bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The evolutionary fate of rpl32 and rps16 losses in the Euphorbia schimperi (Euphorbiaceae) plastome
Authors: Alqahtani Aldanah A. , Jansen Robert K. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractGene transfers from mitochondria and plastids to the nucleus are an important process in the evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Plastid (pt) gene losses have been documented in multiple angiosperm lineages and are often associated with functional transfers to the nucleus or substitutions by duplicated nuclear genes targeted to both the plastid and mitochondrion. The plastid genome sequence of Euphorbia schimperi was assembled and three major genomic changes were detected, the complete loss of rpl32 and pseudogenization of rps16 and infA. The nuclear transcriptome of E. schimperi was sequenced to investigate the transfer/substitution of the rpl32 and rps16 genes to the nucleus. Transfer of plastid-encoded rpl32 to the nucleus was identified previously in three families of Malpighiales, Rhizophoraceae, Salicaceae and Passifloraceae. An E. schimperi transcript of pt SOD-1-RPL32 confirmed that the transfer in Euphorbiaceae is similar to other Malpighiales indicating that it occurred early in the divergence of the order. Ribosomal protein S16 (rps16) is encoded in the plastome in most angiosperms but not in Salicaceae and Passifloraceae. Substitution of the E. schimperi pt rps16 was likely due to a duplication of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial-targeted rps16 resulting in copies dually targeted to the mitochondrion and plastid. Sequences of RPS16-1 and RPS16-2 in the three families of Malpighiales (Salicaceae, Passifloraceae and Euphorbiaceae) have high sequence identity suggesting that the substitution event dates to the early divergence within Malpighiales.
Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai
Authors: Taylor William Timothy Treal , Barrón-Ortiz Christina Isabelle 
Published: April 2021

AbstractDespite its transformative impact on human history, the early domestication of the horse (Equus caballus) remains exceedingly difficult to trace in the archaeological record. In recent years, a scientific consensus emerged linking the Botai culture of northern Kazakhstan with the first domestication of horses, based on compelling but largely indirect archaeological evidence. A cornerstone of the archaeological case for domestication at Botai is damage to the dentition commonly linked with the use of bridle mouthpieces, or “bit wear.” Recent archaeogenetic analyses reveal, however, that horse remains from Botai are not modern domesticates but instead the Przewalski’s horse, E. przewalskii—warranting reevaluation of evidence for domestication. Here, we compare osteological traits hypothesized to have been caused by horse transport at Botai with wild Pleistocene equids in North America. Our results suggest that damage observed in Botai horse teeth is likely generated by natural disturbances in dental development and wear, rather than through contact with bridle equipment. In light of a careful reconsideration of the mid-Holocene archaeological record of northern Eurasia, we suggest that archaeological materials from Botai are most effectively explained through the regularized mass harvesting of wild Przewalski’s’ horses—meaning that the origins of horse domestication may lie elsewhere.
The effect of a natural disaster on handgrip strength in prepubertal Indian children exposed to a severe cyclone during the prenatal and early postnatal growth
Authors: Kozieł Sławomir , Chakraborty Raja , Bose Kaushik , Ignasiak Zofia , Gomula Aleksandra , Nowak-Szczepanska Natalia 
Published: April 2021

