bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antibiotic prescription practices and attitudes towards the use of antimicrobials among veterinarians in the City of Tshwane, South Africa
Authors: Samuels Ronita , Qekwana Daniel Nenene , Oguttu James W. , Odoi Agricola 
Published: January 2021

Background
Understanding the prescription practices and attitudes of veterinarians towards antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is crucial in guiding efforts to curb AMR. This study investigated prescription practices and attitudes towards AMR among veterinarians in the City of Tshwane, South Africa.

Methods
Out of the 83 veterinarians invited to participate in the study, 54 signed the consent form and completed the questionnaire. Percentages and 95% confidence intervals of all categorical variables were computed. A multinomial logistic model was used to identify predictors of the veterinarians’ view towards antimicrobial use.

Results
The majority (88%) of respondents indicated that improper use of antimicrobials contributed to selection for AMR. Veterinarians relied on clinical signs and symptoms (88%, 48/54) to decide whether to prescribe antimicrobials or not. However, the choice of antimicrobials depended on the cost of antibiotics (77.2%), route of administration (81.5%), and risk of potential adverse reactions (79.6%; 43/54). Many (61.5%) veterinarians were of the view that often antimicrobials are appropriately prescribed and 88.7% agreed that improper use of antimicrobials contributed to selection for antimicrobial resistant organisms. Compared to females, males were significantly more likely (Relative Risk Ratio (RRR) = 9.0; P = 0.0069) to agree rather than to “neither agree nor disagree” that their colleagues over-prescribed antimicrobials.

Conclusions
The decisions to prescribe antimicrobials by the veterinarians depended on clinical presentation of the patient, while the choice of antimicrobial depended on cost, route of administration, and risk of potential adverse reactions. Most veterinarians were of the view that antimicrobials were prescribed judiciously.
Improved salt tolerance of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. contributed by Pseudomonas sp. strain M30-35
Authors: Cai Deyu , Xu Ying , Zhao Fei , Zhang Yan , Duan Huirong , Guo Xiaonong 
Published: January 2021

Background
Plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can promote plant growth and enhance plant tolerance to salt stress. Pseudomonas sp. strain M30-35 might confer abiotic stress tolerance to its host plants. We evaluated the effects of M30-35 inoculation on the growth and metabolite accumulation of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. during salt stress growth conditions.

Methods
The effects of M30-35 on the growth of C. quinoa seedlings were tested under salt stress. Seedling growth parameters measured included chlorophyll content, root activity, levels of plant- phosphorus (P), and saponin content.

Results
M30-35 increased biomass production and root activity compared to non-inoculated plants fertilized with rhizobia and plants grown under severe salt stress conditions. The photosynthetic pigment content of chlorophyll a and b were higher in M30-35-inoculated C. quinoa seedlings under high salt stress conditions compared to non-inoculated seedlings. The stability of P content was also maintained. The content of saponin, an important secondary metabolite in C. quinoa, was increased by the inoculation of M30-35 under 300 mM NaCl conditions.

Conclusion
Inoculation of M30-35 rescues the growth diminution of C. quinoa seedlings under salt stress.
Indigenous People and Changing Socio-Cultural Behavior: A Case Study of Toto Tribes, Totopara
Authors: Upadhay Aakash , Jamal Sahid 
Published: January 2021

As the saying goes “culture doesn't make people, it is the people who make culture”. The are several tribes living in India and are trying to preserve their rich cultural heritage. Toto is an aboriginal Indo-Bhutanese tribe found in some parts of Alipurduar district in North Bengal. Unique to their culture is the idea of having only single wife and strongly advocate anti-dowry system unlike neighbouring tribal practices. As per the reports they are recognized as the smallest tribe on the Earth and are on the verge of complete extinction. Various cultural transformation and other developmental activities around the region is leading to declining Toto’s population, which is further aggravated by Thalassemia virus, which is one of the silent killers of the tribe. It is alarming that an average lifespan of Toto's has suddenly declined to 35 years over the years. The basic objective of the study is to identify reasons beneath transformations of traditional livelihood and sudden decline of Toto tribe. Based on different research, global understandings and valuable readings, what instrumental steps can be taken to preserve and protect them. Primary survey and secondary data sources have been used for the data collection. A household survey was executed with the help of snowball sampling in December 2018 at Totopara in Madarihaat block of Alipurduar district, West Bengal. Remedial and descriptive methods and qualitative techniques have been used for analysis of data. After the analysis, it was concluded that increasing the education and awareness level through workshops, documentaries, camps, public meetings, discussions, discourse, rallies, seminars and cultural programs would play an instrumental role to put a cap on the declining population of the locals and would lead to their sustainable growth and development. Keywords Culture-Aboriginal- Extinction- Thalassemia-Sustainable Growth
Conflict in commons: collective action and institutions
Authors: Sarkar Sukumar 
Published: January 2021

