bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Subduction‐Induced Back‐Arc Extension Versus Far‐Field Stretching: Contrasting Modes for Continental Marginal Break‐Up
Authors: Yang Shuting , Li Zhong‐Hai , Wan Bo , Chen Ling , Kaus Boris J. P. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractContinental break‐up is an ingredient of plate tectonics and the Wilson cycle. During the evolution of the Tethyan Realm since the Paleozoic, a series of ribbon‐like (micro‐)continents are split from the Gondwana and drifted northwards to the Eurasian continent. The initial opening of the Neo‐Tethys Ocean follows a typical continental marginal break‐up of Cimmeria from Gondwana, which is generally considered to be driven by subduction of the Paleo‐Tethyan plate. Yet, the competition between back‐arc extension and far‐field stretching is matter of a long‐standing debate. Therefore, the authors here present the results of systematic 2‐D numerical simulations. The results reveal four types of subduction‐induced continental marginal break‐ups: back‐arc extension, far‐field stretching, double break‐up, and subduction channel opening. A weak relic suture zone is a prerequisite for continental break‐up and an important factor controlling the mode selection. The back‐arc extension mode occurs for relatively short and shallow dipping highly viscous subducted slabs. The far‐field stretching mode, on the other hand, preferably occurs for spatially long and wide subducted slabs without mid‐ocean ridges. Combining the geological observations, numerical simulations and force balance analyses, the authors propose that the northward, single‐sided Paleo‐Tethys oceanic subduction beneath Laurasia, was most likely responsible for the far‐field break‐up of the Cimmerian terranes from Gondwana. This would have required both pre‐existing relic suture zones and the already subducted mid‐ocean ridge, which thus played an important role in the opening of the Neo‐Tethys Ocean.
Ocean‐Driven and Topography‐Controlled Nonlinear Glacier Retreat During the Holocene: Southwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica
Authors: Jones R. S. , Gudmundsson G. H. , Mackintosh A. N. , McCormack F. S. , Whitmore R. J. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractRecent ice sheet mass loss in Antarctica has been attributed to an influx of warm ocean waters, which drove grounding‐line retreat and ice thinning. Episodic retreat and rapid thinning also occurred in the southwestern Ross Sea during the Holocene, which today accommodates cold ocean waters. We applied finite element ice‐flow modeling to investigate the roles of ocean temperature and bed topography in the deglaciation of this region. First, our experiments demonstrate that bed topography controlled the spatial pattern of grounding‐line retreat. Topographic pinning points limited the rate of ice loss until retreat progressed beyond a bathymetric threshold. Second, ocean thermal forcing determined the timing of this ice loss. Enhanced ocean‐driven melt is required during the Early‐to‐Mid Holocene to replicate geological records of deglaciation, possibly indicating that warm ocean waters were once present in this region. On multi‐centennial timescales, ocean temperature drove, while bed topography controlled, nonlinear rates of ice mass loss.
Magnetic Anomalies Caused by 2D Polygonal Structures With Uniform Arbitrary Polarization: New Insights From Analytical/Numerical Comparison Among Available Algorithm Formulations
Authors: Ghirotto Alessandro , Zunino Andrea , Armadillo Egidio , Mosegaard Klaus 
Published: February 2021

AbstractSince the '60s of the last century, the calculation of the magnetic anomalies caused by 2D uniformly polarized bodies with polygonal cross‐section has been mainly performed using the popular algorithm of Talwani and Heirtzler (1962, 1964). Recently, Kravchinsky et al. (2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082767) claimed errors in the above algorithm formulation, proposing new corrective formulas and questioning the effectiveness of almost 60 years of magnetic calculations. Here we show that the two approaches are equivalent and Kravchinsky et al.'s formulas simply represent an algebraic variant of those of Talwani and Heirtzler. Moreover, we analyze a large amount of random magnetic scenarios, involving both changing‐shape polygons and a realistic geological model, showing a complete agreement among the magnetic responses of the two discussed algorithms and the one proposed by Won and Bevis (1987, https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1442298). We release the source code of the algorithms in Julia and Python languages.
Is Preconditioning Effect On Strong Positive Indian Ocean Dipole by a Preceding Central Pacific El Niño Deterministic?
