bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Probiotics mediated gut microbiota diversity shifts are associated with reduction in histopathology and shedding of Lawsonia intracellularis
Authors: Muwonge Adrian , Karuppannan Anbu K. , Opriessnig Tanja 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Clinical intervention during bacterial infections in farm animals such as pigs commonly consists of antimicrobial use. With the rise of antimicrobial resistance and the attempts to reduce the use of antibiotics in food animals, effective alternatives are urgently needed to reduce or even remove pathogens and disease risk. Improving clinical outcomes and overall pig health by using probiotics appears attractive. However, reliable data sets on the efficacy of probiotics are scarce. The obligate intracellular bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis is widespread in pigs and associated with severe enteropathy, mainly in the ileum, commonly resulting in substantial reduction in weight gain. The impact of three in-feed probiotics and a commercial live L. intracellularis vaccine were compared in a pig challenge model. Probiotic treatment was associated with reduced L. intracellularis fecal shedding and reduced gut lesions. Here, the bacterial microbiota of the ileum of these pigs was characterized with 16S rRNA gene sequencing and was subsequently analyzed with bioinformatics tools. Results: The greatest microbial richness was observed in the probiotic treated group T03-LAW, which accounted for 87% of richness observed in the study. Treatment had a significant impact on both the microbiota structure and taxonomic profile in the ileum, explaining between 26-36% of the structural variation, with the strongest association in the T03-LAW group. Overall, the largest changes were observed for the pigs treated with in-feed Bacillus pumilus; the microbiota of these pigs had the greatest diversity and highest richness. We also observed depleted and enriched core microbiota amongst the groups; however, there was no correlation with clinical characteristics. The results suggest that an increased diversity of the ileal microbiota is associated with a reduction in shedding, i.e. a unit increase in Shannon diversity index resulted in 2.8 log reduction in shedding.Conclusions: Probiotic supplementation of a base feed ration increased ileum microbiota diversity leading to a mitigation of the effects of a pathogenic L. intracellularis challenge. An even and diverse microbiota community benefits pigs infected with L. intracellularis, however, investigations are needed to determine if this is also true for other pathogens. The study unambiguously demonstrates the usefulness of probiotic supplementation in reducing the impact of enteric pathogens and pathogen shedding rates in food animals without the use of antimicrobials.
Predictors of death at home among cancer patients in Israel: A population-based study
Authors: Rottenberg Yakir , Goldzweig Gil , Shaulov Adir 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Most cancer patients prefer to die at home; however, many die in hospital. The aim of the current study is to elucidate the association between dying at home and various personal factors in the Israeli population of cancer patients.Methods: Data on cancer incidence (2008-2015) and death (2008-2017) was provided by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics and the Israel National Cancer Registry. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to assess odds ratios for death at home following cancer diagnosis while controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, years of education, residential socioeconomic score, and time from diagnosis. We also assessed the relation between place of death and specific cancer sites, as well as the time trend from 2008-2017.Results: About one quarter (26.7%) of the study population died at home. Death at home was most frequent among patients diagnosed with brain tumors (37.0%), while it was the lowest among patients with hematologic malignancies (lymphoma and leukemia, 20.3% and 20.0%, respectively). Rates of dying at home among patients with residential socioeconomic scores of 1, 2-9, and 10 were about 15%, 30%, and 42.9%, respectively. In patients from the 4th to the 7th decades of life, rates of death at home increased at a linear rate that increased exponentially from the 8th decade onwards. After controlling for potential confounders, predictive variables for death at home included age (OR=1.020 per year, 95% CI 1.017-1.024), male sex (OR=1.18, , 95% CI 1.077-1.294), years of education (OR=1.029 per year, 95% CI 1.018-1.040), and time from diagnosis (OR=1.003 per month, 95% CI 1.001-1.005 all p<0.001). No trend was seen from 2008-2013, while from 2014-2017 a slight increase in the rate of death at home was seen each year.Conclusions: These results indicate wide variability in death at home exists among patients of different ages, sex, education, socioeconomic status and time from diagnosis. These findings stress the importance of delivering quality palliative care at home, mainly for patients with hematologic malignancies, younger patients, and patients of very low socioeconomic status. Understanding the complex mechanisms whereby patient preferences and the above variables may determine the preferred place of death remains an important research priority.
