bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Summer Regional Daily‐Precipitation Extreme Events in Huang‐Huai Rivers Region of China and Their Relationships With Rossby Wave Packet Activities
Authors: Sun Siyuan , Guan Zhaoyong , Ye Dechao 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe regional daily‐precipitation extreme events (RDPEs) have profound societal impacts. Based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and datasets of daily basic meteorological elements from China national meteorological stations, the statistical characteristics of RDPEs in the Huang‐Huai Rivers (HHR) region in eastern China from 1979 to 2016 and their relationships with Rossby wave activities are investigated. The results show that in the summers (June‐August) of 1979–2016, the 95 percentile threshold of regional extreme daily‐precipitation in HHR region is 27.32 mm/d. There are 77 RDPEs in total in the past 38 years. When RDPEs occur, HHR region is controlled by an anomalous cyclonic circulation in the middle and lower troposphere and an anomalous anticyclonic circulation in the upper troposphere. The water vapor is mainly transported from the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea into HHR region. Rossby waves originate near the Caspian Sea and obviously disperse downstream‐ward, taking about 4 days to move to HHR region. The eddy kinetic energy at 200 hPa over HHR region reaches its maximum on the day before RDPEs occur and decrease from then on. This decrease is dominated by processes including advection transport of eddy kinetic energy and barotropic energy conversion by time‐mean flow. The intensification tendency of baroclinic conversion weakens while barotropic conversion play an important role in the weakening of eddy kinetic energy. The migrations of wave packets, meridional transports of warmer air and momentum over HHR region during 4 days before RDPEs occurrences may provide useful clues to forecasting RDPEs.
Monitoring the Preonzo Rock Slope Instability Using Resonance Mode Analysis
Authors: Häusler M. , Michel C. , Burjánek J. , Fäh D. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractReliable monitoring of unstable rock slopes is a prerequisite for successful mitigation of landslide hazards. However, most state‐of‐the art techniques rely on measuring the local surface displacement in the potential release area. In contrast, recording ambient vibration data allows for analyzing structural dynamic parameters of the unstable slope, such as resonance frequency, polarization of vibration, and energy dissipation. These parameters can be linked to properties of the instability, for example, to rock stiffness and fracture network orientation. We developed a processing method for continuous seismic data based on enhanced frequency domain decomposition modal analysis and applied it to the unstable rock slope Preonzo in Switzerland (∼140,000 m3). Four years of ambient vibration data recorded at two permanent seismometers on the instability were analyzed, providing the resonance frequency, damping ratio, and normal mode shapes of the fundamental (∼3.5 Hz) and the first higher (∼4.2 Hz) vibrational mode. We found that modal analysis can be reliably used to monitor the dynamic response of an unstable rock slope. We observed annual changes of all parameters with a damping ratio varying between 6.0% and 9.7% for the fundamental mode. The dynamic parameters appear to be primarily driven by temperature and only secondarily by opening and closing of fractures. No large slope failure was registered during the observation period. However, the data provide a baseline model for ongoing slope monitoring to recognize structural changes before a future collapse. The setup proposed builds a complementary monitoring system to displacement‐based surveying.
Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: relationships with cortical thickness in fronto-temporal regions, and dissociability from symptom severity
Authors: Alkan Erkan , Davies Geoff , Evans Simon L. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractCognitive impairments are a core and persistent characteristic of schizophrenia with implications for daily functioning. These show only limited response to antipsychotic treatment and their neural basis is not well characterised. Previous studies point to relationships between cortical thickness and cognitive performance in fronto-temporal brain regions in schizophrenia patients (SZH). There is also evidence that these relationships might be independent of symptom severity, suggesting dissociable disease processes. We set out to explore these possibilities in a sample of 70 SZH and 72 age and gender-matched healthy controls (provided by the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE)). Cortical thickness within fronto-temporal regions implicated by previous work was considered in relation to performance across various cognitive domains (from the MATRICS Cognitive Battery). Compared to controls, SZH had thinner cortices across most fronto-temporal regions and significantly lower performance on all cognitive domains. Robust relationships with cortical thickness were found: visual learning and attention performance correlated with bilateral superior and middle frontal thickness in SZH only. Correlations between attention performance and right transverse temporal thickness were also specific to SZH. Findings point to the importance of these regions for cognitive performance in SZH, possibly reflecting compensatory processes and/or aberrant connectivity. No links to symptom severity were observed in these regions, suggesting these relationships are dissociable from underlying psychotic symptomology. Findings enhance understanding of the brain structural underpinnings and possible aetiology of cognitive impairment in SZH.