Common pool resources (CPRs) are safe-guards and foundation for rural livelihood especially for the developing nations like India. Cooperation is needed to conserve CPRs due to its very features. Community institutions sometimes face conflicts to conserve commons cost-effectively. But, conflicts may simultaneously help and hamper the local governance of commons. For empirical verification, we have conducted a primary survey on 419 users of canal water, community forest and tank water in 11 CPRs dependent villages from West Bengal, India. We observed positive relations between conflict and collective action in conservation of commons. This finding seems to be conflicting with the notion that, conflict undermines collective action and therewith the potential for sustainability. We examined and found that successful informal communities are more conflictive and at the same time cooperative than formal one. The occurrences of supply, demand and policy side conflicts and conflict resolution methods are also not significantly different between formal and informal institutions. Therefore, conflict and informal institution have some positive impact for the successful conservation. We suggest that authorities have to study the nature and types of conflicts before implementing rules and institutional arrangements thereafter. Keywords – collective action, institutions, commons, conflicts, conservation
Weathering modification of acrylic emulsion by introducing UV absorbing groups
Authors: Lei Huibin , Zhou Lei , Chen Zhanglian , Wang Qian , Yang Wei 
Published: January 2021

AbstractA new kind of UV‐absorbing silicon‐fluorinated acrylic emulsion was prepared by emulsion polymerization with 4‐allyloxy‐2‐hydroxybenzophenone, 3‐methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and hexafluorobutyl methacrylate (HFMA) as functional monomers. The emulsion and its coating were characterized by transmission electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet absorption spectrum，thermo‐gravimetric analysis, water contact angle (CA), and artificial accelerated aging test. The results indicated that the emulsion with core‐shell structure was synthesized and showed prominent absorption peaks at 320 and 350 nm. The water CA of the coating was increased from 70.2° to 86.7° because of the incorporated HFMAs and MPSs. Both of the initial and final decomposition temperatures of the coating were increased by more than 20°C compared with those of the unmodified coating. After 10 days of accelerated aging, the color difference (ΔE) and rate of loss of gloss (ΔG) were only 2.78% and 5.22%, while those of the unmodified coating were as high as 22.94% and 78.57%, respectively. Because of the UV absorbers were incorporated by chemical reaction, the new coating had a more durable and effective anti‐ultraviolet performance compared with the coatings the UV absorbers were introduced by physical blending.
The validation of the role of several genes related to Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus infection in vivo
Authors: Wang Xue‐yang , Zhao Chun‐xiao , Wang Xin , Zhao Zi‐qin , Su Zhi‐hao , Xu Ping‐zhen , Li Mu‐wang , Wu Yang‐chun 
Published: January 2021

AbstractBombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is one of primary silkworm pathogens and causes a serious damage of cocoon losses every year. Recent years, many works have been done to clarify the silkworm anti‐BmNPV mechanism, and a significant progress has been made in screening and studying of genes and proteins related to BmNPV infection, but several of them lacked the proofs in vivo. In this study, to further validate the function of seven newly reported genes in vivo, including BmAtlatin‐n, Bmferritin‐heavy chain (BmFerHCH), Bmthymosin (BmTHY), Bmseroin1, Bmseroin2, Bmnuclear hormone receptors 96 (BmNHR96), and BmE3 ubiquitin‐protein ligase SINA‐like 10 (BmSINAL10), the response of them in the midgut, fat body, and hemolymph of differentially resistant strains (resistant strain YeA and susceptible strain YeB) at 48 h following BmNPV infection were analyzed. The results showed that the relative stable or upregulated expression level of BmAtlatin‐n, BmTHY, Bmseroin1, and Bmseroin2 in YeA resistant strain following BmNPV infection further indicated their antiviral role in vivo, compared with susceptible YeB strain. Moreover, the significant downregulation of BmFerHCH, BmNHR96, and BmSINAL10 in both strains following BmNPV infection revealed their role in benefiting virus infection, as well as the upregulation of BmFerHCH in YeB midgut and BmSINAL10 in YeB hemolymph. These data could be used to complementary the proofs of the function of these genes in response to BmNPV infection.
Effective Separation of Human Milk Glycosides using Carbon Dioxide Supercritical Fluid Chromatography
Authors: Liou Shih‐Wei , Fang Jia‐Lin , Lin Hung‐Wei , Tsai Teng‐Wei , Huang Hsin‐Hui , Liang Chin‐Yu , Yang Cheng‐Ruel , Wei Guor‐Tzo , Yu Ching‐Ching 
Published: January 2021