AbstractNatural disasters (NDs) experienced by women and their children during prenatal and infant growth may have long-lasting effects on offspring’s development. Handgrip strength (HGS) is one of the measures of muscular strength and an indicator of health status. This study compared HGS in children exposed to cyclone Aila in India during their prenatal and infant growth compared to a control group from a non-affected, adjacent area. The total sample involved 444 boys and 423 girls aged 7–9 years, categorised into 3 groups: prenatally exposed to Aila, exposed to Aila in infancy, and the control group, non-exposed to Aila. Results revealed that prenatally exposed children of both sexes had significantly lower HGS than the controls (at least, p < 0.001 in boys; p < 0.05 in girls). On the other hand, the postnatally exposed boys, but not the girls, showed lower HGS than the controls. A significant effect of a group factor (ND exposure) on HGS was observed even after controlling for confounding variables (age, height, BMI, birth weight, gestational age; at least, p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that prenatal or early postnatal experience of a ND may have association with impaired HGS in prepubertal children.
Bandwidth and gain enhancement of composite right left handed metamaterial transmission line planar antenna employing a non foster impedance matching circuit board
Authors: Alibakhshikenari Mohammad , Virdee Bal S. , Althuwayb Ayman A. , Azpilicueta Leyre , Parchin Naser Ojaroudi , See Chan H. , Abd-Alhameed Raed A. , Falcone Francisco , Huynen Isabelle , Denidni Tayeb A. , Limiti Ernesto 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe paper demonstrates an effective technique to significantly enhance the bandwidth and radiation gain of an otherwise narrowband composite right/left-handed transmission-line (CRLH-TL) antenna using a non-Foster impedance matching circuit (NF-IMC) without affecting the antenna’s stability. This is achieved by using the negative reactance of the NF-IMC to counteract the input capacitance of the antenna. Series capacitance of the CRLH-TL unit-cell is created by etching a dielectric spiral slot inside a rectangular microstrip patch that is grounded through a spiraled microstrip inductance. The overall size of the antenna, including the NF-IMC at its lowest operating frequency is 0.335λ0 × 0.137λ0 × 0.003λ0, where λ0 is the free-space wavelength at 1.4 GHz. The performance of the antenna was verified through actual measurements. The stable bandwidth of the antenna for |S11|≤ − 18 dB is greater than 1 GHz (1.4–2.45 GHz), which is significantly wider than the CRLH-TL antenna without the proposed impedance matching circuit. In addition, with the proposed technique the measured radiation gain and efficiency of the antenna are increased on average by 3.2 dBi and 31.5% over the operating frequency band.
Association between pet ownership and sleep in the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS)
Authors: van Egmond Lieve T. , Titova Olga E. , Lindberg Eva , Fall Tove , Benedict Christian 
Published: April 2021

AbstractPreliminary findings suggest that pets may impact the owner’s sleep. By using data from the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bIoimage Study (SCAPIS) cohort, we aimed to investigate the association of pet ownership with the following self-reported sleep outcomes in 3788 to 4574 participants: (i) achieving the recommended daily sleep duration for adults (i.e., at least 7 h per day); (ii) sleep quality as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (a score of > 5 indicating poor sleep quality); and (iii) difficulty falling or staying asleep. Sleep metrics were not associated with pet ownership, dog ownership, and dog walking when controlling the logistic regression for possible confounders (e.g., shift work, lack of social interaction, and chronic stress). In contrast, cat ownership was associated with a higher odds ratio of failing to achieve the recommended duration of 7 h of sleep per day (adjusted odds ratio [95% CI]:1.18 [1.02, 1.37] versus non-cat owners). Our findings suggest that certain pet groups might have a more significant impact on the owner’s sleep than others. As the observed association between cat ownership and short sleep duration might be a chance finding, this observation should be seen as hypothesis-generating only.
An integrated method for hiding sensitive association rules of the supply chains
Authors: Cheng Hui , Zhang Wenjie , Wang Zhaoyang , Zuo Fengjuan , Zhang Zaifang 
Published: April 2021

AbstractSensitive association rule hiding is an important issue of data sharing for supply chains, which can ensure mutual benefits and avoid information leakages among different enterprises. An integrated method is proposed by using Apriori and the discrete binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) algorithm, aiming to improve the rule hiding efficiency and effectiveness. The Apriori algorithm is used to extract the association rules from sharing data. The selected sensitive association rules can be hidden using BPSO based on constructing discrete binary space and multi‐objective fitness functions. The proposed method is verified through a case study. The results show that the proposed method can effectively hide sensitive information and protect enterprises' business benefits.
Towards the assessment of realistic hybrid precoding in millimeter wave MIMO systems with hardware impairments
Authors: Papazafeiropoulos Anastasios K. , Papageorgiou Georgios K. , Kolawole Oluwatayo Y. , Kourtessis Pandelis , Chatzinotas Symeon , Senior John M. , Sellathurai Mathini , Ratnarajah Tharmalingam 
Published: April 2021

