bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Providing online STEM workshops in times of isolation
Authors: Weinhandl Robert , Thrainer Susanne , Lavicza Zsolt , Houghton Tony , Hohenwarter Markus 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe global spread of COVID-19 has resulted in learning and teaching being confronted with immense challenges and changes since spring 2020. Measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic had and continue to have a particularly strong impact on non-formal and informal learning, which are important features of out-of-class on-line STEM workshops combining science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We developed and carried out online STEM workshops for approximately 250 students during times of isolation in the spring and summer of 2020. To identify potential success factors and stumbling blocks for designing and implementing online STEM workshops, we conducted a qualitative interview-based study with a selection of eight experts in the summer and autumn 2020, i.e. after the STEM workshops. The experts were Austrian and German teachers who planned and implemented STEM workshops for students age 10 to 18. Our collected data was examined using techniques of grounded theory approaches. Using techniques of qualitative interview studies and grounded theory approaches, we found that removing learning barriers and creating new types of learning spaces, online socio-constructivist learning, and teachers' TPACK for STEM Workshops are important factors when considering and designing STEM workshops for online learning environments. These same factors will also be central when planning and implementing online STEM workshops in post-COVID-19 times. To facilitate student participation and to increase social interaction are critical elements for practitioners working on online STEM workshops—both during and after COVID-19. Highly trained teachers with in-depth technical, pedagogical, and content skills are essential to facilitate participation and interactions among students, teachers, and learning contents.
Against robot taxes: scrutinizing the moral reasons for the preservation of work
Authors: Moser Elias 
Published: May 2021

AbstractA recent political proposal to address the challenge of technological unemployment suggests that the state should impose a tax on labor-replacing technologies. The idea is to preserve jobs by disincentivizing automation. In this article, I critically assess the proposal from an ethical perspective. I show that, with respect to conceptions of distributive justice, it is unclear that precluding consumers’ potential real-income gains from automation can be justified. But foremost, I examine the moral ideal behind the normative claim to preserve labor. I show that the arguments in favor of a robot tax rely on doubtful moral convictions on the value of work and I conclude that a moral basis for imposing a robot tax is subject to justified scrutiny.
Clinical Characteristics and Abnormal Parameters Evolution in Patients With Novel Coronavirus Infection: A Case Series of 272 Cases in Guangzhou
Authors: Wang Yubing , Hu Zhongwei , Luo Jie , Zhang Fuchun , Huang Lianjiao , Li Hao , Wen Xueliang , Pan Yuejun , Chen Meihong , Ying Ruosu , Jiang Huirong , Chen Sirui , Pan Zhilin , Chen Hongkun , Xu Huimin , Lei Chunliang , Han Yajuan 
Published: May 2021

AbstractObjective:The aim of this study was to present the clinical characteristics and dynamic changes in laboratory parameters of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Guangzhou, and explore the probable early warning indicators of disease progression.Method:We enrolled all the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Guangzhou No. 8 People’s Hospital. The patients’ demographic and epidemiologic data were collected, including chief complaints, lab results, and imaging examination findings.Results:The characteristics of the patients in Guangzhou are different from those in Wuhan. The patients were younger in age, predominately female, and their condition was not commonly combined with other diseases. A total of 75% of patients suffered fever on admission, followed by cough occurring in 62% patients. Comparing the mild/normal and severe/critical patients, being male, of older age, combined with hypertension, abnormal blood routine test results, raised creatine kinase, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, D-dimer, fibrinogen, activated partial thromboplastin time, and positive proteinuria were early warning indicators of severe disease.Conclusion:The patients outside epidemic areas showed different characteristics from those in Wuhan. The abnormal laboratory parameters were markedly changed 4 weeks after admission, and also were different between the mild and severe patients. More evidence is needed to confirm highly specific and sensitive potential early warning indicators of severe disease.