AbstractCarbohydrate purification remains problematic due to the intrinsic diversity of structural isomers present in nature. Although liquid chromatography‐based techniques are suitable for analyzing or preparing most glycan structures acquired either from natural sources or through chemical or enzymatic synthesis, the separation of regioisomers or linkage isomers with a clear resolution remains challenging. Herein, a carbon dioxide supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) method was devised to resolve 18 human milk glycosides: oligomers (disaccharides to hexasaccharides), fucosylated regioisomers (lacto‐N‐fucopentaose I, III, and V; lacto‐N‐neofucopentaose V; lacto‐N‐difucohexaose III; blood group H1 antigen; and TF‐LNnT), and connectivity isomers (lacto‐N‐tetraose/lacto‐N‐neotetraose and para‐lacto‐N‐hexaose/para‐lacto‐N‐neohexaose/type‐1 hexasaccharide). The analysis of these glycosides represents a major limitation associated with conventional carbohydrate analysis. The unprecedented resolution achieved by the SFC method indicates the suitability of this key technology for revealing complex human milk glycomes.
Microwave cell lysis for ADDA‐ELISA analysis of total microcystins and nodularins
Authors: Li Yongtao , Whitaker Joshua S. , Skibbe Shannon A. , Piaskowski Matthew A. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractA fast and effective microwave treatment procedure was developed for the ADDA–enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay analysis of total extracellular and intracellular microcystins and nodularins in drinking water and ambient water. This microwave treatment procedure for a full batch of samples required 10–20 min versus the 3–4 hr typically needed for three freeze/thaw cycles. The obtained lowest‐concentration minimum reporting level and method detection limit were 0.21 and 0.09 μg/L microcystin‐LR (MC‐LR) equivalents, respectively. Mean recoveries of 80%–92% with relative standard deviations of 4.2%–9.0% were obtained for all studied water matrices fortified at concentrations of 0.3–2.0 μg/L MC‐LR. Compared with US Environmental Protection Agency Method 546, this alternate procedure provided more effective cell lysis and subsequently detected significantly higher concentrations of total microcystins and nodularins in a few water samples collected during harmful algal blooms, such as 61.0 versus 34.4 μg/L MC‐LR equivalents in Lake Erie and 11.5 versus 9.1 μg/L MC‐LR equivalents in an Indiana reservoir.
Spatial distribution of mechanical properties in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms, and their potential impacts on biofilm deformation
Authors: Pavissich Juan P. , Li Mengfei , Nerenberg Robert 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe mechanical properties of biofilms can be used to predict biofilm deformation under external forces, for example, under fluid flow. We used magnetic tweezers to spatially map the compliance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms at the microscale, then applied modeling to assess its effects on biofilm deformation. Biofilms were grown in capillary flow cells with Reynolds numbers (Re) ranging from 0.28 to 13.9, bulk dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations from 1 mg/L to 8 mg/L, and bulk calcium ion (Ca2+) concentrations of 0 and 100 mg CaCl2/L. Higher Re numbers resulted in more uniform biofilm morphologies. The biofilm was stiffer at the center of the flow cell than near the walls. Lower bulk DO led to more stratified biofilms. Higher Ca2+ concentrations led to increased stiffness and more uniform mechanical properties. Using the experimental mechanical properties, fluid–structure interaction models predicted up to 64% greater deformation for heterogeneous biofilms, compared with a homogeneous biofilms with the same average properties. However, the deviation depended on the biofilm morphology and flow regime. Our results show significant spatial mechanical variability exists at the microscale, and that this variability can potentially affect biofilm deformation. The average biofilm mechanical properties, provided in many studies, should be used with caution when predicting biofilm deformation.
Polygonal surface processing and mesh generation tools for the numerical simulation of the cardiac function