Anthelmintic efficacy of Fenbendazole and Levamisole in native fowl in northern Iran
Authors: Soudkolaei Saemi , Kalidari Gholam Ali , Borji Hassan 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: With the increasing number of free-range domestic chickens, helminth parasites have potentially become more of a threat in commercial flocks in recent years, and routine poultry deworming is needed to improve efficiency of chicken products. The present study deals with a field trial to study the efficiency of two generally used anthelmintics, Fenbendazole and Levamisole, against gastrointestinal nematodes of domestic chickens in north of Iran. Methods: Out of 45 domestic chicken flocks involved in the study, 20 flocks were selected to participate in fecal egg count reduction testing based on flock size from April 2017 to September 2018. The infected chickens were randomly divided into three equal groups of 30 each. Ninety chickens in the infected groups received one of the following treatments (d 0 of treatment): Group 1: 5 mg kg−1 body weight (BW) Fenbendazole for three consecutive days, Group 2: 16 mg kg−1 BW Levamisole, and Group 3 control: placebo; water + DMSO [1]. The efficiency of the treatments were evaluated by comparing fecal egg count in the treated and control groups.Results: Examination of 3 herds of chicken from the control group showed that 95.0% of the animals were infected with gastrointestinal nematodes with an average geometric value of 361 eggs per gram of feces. Fenbendazole at a dose of 5 mg kg−1 BW for three days showed an efficiency of 83.7% (P ≥0.05), and Levamisole at a dose of 16 mg kg−1 BW showed 71.8% (P ≥0.05) with geometric mean eggs in a gram of feces 100 and 199.6, respectively. In general, Fenbendazole and Levamisole showed significantly lower activity. The result of this study revealed that Fenbendazole was a better and effective dewormer than Levamisole on the three Iranian domestic chicken flocks, but it is not significant. Capillaria spp., were the most generally resistant nematodes followed by Trichostrongylus spp., and Amidostomum anseris.Conclusion: Our results indicated that Fenbendazole and Levamisole reduced number of nemathodes effectively in three Iranian domestic chicken flocks. Given the results of our study, it is possible that resistance may be expected in the parasitic helminths of poultry. Additional studies with a larger scale are required to determine the prevalence of anthelmintic resistance in the poultry industry.
3D Pointing Gestures as Target Selection Tools: Guiding Monocular UAVs during Window Selection in an Outdoor Environment
Authors: Medeiros Anna C S , Ratsamee Photchara , Orlosky Jason , Uranishi Yuki , Higashida Manabu , Takemura Haruo 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Firefighters need to gain information from both inside and outside of buildings in first response emergency scenarios. For this purpose, drones are beneficial. This paper presents an elicitation study that showed the firefighters’ desire to collaborate with autonomous drones. We developed a Human-Drone Interaction (HDI) method for indicating a target to a drone using 3D pointing gestures estimated solely from a monocular camera. The participant first points to a window without using any wearable or body-attached device. Through the drone’s front-facing camera, the drone detects the gesture and computes the target window. This work includes a description of the process for choosing the gesture, detecting and localizing objects, and carrying out the transformations between coordinate systems. Our proposed 3D pointing gesture interface improves a 2D pointing gesture interface by integrating depth information with SLAM, solving multiple objects aligned on the same plane ambiguity, in a large-scale outdoor environment. Experimental results showed that our 3D pointing gesture interface obtained a 0.85 and 0.73 F1-Score on average in simulation and real-world experiments and 0.58 F1-Score at the maximum distance of 25 meters between drone and building.
