bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Morphology and seasonality of the sexual segment of the kidney in genus Bothrops snakes
Authors: Silva Karina Maria Pereira , Almeida‐Santos Selma Maria , Lobo Luís Miguel , Bravo‐Vega Carlos Andrés , Rici Rose Eli Grassi , Sasa Mahmood 
Published: December 2021

AbstractIn Squamata, the sexual segment of the male kidney (SSK) produces secretory granules that are transmitted to the female tract during copulation. Here, we investigate the morphology of SSK in various species of the pitviper‐genus Bothrops, a medically relevant clade of Neotropical snakes, using histology, histochemistry, as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopy. We also evaluated the relationship of SSK hypertrophy with spermatogenesis and storage of sperm. The SSK in Bothrops consists of tall columnar epithelial cells filled with electron‐dense secretory granules. These granules are apparently released into the lumen by an apocrine secretory process. In general, the ultrastructural morphology of SSK in Bothrops is similar to those described for other pitvipers in the genus Agkistrodon. In most Bothrops males, the SSK produces carbohydrates and proteins, and occurs in all lobes of the kidney, occupying most of the kidney mass. In contrast, intersexual females (with male copulatory organs) of Bothrops insularis had a smaller SSK diameter than males and did not show hypertrophy. The seasonal development of SSK in Bothrops species seems to be driven by environmental factors rather than phylogeny, since sister species exhibited periods of hypertrophy at different months. In most Bothrops males, hypertrophy occurs at various seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn), even in winter, and seasonal changes in SSK do not necessarily accompany spermatogenesis.
Dynamical and thermodynamical interactions in daily precipitation regimes in the Western Himalayas
Authors: Battula Suma Bhanu , Siems Steven , Mondal Arpita 
Published: December 2021

AbstractThe mechanisms by which moisture interacts with the Himalayas largely determine the amount of precipitation in Himalayan basins. While many recent studies have focused on mechanisms of independent precipitation events, climatological studies that are essential for a complete understanding of precipitation‐generating mechanisms are limited. This work presents synoptic regimes, which produced precipitation across all seasons in the Western Himalayas (WH) from 2000 to 2018. Using the k‐means clustering algorithm, seven clusters are employed to define relatively mild, moderate and wet regimes, showing distinct seasonality and a synoptic meteorology. We found positive precipitation anomalies at lower elevations in monsoonal regimes (M1, M2 and M3) but at higher elevations in winter (W1 and W2) and transitional regimes (T1 and T2). Moist monsoonal regimes are associated with dynamical interactions between low‐level tropical cyclonic circulations and mid‐level subtropical troughs. Synchronous primary and secondary cyclonic circulations facilitate tropical moisture influx and obstruct the further northward movement of cyclonic circulations, which results in large magnitudes of precipitation at lower elevations in monsoonal regimes. On the other hand, winter regimes exhibit intense western disturbances, which enable orographic ascent of tropical moisture towards higher elevations. Despite weaker dynamical interactions, a stronger thermodynamical instability and a steeper terrain gradient trigger deep convection at higher elevations in transitional regimes. Overall, monsoonal regimes account for 52% of rainy days, whereas winter and transitional regimes account for 20 and 28%, respectively. We present a methodology that identifies hotspots of anomalous precipitation over vulnerable higher elevations by tracking atmospheric variables in Delhi. Our results illustrate the dynamical and thermodynamical interactions responsible for precipitation and highlight the significant contribution from nonmonsoonal regimes to the precipitation across higher elevations in the WH.
Mechanism of non‐contact ACL injury: OREF Clinical Research Award 2021
Authors: Boden Barry P. , Sheehan Frances T. 
Published: December 2021

AbstractAnterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures significantly impact athletes in terms of return to play and loss of long‐term quality of life. Before the onset of this study, understanding the mechanism of ACL injury was limited. Thus, the primary focus of this manuscript is to describe our multi‐faceted approach to uncovering the mechanism of noncontact ACL injury (NC‐ACLI) with the goal of developing preventive strategies. The initial qualitative analysis of ACL injury events revealed most (70%) injuries involve minimal to no contact and occurr during landing or deceleration maneuvers in team sports with a minor perturbation before the injury that may disrupt the neuromuscular system leading to poor body dynamics. A series of quantitative videotape studies demonstrated differences in leg and trunk positions at the time of NC‐ACLI in comparison to control subjects. Analysis of the faulty dynamics provoking NC‐ACLI, especially the flat‐footed landing component, supports the theory that an axial compressive force is the critical factor responsible for NC‐ACLI. Our magnetic resonance imaging study demonstrated the NC‐ACLI position was associated with a higher tibial slope, and joint contact occurring on the flat, anterior portion of the lateral femoral condyle versus the round, posterior aspect. Both anatomic conditions favor sliding (pivot shift) over rolling in the presence of an axial compressive force. Subsequent cadaveric studies supported axial compressive forces as the primary component of NC‐ACLI. Both a strong eccentric quadriceps contraction and knee abduction moments may increase the compressive force at the joint thereby lowering the axial threshold to injury. This manuscript summarizes the NC‐ACLI mechanism portion of the 2021 OREF Clinical Research Award.
Perspectives from the Fritz‐Scheffer Awardee 2020—The mutual interactions between roots and soil structure and how these affect rhizosphere processes#
Authors: Lucas Maik 
Published: December 2021

AbstractRoots growing into soil interact with soil structure in numerous ways. They can grow into the soil matrix and leave elongated macropores after decomposition, that is, biopores. Conversely, the soil may already have a large and connected macropore system through which the roots can expand, and thus reach deeper soil layers. Both, the formation of new biopores or the reuse and occupation of existing macropore systems are expected to affect major soil processes like water and gas flow through the soil profile, as well as water flow toward the root. Despite the increasing research interest in the limitation of root growth by soil structure, as well as the modification of soil structure by roots, the mutual interactions between the two are largely overlooked. This study highlights new methodological developments which enable describing interactions between roots and soil structure with X‐ray computed microtomography. It further shows how roots affect the pore system and can create a massive biopore system in less than a decade. After this, it is evaluated how the mutual interaction of roots and structure determines the physical properties of the rhizosphere. It is outlined that this has implications for major rhizosphere processes. Thus, it is emphasized, that the role of structure needs to be considered in future experiments with plants, in particular if extrapolation of results from laboratory experiment with sieved, homogenized substrates to field conditions with well‐established soil structure is intended. Lastly, in this study, research gaps are outlined remaining in respect to the dynamics of biopore creation and destruction and their consequences for processes in rhizospheres like carbon storage. These reveal the need for novel research approaches that consider the mutual interactions of root growth and soil structure.
Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral conjoint therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a U.S. Veterans Affairs PTSD clinic
Authors: Pukay‐Martin Nicole D. , Fredman Steffany J. , Martin Colleen E. , Le Yunying , Haney Alison , Sullivan Connor , Monson Candice M. , Chard Kathleen M. 
Published: December 2021

AbstractCognitive behavioral conjoint therapy (CBCT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a 15‐session conjoint treatment for PTSD designed to improve PTSD symptoms and enhance intimate relationship functioning. Numerous studies of CBCT for PTSD document improvements in patient PTSD and comorbid symptoms, partner mental health, and relationship adjustment. However, little is known about its effectiveness in real‐world clinical settings. Using an intention‐to‐treat sample of couples who participated in CBCT for PTSD in an outpatient U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) PTSD clinic (N = 113), trajectories of session‐by‐session reports of veterans’ PTSD symptoms and both partners’ relationship happiness were examined. Across sessions, there were significant reductions in veteran‐rated PTSD symptoms, d = −0.69, and significant increases in veteran‐ and partner‐rated relationship happiness, ds = 0.36 and 0.35, respectively. Partner ratings of veterans’ PTSD symptoms increased before significantly decreasing, d = −0.24. Secondary outcomes of veteran and partner relationship satisfaction, ds = 0.30 and 0.42, respectively; veteran and partner depressive symptoms, ds = −0.75 and −0.29, respectively; and partner accommodation of PTSD symptoms, d = −0.44, also significantly improved from pre‐ to posttreatment. The findings suggest that CBCT for PTSD was effective for decreasing PTSD and comorbid symptoms in veterans, as well as for improving relationship functioning and partners’ mental health, among a sample of real‐world couples seeking treatment in a VA PTSD specialty clinic.
Coral heat tolerance under variable temperatures: Effects of different variability regimes and past environmental history vs. current exposure
Authors: Schoepf Verena , Sanderson Hermione , Larcombe Ellis 
Published: December 2021