Authors: Fedele Marco , Quarteroni Alfio 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIn order to simulate the cardiac function for a patient‐specific geometry, the generation of the computational mesh is crucially important. In practice, the input is typically a set of unprocessed polygonal surfaces coming either from a template geometry or from medical images. These surfaces need ad‐hoc processing to be suitable for a volumetric mesh generation. In this work we propose a set of new algorithms and tools aiming to facilitate the mesh generation process. In particular, we focus on different aspects of a cardiac mesh generation pipeline: (1) specific polygonal surface processing for cardiac geometries, like connection of different heart chambers or segmentation outputs; (2) generation of accurate boundary tags; (3) definition of mesh‐size functions dependent on relevant geometric quantities; (4) processing and connecting together several volumetric meshes. The new algorithms—implemented in the open‐source softwarevmtk—can be combined with each other allowing the creation of personalized pipelines, that can be optimized for each cardiac geometry or for each aspect of the cardiac function to be modeled. Thanks to these features, the proposed tools can significantly speed‐up the mesh generation process for a large range of cardiac applications, from single‐chamber single‐physics simulations to multi‐chambers multi‐physics simulations. We detail all the proposed algorithms motivating them in the cardiac context and we highlight their flexibility by showing different examples of cardiac mesh generation pipelines.
The Photophysics of Dibenzo[a,j]phenazine
Authors: Thom Kristoffer A. , Förster Tom , Weingart Oliver , Goto Shimpei , Takeda Youhei , Minakata Satoshi , Gilch Peter 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe photophysics of dibenzo[a,j]phenazine (DBPHZ) in solution was investigated by steady‐state and time‐resolved spectroscopy. The nature of the solvent (methanol, acetonitrile, dichloromethane and cyclohexane were considered) only weakly affects the photophysical properties. The first excited singlet state features a lifetime of the order of 1 ns. Its fluorescence emission is centered around 420 nm and occurs with moderate yields of ≈0.1. The lowest triplet state is populated with yields of ≈0.3. Quantum chemical computations suggest that a
state energetically close to the primarily excited singlet state is responsible for the efficient intersystem crossing towards the triplet manifold.
Genotype‐specific nitrogen uptake dynamics and fertilizer management explain contrasting wheat protein concentration
Authors: Lollato Romulo P. , Jaenisch Brent R. , Silva Sergio R. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIncreasing yield and grain protein concentration (GPC) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) without excessive nitrogen (N) rates requires increasing N use efficiency (NUE, yield per available N). We assessed the effects of N rate and timing on yield, GPC, and N nutritional indices of two winter wheat genotypes with similar yield but contrasting GPC. Factorial field experiments evaluated the wheat genotypes ‘LCS Chrome’ (high GPC) and ‘WB–Grainfield’ (low GPC), three N rates, and four N timings (‘Fall’, 100% of N rate applied at Zadoks GS20; ‘Spring’, 100% at GS25; ‘Split’, 40% Fall plus 60% Spring; and ‘Anthesis’, 40% fall, 50% spring, and 10% at GS61) in six Kansas environments. Yield ranged from 2,853 to 8,023 kg ha‐1 and GPC from 88 to 152 g kg‐1. Fall and spring N timing had the lowest and greatest yield difference from the zero‐N control and showed linear, linear‐plateau or no responses to N rate. ‘LCS Chrome’ had 5 to 19 g kg‐1 greater GPC than ‘WB–Grainfield’, which was associated with greater post‐anthesis N uptake (24 vs 15% of maturity‐N uptake), a greater spike N gain between anthesis and maturity (7.4 vs 6.5 g m‐2), and greater N recovery efficiency (0.34 vs 0.28 kg kg‐1). Greater N rates and Anthesis or Spring N timings increased GPC. The NUE (range: 20–311 kg kg‐1) was inversely related to N availability, and Fall N timing had the lowest NUE. Our results highlighted physiological reasons for genotype‐specific GPC performance and suggested agronomic opportunities to simultaneously improve wheat yield and GPC.
Biomarkers to predict staging and treatment response in opioid dependence: A narrative review
Authors: Vorspan Florence , Marie‐Claire Cynthia , Bellivier Frank , Bloch Vanessa 
Published: January 2021