Anomalous Subduction Initiation: Young Under Old Oceanic Lithosphere
Authors: Zhang Lulu , Zlotnik Sergio , Li Chun‐Feng 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWhen subduction initiates along a transform fault, it is often interpreted that the older and therefore denser oceanic lithosphere should evolve into the downgoing plate. However, in the western Pacific, several geological cases are probably characterized by young oceanic plates underthrusting older and denser plates. Using numerical simulations of a transform fault under compression, we propose that subduction polarity depends mainly on the age offset between the two adjacent plates, the strength of the transform fault, and the plasticity of the plates. A small age offset across the plate interface favors the subduction initiation of the younger plate. Furthermore, weak transform faults promote strain localization along the plate boundary and trigger the underthrusting of the older and denser plate. Plastic deformation is prone to localize within the thinner and weaker plates in a location far from the transition zone of the two plates if the rate of strain weakening of plates is fast enough. When plates have a large age offset the younger plate may still underthrust if plasticity plays a role. Our numerical models explore factors controlling the induced subduction polarities and the potential mechanism of young plate subduction and explain certain related subduction geological settings.
Geodetic Extension Across the Southern Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau
Authors: Broermann James , Bennett Richard A. , Kreemer Corné , Blewitt Geoffrey , Pearthree Philip A. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractRates of crustal deformation in the southern Basin and Range (SBR) and Colorado Plateau (CP) provinces are relatively low in the context of the Pacific‐North America plate boundary (PA–NA); however, the accumulation of small amounts of strain over long periods of time can lead to large earthquakes such as the Mw 7.5 1887 Sonoran earthquake in northern Mexico. SBR and CP rates of deformation are difficult to quantify due to a dearth of young faulting and seismicity. Moreover, strain accumulation and release related to the adjacent, more active San Andreas and Gulf of California fault systems to the west and southwest can mask the background strain rates associated with SBR and CP tectonics. With data from an enhanced continuous GPS network, we estimate crustal surface velocities of the SBR and CP, after removing coseismic and postseismic displacements, and elastic loading effects arising from major fault zones to the (south)west. We use cluster analysis and geologic data to separate the GPS velocity field into regions and calculate distinct block rotation and uniform strain rates for each region. We find the highest strain rate region includes southwestern Arizona; an area with sparse Quaternary faults, relatively low seismicity, and a relatively large discrepancy between geodetic and geologic rates of deformation. This anomalous strain rate may reflect residual, unmodeled PA‐NA strain seeping into the Arizona study area from the west. Alternatively, it may represent the potential for one or more rare, future, large‐magnitude earthquakes or indicate strain is being released through other process(es).
Global Contrasts Between Oceanic Cycling of Cadmium and Phosphate
Authors: Roshan Saeed , DeVries Tim 
Published: May 2021

AbstractCadmium (Cd) is a trace metal whose distribution in the ocean bears a remarkable resemblance to the nutrient phosphate (PO43−). This resemblance has led to the use of Cd as a proxy for ocean nutrient cycling in paleoceanographic applications, but the processes governing the cycling of Cd in the modern ocean remain unclear. In this study, we use previously published Cd observations and an Artificial Neural Network to produce a dissolved Cd climatology that reproduces the observed subtle deviations between the Cd and distributions. We use the Cd and climatologies, along with an ocean circulation inverse model, to diagnose the biogeochemical sources and sinks of dissolved Cd and . Our calculations reveal that dissolved Cd, like , is removed in the surface ocean and has a source in the subsurface, consistent with the simultaneous incorporation of Cd and into sinking organic particles. However, there are also contrasts between the cycling of dissolved Cd and In particular, the surface export ratio varies 8‐fold across latitudes, reaching highest values in the iron‐limited sub‐Antarctic Southern Ocean. This depletes Cd relative to in the low‐latitude thermocline while adding excess Cd to deep waters by the regeneration of Cd‐enriched particles. Also, Cd tends to regenerate slightly deeper than in the subsurface ocean, and the regeneration ratio reaches a maximum at 700–1,500 m. These contrasts are responsible for a slight concavity in the relationship and should be considered when interpreting paleoceanographic Cd records.
