bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Double Whammy of Obesity and Diabetes on Female Reproductive Health
Authors: Thong Eleanor P. , Burden Christy 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe rising global prevalence of obesity and diabetes, especially in youth, confers substantial metabolic consequences and increased mortality in affected individuals. While obesity is strongly tied to the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, emerging evidence shows that obesity rates are also increasing exponentially in those with type 1 diabetes, contributing to insulin resistance and cardiometabolic sequelae. In addition, both obesity and diabetes can exert adverse effects on female reproductive health independently, with the presence of both conditions likely to exacerbate reproductive dysfunction in this cohort. If the current trends in obesity and diabetes incidence persist, it is likely that more women will be at risk of obesity- and diabetes-related reproductive disorders. This review aims to describe the epidemiology and mechanisms of obesity in women with diabetes, and summarize current literature regarding reproductive disorders in diabetes and weight management strategies in this cohort.
Trivalent chromium isotopes in the eastern tropical North Pacific oxygen-deficient zone
Authors: Huang Tianyi , Moos Simone B. , Boyle Edward A. 
Published: February 2021

SignificanceChromium isotopes have been used to study ancient earth atmospheric oxygen levels and seem promising as a paleoredox proxy. However, few studies have focused on its cycling in the modern ocean. Here we analyzed samples from oxygen-deficient zones and investigated how chromium speciation and isotopes respond to extremely low oxygen environments, which helps to unravel the chromium redox cycling and the associated isotopic fractionation. The isotopic composition of trivalent chromium in the eastern tropical North Pacific oxygen-deficient zones is lighter than total dissolved chromium and residual hexavalent chromium. This finding supports the preferential reduction of isotopically light Cr found in theoretical and experimental studies and is fundamental to the usage of Cr isotopes as a paleoredox proxy.
Differential biosynthesis and cellular permeability explain longitudinal gibberellin gradients in growing roots
Authors: Rizza Annalisa , Tang Bijun , Stanley Claire E. , Grossmann Guido , Owen Markus R. , Band Leah R. , Jones Alexander M. 
Published: February 2021

Significance
Growth hormones are mobile chemicals that exert considerable influence over how multicellular organisms like animals and plants take on their shape and form. Of particular interest is the distribution of such hormones across cells and tissues. In plants, one of these hormones, gibberellin (GA), is known to regulate cell multiplication and cell expansion to increase the rate at which roots grow. In this work, biosensor measurements were combined with theoretical models to elucidate the biochemical mechanisms that direct GA distribution and how these patterns relate to root growth. Our detailed understanding of how GA distributions are controlled in roots should prove a valuable model for understanding the makings of the many other hormone distributions that influence how plants grow.
Selenomethionine as an expressible handle for bioconjugations
Authors: Flood Dillon T. , Hintzen Jordi C. J. , Knouse Kyle W. , Hill David E. , Lu Chenxi , Cistrone Philip A. , Chen Jason S. , Otomo Takanori , Dawson Philip. E. 
Published: February 2021

Significance
The manipulation of proteins in a site-selective manner underpins much of modern protein chemistry. A careful evaluation of selenomethionine benzylation led to the identification of a highly efficient bromobenzyl linker for protein bioconjugation. This selenonium-forming ligation reaction can efficiently link proteins to other complex molecules such as synthetic peptides, polymers, or reactive handles. The selenonium product is sufficiently stable at physiological pH, yet is efficiently cleaved by glutathione at intracellular concentrations. Selenomethionine benzylation is a broadly applicable tool for engineering of complex macromolecules.