Treatment planning comparison of volumetric modulated arc therapy with Trilogy and Halcyon for bilateral breast cancer
Authors: Sun Tao , Lin Xiutong , Zhang Guifang , Qiu Qingtao , Li Chengqiang , Yin Yong 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: The Halcyon is a new machine from the Varian company. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dosimetry of the Halcyon in treatment of bilateral breast cancer with volumetric modulated arc therapy. Methods: On CT images of 10 patients with bilateral breast cancer, four Halcyon plans with different setup fields were generated, and dosimetric comparisons using Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test were conducted among the four plans. Whole and partial arc plans on the Trilogy and the Halcyon, referred to as T-4arc, T-8arc, H-4arc and H-8arc, were designed. The prescription dose was 50 Gy in 2-Gy fractions. All plans were designed with the Eclipse version 15.5 treatment planning system. The dosimetric differences between whole and partial arc plans in the same accelerator were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. The better Halcyon plan was selected for the further dosimetric comparison of the plan quality and delivery efficiency between the Trilogy and the Halcyon. Results:Halcyon plans with high‐quality megavoltage cone beam CT setup fields increased the Dmean, D2 and V107 of the planning target volume (PTV) and the V5 and Dmean of the heart, left ventricle (LV) and lungs compared with other Halcyon setup plans. The mean dose and low dose volume of the heart, lungs and liver were significantly decreased in T-8arc plans compared to T-4arc plans. In terms of the V5, V20, V30, V40 and Dmean of the heart, the V20, V30, V40 and Dmean of the LV, the V30, V40, Dmax and Dmean of the left anterior descending artery (LAD), and the V5 and V40 of lungs, H-8arc was significantly higher than H-4arc (p<0.05). Compared with the Trilogy’s plans, the Halcyon’s plans reduced the high-dose volume of the heart and LV but increased the mean dose of the heart. For the dose of the LAD and the V20 and V30 of lungs, there was no significant difference between the two accelerators. Compared with the Trilogy, plans on the Halcyon significantly increased the skin dose but also significantly reduced the delivery time. Conclusion: For the Halcyon, the whole-arc plans have more dosimetric advantages than partial-arc plans in bilateral breast cancer radiotherapy. Although the mean dose of the heart and the skin dose are increased, the doses of the cardiac substructure and other OARs are comparable to the Trilogy, and the delivery time is significantly reduced.
Fish predation on corals promotes the dispersal of coral symbionts
Authors: Grupstra Carsten Guillaume Bruno , Rabbitt Kristen M. , Howe-Kerr Lauren I. , Correa Adrienne M.S. 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: The microbiomes of foundation (habitat-forming) species such as corals and sponges underpin the biodiversity, productivity, and stability of ecosystems. Consumers shape communities of foundation species through trophic interactions, but the role of consumers in dispersing the microbiomes of such species is rarely examined. For example, stony corals rely on a nutritional symbiosis with single-celled endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (family Symbiodiniaceae) to construct reefs. Most corals acquire Symbiodiniaceae from the environment, but the processes that make Symbiodiniaceae available for uptake are not resolved. Here, we provide the first comprehensive, reef-scale demonstration that predation by diverse coral-eating (corallivorous) fish species promotes the dispersal of Symbiodiniaceae, based on symbiont cell densities and community compositions from the feces of four obligate corallivores, three facultative corallivores, two grazer/detritivores as well as samples of reef sediment and water.Results: Obligate corallivore feces are environmental hotspots of Symbiodiniaceae cells: live symbiont cell concentrations in such feces are 5-7 orders of magnitude higher than sediment and water environmental reservoirs. Symbiodiniaceae community compositions in the feces of obligate corallivores are similar to those in two locally abundant coral genera (Pocillopora and Porites), but differ from Symbiodiniaceae communities in the feces of facultative corallivores and grazer/detritivores as well as sediment and water. Combining our data on live Symbiodiniaceae cell densities in feces with in situ observations of fish, we estimate that some obligate corallivorous fish species release over 100 million Symbiodiniaceae cells per 100 m2 of reef per day. Released corallivore feces came in direct contact with coral colonies in the fore reef zone following 91% of observed egestion events, providing a potential mechanism for the transfer of live Symbiodiniaceae cells among coral colonies. Conclusions: Taken together, our findings show that fish predation on corals may support the maintenance of coral cover on reefs in an unexpected way: through the dispersal of beneficial coral symbionts in corallivore feces. Few studies examine the processes that make symbionts available to foundation species, or how environmental reservoirs of such symbionts are replenished. This work sets the stage for parallel studies of consumer-mediated microbiome dispersal and assembly in other sessile, habitat-forming species.