AbstractExposure to high‐frequency temperature variability often but not always enhances coral heat tolerance, raising the question of whether this depends on the type of variability regime and past vs. current exposure. We collected corals from a macrotidal, highly fluctuating temperature environment and preconditioned them to either constant or variable daily temperatures for ~ 1.5 yr. Corals were then exposed to three new temperature variability regimes for ~ 1 month (constant control, symmetric variability, and tidal variability) to assess the effect of short‐term environmental history, followed by a 12‐d heat stress test. Measurements of visual coral health, photophysiology, photosynthesis, respiration, and calcification rates showed that preconditioning to constant vs. variable temperatures for 1.5 yr did not significantly impact coral physiology and heat tolerance. In contrast, environmental history experienced in the month prior to the heat stress test significantly influenced the physiological responses, with corals exposed to both types of variability having lower heat tolerance. Interestingly, corals in the tidal variability regime suffered greater health declines than in the symmetric variability regime although both treatments had the same cumulative heat exposure. Since heating rate and temperature amplitude were higher in the tidal variability regime (but time spent above the bleaching threshold was shorter), this suggests that short, extreme heat pulses may be more deleterious than longer but more moderate ones, though other factors likely also played a role. Overall, our findings demonstrate that daily temperature variability has significant potential to alter coral heat tolerance but only certain types of variability may enhance coral adaptive capacity.
Prophylactic lymphaticovenous anastomoses for resection of soft tissue tumors of the thigh to prevent secondary lymphedema–a retrospective comparative cohort analysis
Authors: Wagner Johannes Maximilian , Dadras Mehran , Ufton Dominic , Huber Julika , Wallner Christoph , Sogorski Alexander , von Glinski Maxi , Hong Joon Pio , Lehnhardt Marcus , Behr Björn 
Published: December 2021

AbstractBackgroundPatients with soft tissue tumors of extremities are at risk to develop secondary lymphedema after tumor resection caused by disruption of lymphatic vessels and sclerosis. Subsequently, this study aimed to evaluate the beneficial effects of lymphaticovenous anastomoses (LVAs) after soft tissue tumor resection of the thigh in a prophylactic approach.MethodsIn a retrospective cohort study, we compared eight patients with a median age of 68.5 years (49–80) who received LVAs in combination with tumor resection for treatment of soft tissue tumors of the thigh region with a prior cohort of 20 patients with a median age of 63.0 years (23–84) who received soft tissue sarcoma resection of the thigh region. All patients of LVA cohort received 1–2 LVAs (mean 1.25 ± 0.49) at the dorsum of the foot and three patients at the SEKI‐point (mean 0.375 ± 0.51). Mean maximum tumor diameter of LVA group was 19.5 ± 5.2 cm and 12.3 ± 6.6 cm of control group. All patients receiving LVA were assessed for development of lymphedema via bilateral measurements of circumference and assessment of lymphedema quality of life index (LyQLI).ResultsOne of the eight patients who received LVAs showed moderate impairment in the LyQLI at a follow‐up of 12 months while 45% of the control cohort complained about symptoms of secondary lymphedema at a median follow‐up of 22 months (p‐values LyQLI: p = .018 [physical domain]; p = .018 [psychosocial domain]; p = .020 [practical domain]).ConclusionLVAs performed in combination with tumor resection of thigh soft tissue tumors reduce negative consequences of lymph stasis and prevent development of secondary lymphedema.
Performance evaluation of dual‐energy CT and differential phase contrast CT in quantitative imaging applications
Authors: Zhang Xin , Su Ting , Yang Jiecheng , Zhu Jiongtao , Xia Dongmei , Zheng Hairong , Liang Dong , Ge Yongshuai 
Published: December 2021

AbstractPurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the quantitative material decomposition performance of the dual‐energy CT (DECT) and differential phase contrast CT (DPCT) via numerical observer studies.MethodsThe electron density () and the effective atomic number () are selected as the decomposition bases. The image domain based decomposition algorithms with certain noise suppression are used to extract the and information under three different spatial resolutions (0.3 mm, 0.1 mm, and 0.03 mm). The contrast‐to‐noise‐ratio (CNR) and the numerical human observer model which is sensitive to the noise textures are investigated to compare the quantitative imaging performance of DECT and DPCT under varied radiation dose levels.ResultsThe model observer results show that the DECT is superior to DPCT at 0.3 mm spatial resolution (300 mm object size); the DECT and DPCT show similar quantitative imaging performance at 0.1 mm spatial resolution (100 mm object size); and the DPCT outperforms the DECT by approximately 1.5 times for the 0.3 mm sized imaging target at 0.03 mm spatial resolution (30 mm object size).ConclusionsIn conclusion, the DECT would be recommended to obtain and for the low spatial resolution quantitative imaging applications such as the diagnostic CT imaging. Whereas, the DPCT would be recommended for ultra high spatial resolution imaging tasks of small objects such as the micro‐CT imaging. This study provides a reference to determine the most appropriate quantitative X‐ray CT imaging method for a certain radiation dose level.
TransDIR: Deformable imaging registration network based on transformer to improve the feature extraction ability
Authors: Yang Tiejun , Bai Xinhao , Cui Xiaojuan , Gong Yuehong , Li Lei 
Published: December 2021

AbstractPurposeImaging registration has a significant contribution to guide and support physicians in the process of decision‐making for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. However, existing registration methods based on the convolutional neural network cannot extract global features effectively, which significantly influences registration performance. Moreover, the smoothness of the displacement vector field (DVF) fails to be ensured due to the miss folding penalty.MethodsIn order to capture abundant global information as well as local information, we have proposed a novel 3D deformable image registration network based on Transformer (TransDIR). In the encoding phase, the transformer with the atrous reduction attention block is designed to capture the long‐distance dependencies that are crucial for extracting global information. A zero‐padding position encoder is embedded into the transformer to capture the local information. In the decoding phase, an up‐sampling module based on an attention mechanism is designed to increase the significance of ROIs. Because of adding folding penalty term into loss function, the smoothness of DVF is improved.ResultsFinally, we carried out experiments on OASIS, LPBA40, MGH10, and MM‐WHS open datasets to validate the effectiveness of TransDIR. Compared with LapIRN, the DSC score is improved by 1.1% and 0.9% on OASIS and LPBA40, separately. In addition, compared with VoxelMorph, the DSC score is improved by 2.8% on the basis of the folding index decreased by hundreds of times on MM‐WHS.ConclusionsThe results show that the TransDIR achieves robust registration and promising generalizability compared with LapIRN and VoxelMorph.
Volumetric segmentation of ground glass nodule based on 3D attentional cascaded residual U‐Net and conditional random field
Authors: Chen Hui , Liu Jiyu , Lu Liangjian , Wang Ting , Xu Xiaomin , Chu Aina , Peng Weijun , Gong Jing , Tang Wei , Gu Yajia 
Published: December 2021

AbstractBackgroundGround glass nodule (GGN) segmentation is one of the important and challenging tasks in diagnosing early‐stage lung adenocarcinomas. Manually delineating of 3D GGN in a computed tomography (CT) image is a subjective, laborious, and tedious task, which presents poor repeatability.PurposeTo reduce the annotation burden and improve the segmentation performance, this study proposes a 3D deep learning‐based volumetric segmentation model to segment the GGN in CT images.MethodsA total of 379 GGNs were retrospectively collected from the public database, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital (SHPH), and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC). First, a series of image preprocessing techniques involving image resampling, intensity normalization, 3D nodule patch cropping, and data augmentation, were adopted to generate the input images for the deep learning model by using CT scans. Then, a 3D attentional cascaded residual network (ACRU‐Net) was proposed to develop the deep learning‐based segmentation model by using the residual network and the atrous spatial pyramid pooling module. To improve the model performance, a voxel‐based conditional random field (CRF) method was used to optimize the segmentation results. Finally, a balanced cross‐entropy and Dice combined loss function was applied to train and build the segmentation model.ResultsTesting on SHPH and FUSCC datasets, the proposed method generates the Dice coefficients of 0.721 ± 0.167 and 0.733 ± 0.100, respectively, which are higher than those of 3D residual U‐Net and ACRU‐Net without CRF optimization.ConclusionsThe results demonstrated that combining 3D ACRU‐Net and CRF effectively improved the GGN segmentation performance. The proposed segmentation model may provide a potential tool to help the radiologist in the segmentation and diagnosis of 3D GGN.
Synthesis of turbostratic nanoscale graphene via chamber detonation of oxygen/acetylene mixtures
Authors: Wright Justin P. , Sigdel Shusil , Corkill Stephen , Covarrubias Jose , LeBan Levon , Nepal Arjun , Li Jun , Divigalpitiya Ranjith , Bossmann Stefan H. , Sorensen Christopher M. 
Published: December 2021