AbstractHybrid processing in millimeter wave (mmWave) communication has been proposed as a solution to reduce the cost and energy consumption by reducing the number of radio‐frequency (RF) chains. However, the impact of the inevitable residual transceiver hardware impairments (RTHIs), including the residual additive transceiver hardware impairments (RATHIs) and the amplified thermal noise (ATN), has not been sufficiently studied in mmWave hybrid processing. In this work, the hybrid precoder and combiner are designed, which include both digital and analog processing by taking into account the RATHIs and the ATN. In particular, a thorough study is provided to shed light on the degradation of the spectral efficiency (SE) of the practical system. The outcomes show the steady degradation of the performance by the ATN across all SNR values, which becomes increasingly critical for higher values of its variance. Furthermore, it is shown that RATHIs result in degradation of the system only in the high SNR regime. Hence, their impact in mmWave system operating at low SNRs might be negligible. Moreover, an increase concerning the number of streams differentiates the impact between the transmit and receive RATHIs with the latter having a more severe effect.
Sonar image quality evaluation using deep neural network
Authors: Zhang Huiqing , Li Shuo , Li Donghao , Wang Zichen , Zhou Qixiang , You Qixin 
Published: April 2021

AbstractSonar technology plays an important role in the development of marine resources and military strategy. Due to the bad quality of underwater acoustics channels, the sonar images collected by sonar technology equipment are easily affected by various kinds of distortions. To obtain high‐quality sonar images, the authors devise a novel dual‐path deep neural network (DPDNN) to measure the quality of sonar images. In these two paths, the authors use a batch normalization layer to reduce the training time and use the skip operation to speed up the feature extraction . Based on the above two operations, the authors extract the microscopic and macroscopic structures of sonar images, respectively. Finally, a global average pooling layer and a fully connection layer are used to connect the above two paths. Experiments show that the authors' DPDNN achieves significant improvements in prediction performance and efficiency. The source code will be published in the near future.
Multiscale ensemble of convolutional neural networks for skin lesion classification
Authors: Liu Yi‐Peng , Wang Ziming , Li Zhanqing , Li Jing , Li Ting , Chen Peng , Liang Ronghua 
Published: April 2021

AbstractEarly detection and treatment of skin cancer can considerably reduce the patient mortality rates. Convolutional neural network (CNN) has been widely applied in the field of computer aided diagnosis. However, for skin lesions, the inconsistent size of lesion regions in dermatoscope images hinders the convolutional neural network precise discrimination. To solve this problem, multiscale ensemble of convolutional neural networks called MECNN is proposed, which involves three branches with different lesion scales as the model input. The first branch locates the lesion region outline by identifying the largest local response point. Then, MECNN reduces the search area of the lesion region and divides the outline into two scales used as the input for the other two branches. A global loss function is defined to control the learning objectives of the three branches and MECNN fuses the branches output as the final classification result. The proposed model is evaluated on the public HAM10000 dataset and achieves a higher classification accuracy than the comparative state‐of‐the‐art methods.
Testing the analytical blind separation method in simulated CMB polarization maps
Authors: Santos Larissa , Yao Jian , Zhang Le , Ghosh Shamik , Zhang Pengjie , Zhao Wen , Villela Thyrso , Chen Jiming , Delabrouille Jacques 
Published: April 2021

Context. Multi-frequency observations are needed to separate the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from foreground emission and accurately extract cosmological information from the data. The analytical blind separation (ABS) method is dedicated to extracting the CMB power spectrum from multi-frequency observations in the presence of contamination from astrophysical foreground emission and instrumental noise.
Aims. In this study, we apply the ABS method to simulated sky maps as could be observed with a future space-borne survey in order to test its capability of determining the CMB polarization E- and B-mode power spectra.
Methods. We present the ABS method performance on simulations for both a full-sky analysis and for an analysis concentrating on sky regions less impacted by Galactic foreground emission.
Results. We discuss the origin and minimization of biases in the estimated CMB polarization angular power spectra. We find that the ABS method performs quite well for the analysis of full-sky observations at intermediate and small angular scales, in spite of strong foreground contamination. On the largest scales, extra work is still required to reduce biases of various origins and the impact of confusion between CMB E and B polarization for partial sky analyses.
Less and more IGM-transmitted galaxies from z ∼ 2.7 to z ∼ 6 from VANDELS and VUDS
Authors: Thomas R. , Pentericci L. , Le Fèvre O. , Koekemoer A. M. , Castellano M. , Cimatti A. , Fontanot F. , Gargiulo A. , Garilli B. , Talia M. , Amorín R. , Bardelli S. , Cristiani S. , Cresci G. , Franco M. , Fynbo J. P. U. , Hathi N. P. , Hibon P. , Khusanova Y. , Le Brun V. , Lemaux B. C. , Mannucci F. , Schaerer D. , Zamorani G. , Zucca E. 
Published: April 2021