Large socio-economic, geographic and demographic disparities exist in exposure to school closures
Authors: Parolin Zachary , Lee Emma K. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe coronovirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted many school districts to turn to distance or at-home learning. Studies are emerging on the negative effects of distance learning on educational performance, but less is known about the socio-economic, geographic and demographic characteristics of students exposed to distance learning. We introduce a U.S. School Closure and Distance Learning Database that tracks in-person visits across more than 100,000 schools throughout 2020. The database, which we make publicly accessible and update monthly, describes year-over-year change in in-person visits to each school throughout 2020 to estimate whether the school is engaged in distance learning. Our findings reveal that school closures from September to December 2020 were more common in schools with lower third-grade math scores and higher shares of students from racial/ethnic minorities, who experience homelessness, have limited English proficiency and are eligible for free/reduced-price school lunches. The findings portend rising inequalities in learning outcomes.
Chromosome-scale genome assembly provides insights into rye biology, evolution and agronomic potential
Authors: Rabanus-Wallace M. Timothy , Hackauf Bernd , Mascher Martin , Lux Thomas , Wicker Thomas , Gundlach Heidrun , Baez Mariana , Houben Andreas , Mayer Klaus F. X. , Guo Liangliang , Poland Jesse , Pozniak Curtis J. , Walkowiak Sean , Melonek Joanna , Praz Coraline R. , Schreiber Mona , Budak Hikmet , Heuberger Matthias , Steuernagel Burkhard , Wulff Brande , Börner Andreas , Byrns Brook , Čížková Jana , Fowler D. Brian , Fritz Allan , Himmelbach Axel , Kaithakottil Gemy , Keilwagen Jens , Keller Beat , Konkin David , Larsen Jamie , Li Qiang , Myśków Beata , Padmarasu Sudharsan , Rawat Nidhi , Sesiz Uğur , Biyiklioglu-Kaya Sezgi , Sharpe Andy , Šimková Hana , Small Ian , Swarbreck David , Toegelová Helena , Tsvetkova Natalia , Voylokov Anatoly V. , Vrána Jan , Bauer Eva , Bolibok-Bragoszewska Hanna , Doležel Jaroslav , Hall Anthony , Jia Jizeng , Korzun Viktor , Laroche André , Ma Xue-Feng , Ordon Frank , Özkan Hakan , Rakoczy-Trojanowska Monika , Scholz Uwe , Schulman Alan H. , Siekmann Dörthe , Stojałowski Stefan , Tiwari Vijay K. , Spannagl Manuel , Stein Nils 
Published: March 2021

AbstractRye (Secale cereale L.) is an exceptionally climate-resilient cereal crop, used extensively to produce improved wheat varieties via introgressive hybridization and possessing the entire repertoire of genes necessary to enable hybrid breeding. Rye is allogamous and only recently domesticated, thus giving cultivated ryes access to a diverse and exploitable wild gene pool. To further enhance the agronomic potential of rye, we produced a chromosome-scale annotated assembly of the 7.9-gigabase rye genome and extensively validated its quality by using a suite of molecular genetic resources. We demonstrate applications of this resource with a broad range of investigations. We present findings on cultivated rye’s incomplete genetic isolation from wild relatives, mechanisms of genome structural evolution, pathogen resistance, low-temperature tolerance, fertility control systems for hybrid breeding and the yield benefits of rye–wheat introgressions.