Inhibitors of cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase 4 with antitumor potential
Authors: Wu Kenneth , Huynh Khoi Q. , Lu Iris , Moustakim Moses , Miao Haibin , Yu Clinton , Haeusgen Matthew J. , Hopkins Benjamin D. , Huang Lan , Zheng Ning , Sanchez Roberto , DeVita Robert J. , Pan Zhen-Qiang 
Published: February 2021

Significance
Cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligases (CRLs) direct protein degradation to impact a myriad of physiological and pathological processes including cancer. This work reports the small-molecule compounds 33-11 and KH-4-43 as inhibitors of E3 CRL4 with anticancer potential. These compounds have provided an opportunity for developing tool compounds to address mechanistic and phenotypic questions about CRL4 in biochemical, cell-based, and animal studies. The results of correlation studies between cullin4 protein level and the compounds’ cytotoxic response as well as cullin4 depletion experiments suggest a role for low E3 abundance in sensitizing tumor cells for apoptosis. Collectively, the 33-11/KH-4-43–based CRL4 inhibitors may provide new exploitable therapeutic opportunities to target a subset of tumor lines characterized by low CUL4 expression.
The DUF1013 protein TrcR tracks with RNA polymerase to control the bacterial cell cycle and protect against antibiotics
Authors: Delaby Marie , Varesio Lydia M. , Degeorges Laurence , Crosson Sean , Viollier Patrick H. 
Published: February 2021

SignificanceControl of transcription is fundamental to cell cycle progression and the generation of dispersal cells in bacteria. Several cell cycle regulatory proteins controlling transcription initiation have been identified in the alphaproteobacteriumCaulobacter crescentus, a model system for cell cycle studies. Our screen forC. crescentuscell cycle mutants unearthed an uncharacterized protein, TrcR, as the founding member of the conserved DUF1013 family of proteins. TrcR and its orthologs associate with initiating and elongating RNA polymerase (RNAP), and the association with elongating RNAP is prevented upon addition of the RNAP inhibitor rifampicin. TrcR-deficient cells suffer from pleiotropic cell cycle defects, including an insufficiency in the master cell cycle regulator CtrA, and antibiotic sensitivity that are suppressed by mutations in RNAP.
Waveguide evanescent waves based structured illumination microscopy with compact structure and flexible design
Authors: Li Zhenyan , Kong Weijie , Wang Changtao , Pu Mingbo , Luo Yunfei , Liu Xiangzhi , Du Wenjuan , Ma Xiaoliang , Li Xiong , Luo Xiangang 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
We propose a waveguide-based structured illumination microscopy (SIM) method for super-resolution surface imaging, which can exceed the 2-fold diffraction-limit improvement in traditional linear SIM by employing surface evanescent waves interference patterns. The planar waveguide structure is illuminated by grating coupled focused beams, which avoid a large adiabatic taper area and ensures a small footprint. Moreover, Blind-SIM algorithm is adopted in image reconstruction to avoid sophisticated control for the illumination field. In this designed waveguide structure, the resolution of sparse fluorescent beads improved from 246 nm to 64 nm (3.8-fold improvement) in a 5 × 5 μm2 field of view (FOV). Two beads with an 80 nm gap were resolved with a 45% dip and the resolution of diffraction-limited image of dense object was also enhanced. This method exploits a more compact waveguide structure that is easier and cheaper to fabricate, and the flexibility in design helps to improve the structure with wider FOV and higher imaging resolution.
Experimental demonstration and mechanism of mitigating reentry blackout via surface catalysis effects
Authors: Takasawa Hideto , Takahashi Yusuke , Oshima Nobuyuki , Kihara Hisashi 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The reentry blackout phenomenon, which is the communication cut-off between the re-entry vehicle and ground station, is a crucial problem that needs to be addressed. To improve safety during reentry, a new mitigation method was proposed using the surface catalysis effect. However, this method has not been investigated extensively by experimental methods. In this study, we experimentally demonstrated the mitigation method using a 1 MW arc-heated wind tunnel and numerically clarified the mitigation mechanism. As a demonstration experiment, communication tests were conducted to compare the two cases. In the first case, a ceramic surface was used as a low catalytic wall, whereas in the second case, a copper surface was used as a high catalytic wall in the arc-heated wind tunnel. The experimental results indicated that the blackout occurred when alumina was used as the low catalytic wall. On the other hand, for the high catalytic wall using copper, blackout was avoided. The tests were reproduced in the wind tunnel using a numerical simulation technique. From the simulation results, the mitigation mechanism suggested that: (a) the number of nitrogen and oxygen atoms decreased due to catalysis; (b) forward reactions of electron impact ionization were suppressed due to the decrease in the number of atoms; and (c) the suppression of reactions decreased the number of electrons, thereby mitigating the reentry blackout. In addition, the numerical simulations performed on the reentry plasma around the re-entry capsule suggested that the mitigation mechanisms between the arc-heated wind flow and reentry plasma were similar despite the different airflow conditions.