Aims. Our aim is to analyze the variance of the intergalactic medium (IGM) transmission by studying this parameter in the rest-frame UV spectra of a large sample of high-redshift galaxies.
Methods. We made use of the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey and the VANDELS public survey to gain insight into the far UV spectrum of 2.7 < z < 6 galaxies. Using the SPARTAN fitting software, we estimated the IGM toward individual galaxies and then divided them into two sub-samples characterized by a transmission above or below the theoretical prescription. We created average spectra of combined VUDS and VANDELS data for each set of galaxies in seven redshift bins.
Results. The resulting spectra clearly exhibit the variance of the IGM transmission that can be seen directly from high-redshift galaxy observations. Computing the optical depth based on the IGM transmission, we find an excellent agreement with results for quasi-stellar objects. In addition, our measurements appear to suggest that there is a large dispersion of redshift where a complete Gunn-Peterson Trough occurs, depending on the line of sight.
Pharmacokinetics of a novel endectoparasiticide topical formulation for cats, combining esafoxolaner, eprinomectin and praziquantel
Authors: Jacquot Virginie , Buellet Prescillia , Letendre Laura , Tong Wei , Li Henry , Tielemans Eric 
Published: April 2021

Esafoxolaner, a purified enantiomer of afoxolaner with insecticidal and acaricidal properties, is combined with eprinomectin and praziquantel in NexGard®Combo, a novel topical endectoparasiticide formulation for cats. The parasiticide potencies of topical esafoxolaner, eprinomectin and praziquantel, are based on transcutaneous absorption, systemic distribution, and exposure of respective target parasites. For each compound, the pharmacokinetic profile, non-interference, dose linearity/proportionality after one administration, and the accumulation and time to reach a steady state after repeated monthly administrations of the novel formulation, were investigated. After one topical application of NexGard®Combo at the minimum recommended dose, the mean plasma concentration of esafoxolaner immediately reached (and remained at) a level supporting rapid onset and sustained efficacy against ectoparasites for at least 1 month. The meanCmax,Tmax,T1/2, and the topical bioavailability of esafoxolaner were 130 ng/mL, 7.1 days, 21.7 days and 47.2%, respectively, and the plasma profiles of eprinomectin and praziquantel supported their known endoparasiticide properties. No relevant interference between the three compounds was observed. Dose proportionality was demonstrated for the three compounds over a range of 0.5× to 2× the minimum recommended dose. Steady state after repeated monthly administrations was reached by the second dose for praziquantel and by the fifth dose for esafoxolaner and eprinomectin. Accumulation was limited and drug plasma concentrations were maintained within a safe level.
Efficacy of a novel topical combination of esafoxolaner, eprinomectin and praziquantel against adult cat fleaCtenocephalides felisand flea egg production in cats
Authors: Tielemans Eric , Buellet Prescillia , Young David , Viljoen Alta , Liebenberg Julian , Prullage Joe 
Published: April 2021