Authors: Yang Kai , Cai Wenju , Huang Gang , Ng Benjamin , Wang Guojian 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe 2018 Central Pacific (CP) El Niño preceded the 2019 strong positive Indian Ocean Dipole (pIOD). The robustness of a CP El Niño preconditioning a strong pIOD has not been investigated. Here, we show that March‐April‐May (MAM) easterly anomalies over the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean (EIO) induced by a preceding CP El Niño drive a thermocline shallowing conducive to an early equatorial EIO cooling. However, the same winds also generate off‐equatorial downwelling Rossby waves in the southern EIO, which reflect as downwelling Kelvin waves, able to weaken the initial anomalies. Furthermore, zonal winds in June‐July‐August (JJA) can either be beneficial or unfavorable for the developing pIOD. Only when the equatorial easterlies, EIO cooling, and thermocline shallowing are sufficiently amplified by JJA does a strong pIOD occur. Despite this, a multi‐century model simulation suggests that development of majority of strong pIOD events is facilitated by a preceding CP El Niño.
Convective System Dynamics Viewed in 3D Over the Oceans
Authors: La Tran Vu , Messager Christophe 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPrevious studies indicated a relationship between deep convection and sea surface wind patterns; however, it remains difficult to remotely observe a deep Convective System (CS) and its dynamics above the ocean due to the lack of data at the mid atmospheric levels. To collect the details of the CS dynamics, some nearly simultaneous data of three CS features, that is, cloud brightness temperature, vertical wind at the midlevels, and horizontal wind at the sea surface, can be now obtained by a combination of sensors from a geostationary (Meteosat) and two polar‐orbiting satellites (Sentinel‐1 and Aeolus), having corresponding acquisition time and orbit track matching. This work thus illustrates a nearly three‐dimensional view of the CS atmospheric dynamics over the sea, including deep convective clouds observed by Meteosat, intense downdrafts measured by Aeolus, and strong surface winds estimated by Sentinel‐1.
Nanobody-based chimeric antigen receptor T cells designed by CRISPR/Cas9 technology for solid tumor immunotherapy
Authors: Mo Fengzhen , Duan Siliang , Jiang Xiaobing , Yang Xiaomei , Hou Xiaoqiong , Shi Wei , Carlos Cueva Jumbo Juan , Liu Aiqun , Yin Shihua , Wang Wu , Yao Hua , Yu Zihang , Tang Zhuoran , Xie Shenxia , Ding Ziqiang , Zhao Xinyue , Hammock Bruce D. , Lu Xiaoling 
Published: February 2021

AbstractChimeric antigen receptor-based T-cell immunotherapy is a promising strategy for treatment of hematological malignant tumors; however, its efficacy towards solid cancer remains challenging. We therefore focused on developing nanobody-based CAR-T cells that treat the solid tumor. CD105 expression is upregulated on neoangiogenic endothelial and cancer cells. CD105 has been developed as a drug target. Here we show the generation of a CD105-specific nanobody, an anti-human CD105 CAR-T cells, by inserting the sequences for anti-CD105 nanobody-linked standard cassette genes into AAVS1 site using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Co-culture with CD105+ target cells led to the activation of anti-CD105 CAR-T cells that displayed the typically activated cytotoxic T-cell characters, ability to proliferate, the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and the specific killing efficacy against CD105+ target cells in vitro. The in vivo treatment with anti-CD105 CAR-T cells significantly inhibited the growth of implanted CD105+ tumors, reduced tumor weight, and prolonged the survival time of tumor-bearing NOD/SCID mice. Nanobody-based CAR-T cells can therefore function as an antitumor agent in human tumor xenograft models. Our findings determined that the strategy of nanobody-based CAR-T cells engineered by CRISPR/Cas9 system has a certain potential to treat solid tumor through targeting CD105 antigen.