Preparation of multifunctional nanobubbles and their application in bimodal imaging and targeted combination therapy of early pancreatic cancer
Authors: Yang Hengli , Zhao Ping , Zhou Yonggang , Li Qiaoying , Cai Wenbin , Zhao Zongxia , Shen Jian , Yao Kechun , Duan Yunyou 
Published: March 2021

AbstractPancreatic cancer will gradually become the second leading cause of cancer death due to its poor suitability for surgical treatment, frequent recurrence and metastasis, and insensitivity to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Strategies for precise early detection and effective targeted treatment of pancreatic cancer are urgently needed. Because of its unique advantages, molecular targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging (CEUI) has generated new opportunities to overcome this challenge. The aim of this study was to explore multifunctional nanobubbles named IR780-NBs-DTX as novel ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) for dual-mode targeted imaging and photothermal ablation combined with chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. An optimized “film hydration method” was used to prepare IR780-NBs-DTX in this research. The characteristics and ability of the new UCAs were detected via in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo experiments. The initial dose of 0.15 mg IR-780 iodide/1.0 mg DTX was considered to be the best formula for IR780-NBs-DTX, and the concentration of 6 ×106 bubbles/mL was best for CEUI. The excellent characteristics of IR780-NBs-DTX, including a uniform nanoscale particle size (349.8± 159.1 nm, n= 3), good performance in dual-mode imaging, high stability and reliable biocompatibility, were also proven. In the in vitro cell experiments, IR780-NBs-DTX targeted more pancreatic cancer cells than the control treatments, and the targeting rate was approximately 95.6± 1.7%. Under irradiation with an 808 nm laser, most cells died. Furthermore, the in vivo study demonstrated that IR780-NBs-DTX could precisely detect pancreatic cancer through near infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging and CEUI, and the tumor almost disappeared at 18 days after combined treatment. In ex vivo experiments, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) showed that the expression of HSP70 increased and that of PCNA decreased, and many apoptotic tumor cells were observed by TUNEL staining in the IR780-NBs-DTX group. The newly prepared IR780-NBs-DTX are novel nanosized UCAs with high efficiency for dual-mode molecular targeted imaging and combined therapy, and they may have future potential applications in the precise detection and effective targeted therapy of small and metastatic lesions in the early stage of pancreatic cancer.
Two wild female bonobos adopted infants from a different social group at Wamba
Authors: Tokuyama Nahoko , Toda Kazuya , Poiret Marie-Laure , Iyokango Bahanande , Bakaa Batuafe , Ishizuka Shintaro 
Published: March 2021

AbstractAdoption, the act of taking another individual’s offspring and treating it as one’s own, is rare but widely observed in various mammal species and may increase the survival of adoptees. Adoption may also benefit adoptive mothers, for example they might care for close kin to gain indirect fitness or to learn caregiving behaviours. Here, we report two cases of a wild bonobo adopting an infant from a different social group, the first report of cross-group adoption in great apes. In one case, the adoptive mother was already a mother of two dependent offspring. In the other case, the adoptive mother was an old parous female whose own offspring had already emigrated into a different social group. The adoptive mothers provided various maternal care to the adoptees, such as carrying, grooming, nursing, and sharing food. No aggression was observed by group members towards the out-group adoptees. In both cases, adoptees had no maternal kin-relationship with their adoptive mothers. Both adoptive mothers already had experience of rearing their own offspring. Instead, these cases of adoption may have been driven by other evolutionary adaptive traits of bonobos, such as their strong attraction to infants and high tolerance towards immatures and out-group individuals.
