bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comprehensive analysis of Syk gene methylation in colorectal cancer
Authors: Bu Fanqin , Zhu Xiaojian , Liu Sicheng , Lin Kang , Zhu Jinfeng , Huang Jun 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Background: Metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC) extremely affects the prognosis of CRC patients. Recently, the genetic methylation has been shown to associate with tumor metastasis. This research aimed to explore the Syk gene, which is frequently hypermethylated in different cancers, and its impact on the metastasis of CRC cells.
Methods: We employed the UALCAN database for the detection of the methylation levels of Syk in different cancers. CIBERSORT, TIMER and TISIDB tools were employed to analyze the association of Syk expression with immune features of CRC. Treatment with decitabine has been noted to restore the expression of Syk in CRC cells. The invasion and migration abilities of CRC cell lines were determined using transwell and wound healing assays. The correlation between Syk and c‐Myc was established using the GEPIA2 database and Western blot assays.​Results: Our results, based on UALCAN, revealed that the methylation level of Syk was altered in diverse cancers including colon adenocarcinoma. We found that expression profile and methylation level of Syk was correlated with immune features of colon adenocarcinoma. Decitabine can restore the expression of Syk in HCT116 and SW480 cells, hence affecting their migration and invasion. Results from GEPIA2 showed that Syk expression was correlated with c‐Myc, while Western blotting analysis revealed a negative association between the expression level of Syk and c‐Myc.​Conclusions:​ ​This study demonstrates that the expression of Syk could be restored by decitabine in colorectal cancer, thus affecting the migration and invasion abilities of CRC cells.
Maintaining intensive agriculture overlying aquifers using the threshold nitrate root‐uptake phenomenon
Authors: Kurtzman Daniel , Kanner Beeri , Levy Yehuda , Nitsan Ido , Bar‐Tal Asher 
Published: May 2021

AbstractReducing nitrate leaching from agricultural land to aquifers has been a high priority concern for more than a half century. This study presents theory and observations of a threshold concentration of nitrate in the root zone (Cmax), which the leachate concentration increases at higher rates with increasing root‐zone nitrate concentration. The value of Cmax is derived both by direct results from container experiments with varying nitrogen (N) fertigation and as a calibration parameter in N‐transport models beneath commercial agricultural plots. For five different crops, Cmax ranged between 20 and 45 mg L−1 of NO3–N derived from experiments and models. However, for lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), which was irrigated with a large leaching fraction, Cmax could not be defined. In crops irrigated and fertilized in the warm/dry season (corn [Zea mays L.] and citrus), the experiments show a dramatic change in leachate‐concentration slope, and simulations reveal a wide range of sensitivity of leachate NO3–N concentration to Cmax. In annual crops irrigated and fertilized in the cool/wet season (e.g., potato [Solanum tuberosum L.] in a Mediterranean climate), the experiments show a distinct Cmax that is less dramatic than that of the summer‐irrigated crops in the container experiment and a smaller impact of Cmax in N‐transport models. The simulations show that, for summer‐irrigated crops, maintaining fertigation at C < Cmax has a significant effect reducing deep leachate concentrations, whereas for the winter annual crops the simulations revealed no threshold effect. It is suggested that for summer‐irrigated crops, fertigation below Cmax robustly serves the co‐sustainability of intensive agriculture and aquifer water quality; this is also suggested for winter crops, but the benefits are not robust. For short‐season, small root‐system crops (e.g., lettuce), efforts should be made to detach the crop from the soil.