Fluid Proteomics of CSF and Serum Reveal Important Neuroinflammatory Proteins in Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption and Outcome Prediction following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: a Prospective, Observational Study
Authors: Lindblad Caroline , Pin Elisa , Just David , Nimer Faiez Al , Nilsson Peter , Bellander Bo-Michael , Svensson Mikael , Piehl Fredrik , Thelin Eric Peter 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and a subsequent neuroinflammatory process. We aimed to perform a multiplex screening of brain enriched and inflammatory proteins in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in order to study their role in BBB disruption, neuroinflammation and long-term functional outcome in TBI patients and healthy controls. Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational study on 90 severe TBI patients and 15 control subjects. Clinical outcome data, Glasgow Outcome Score, was collected after 6-12 months. We utilized a suspension bead antibody array analyzed on a FlexMap 3D Luminex platform to characterize 177 unique proteins in matched CSF and serum samples. In addition, we assessed BBB disruption using the CSF-serum albumin quotient (QA), and performed Apolipoprotein E-genotyping as the latter has been linked to BBB function in the absence of trauma. We employed pathway-, cluster-, and proportional odds regression analyses. Key findings were validated in blood samples from an independent TBI cohort.Results: TBI patients had an upregulation of structural and neuroinflammatory pathways in both CSF and serum. In total, 114 proteins correlated with QA, among which the top-correlated proteins were complement proteins. A cluster analysis revealed protein levels to be strongly associated with BBB integrity, but not carriage of the Apolipoprotein E4-variant. Among cluster-derived proteins, innate immune pathways were upregulated. Forty unique proteins emanated as novel independent predictors of clinical outcome, that individually explained ~10% additional model variance. Among proteins significantly different between TBI patients with intact or disrupted BBB, complement C9 in CSF (p = 0.014, DR2 = 7.4%) and complement factor B in serum (p = 0.003, DR2 = 9.2%) were independent outcome predictors also following step-down modelling. Conclusions: This represents the largest concomitant CSF and serum proteomic profiling study so far reported in TBI, providing substantial support to the notion that neuroinflammatory markers, including complement activation, predicts BBB disruption and long-term outcome. Individual proteins identified here could potentially serve to refine current biomarker modelling or represent novel treatment targets in severe TBI.
Dietary isoleucine improved flesh quality, muscle antioxidant capacity, and muscle growth associated with AKT/TOR/S6K1 and AKT/FOXO3a signaling in hybrid bagrid catfish (Pelteobagrus vachelli ♀ × Leiocassis longirostris♂)
Authors: Jiang Qin , Yan Ming-Yao , Zhao Ye , Zhou Xiao-Qiu , Yin Long , Feng Lin , Liu Yang , Jiang Wei-Dan , Wu Pei , Wang Yan , Chen De-Fang , Yang Shi-Yong , Huang Xiao-Li , Jiang Jun 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Muscle is the complex and heterogeneous tissue, which comprises the primary edible part of the trunk of fish and mammals. Previous studies have shown that dietary isoleucine (Ile) exerts beneficial effects on growth in aquatic animals. However, there were limited studies regarding the benefits of Ile on fish muscle and their effects on flesh quality and muscle growth. Thus, this study was conducted to explore whether dietary Ile had affected flesh quality and muscle growth in hybrid bagrid catfish (Pelteobagrus vachelli♀ × Leiocassis longirostris♂). Methods: A total of 630 hybrid fish, with an initial average body weight of 33.11 ± 0.09 g, were randomly allotted into seven experimental groups with three replicates each, and respectively fed seven diets with 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 12.5, 15.0, 17.5, and 20.0 g Ile/kg diets for 8 weeks. Results: In the present study, we demonstrated that Ile significantly: (1) increased muscle protein and lipid contents and the frequency distribution of myofibers with ≤ 20 and ≥ 50 µm of diameter; (2) improved pH value, shear force, cathepsin B and L activities, hydroxyproline content, resilience, cohesiveness, and decreased