Lentivirus-mediated gene therapy for Fabry disease
Authors: Khan Aneal , Barber Dwayne L. , Huang Ju , Rupar C. Anthony , Rip Jack W. , Auray-Blais Christiane , Boutin Michel , O’Hoski Pamela , Gargulak Kristy , McKillop William M. , Fraser Graeme , Wasim Syed , LeMoine Kaye , Jelinski Shelly , Chaudhry Ahsan , Prokopishyn Nicole , Morel Chantal F. , Couban Stephen , Duggan Peter R. , Fowler Daniel H. , Keating Armand , West Michael L. , Foley Ronan , Medin Jeffrey A. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractEnzyme and chaperone therapies are used to treat Fabry disease. Such treatments are expensive and require intrusive biweekly infusions; they are also not particularly efficacious. In this pilot, single-arm study (NCT02800070), five adult males with Type 1 (classical) phenotype Fabry disease were infused with autologous lentivirus-transduced, CD34+-selected, hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells engineered to express alpha-galactosidase A (α-gal A). Safety and toxicity are the primary endpoints. The non-myeloablative preparative regimen consisted of intravenous melphalan. No serious adverse events (AEs) are attributable to the investigational product. All patients produced α-gal A to near normal levels within one week. Vector is detected in peripheral blood and bone marrow cells, plasma and leukocytes demonstrate α-gal A activity within or above the reference range, and reductions in plasma and urine globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) and globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3) are seen. While the study and evaluations are still ongoing, the first patient is nearly three years post-infusion. Three patients have elected to discontinue enzyme therapy.
Beverage bottle capacity, packaging efficiency, and the potential for plastic waste reduction
Authors: Becerril-Arreola R. , Bucklin R. E. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPlastic pollution is a pressing issue because authorities struggle to contain and process the enormous amount of waste produced. We study the potential for reducing plastic waste by examining the efficiency with which different polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles deliver beverages. We find that 80% of the variation in bottle weight is explained by bottle capacity, 16% by product category, and 1% by brand. Bottle weight is quadratic and convex function of capacity, which implies that medium capacity bottles are most efficient at delivering consumable product. Local data on PET bottle sales and municipal waste recovery validate the findings. A 20% shift in consumption from smaller to larger bottles could reduce the production of PET waste by over 10,000 t annually in the U.S. alone.
Palaeoenvironmental evolution of formation of Bayanjargalan oil shale: evidence from trace elements and biomarkers
Authors: Sun Youhong , Tsolmon Demchig , Shan Xuanlong , He Wentong , Guo Wei 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe genetic type of the Bayanerhet Formation oil shale in the Bayanjargalan mine area is an inland lacustrine oil shale deposit. Inorganic element analysis and organic geochemical testing of oil shale samples collected in three boreholes show that the Bayanerhet Formation oil shale has relatively high organic contents, e.g., average TOC values of 6.53, 7.32 and 8.84 (corresponding to oil contents of 5.49%, 6.07% and 7.50%) in boreholes BJ3807, BJ3405 and BJ3005, respectively. Analysis of organic matter sources with biomarkers indicates that lower aquatic organisms such as algae contribute more to the organic matter than higher plants do. According to research on the values of Fe2O3/FeO, Rb/Sr and w (La) n/w (Yb)n in cores from the three boreholes, the Bayanjargalan oil shale is inferred to have formed in a humid paleoclimate with a relatively high sedimentation rate. In research on the evolution of the paleoaquifer in which the oil shale formed, the values of Fe3+/Fe2+, V/V + Ni, Ni/V, Ceanom and δCe are applied as sensitive indicators of the redox conditions in the aqueous medium. These values indicate that the Bayanjargalan oil shale formed in a water body with a weak redox environment. Moreover, the values of Ca/(Ca + Fe) and Sr/Ba and the values of gammacerane/αβC30 hopane in biomarkers show that the oil shale was formed in a saltwater environment. Analysis of Mo and U shows high endogenous lake productivity, corresponding to high TOC, which suggests that the lacustrine productivity played an important role in organic matter enrichment. The Lower Cretaceous Bayanerhet Formation (K1bt) in the Bayanjargalan mine area encompasses a complete sequence and was formed during lowstand, transgression, highstand and regression periods. The dominant oil shale deposits were formed in the transgression system tract and high stand system tract, and these oil shales have a high oil content and stable occurrence. A large set of thick, high-TOC and high-oil-content oil shales in the second member of the Bayanerhet Formation was deposited under such conditions. The abundant terrigenous supply under warm and humid conditions significantly promoted the primitive biological productivity, and the weak redox saltwater environment had relatively high productivity. All the favorable conditions promoted the formation of high-quality oil shale.