Scale‐adaptive deep network for deformable image registration
Authors: Sang Yudi , Ruan Dan 
Published: May 2021

PurposeMultiresolution hierarchical strategy is typically used in conventional optimization‐based image registration to capture varying magnitudes of deformations while avoiding undesirable local minima. A rough concept of the scale is captured in deep networks by the reception field of kernels, and it has been realized to be both desirable and challenging to capture convolutions of different scales simultaneously in registration networks. In this study, we propose a registration network that is conscious of and self‐adaptive to deformation of various scales to improve registration performance.MethodsDilated inception modules (DIMs) are proposed to incorporate receptive fields of different sizes in a computationally efficient way. Scale adaptive modules (SAMs) are proposed to guide and adjust shallow features using convolutional kernels with spatially adaptive dilation rate learned from deep features. DIMs and SAMs are integrated into a registration network which takes a U‐net structure. The network is trained in an unsupervised setting and completes registration with a single evaluation run.ResultsExperiment with two‐dimensional (2D) cardiac MRIs showed that the adaptive dilation rate in SAM corresponded well to the deformation scale. Evaluated with left ventricle segmentation, our method achieved a Dice coefficient of (0.93 ± 0.02), significantly better than SimpleElastix and networks without DIM or SAM. The average surface distance was less than 2 mm, comparable to SimpleElastix without statistical significance. Experiment with synthetic data demonstrated the effectiveness of DIMs and SAMs, which led to a significant reduction in target registration error (TRE) based on dense deformation field. The three‐dimensional (3D) version of the network achieved a 2.52 mm mean TRE on anatomical landmarks in DIR‐Lab thoracic 4DCTs, lower than SimpleElastix and networks without DIM or SAM with statistical significance. The average registration times were 0.002 s for 2D images with size 256 × 256 and 0.42 s for 3D images with size 256 × 256 × 96.ConclusionsThe introduction and integration of DIMs and SAMs addressed the heterogeneous scale problem in an efficient and self‐adaptive way. The proposed method provides an alternative to the inefficient multiresolution registration setups.
Phase contrast coronary blood velocity mapping with both high temporal and spatial resolution using triggered Golden Angle rotated Spiral k‐t Sparse Parallel imaging (GASSP) with shifted binning
Authors: Zhu Dan , Bonanno Gabriele , Hays Allison G. , Weiss Robert G. , Schär Michael 
Published: May 2021

PurposeHigh temporal and spatial resolutions are required for coronary blood flow measures. Current spiral breath‐hold phase contrast (PC) MRI at 3T focus on either high spatial or high temporal resolution. We propose a golden angle (GA) rotated Spiral k‐t Sparse Parallel imaging (GASSP) sequence for both high spatial (0.8 mm) and high temporal (<21 ms) resolutions.MethodsGASSP PC data are acquired in left anterior descending and right coronary arteries of eight healthy subjects. Binning of GA rotated spiral data into cardiac frames may lead to large k‐space gaps. To reduce those gaps, the binning window is shifted and a triggered GA scheme that resets the rotation angle every heartbeat is proposed. The gap reductions are evaluated in simulations and all subjects. Peak systolic velocity (PSV), peak diastolic velocity (PDV), coronary blood flow rate, and vessel area are validated against two reference scans, and repeatability/reproducibility are determined.ResultsShifted binning reduced the mean k‐space gaps of the triggered GA scheme by 14°‐22° in simulations and about 20° in vivo. The k‐space gap across three cardiac frames was reduced with the triggered GA scheme compared to the standard GA scheme (35.3°± 3.6° vs. 43°± 13.7°, t‐test P = .04). PSV, PDV, flow rate, and area had high intra‐scan repeatability (0.92 ≤ intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] ≤ 0.99), and inter‐scan (0.78 ≤ ICC ≤ 0.91) and intra‐observer (0.91 ≤ ICC ≤ 0.98) reproducibility.ConclusionGASSP enables single breath‐hold coronary PC MRI with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Shifted binning and a triggered GA scheme reduce k‐space gaps. Quantitative coronary flow metrics are highly reproducible, especially within the same scanning session.
Soft segment‐free functional polyurethane: A versatile candidate for heat‐healability, non‐dissociative mechanism, and high elongation adhesive materials
Authors: Edachery Veetil Rashmi , Vijayalakshmi Kunduchi Periya , Srinivas Chinthalapalli , Mathew Dona , Kalamblayil Sankaranarayanan Santhosh Kumar 
Published: May 2021

AbstractFunctional and re‐processable polyurethane (soft‐segment free, FPU) is synthesized and later it is converted into substituted PUs by reaction with suitable molecules to enrich/block H‐bonding features inherent with FPU. By these substitutions, H‐bonding is easily altered as observed in FTIR investigations. Spherical morphology of FPU turned into elongated/twisted one due to the separation of polymer chains by these molecules (bulky or long chain groups). Owing to the presence of hydroxyl groups, the dissociation of FPU on re‐processing at 150°C was dodged and achieved heat‐healable PUs. Interestingly, a trivial quantity (2.5 wt%) of FPU in an epoxy‐amine cross‐linked structure increased the elongation to nearly fourfold (5%‐21%). The soft‐segment free nature of PU and its functional groups have key role in facilitating easy incorporation of PU into epoxy matrices to provide exotic properties.