AbstractOpioid use disorder is a devastating disorder with a high burden in terms of overdose mortality, with an urgent need for more personalized prevention or therapeutic interventions. For this purpose, the description and validation of biological measures of staging or treatment response is a highly active research field. We conducted a narrative review on the pathophysiology of opioid use disorder to propose staging of the disease and search for research studies proposing or demonstrating the predictive value of biomarkers. We propose a IV stage description of opioid use disorder, from (I) vulnerability stage to (II) disease progression, (III) constituted opioid dependence and were several type of treatments can be applied, to the reach a (IV) modified health state. We classified biomarkers studies according to the stage of the disorder they were intended to predict, and to the three categories of methods they used: anatomical and functional aspects of the brain, genetic/transcriptomic/epigenetic studies, and lastly biomarkers of systemic modifications associated with opioid use disorder, especially regarding the immune system. Most studies predicting Stage III that we reviewed collected data from small samples sizes and were cross‐sectional association studies comparing opioid dependent patients and control groups. Pharmacogenetic biomarkers are proposed to predict treatment response. Future research should now emphasize prospective studies, replication in independent samples, and predictive value calculation of each biomarker. The most promising results are multimodal evaluations to be able to measure the state of the brain reward system in living individuals.
Quantitative assessment of fish larvae community composition in spawning areas using metabarcoding of bulk samples
Authors: Ratcliffe Frances C. , Uren Webster Tamsyn M. , Rodriguez‐Barreto Deiene , O'Rorke Richard , Garcia de Leaniz Carlos , Consuegra Sofia 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAccurate assessment of larval community composition in spawning areas is essential for fisheries management and conservation but is often hampered by the cryptic nature of many larvae, which renders them difficult to identify morphologically. Metabarcoding is a rapid and cost‐effective method to monitor early life stages for management and environmental impact assessment purposes but its quantitative capability is under discussion. We compared metabarcoding with traditional morphological identification to evaluate taxonomic precision and reliability of abundance estimates, using 332 fish larvae from multinet hauls (0–50 m depth) collected at 14 offshore sampling sites in the Irish and Celtic seas. To improve quantification accuracy (relative abundance estimates), the amount of tissue for each specimen was standardized and mitochondrial primers (12S gene) with conserved binding sites were used. Relative family abundance estimated from metabarcoding reads and morphological assessment were positively correlated, as well as taxon richness (RS = 0.81, P = 0.007) and diversity (RS = 0.90, P = 0.002). Spatial patterns of community composition did not differ significantly between metabarcoding and morphological assessments. Our results show that DNA metabarcoding of bulk tissue samples can be used to monitor changes in fish larvae abundance and community composition. This represents a feasible, efficient, and faster alternative to morphological methods that can be applied to terrestrial and aquatic habitats.
Agar oligosaccharides ameliorate the intestinal inflammation of male Drosophila melanogaster via modulating the microbiota, and immune and cell autophagy
Authors: Ma Chao , Wang Yifan , Zhang Guocai , Dai Xianjun 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAgar oligosaccharide (AOS) is a marine prebiotic with apparent improving health and longevity effects. In this study, the protective effect of AOS on the intestine was evaluated in the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)‐induced inflammatory model of male Drosophila. The results showed that AOS used as a nutritional additive in basal food could lengthen the life of SDS‐stimulated male Drosophila. Additionally, AOS could alleviate the injuries of SDS to microvilli and mitochondria in male Drosophila midgut epithelial cells. AOS could regulate the relative gene expressions in the antibacterial peptides (AMPs), mTOR pathway and autophagy process, and significantly improved the α‐diversity of midgut microbiota and decreased the abundance of Klebsiella aerogenes, a kind of bacteria easily causing infections. Collectively, AOS could ameliorate the intestinal inflammation by modulating the microbiota, and the gene expression of immune and cell autophagy.