Esafoxolaner, a purified enantiomer of afoxolaner with insecticidal and acaricidal properties, is combined with eprinomectin and praziquantel in NexGard®Combo, a novel topical endectoparasiticide formulation for cats. The efficacy of this novel formulation against adult and immature stages ofCtenocephalides felisfleas was tested in four experimental studies. Two studies were designed to test adulticide efficacy, one to test inhibition of immature stages, and one to test both adulticide efficacy and inhibition of immature stages. In each study, cats were randomly allocated to a placebo control group or to a novel formulation group treated once at the minimum recommended dose. Cats were experimentally infested weekly for one to two months with unfedC. felisoriginating from North America or Europe. For adulticide efficacy evaluations, live fleas were counted 24 h after treatment and after subsequent weekly infestations. For immature stages, flea eggs were collected and counted weekly for evaluation of egg production inhibition and incubated for larval hatching evaluation. In the three studies testing adult fleas, curative efficacies, 24 h after treatment, were 92.1%, 98.3% and 99.7%; preventive weekly efficacies, 24 h after weekly infestations, remained higher than 95.5% for at least one month. In the two studies testing immature stages, egg production and larval hatching was significantly reduced for at least one month. These studies provide robust evidence of efficacy of the novel formulation against experimental adult flea infestations and for the prevention of environmental contamination by immature flea stages, for at least one month.
Efficacy of a novel topical combination of esafoxolaner, eprinomectin and praziquantel against Rhipicephalus sanguineus in cats
Authors: Tielemans Eric , Pfefferkorn Anthony , Viljoen Alta 
Published: April 2021

Esafoxolaner is a purified enantiomer of afoxolaner with insecticidal and acaricidal properties. It is combined with eprinomectin and praziquantel in a novel topical endectoparasiticide formulation for cats. The efficacy of this novel formulation was assessed in an experimental study against induced infestation of Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks. Twenty cats were randomly allocated to either a placebo control group or a treated group in a 1:1 ratio. Infested cats were treated topically once at the minimum recommended dose. The study was designed to assess curative efficacy 48 h after treatment and to test preventive efficacy 48 h after weekly infestations for 2 months. At each weekly infestation, all cats were infested with 25 male and 25 unfed female R. sanguineus ticks. At each tick count, at least 6 in 10 control cats had a retention of 13 (26%) or more live ticks, demonstrating adequate infestation throughout the study. Curative efficacy on existing tick infestation was 90%; preventive efficacy over the following 6 weeks was at least 96%.
Evaluation of the Allplex™ GI-Helminth(I) Assay, the first marketed multiplex PCR for helminth diagnosis
Authors: Autier Brice , Gangneux Jean-Pierre , Robert-Gangneux Florence 
Published: April 2021

Molecular biology has been gaining more importance in parasitology. Recently, a commercial multiplex PCR assay detecting helminths was marketed: the Allplex™ GI-Helminth(I) Assay. It targets Ancylostoma spp., Ascaris spp., Enterobius vermicularis, Hymenolepis spp., Necator americanus, Strongyloides spp., Taenia spp. and Trichuris trichiura, but also the two most common microsporidia genera in human health, i.e. Enterocytozoon spp. and Encephalitozoon spp. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the Allplex™ GI-Helminth(I) Assay to classical diagnostic methods, based on a cohort of 110 stool samples positive for helminths (microscopy) or for microsporidia (PCR). Samples were stored at −80 °C until analysis by the Allplex™ GI-Helminth(I) Assay. False-negatives were re-tested with bead-beating pretreatment. Without mechanical lysis, concordance and agreement between microscopy and Allplex™ GI-Helminth(I) Assay ranged from 91% to 100% and from 0.15 to 1.00, respectively depending on the target. Concordance was perfect for Taenia spp. (n = 5) and microsporidia (n = 10). False-negative results were observed in 54% (6/13), 34% (4/11) and 20% (7/35) of cases, for hookworms, E. vermicularis and Strongyloides spp. detection, respectively. For these targets, pretreatment improved the results, but only slightly. Trichuris trichiura detection was critically low without pretreatment, as only 9% (1/11) of the samples were positive, but detection reached 91% (10/11) with bead-beating pretreatment. Mechanical lysis was also needed for Ascaris spp. and Hymenolepis spp. to reduce false-negative results from 1/8 to 1/21, respectively, to none for both. Overall, with an optimized extraction process, the Allplex™ GI-Helminth(I) Assay allows the detection of numerous parasites with roughly equivalent performance to that of microscopy, except for hookworms.