Interaction of Plasmodium falciparum apicortin with α- and β-tubulin is critical for parasite growth and survival
Authors: Chakrabarti Malabika , Joshi Nishant , Kumari Geeta , Singh Preeti , Shoaib Rumaisha , Munjal Akshay , Kumar Vikash , Behl Ankita , Abid Mohammad , Garg Swati , Gupta Sonal , Singh Shailja 
Published: February 2021

AbstractCytoskeletal structures of Apicomplexan parasites are important for parasite replication, motility, invasion to the host cell and survival. Apicortin, an Apicomplexan specific protein appears to be a crucial factor in maintaining stability of the parasite cytoskeletal assemblies. However, the function of apicortin, in terms of interaction with microtubules still remains elusive. Herein, we have attempted to elucidate the function of Plasmodium falciparum apicortin by monitoring its interaction with two main components of parasite microtubular structure, α-tubulin-I and β-tubulin through in silico and in vitro studies. Further, a p25 domain binding generic drug Tamoxifen (TMX), was used to disrupt PfApicortin-tubulin interactions which led to the inhibition in growth and progression of blood stage life cycle of P. falciparum.
Real-time observation of microcirculatory leukocytes in patients undergoing major liver resection
Authors: Uz Zühre , Ince C. , Shen L. , Ergin B. , van Gulik T. M. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractIschemia/reperfusion injury and inflammation are associated with microcirculatory dysfunction, endothelial injury and glycocalyx degradation. This study aimed to assess microcirculation in the sublingual, intestinal and the (remnant) liver in patients undergoing major liver resection, to define microcirculatory leukocyte activation and its association with glycocalyx degradation. In this prospective observational study, the microcirculation was assessed at the beginning of surgery (T0), end of surgery (T1) and 24 h after surgery (T2) using Incident Dark Field imaging. Changes in vessel density, blood flow and leukocyte behaviour were monitored, as well as clinical parameters. Syndecan-1 levels as a parameter of glycocalyx degradation were analysed. 19 patients were included. Sublingual microcirculation showed a significant increase in the number of rolling leukocytes between T0 and T1 (1.5 [0.7–1.8] vs. 3.7 [1.7–5.4] Ls/C-PCV/4 s respectively, p = 0.001), and remained high at T2 when compared to T0 (3.8 [3–8.5] Ls/C-PCV/4 s, p = 0.006). The microvascular flow decreased at T2 (2.4 ± 0.3 vs. baseline 2.8 ± 0.2, respectively, p < 0.01). Duration of vascular inflow occlusion was associated with significantly higher numbers of sublingual microcirculatory rolling leukocytes. Syndecan-1 increased from T0 to T1 (42 [25–56] vs. 107 [86–164] ng/mL, p < 0.001). The microcirculatory perfusion was characterized by low convection capacity and high number of rolling leukocytes. The ability to sublingually monitor the rolling behaviour of the microcirculatory leukocytes allows for early identification of patients at risk of increased inflammatory response following major liver resection.