AbstractA study of the detonation synthesis method to make graphene and the properties of the resulting graphene is presented. The gaseous precursors are mixtures of oxygen and acetylene with oxygen/carbon molar ratios of O/C = 0.25 to 0.75. Chamber pressure and temperature data indicate pressures ≤ 300 psi and temperatures of 2550 ± 100K after initiation of the reaction mixture. The graphene material collected from the chamber after the detonation was characterized by Raman, XRD (X‐ray diffraction), BET, SEM (scanning electron microscopy), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), and so on. The material properties divide into two groups: low O/C (≤ 0.45) and high O/C (≥ 0.5). Low O/C graphene appears as a low density, aerosol gel with ∼8 weakly associated, disordered turbostratic layers with a lateral extent of 20 to 30 nm. High O/C graphene appears as a denser powder with ∼30 weakly associated turbostratic layers, with a lateral extent of 100 to 200 nm. We conclude, as we have previously, that the high detonation temperature during the reaction is the primary reason that graphene is formed rather than soot. Differentiation into two types of graphene products is hypothesized to be a result of aggregation kinetics to form a static gel that pre‐empts layering (stacking) when O/C is low.
The golden ratio as an ecological affordance leading to aesthetic attractiveness
Authors: De Bartolo Daniela , De Luca Maria , Antonucci Gabriella , Schuster Stefan , Morone Giovanni , Paolucci Stefano , Iosa Marco 
Published: December 2021

AbstractThe golden ratio (GR) is an irrational number (close to 1.618) that repeatedly occurs in nature as well as in masterpieces of art. The GR has been considered a proportion perfectly representing beauty since ancient times, and it was investigated in several scientific fields, but with conflicting results. This study aims at investigating if this proportion is associated with a judgment of beauty independently of the type of the stimulus, and the factors that may affect this aesthetic preference. In Experiment 1, an online psychophysical questionnaire was administered to 256 volunteers asked to choose among three possible proportions between the parts of the same stimulus (GR, 1.5, and 1.8). In Experiment 2, we recorded eye movements in 15 participants who had to express an aesthetic judgment on the same stimuli of Experiment 1. The results revealed a slight overall preference for GR (53%, p < .001), with higher preferences for stimuli representing humans, anthropomorphic sculptures, and paintings, regardless of the cultural level. In Experiment 2, a shorter dwell time was significantly associated with a better aesthetic judgment (p = .005), suggesting the possibility that GR could be associated with easier visual processing, and it could be hence considered as a visual affordance.
Quantitative proteomics revealed new functions of ALKBH4
Authors: Yu Kailin , Qi Tianyu F. , Miao Weili , Liu Xiaochuan , Wang Yinsheng 
Published: December 2021

AbstractALKBH4 is a versatile demethylase capable of catalyzing the demethylation of monomethylated lysine‐84 on actin and N6‐methyladenine in DNA. In this study, we conducted a quantitative proteomic experiment to reveal the altered expression of proteins in HEK293T cells upon genetic ablation of ALKBH4. Our results showed markedly diminished levels of GSTP1 and HSPB1 proteins in ALKBH4‐depleted cells, which emanate from an augmented expression level of DNA (cytosine‐5)‐methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and the ensuing elevated cytosine methylation in the promoter regions of GSTP1 and HSPB1 genes. Together, our results revealed a role of ALKBH4 in modulating DNA cytosine methylation through regulating the expression level of DNMT1 protein.