A signal analysis and identification scheme for an online multiphase micron-sized particle analyzer system
Authors: Wang Fuhai , Cao Hongjian , Wang Pingping , Guo Xiaokang , Han Jinlong , Dong Haifeng , Zhang Xiangping , Wang Xiaodong 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Online microparticle detection is of utmost importance for industrial production. This paper proposes a signal processing and feature identification strategy to achieve particle size statistics for online measurement in a three-phase stirred tank reactor based on the electrical sensing zone (ESZ) method. Signal denoising and de-interference are achieved using the wavelet soft threshold method combined with mathematical morphological filtering. Pulse selection is implemented using pulse width limiting conditions. The key features that distinguish the pulse waveforms are defined based on the differences in the motion characteristics of the different types of particles through the aperture. Finally, the unsupervised classification algorithm balanced iterative reducing and clustering using hierarchies clustering is employed to distinguish the pulsed features between hard particles and bubbles. The results show that the particle size distribution identified by this strategy agrees with offline measurements indicating the effectiveness of the scheme. The effects of electromagnetic noise and the interference of small bubbles that approximate the particle size in solution in the online, in-situ measurement task are solved. This study scheme has a guiding and facilitating role in applying the ESZ principle to the industrial online measurement environment.
Use of nanostructured alumina thin films in multilayer anti-reflective coatings
Authors: Reuna Jarno , Aho Arto , Isoaho Riku , Raappana Marianna , Aho Timo , Anttola Elina , Hietalahti Arttu , Tukiainen Antti , Guina Mircea 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
A new method for modification of planar multilayer structures to create nanostructured aluminum oxide anti-reflection coatings is reported. The method is non-toxic and low-cost, being based on treatment of the coating with heated de-ionized water after the deposition of aluminum oxide. The results show that the method provides a viable alternative for attaining a low reflectance ARC. In particular, a low average reflectivity of ∼3.3% is demonstrated in a broadband spectrum extending from 400 nm to 2000 nm for ARCs deposited on GaInP solar-cells, the typical material used as top-junction in solar cell tandem architectures. Moreover, the process is compatible with volume manufacturing technologies used in photovoltaics, such as ion beam sputtering and electron beam evaporation.
Thermal boundary resistance at graphene-pentacene interface explored by a data-intensive approach
Authors: Wang Xinyu , Fan Hongzhao , Han Dan , Hong Yang , Zhang Jingchao 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
As the machinery of artificial intelligence matures in recent years, there has been a surge in applying machine learning (ML) techniques for material property predictions. Artificial neural network (ANN) is a branch of ML and has gained increasing popularity due to its capabilities of modeling complex correlations among large datasets. The interfacial thermal transport plays a significant role in the thermal management of graphene-pentacene based organic electronics. In this work, the thermal boundary resistance (TBR) between graphene and pentacene is comprehensively investigated by classical molecular dynamics simulations combined with the ML technique. The TBR values along the a, b and c directions of pentacene at 300 K are 5.19 ± 0.18 × 10−8 m2 K W−1, 3.66 ± 0.36 × 10−8 m2 K W−1 and 5.03 ± 0.14 × 10−8 m2 K W−1, respectively. Different architectures of ANN models are trained to predict the TBR between graphene and pentacene. Two important hyperparameters, i.e. network layer and the number of neurons are explored to achieve the best prediction results. It is reported that the two-layer ANN with 40 neurons each layer provides the optimal model performance with a normalized mean square error loss of 7.04 × 10−4. Our results provide reasonable guidelines for the thermal design and development of graphene-pentacene electronic devices.