Ecosystem response persists after a prolonged marine heatwave
Authors: Suryan Robert M. , Arimitsu Mayumi L. , Coletti Heather A. , Hopcroft Russell R. , Lindeberg Mandy R. , Barbeaux Steven J. , Batten Sonia D. , Burt William J. , Bishop Mary A. , Bodkin James L. , Brenner Richard , Campbell Robert W. , Cushing Daniel A. , Danielson Seth L. , Dorn Martin W. , Drummond Brie , Esler Daniel , Gelatt Thomas , Hanselman Dana H. , Hatch Scott A. , Haught Stormy , Holderied Kris , Iken Katrin , Irons David B. , Kettle Arthur B. , Kimmel David G. , Konar Brenda , Kuletz Kathy J. , Laurel Benjamin J. , Maniscalco John M. , Matkin Craig , McKinstry Caitlin A. E. , Monson Daniel H. , Moran John R. , Olsen Dan , Palsson Wayne A. , Pegau W. Scott , Piatt John F. , Rogers Lauren A. , Rojek Nora A. , Schaefer Anne , Spies Ingrid B. , Straley Janice M. , Strom Suzanne L. , Sweeney Kathryn L. , Szymkowiak Marysia , Weitzman Benjamin P. , Yasumiishi Ellen M. , Zador Stephani G. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractSome of the longest and most comprehensive marine ecosystem monitoring programs were established in the Gulf of Alaska following the environmental disaster of the Exxon Valdez oil spill over 30 years ago. These monitoring programs have been successful in assessing recovery from oil spill impacts, and their continuation decades later has now provided an unparalleled assessment of ecosystem responses to another newly emerging global threat, marine heatwaves. The 2014–2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave (PMH) in the Gulf of Alaska was the longest lasting heatwave globally over the past decade, with some cooling, but also continued warm conditions through 2019. Our analysis of 187 time series from primary production to commercial fisheries and nearshore intertidal to offshore oceanic domains demonstrate abrupt changes across trophic levels, with many responses persisting up to at least 5 years after the onset of the heatwave. Furthermore, our suite of metrics showed novel community-level groupings relative to at least a decade prior to the heatwave. Given anticipated increases in marine heatwaves under current climate projections, it remains uncertain when or if the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem will return to a pre-PMH state.
Cardioprotective effects of exercise training on doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy: a systematic review with meta-analysis of preclinical studies
Authors: Ghignatti Paola Victória da Costa , Nogueira Laura Jesuíno , Lehnen Alexandre Machado , Leguisamo Natalia Motta 
Published: March 2021

AbstractDoxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity in chemotherapy is a major treatment drawback. Clinical trials on the cardioprotective effects of exercise in cancer patients have not yet been published. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical studies for to assess the efficacy of exercise training on DOX-induced cardiomyopathy. We included studies with animal models of DOX-induced cardiomyopathy and exercise training from PubMed, Web of Sciences and Scopus databases. The outcome was the mean difference (MD) in fractional shortening (FS, %) assessed by echocardiography between sedentary and trained DOX-treated animals. Trained DOX-treated animals improved 7.40% (95% CI 5.75–9.05, p < 0.001) in FS vs. sedentary animals. Subgroup analyses revealed a superior effect of exercise training execution prior to DOX exposure (MD = 8.20, 95% CI 6.27–10.13, p = 0.010). The assessment of cardiac function up to 10 days after DOX exposure and completion of exercise protocol was also associated with superior effect size in FS (MD = 7.89, 95% CI 6.11–9.67, p = 0.020) vs. an echocardiography after over 4 weeks. Modality and duration of exercise, gender and cumulative DOX dose did were not individually associated with changes on FS. Exercise training is a cardioprotective approach in rodent models of DOX-induced cardiomyopathy. Exercise prior to DOX exposure exerts greater effect sizes on FS preservation.
Characterization of zebrafish GABAA receptor subunits
Authors: Sadamitsu Kenichiro , Shigemitsu Leona , Suzuki Marina , Ito Daishi , Kashima Makoto , Hirata Hiromi 
Published: March 2021

Abstractγ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, exerts its effect through the activation of GABA receptors. GABAA receptors are ligand-gated chloride channels composed of five subunit proteins. Mammals have 19 different GABAA receptor subunits (α1–6, β1–3, γ1–3, δ, ε, π, θ, and ρ1–3), the physiological properties of which have been assayed by electrophysiology. However, the evolutionary conservation of the physiological characteristics of diverged GABAA receptor subunits remains unclear. Zebrafish have 23 subunits (α1, α2a, α2b, α3–5, α6a, α6b, β1–4, γ1–3, δ, π, ζ, ρ1, ρ2a, ρ2b, ρ3a, and ρ3b), but the electrophysiological properties of these subunits have not been explored. In this study, we cloned the coding sequences for zebrafish GABAA receptor subunits and investigated their expression patterns in larval zebrafish by whole-mount in situ hybridization. We also performed electrophysiological recordings of GABA-evoked currents from Xenopus oocytes injected with one or multiple zebrafish GABAA receptor subunit cRNAs and calculated the half-maximal effective concentrations (EC50s) for each. Our results revealed the spatial expressions and electrophysiological GABA sensitivities of zebrafish GABAA receptors, suggesting that the properties of GABAA receptor subunits are conserved among vertebrates.