Electrochemically Induced Phase Transition in V3O7 · H2O Nanobelts/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites for Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries
Authors: Cao Huili , Zheng Zhiyong , Norby Poul , Xiao Xinxin , Mossin Susanne 
Published: May 2021

AbstractV3O7·H2O nanobelts/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composites (weight ratio: 86%/14%) are synthesized by a microwave approach with a high yield (85%) through controlling pH with acids. The growth mechanisms of the highly crystalline nanobelts (average diameter: 25 nm; length: ≈20 µm; oriented along the [101] direction) have been thoroughly investigated, with the governing role of the acid upon the morphology and oxidation state of vanadium disclosed. When used as the ZIB cathode, the composite can deliver a high specific capacity of 410.7 and 385.7 mAh g−1 at the current density of 0.5 and 4 A g−1, respectively, with a high retention of the capacity of 93%. The capacity of the composite is greater than those of V3O7 · H2O, V2O5 nanobelts, and V5O12 · 6H2O film. Zinc ion storage in V3O7·H2O/rGO is mainly a pseudocapacitive behavior rather than ion diffusion. The presence of rGO enables outstanding cycling stability of up to 1000 cycles with a capacity retention of 99.6%. Extended cycling shows a gradual phase transition, that is, from the original orthorhombic V3O7 · H2O to a stable hexagonal Zn3(VO4)2(H2O)2.93 phase, which is a new electrochemical route found in V3O7 materials. This phase transition process provides new insight into the reactions of aqueous ZIBs.
Transient thermoelastic response of a size‐dependent nanobeam under the fractional order thermoelasticity
Authors: Peng Wei , Ma Yongbin , He Tianhu 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWith the miniaturization of structures, such as MEMS/NEMS, the size‐dependent effect has become an issue and attracted much attention. The well‐known theories describing the size‐dependent effect mainly include the nonlocal elasticity theory, the strain gradient theory and the modified coupled stress theory. Based on these theories, a number of works have been conducted to explore the size‐dependent behaviors of structures or devices in micro/nano‐scale, among them, majorities are on elastic performances, while, minorities are on thermoelastic performances. It is inevitable for structures suffering changeable temperature, as a consequence, thermal‐induced stress and deformation occur in structures and they are worth being fully concerned. For thermoelastic behaviors limited to small scale problems, the classical Fourier's heat conduction law may fail, meanwhile, new models, for example, fractional order heat conduction model, have been developed to modify Fourier's law. In present paper, the transient thermoelastic response of a nanobeam subjected to a ramp heating is investigated by combining the nonlocal elasticity theory and the fractional order heat conduction model. The governing equations are formulated and then solved by Laplace transform and its numerical inversion. The non‐dimensional temperature, displacement, stress, and deflection in the nanobeam are obtained and illustrated graphically. In calculation, the effects of the ramp‐heating time parameter, the nonlocal parameter and the fractional order parameter on the considered physical quantities are examined and discussed in detail.
Non-singular black holes with a zero-shear S-brane
Authors: Brandenberger Robert , Heisenberg Lavinia , Robnik Jakob 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
We propose a construction with which to resolve the black hole singularity and enable an anisotropic cosmology to emerge from the inside of the hole. The model relies on the addition of an S-brane to the effective action which describes the geometry of space-time. This space-like defect is located inside of the horizon on a surface where the Weyl curvature reaches a limiting value. We study how metric fluctuations evolve from the outside of the black hole to the beginning of the cosmological phase to the future of the S-brane. Our setup addresses i) the black hole singularity problem, ii) the cosmological singularity problem and iii) the information loss paradox since the outgoing Hawking radiation is entangled with the state inside the black hole which becomes the new universe.
What Is the Role of Assessing Ischemia to Optimize Therapy and Outcomes for Patients with Stable Angina and Non-obstructed Coronary Arteries?