A synergistic interplay between dopant ALD cycles and film thickness on the improvement of the ferroelectricity of uncapped Al:HfO2 nanofilms
Authors: Yao Lulu , Liu Xin , Cheng Yonghong , Xiao Bing 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The Al:HfO2 ferroelectric nanofilms with different total thicknesses and distributions of Al-rich strips are prepared using atomic layer deposition (ALD) in an uncapped configuration. The synergistic interplay between the number of Al-rich layers and the thickness of total film offers the additional flexibility to boost the ferroelectricity of the resulting Al:HfO2 nanofilms. By carefully optimizing both the ALD cycles for dopant layer and the total film thickness in the preparation, the HfO2 nanofilms in post-deposition annealing can exhibit excellent ferroelectricity. The highest remanent polarization (2Pr) of 51.8 μC cm−2 is obtained in a 19.4 nm thick Al:HfO2 nanofilm at the dopant concentration of 11.1 mol% with a three ALD cycles for Al-rich strips. Remarkable remanent polarization value observed in the uncapped electrode clamping film paves a new way to explore the origin of ferroelectricity in hafnium oxide nanofilms. The observed ferroelectricity of the nanofilm is affected neither by the presence of an interface between the upper electrode and the film nor the choices of the materials of upper electrode in the measurement, ensuring a high flexibility in the designing and fabrication of the relevant devices in the future.
Computer-aided diagnosis of ground glass pulmonary nodule by fusing deep learning and radiomics features
Authors: Hu Xianfang , Gong Jing , Zhou Wei , Li Haiming , Wang Shengping , Wei Meng , Peng Weijun , Gu Yajia 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

Objectives. This study aims to develop a computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) scheme to classify between benign and malignant ground glass nodules (GGNs), and fuse deep leaning and radiomics imaging features to improve the classification performance. Methods. We first retrospectively collected 513 surgery histopathology confirmed GGNs from two centers. Among these GGNs, 100 were benign and 413 were malignant. All malignant tumors were stage I lung adenocarcinoma. To segment GGNs, we applied a deep convolutional neural network and residual architecture to train and build a 3D U-Net. Then, based on the pre-trained U-Net, we used a transfer learning approach to build a deep neural network (DNN) to classify between benign and malignant GGNs. With the GGN segmentation results generated by 3D U-Net, we also developed a CT radiomics model by adopting a series of image processing techniques, i.e. radiomics feature extraction, feature selection, synthetic minority over-sampling technique, and support vector machine classifier training/testing, etc. Finally, we applied an information fusion method to fuse the prediction scores generated by DNN based CADx model and CT-radiomics based model. To evaluate the proposed model performance, we conducted a comparison experiment by testing on an independent testing dataset. Results. Comparing with DNN model and radiomics model, our fusion model yielded a significant higher area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of 0.73 ± 0.06 (P < 0.01). The fusion model generated an accuracy of 75.6%, F1 score of 84.6%, weighted average F1 score of 70.3%, and Matthews correlation coefficient of 43.6%, which were higher than the DNN model and radiomics model individually. Conclusions. Our experimental results demonstrated that (1) applying a CADx scheme was feasible to diagnosis of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, (2) deep image features and radiomics features provided complementary information in classifying benign and malignant GGNs, and (3) it was an effective way to build DNN model with limited dataset by using transfer learning. Thus, to build a robust image analysis based CADx model, one can combine different types of image features to decode the imaging phenotypes of GGN.