Epidemiological analysis of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the community: an individual-based model
Authors: Guo Zuiyuan , Xiao Dan 
Published: March 2021

AbstractWe established an individual-based computer model to simulate the occurrence, infection, discovery, quarantine, and quarantine release (recovery) of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals or patients within the community. The model was used to explore the effects of control measures, such as active tracing, laboratory testing, active treatment, and home quarantine on the epidemic. Considering the condition that R0 = 1.2, when a case of an imported asymptomatic infected individual (AII) was reported in the community, the implementation of control measures reduced the number of AIIs and patients by 62.2% and 62.4%, respectively. The number of undetected AIIs and patients peaked at 302 days of the epidemic, reaching 53 and 20 individuals, respectively. The implementation of sustained active tracing, laboratory testing, active treatment, and home quarantine can significantly reduce the probability of disease outbreaks and block the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic caused by AIIs in the community.
Retinal ganglion cell dysfunction in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease: an electrophysiologic biomarker signature
Authors: Asanad Samuel , Felix Christian M. , Fantini Michele , Harrington Michael G. , Sadun Alfredo A. , Karanjia Rustum 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe current study evaluated retinal function using electroretinography (ERG) in cognitively healthy (CH) participants with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as classified by cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42/Tau ratio. Individuals with normal retinal morphology ascertained by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography were enrolled. Full-field ERG, pattern PERG, and photopic negative response (PhNR) were performed in 29 adult participants (58 eyes). Amplitude and implicit times of the ERG wave components were analyzed. Preclinical AD participants showed marked retinal ganglion cell dysfunction relative to controls. The PhNR was significantly diminished in preclinical AD relative to controls. PhNR amplitude and N95 implicit time differentiated CH individuals with CSF biomarkers of AD pathology with 87% sensitivity and 82% specificity. These quantitative electrophysiologic findings expand our understanding of early retinal functional changes that precede cognitive decline in AD. Retinal ganglion cell dysfunction, as detected by ERG, may be a clinically useful, non-invasive in vivo biomarker for early disease detection, which is necessary for ultimately pursuing early intervention.
Urban objects detection from C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images through simulating filter properties
Authors: Kumar Deepak 
Published: March 2021

AbstractSatellite-based remote sensing has a key role in the monitoring earth features, but due to flaws like cloud penetration capability and selective duration for remote sensing in traditional remote sensing methods, now the attention has shifted towards the use of alternative methods such as microwave or radar sensing technology. Microwave remote sensing utilizes synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology for remote sensing and it can operate in all weather conditions. Previous researchers have reported about effects of SAR pre-processing for urban objects detection and mapping. Preparing high accuracy urban maps are critical to disaster planning and response efforts, thus result from this study can help to users on the required pre-processing steps and its effects. Owing to the induced errors (such as calibration, geometric, speckle noise) in the radar images, these images are affected by several distortions, therefore these distortions need to be processed before any applications, as it causes issues in image interpretation and these can destroy valuable information about shapes, size, pattern and tone of various desired objects. The present work aims to utilize the sentinel-1 SAR datasets for urban studies (i.e. urban object detection through simulation of filter properties). The work uses C-band SAR datasets acquired from Sentinel-1A/B sensor, and the Google Earth datasets to validate the recognized objects. It was observed that the Refined-Lee filter performed well to provide detailed information about the various urban objects. It was established that the attempted approach cannot be generalised as one suitable method for sensing or identifying accurate urban objects from the C-band SAR images. Hence some more datasets in different polarisation combinations are required to be attempted.