Direct Antenna Impedance Measurement for Quantitative AC Electric Field Measurement by Arase
Authors: Matsuda S. , Kojima H. , Kasahara Y. , Kasaba Y. , Kumamoto A. , Tsuchiya F. , Matsuoka A. , Miyoshi Y. , Shinohara I. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWe developed an in‐situ direct measurement technique for the electric field antenna impedance using onboard signal processing. Antenna impedance is an important parameter for observed electric field calibration. Because it changes depending on local plasma parameters, in‐situ measurements along the orbit are essential for obtaining precise electric field calibration. We installed the onboard signal calibration function (SWCAL) as a part of the onboard software of the plasma wave experiment (PWE) aboard Arase and performed more than 5,500 measurements in the inner magnetosphere from March 2017 to March 2020. The measured the antenna capacitance along the orbit of Arase, which is important for AC electric field calibration. We found that the measured antenna capacitance varies between 70 and 160 pF depending on the ambient electron density. Further, the effects of the antenna impedance on the AC electric field calibration were evaluated. Results indicated that the observed electric field data include ambiguity of up to 7.8 dB and 17° in the main target frequency range of the waveform capture/onboard frequency analyzer of PWE. This ambiguity can be calibrated by considering the real antenna impedance effects measured using SWCAL.
Dysregulated G2 phase checkpoint recovery pathway reduces DNA repair efficiency and increases chromosomal instability in a wide range of tumours
Authors: Fernando Madushan , Duijf Pascal H. G. , Proctor Martina , Stevenson Alexander J. , Ehmann Anna , Vora Shivam , Skalamera Dubravka , Adams Mark , Gabrielli Brian 
Published: May 2021

AbstractDefective DNA repair is being demonstrated to be a useful target in cancer treatment. Currently, defective repair is identified by specific gene mutations, however defective repair is a common feature of cancers without these mutations. DNA damage triggers cell cycle checkpoints that are responsible for co-ordinating cell cycle arrest and DNA repair. Defects in checkpoint signalling components such as ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) occur in a low proportion of cancers and are responsible for reduced DNA repair and increased genomic instability. Here we have investigated the AURKA-PLK1 cell cycle checkpoint recovery pathway that is responsible for exit from the G2 phase cell cycle checkpoint arrest. We demonstrate that dysregulation of PP6 and AURKA maintained elevated PLK1 activation to promote premature exit from only ATM, and not ATR-dependent checkpoint arrest. Surprisingly, depletion of the B55α subunit of PP2A that negatively regulates PLK1 was capable of overcoming ATM and ATR checkpoint arrests. Dysregulation of the checkpoint recovery pathway reduced S/G2 phase DNA repair efficiency and increased genomic instability. We found a strong correlation between dysregulation of the PP6-AURKA-PLK1-B55α checkpoint recovery pathway with signatures of defective homologous recombination and increased chromosomal instability in several cancer types. This work has identified an unrealised source of G2 phase DNA repair defects and chromosomal instability that are likely to be sensitive to treatments targeting defective repair.
COVID-19 vaccines: progress and understanding on quality control and evaluation
Authors: Mao Qunying , Xu Miao , He Qian , Li Changgui , Meng Shufang , Wang Yiping , Cui Bopei , Liang Zhenglun , Wang Junzhi 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe outbreak of COVID-19 has posed a huge threat to global health and economy. Countermeasures have revolutionized norms for working, socializing, learning, and travel. Importantly, vaccines have been considered as most effective tools to combat with COVID-19. As of the beginning of 2021, >200 COVID-19 vaccine candidates, covering nearly all existing technologies and platforms, are being research and development (R&D) by multiple manufacturers worldwide. This has posed a huge obstacle to the quality control and evaluation of those candidate vaccines, especially in China, where five vaccine platforms are deployed in parallel. To accelerate the R&D progress of COVID-19 vaccines, the guidances on R&D of COVID-19 vaccine have been issued by National Regulatory Authorities or organizations worldwide. The Center for Drug Evaluation and national quality control laboratory in China have played a leading role in launching the research on quality control and evaluation in collaboration with relevant laboratories involved in the vaccine R&D, which greatly supported the progression of vaccines R&D, and accelerated the approval for emergency use and conditional marketing of currently vaccine candidates. In this paper, the progress and experience gained in quality control and evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines developed in China are summarized, which might provide references for the R&D of current and next generation of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.