Motility-induced clustering and meso-scale turbulence in active polar fluids
Authors: Worlitzer Vasco M , Ariel Gil , Be’er Avraham , Stark Holger , Bär Markus , Heidenreich Sebastian 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Meso-scale turbulence was originally observed experimentally in various suspensions of swimming bacteria, as well as in the collective motion of active colloids. The corresponding large scale dynamical patterns were reproduced in a simple model of a polar fluid, assuming a constant density of active particles. Recent, more detailed studies in a variety of experimental realizations of active polar fluids revealed additional interesting aspects, such as anomalous velocity statistics and clustering phenomena. Those phenomena cannot be explained by currently available models for active polar fluids. Herein, we extend the continuum model suggested by Dunkel et al to include density variations and a local feedback between the local density and self-propulsion speed of the active polar particles. If the velocity decreases strong enough with the density, a linear stability analysis of the resulting model shows that, in addition to the short-wavelength instability of the original model, a long-wavelength instability occurs. This is typically observed for high densities of polar active particles and is analogous to the well-known phenomenon of motility-induced phase separation (MIPS) in scalar active matter. We determine a simple phase diagram indicating the linear instabilities and perform systematic numerical simulations for the various regions in the corresponding parameter space. The interplay between the well understood short-range instability (leading to meso-scale turbulence) and the long-range instability (associated with MIPS) leads to interesting dynamics and novel phenomena concerning nucleation and coarsening processes. Our simulation results display a rich variety of novel patterns, including phase separation into domains with dynamically changing irregularly shaped boundaries. Anomalous velocity statistics are observed in all phases where the system segregates into regions of high and low densities. This offers a simple explanation for their occurrence in recent experiments with bacterial suspensions.
A high-performance broadband terahertz absorber based on multilayer graphene squares
Authors: Liu Wenwen , Song Zhengyong , Wang Weihua 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The efficient electromagnetic absorber is highly demanded in device applications. A big challenge is to design the absorber of very thin thickness and broad bandwidth, which is even more difficult at terahertz regime. In this article, we propose and numerically (finite element method, FEM) demonstrate a high-performance broadband absorber with near-perfect absorption over terahertz band based on multilayer graphene squares. The absorber consists of four graphene layers in which the width of the square is gradually increased, and a bottom gold layer separated by a dielectric spacer. The proposed structure can achieve above 90% wave absorption for the frequencies from 1.45 THz to 4.35 THz, with a bandwidth of 2.9 THz and the bandwidth fraction of 100%. Because of symmetry of the structure, this terahertz absorber is polarization insensitive and can work at a large angle range of oblique incidence, for instance absorptance can be maintained nearly unchanged up to 40° for transverse electric polarization and up to 45° for transverse magnetic polarization. Except for the layer stacking, our design is very easy to be realized in experiment, since only the simple square shape and a uniform 0.4 eV Fermi level are used in our design, which may play an important role in future terahertz device applications.
Response of primary auditory neurons to stimulation with infrared light in vitro
Authors: Brown William G A , Needham Karina , Begeng James M , Thompson Alexander C , Nayagam Bryony A , Kameneva Tatiana , Stoddart Paul R 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

Objective. Infrared light can be used to modulate the activity of neuronal cells through thermally-evoked capacitive currents and thermosensitive ion channel modulation. The infrared power threshold for action potentials has previously been found to be far lower in the in vivo cochlea when compared with other neuronal targets, implicating spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) as a potential target for infrared auditory prostheses. However, conflicting experimental evidence suggests that this low threshold may arise from an intermediary mechanism other than direct SGN stimulation, potentially involving residual hair cell activity. Approach. Patch-clamp recordings from cultured SGNs were used to explicitly quantify the capacitive and ion channel currents in an environment devoid of hair cells. Neurons were irradiated by a 1870 nm laser with pulse durations of 0.2–5.0 ms and powers up to 1.5 W. A Hodgkin-Huxley-type model was established by first characterising the voltage dependent currents, and then incorporating laser-evoked currents separated into temperature-dependent and temperature-gradient-dependent components. This model was found to accurately simulate neuronal responses and allowed the results to be extrapolated to stimulation parameter spaces not accessible during this study. Main results. The previously-reported low in vivo SGN stimulation threshold was not observed, and only subthreshold depolarisation was achieved, even at high light exposures. Extrapolating these results with our Hodgkin-Huxley-type model predicts an action potential threshold which does not deviate significantly from other neuronal types. Significance. This suggests that the low-threshold response that is commonly reported in vivo may arise from an alternative mechanism, and calls into question the potential usefulness of the effect for auditory prostheses. The step-wise approach to modelling optically-evoked currents described here may prove useful for analysing a wider range of cell types where capacitive currents and conductance modulation are dominant.