cooking loss, lactate content, hardness, springiness, gumminess, and chewiness; (3) decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and protein carbonyl (PC) contents, GCLC and Keap1 mRNA levels, and up-regulated CuZnSOD, CAT, GPX1a, GST, and Nrf2 mRNA levels; (4) up-regulated the insulin-like growth factor 1, 2 (IGF-1, IGF-2), insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), Myf5, Myod, Myog, Mrf4, and MyHC mRNA levels, and decreased MSTN mRNA level; (5) increased muscle protein deposition by activating AKT-TOR-S6K1 and AKT-FOXO3a signaling pathways. Conclusion: These results revealed that dietary Ile improved flesh quality, which might be due to increasing nutritional content, physicochemical, texture parameters, and antioxidant ability; promoting muscle growth by affecting myocytes hyperplasia and hypertrophy, and muscle protein deposition associated with protein synthesis and degradation signaling pathways. Finally, the quadratic regression analysis of chewiness, ROS, and protein contents against dietary Ile levels suggested that the optimal dietary Ile levels for hybrid bagrid catfish was estimated to be 14.19, 12.36, and 12.78 g/kg diet, corresponding to 36.59, 31.87, and 32.96 g/kg dietary protein, respectively.
Highly sensitive Terahertz non-destructive testing technology for stone relics deterioration prediction using SVM-based machine learning models
Authors: Meng Tianhua , Huang Rong , Lu Yuhe , Liu Hongmei , Ren Jianguang , Zhao Guozhong , Hu Weidong 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
The hollowing deterioration of stone relics required effective non-destructive testing (NDT) methods for their timely restoration and maintenance. To this end, a new NDT method based on terahertz (THz) technology by using support vector machine (SVM)-based machine learning models was developed to assess and diagnose the hollowing deterioration of the Yungang Grottoes. According to experiment design, a series of hollowing deterioration samples with various thicknesses of hollowing deterioration were prepared and then measured by using THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). Based on the THz-TDS results of 30 randomly selected samples, a SVM-based hollowing deterioration prediction model (SVM-HDPM) was established by analyzing the relationship between the hollowing samples and the THz spectral information. The reliability and accuracy of the model was further proved by verified and compared with using the THz spectral data of the remaining 10 samples. The experimental results with the linear kernel function greatly demonstrated that the SVM-HDPM can have superior prediction accuracy, implying that the model is feasible for the prediction the hollowing deterioration of the stone relics. Moreover, one data preprocess was introduced into SVM-HDPM to meet the needs of field-based test. The predicted results of five different hollowing deterioration with different flaked stone thickness revealed good performance with very low mean square error (MSE) value. Therefore, it is believed that the proposed method can be regarded as an effective NDT technique with practical applications in analyzing cultural relics and have promising future prospects in inspection stone relics-like ancient heritage for hidden flaws.
The Application of Design Thinking Methodology in Architectural Education in Ukraine: Case Study
Authors: HOLUBCHAK Kateryna 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
The relationship between different aspects that challenge architectural education in Ukraine and new pedagogical strategies, in particular application of the innovative approach based on Design Thinking, are analysed and described in the paper. The case study illustrated in the article is based on author’s personal experiment held with the 3rd year students at the Institute of Architecture, Construction and Energy (Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas, Ukraine). A qualitative analysis of the Design Thinking methodology, alongside the literature review, has been presented. Particular emphasis is put on the implementation of the Lego® Serious Play® methodology, as an effective tool for facilitating students’ creative potential, self-expression and ability to generate innovative ideas at the conceptual stage of architectural design. The suggested methodology can be successfully applied in other higher educational courses.