Precise higher-order reflectivity and morphology models for early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy using OCT images
Authors: Sharafeldeen A. , Elsharkawy M. , Khalifa F. , Soliman A. , Ghazal M. , AlHalabi M. , Yaghi M. , Alrahmawy M. , Elmougy S. , Sandhu H. S. , El-Baz A. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis study proposes a novel computer assisted diagnostic (CAD) system for early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) B-scans. The CAD system is based on fusing novel OCT markers that describe both the morphology/anatomy and the reflectivity of retinal layers to improve DR diagnosis. This system separates retinal layers automatically using a segmentation approach based on an adaptive appearance and their prior shape information. High-order morphological and novel reflectivity markers are extracted from individual segmented layers. Namely, the morphological markers are layerthicknessandtortuositywhile the reflectivity markers are the 1st-order reflectivity of the layer in addition to local and global high-order reflectivity based onMarkov-Gibbs random field (MGRF)andgray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), respectively. The extracted image-derived markers are represented using cumulative distribution function (CDF) descriptors. The constructed CDFs are then described using their statistical measures, i.e., the 10th through 90th percentiles with a 10% increment. For individual layer classification, each extracted descriptor of a given layer is fed to a support vector machine (SVM) classifier with a linear kernel. The results of the four classifiers are then fused using a backpropagation neural network (BNN) to diagnose each retinal layer. For global subject diagnosis, classification outputs (probabilities) of the twelve layers are fused using another BNN to make the final diagnosis of the B-scan. This system is validated and tested on 130 patients, with two scans for both eyes (i.e. 260 OCT images), with a balanced number of normal and DR subjects using different validation metrics:2-folds,4-folds,10-folds, andleave-one-subject-out (LOSO)cross-validation approaches. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated usingsensitivity,specificity,F1-score, andaccuracymetrics. The system’s performance after the fusion of these different markers showed better performance compared with individual markers and other machine learning fusion methods. Namely, it achieved$$96.15\%$$96.15%,$$99.23\%$$99.23%,$$97.66\%$$97.66%, and$$97.69\%$$97.69%, respectively, using the LOSO cross-validation technique. The reported results, based on the integration of morphology and reflectivity markers and by using state-of-the-art machine learning classifications, demonstrate the ability of the proposed system to diagnose the DR early.
Timely poacher detection and localization using sentinel animal movement
Authors: de Knegt Henrik J. , Eikelboom Jasper A. J. , van Langevelde Frank , Spruyt W. François , Prins Herbert H. T. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWildlife crime is one of the most profitable illegal industries worldwide. Current actions to reduce it are far from effective and fail to prevent population declines of many endangered species, pressing the need for innovative anti-poaching solutions. Here, we propose and test a poacher early warning system that is based on the movement responses of non-targeted sentinel animals, which naturally respond to threats by fleeing and changing herd topology. We analyzed human-evasive movement patterns of 135 mammalian savanna herbivores of four different species, using an internet-of-things architecture with wearable sensors, wireless data transmission and machine learning algorithms. We show that the presence of human intruders can be accurately detected (86.1% accuracy) and localized (less than 500 m error in 54.2% of the experimentally staged intrusions) by algorithmically identifying characteristic changes in sentinel movement. These behavioral signatures include, among others, an increase in movement speed, energy expenditure, body acceleration, directional persistence and herd coherence, and a decrease in suitability of selected habitat. The key to successful identification of these signatures lies in identifying systematic deviations from normal behavior under similar conditions, such as season, time of day and habitat. We also show that the indirect costs of predation are not limited to vigilance, but also include (1) long, high-speed flights; (2) energetically costly flight paths; and (3) suboptimal habitat selection during flights. The combination of wireless biologging, predictive analytics and sentinel animal behavior can benefit wildlife conservation via early poacher detection, but also solve challenges related to surveillance, safety and health.
An NKX2-1GFP and TP63tdTomato dual fluorescent reporter for the investigation of human lung basal cell biology
Authors: Goh Kim Jee , Tan Ee Kim , Lu Hao , Roy Sudipto , Dunn N. Ray 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBasal cells are multipotent stem cells responsible for the repair and regeneration of all the epithelial cell types present in the proximal lung. In mice, the elusive origins of basal cells and their contribution to lung development were recently revealed by high-resolution, lineage tracing studies. It however remains unclear if human basal cells originate and participate in lung development in a similar fashion, particularly with mounting evidence for significant species-specific differences in this process. To address this outstanding question, in the last several years differentiation protocols incorporating human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) have been developed to produce human basal cells in vitro with varying efficiencies. To facilitate this endeavour, we introduced tdTomato into the human TP63 gene, whose expression specifically labels basal cells, in the background of a previously described hPSC line harbouring an NKX2-1GFP reporter allele. The functionality and specificity of the NKX2-1GFP;TP63tdTomato hPSC line was validated by directed differentiation into lung progenitors as well as more specialised lung epithelial subtypes using an organoid platform. This dual fluorescent reporter hPSC line will be useful for tracking, isolating and expanding basal cells from heterogenous differentiation cultures for further study.