context. Next, we investigated if expression of two neural plasticity and neurotransmission-related genes (npas4a and gabbr1a) were associated with the contextual fear conditioning differences between proactive and reactive stress coping styles. Reactive zebrafish developed a stronger conditioned fear response and showed significantly higher npas4a expression in the medial and lateral zones of the dorsal telencephalon (Dm, Dl), and the supracommissural nucleus of the ventral telencephalon (Vs). Our findings suggest that the expression of activity-dependent genes like npas4a may be differentially expressed across several interconnected forebrain regions in response to fearful stimuli and promote biases in fear learning among different stress coping styles.
Rheology-Informed Neural Networks (RhINNs) for forward and inverse metamodelling of complex fluids
Authors: Mahmoudabadbozchelou Mohammadamin , Jamali Safa 
Published: June 2021

AbstractReliable and accurate prediction of complex fluids’ response under flow is of great interest across many disciplines, from biological systems to virtually all soft materials. The challenge is to solve non-trivial time and rate dependent constitutive equations to describe these structured fluids under various flow protocols. We present Rheology-Informed Neural Networks (RhINNs) for solving systems of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) adopted for complex fluids. The proposed RhINNs are employed to solve the constitutive models with multiple
ODEs by benefiting from Automatic Differentiation in neural networks. In a direct solution, the RhINNs platform accurately predicts the fully resolved solution of constitutive equations for a Thixotropic-Elasto-Visco-Plastic (TEVP) complex fluid for a series of flow protocols. From a practical perspective, an exhaustive list of experiments are required to identify model parameters for a multi-variant constitutive TEVP model. RhINNs are found to learn these non-trivial model parameters for a complex material using a single flow protocol, enabling accurate modeling with limited number of experiments and at an unprecedented rate. We also show the RhINNs are not limited to a specific model and can be extended to include various models and recover complex manifestations of kinematic heterogeneities and transient shear banding of thixotropic fluids.
The genes crucial to carotenoid metabolism under elevated CO2 levels in carrot (Daucus carota L.)
Authors: Song Hongxia , Lu Qiang , Hou Leiping , Li Meilan 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe CO2 saturation point can reach as high as 1819 μmol· mol−1 in carrot (Daucus carota L.). In recent years, carrot has been cultivated in out-of-season greenhouses, but the molecular mechanism of CO2 enrichment has been ignored, and this is a missed opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of this important process. In this study, it was found that CO2 enrichment increased the aboveground and belowground biomasses and greatly increased the carotenoid contents. Twenty genes related to carotenoids were discovered in 482 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) through RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq.). These genes were involved in either carotenoid biosynthesis or the composition of the photosystem membrane proteins, most of which were upregulated. We suspected that these genes were directly related to quality improvement and increases in biomass under CO2 enrichment in carrot. As such, β-carotene hydroxylase activity in carotenoid metabolism and the expression levels of coded genes were determined and analysed, and the results were consistent with the observed change in carotenoid content. These results illustrate the molecular mechanism by which the increase in carotenoid content after CO2 enrichment leads to the improvement of quality and biological yield. Our findings have important theoretical and practical significance.
Study of the relationship between applied transmembrane pressure and antimicrobial activity of lysozyme
Authors: Miron Simona M. , de Espindola Ariane , Dutournié Patrick , Ponche Arnaud 
Published: June 2021

AbstractDuring the processing of biomolecules by ultrafiltration, the lysozyme enzyme undergoes conformational changes, which can affect its antibacterial activity. Operational conditions are considered to be one of the main parameters responsible for such changes, especially when using the same membrane and molecule. The present study demonstrates that, the same cut-off membrane (commercial data) can result in different properties of the protein after filtration, due to their different pore network. The filtration of lysozyme, regardless of the membrane, produces a decrease in the membrane hydraulic permeability (between 10 and 30%) and an increase in its selectivity in terms of observed rejection rate (30%). For the filtrated lysozyme, it appears that the HPLC retention time increases depending on the membrane used. The antibacterial activity of the filtrated samples is lower than the native protein and decreases with the increase of the applied pressure reaching 55–60% loss for 12 bar which has not been reported in the literature before. The observed results by SEC-HPLC and bacteriological tests, suggest that the conformation of the filtrated molecules are indeed modified. These results highlight the relationship between protein conformation or activity and the imposed shear stress.