Population-based body–brain mapping links brain morphology with anthropometrics and body composition
Authors: Gurholt Tiril P. , Kaufmann Tobias , Frei Oleksandr , Alnæs Dag , Haukvik Unn K. , van der Meer Dennis , Moberget Torgeir , O’Connell Kevin S. , Leinhard Olof D. , Linge Jennifer , Simon Rozalyn , Smeland Olav B. , Sønderby Ida E. , Winterton Adriano , Steen Nils Eiel , Westlye Lars T. , Andreassen Ole A. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractUnderstanding complex body–brain processes and the interplay between adipose tissue and brain health is important for understanding comorbidity between psychiatric and cardiometabolic disorders. We investigated associations between brain structure and anthropometric and body composition measures using brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; n = 24,728) and body MRI (n = 4973) of generally healthy participants in the UK Biobank. We derived regional and global measures of brain morphometry using FreeSurfer and tested their association with (i) anthropometric measures, and (ii) adipose and muscle tissue measured from body MRI. We identified several significant associations with small effect sizes. Anthropometric measures showed negative, nonlinear, associations with cerebellar/cortical gray matter, and brain stem structures, and positive associations with ventricular volumes. Subcortical structures exhibited mixed effect directionality, with strongest positive association for accumbens. Adipose tissue measures, including liver fat and muscle fat infiltration, were negatively associated with cortical/cerebellum structures, while total thigh muscle volume was positively associated with brain stem and accumbens. Regional investigations of cortical area, thickness, and volume indicated widespread and largely negative associations with anthropometric and adipose tissue measures, with an opposite pattern for thigh muscle volume. Self-reported diabetes, hypertension, or hypercholesterolemia were associated with brain structure. The findings provide new insight into physiological body–brain associations suggestive of shared mechanisms between cardiometabolic risk factors and brain health. Whereas the causality needs to be determined, the observed patterns of body–brain relationships provide a foundation for understanding the underlying mechanisms linking psychiatric disorders with obesity and cardiovascular disease, with potential for the development of new prevention strategies.
Adropin-based dual treatment enhances the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells in rat myocardial infarction
Authors: Li HuiYa , Hu DanQing , Chen Guilin , Zheng DeDong , Li ShuMei , Lin YunLing , Hong HuaShan , Luo Yukun , Ke YiLang , Huang Yu , Wu LingZhen , Lan TingXiang , Wang WenYing , Fang Jun 
Published: May 2021

AbstractBoth weak survival ability of stem cells and hostile microenvironment are dual dilemma for cell therapy. Adropin, a bioactive substance, has been demonstrated to be cytoprotective. We therefore hypothesized that adropin may produce dual protective effects on the therapeutic potential of stem cells in myocardial infarction by employing an adropin-based dual treatment of promoting stem cell survival in vitro and modifying microenvironment in vivo. In the current study, adropin (25 ng/ml) in vitro reduced hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis in rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and improved MSCs survival with increased phosphorylation of Akt and extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) l/2. Adropin-induced cytoprotection was blocked by the inhibitors of Akt and ERK1/2. The left main coronary artery of rats was ligated for 3 or 28 days to induce myocardial infarction. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled MSCs, which were in vitro pretreated with adropin, were in vivo intramyocardially injected after ischemia, following an intravenous injection of 0.2 mg/kg adropin (dual treatment). Compared with MSCs transplantation alone, the dual treatment with adropin reported a higher level of interleukin-10, a lower level of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in plasma at day 3, and higher left ventricular ejection fraction and expression of paracrine factors at day 28, with less myocardial fibrosis and higher capillary density, and produced more surviving BrdU-positive cells at day 3 and 28. In conclusion, our data evidence that adropin-based dual treatment may enhance the therapeutic potential of MSCs to repair myocardium through paracrine mechanism via the pro-survival pathways.