Authors: Berry Colin , Morrow Andrew J. , Marzilli Mario , Pepine Carl J. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIschemic heart disease (IHD) is a leading global cause of ill-health and premature death. Clinical research into IHD is providing new insights into the pathophysiology, epidemiology and treatment of this condition. The major endotypes of IHD include coronary heart disease (CHD) and vasomotor disorders, including microvascular angina and vasospastic angina. Considering unselected patients presenting with stable chest pain, the pre-test probability of CHD is higher in men whereas the pre-test probability of a vasomotor disorder is higher in women. The diagnostic accuracy of diagnostic tests designed to assess coronary anatomy and disease and/or coronary vascular function (functional tests) differ for coronary endotypes. Clinical management should therefore be personalized and take account of sex-related factors. In this review, we consider the definitions of angina and myocardial ischemia. We then appraise the mechanistic links between myocardial ischemia and anginal symptoms and the relative merits of non-invasive and invasive diagnostic tests and related clinical management. Finally, we describe the rationale and importance of stratified medicine of IHD.
Random Assignment Problems on 2d Manifolds
Authors: Benedetto D. , Caglioti E. , Caracciolo S. , D’Achille M. , Sicuro G. , Sportiello A. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWe consider the assignment problem between two sets ofNrandom points on a smooth, two-dimensional manifold$$\Omega $$Ωof unit area. It is known that the average cost scales as$$E_{\Omega }(N)\sim {1}/{2\pi }\ln N$$EΩ(N)∼1/2πlnNwith a correction that is at most of order$$\sqrt{\ln N\ln \ln N}$$lnNlnlnN. In this paper, we show that, within the linearization approximation of the field-theoretical formulation of the problem, the first$$\Omega $$Ω-dependent correction is on the constant term, and can be exactly computed from the spectrum of the Laplace–Beltrami operator on$$\Omega $$Ω. We perform the explicit calculation of this constant for various families of surfaces, and compare our predictions with extensive numerics.
Inverse reinforcement learning in contextual MDPs
Authors: Belogolovsky Stav , Korsunsky Philip , Mannor Shie , Tessler Chen , Zahavy Tom 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWe consider the task of Inverse Reinforcement Learning in Contextual Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). In this setting, contexts, which define the reward and transition kernel, are sampled from a distribution. In addition, although the reward is a function of the context, it is not provided to the agent. Instead, the agent observes demonstrations from an optimal policy. The goal is to learn the reward mapping, such that the agent will act optimally even when encountering previously unseen contexts, also known as zero-shot transfer. We formulate this problem as a non-differential convex optimization problem and propose a novel algorithm to compute its subgradients. Based on this scheme, we analyze several methods both theoretically, where we compare the sample complexity and scalability, and empirically. Most importantly, we show both theoretically and empirically that our algorithms perform zero-shot transfer (generalize to new and unseen contexts). Specifically, we present empirical experiments in a dynamic treatment regime, where the goal is to learn a reward function which explains the behavior of expert physicians based on recorded data of them treating patients diagnosed with sepsis.
BMP4 and PHLDA1 are plausible drug-targetable candidate genes for KRAS G12A-, G12D-, and G12V-driven colorectal cancer
Authors: Ohnami Shumpei , Maruyama Kouji , Chen Kai , Takahashi Yu , Hatakeyama Keiichi , Ohshima Keiichi , Shimoda Yuji , Sakai Ai , Kamada Fukumi , Nakatani Sou , Naruoka Akane , Ohnami Sumiko , Kusuhara Masatoshi , Akiyama Yasuto , Kagawa Hiroyasu , Shiomi Akio , Nagashima Takeshi , Urakami Kenichi , Yamaguchi Ken 
Published: May 2021

AbstractDespite the frequent detection of KRAS driver mutations in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), no effective treatments that target mutant KRAS proteins have been introduced into clinical practice. In this study, we identified potential effector molecules, based on differences in gene expression between CRC patients carrying wild-type KRAS (n = 390) and those carrying KRAS mutations in codon 12 (n = 240). CRC patients with wild-type KRAS harboring mutations in HRAS, NRAS, PIK3CA, PIK3CD, PIK3CG, RALGDS, BRAF, or ARAF were excluded from the analysis. At least 11 promising candidate molecules showed greater than two-fold change between the KRAS G12 mutant and wild-type and had a Benjamini-Hochberg-adjusted P value of less than 1E-08, evidence of significantly differential expression between these two groups. Among these 11 genes examined in cell lines transfected with KRAS G12 mutants, BMP4, PHLDA1, and GJB5 showed significantly higher expression level in KRAS G12A, G12D, and G12V transfected cells than in the wild-type transfected cells. We expect that this study will lead to the development of novel treatments that target signaling molecules functioning with KRAS G12-driven CRC.