Prevalence and co-existence of cardiometabolic risk factors and associations with nutrition-related and socioeconomic indicators in a national sample of Gambian women
Authors: Petry Nicolai , Rohner Fabian , Phall Modou Cheyassin , Jallow Bakary , Ceesay Abdou Aziz , Sawo Yankuba , Darboe Momodou K. , Barrow Samba , Sarr Aminatta , Ceesay Pa Ousman , Fofana Malang N. , Prentice Andrew M. , Wegmüller Rita , Wirth James P. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractCardiovascular diseases (CVD) are on the rise in Sub-Saharan Africa, and a large proportion of the adult population is thought to suffer from at least one cardiometabolic risk factor. This study assessed cardiometabolic risk factors and the contribution of nutrition-related indicators in Gambian women. The prevalence and co-existence of diabetes (elevated glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%) or prediabetes (HbA1c ≥ 5.7% to < 6.5%), hypertension (systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg), obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30.0) and inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP) > 3 mg/L or alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) > 1 g/L) and the contribution of nutrition related and socioeconomic indicators were measured in non-pregnant women 15–49 years of age in the Gambia using data from a nationally representative cross-sectional stratified survey. Nationally, 54.5% (95% CI: 47.4, 61.4) of 1407 women had elevated HbA1c. Of these, 14.9% were diabetic and 85.1% were prediabetic. Moreover, 20.8% (95% CI 17.8, 20.0) of 1685 women had hypertension, 11.1% (95% CI 9.0, 13.7) of 1651 were obese and 17.2% (95% CI 5.1, 19.6) of 1401 had inflammation. At least one of the aforementioned cardiometabolic risk factor was present in 68.3% (95% CI 63.0, 73.1) of women. Obesity increased the risk of hypertension (aRR 1.84; 95% CI 1.40, 2.41), diabetes (aRR 1.91; 95% CI 1.29, 2.84), elevated HbA1c (aRR 1.31; 95% CI 1.14, 1.51) and inflammation (aRR 3.47; 95% CI 2.61, 4.61). Inflammation increased the risk of hypertension (aRR 1.42; 95% CI 1.14, 1.78). Aging increased the risk of hypertension, obesity and inflammation. Further, inadequate sanitation increased the risk for diabetes (aRR 1.65; 95% CI 1.17, 2.34) and iron deficiency increased the risk of elevated HbA1c (aRR 1.21; 95% CI 1.09, 1.33). The high prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors and their co-existence in Gambian women is concerning. Although controlling obesity seems to be key, multifaceted strategies to tackle the risk factors separately are warranted to reduce the prevalence or minimize the risk of CVD.
Random errors in protein synthesis activate an age-dependent program of muscle atrophy in mice
Authors: Moore James , Akbergenov Rashid , Nigri Martina , Isnard-Petit Patricia , Grimm Amandine , Seebeck Petra , Restelli Lisa , Frank Stephan , Eckert Anne , Thiam Kader , Wolfer David P. , Shcherbakov Dimitri , Böttger Erik C. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractRandom errors in protein synthesis are prevalent and ubiquitous, yet their effect on organismal health has remained enigmatic for over five decades. Here, we studied whether mice carrying the ribosomal ambiguity (ram) mutation Rps2-A226Y, recently shown to increase the inborn error rate of mammalian translation, if at all viable, present any specific, possibly aging-related, phenotype. We introduced Rps2-A226Y using a Cre/loxP strategy. Resulting transgenic mice were mosaic and showed a muscle-related phenotype with reduced grip strength. Analysis of gene expression in skeletal muscle using RNA-Seq revealed transcriptomic changes occurring in an age-dependent manner, involving an interplay of PGC1α, FOXO3, mTOR, and glucocorticoids as key signaling pathways, and finally resulting in activation of a muscle atrophy program. Our results highlight the relevance of translation accuracy, and show how disturbances thereof may contribute to age-related pathologies.