Reduced O-GlcNAcylation of SNAP-23 promotes cisplatin resistance by inducing exosome secretion in ovarian cancer
Authors: Qian Luomeng , Yang Xiaoshan , Li Shaohui , Zhao Hang , Gao Yunge , Zhao Shuhui , Lv Xiaohui , Zhang Xiyuan , Li Lingxia , Zhai Lianghao , Zhou Fuxing , Chen Biliang 
Published: May 2021

AbstractExosomes have been associated with chemoresistance in various cancers, but such a role in ovarian cancer is not yet clear. Here, using in vitro cell-based and in vivo mouse model experiments, we show that downregulation of O-GlcNAcylation, a key post-translational protein modification, promotes exosome secretion. This increases exosome-mediated efflux of cisplatin from cancer cells resulting in chemoresistance. Mechanistically, our data indicate that downregulation of O-GlcNAclation transferase (OGT) reduces O-GlcNAclation of SNAP-23. Notably, O-GlcNAcylation of SNAP-23 is vital for regulating exosome release in ovarian cancer cells. Reduced O-GlcNAclation of SNAP-23 subsequently promotes the formation of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complex consisting of SNAP-23, VAMP8, and Stx4 proteins. This enhances exosome release causing chemoresistance by increasing the efflux of intracellular cisplatin.
16p11.2 deletion is associated with hyperactivation of human iPSC-derived dopaminergic neuron networks and is rescued by RHOA inhibition in vitro
Authors: Sundberg Maria , Pinson Hannah , Smith Richard S. , Winden Kellen D. , Venugopal Pooja , Tai Derek J. C. , Gusella James F. , Talkowski Michael E. , Walsh Christopher A. , Tegmark Max , Sahin Mustafa 
Published: May 2021

AbstractReciprocal copy number variations (CNVs) of 16p11.2 are associated with a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we use human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived dopaminergic (DA) neurons carrying CNVs of 16p11.2 duplication (16pdup) and 16p11.2 deletion (16pdel), engineered using CRISPR-Cas9. We show that 16pdel iPSC-derived DA neurons have increased soma size and synaptic marker expression compared to isogenic control lines, while 16pdup iPSC-derived DA neurons show deficits in neuronal differentiation and reduced synaptic marker expression. The 16pdel iPSC-derived DA neurons have impaired neurophysiological properties. The 16pdel iPSC-derived DA neuronal networks are hyperactive and have increased bursting in culture compared to controls. We also show that the expression of RHOA is increased in the 16pdel iPSC-derived DA neurons and that treatment with a specific RHOA-inhibitor, Rhosin, rescues the network activity of the 16pdel iPSC-derived DA neurons. Our data suggest that 16p11.2 deletion-associated iPSC-derived DA neuron hyperactivation can be rescued by RHOA inhibition.
Reconciling metal–silicate partitioning and late accretion in the Earth
Authors: Suer Terry-Ann , Siebert Julien , Remusat Laurent , Day James M. D. , Borensztajn Stephan , Doisneau Beatrice , Fiquet Guillaume 
Published: May 2021

AbstractHighly siderophile elements (HSE), including platinum, provide powerful geochemical tools for studying planet formation. Late accretion of chondritic components to Earth after core formation has been invoked as the main source of mantle HSE. However, core formation could also have contributed to the mantle’s HSE content. Here we present measurements of platinum metal-silicate partitioning coefficients, obtained from laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments, which demonstrate that platinum partitioning into metal is lower at high pressures and temperatures. Consequently, the mantle was likely enriched in platinum immediately following core-mantle differentiation. Core formation models that incorporate these results and simultaneously account for collateral geochemical constraints, lead to excess platinum in the mantle. A subsequent process such as iron exsolution or sulfide segregation is therefore required to remove excess platinum and to explain the mantle’s modern HSE signature. A vestige of this platinum-enriched mantle can potentially account for 186Os-enriched ocean island basalt lavas.