Premature consent and patient duties
Authors: Rebera Andrew P. , Dimitriou Dimitris 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThis paper addresses the problem of ‘premature consent’. The term ‘premature consent’ (introduced in a 2018 paper by J.K. Davis) denotes patient decisions that are: (i) formulated prior to discussion with the appropriate healthcare professional (HCP); (ii) based on information from unreliable sources (e.g. parts of the internet); and (iii) resolutely maintained despite the HCP having provided alternative reliable information. HCPs are not obliged to respect premature consent patients’ demands for unindicated treatments. But why? What is it that premature consent patients do or get wrong? Davis has argued that premature consent patients are incompetent and misinformed. We argue that this view is not sustainable. A more plausible position asserts that premature consent threatens the integrity of the medical profession. We argue that this gives rise to a negative patient duty (to not obstruct HCPs in upholding the integrity of the medical profession) which premature consent patients fail to honour. We argue for a further positive duty of good faith engagement in shared decision-making. This implies willingness to potentially revise or justify one’s evaluative bases (core assumptions, beliefs, values, etc.). Fundamentally, the problem with premature consent patients is that certain of their evaluative bases are not open to revision. They therefore fail in their duty to participate faithfully in the shared decision-making process.
On the use of evolutionary mismatch theories in debating human prosociality
Authors: Segovia-Cuéllar Andrés , Del Savio Lorenzo 
Published: May 2021

AbstractAccording to some evolutionary theorists human prosocial dispositions emerged in a context of inter-group competition and violence that made our psychology parochially prosocial, ie. cooperative towards in-groups and competitive towards strangers. This evolutionary hypothesis is sometimes employed in bioethical debates to argue that human nature and contemporary environments, and especially large-scale societies, are mismatched. In this article we caution against the use of mismatch theories in moral philosophy in general and discuss empirical evidence that puts into question mismatch theories based on parochial prosociality. Evolutionary mismatch theories play at best a rhetorical role in these moral debates and may misrepresent the status of relevant evolutionary research. We finally recommend that moral philosophers interested in the evolutionary literature also engage with dispositions such as xenophilia and social tolerance to counterbalance the focus on psychological mismatches adopted so far.
Tracking control for underactuated non-minimum phase multibody systems
Authors: Berger Thomas , Drücker Svenja , Lanza Lukas , Reis Timo , Seifried Robert 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWe consider tracking control for multibody systems which are modeled using holonomic and non-holonomic constraints. Furthermore, the systems may be underactuated and contain kinematic loops and are thus described by a set of differential-algebraic equations that cannot be reformulated as ordinary differential equations in general. We propose a control strategy which combines a feedforward controller based on the servo-constraints approach with a feedback controller based on a recent funnel control design. As an important tool for both approaches, we present a new procedure to derive the internal dynamics of a multibody system. Furthermore, we present a feasible set of coordinates for the internal dynamics avoiding the effort involved with the computation of the Byrnes–Isidori form. The control design is demonstrated by a simulation for a nonlinear non-minimum phase multi-input, multi-output robotic manipulator with kinematic loop.
Issue Voting and Government Responsiveness to Policy Preferences
Authors: Guntermann Eric , Persson Mikael 
Published: May 2021

AbstractDoes citizens’ voting behavior influence government policy? Conventional models of democratic representation assume that issue voting by citizens induces government responsiveness to citizens’ preferences. However, existing research has not tested whether voting behavior makes any difference to responsiveness. We present a theoretical model of issue voting and policy responsiveness. We leverage Swedish election study panels and a corresponding dataset on policy implementation to empirically evaluate the influence of issue voting on the adoption by governments of popular policies. We find that parties that enter government are more likely to implement popular policies if supporters of a policy shift their votes towards those parties. Thus, issue voting can lead to government responsiveness as long as it does not force parties to be inconsistent with their prior positions.