bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A canonical interlaminar circuit in the sensory dorsal ventricular ridge of birds: The anatomical organization of the trigeminal pallium
Authors: Fernández Máximo , Reyes‐Pinto Rosana , Norambuena Carolina , Sentis Elisa , Mpodozis Jorge 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe dorsal ventricular ridge (DVR), which is the largest component of the avian pallium, contains discrete partitions receiving tectovisual, auditory, and trigeminal ascending projections. Recent studies have shown that the auditory and the tectovisual regions can be regarded as complexes composed of three highly interconnected layers: an internal senso‐recipient one, an intermediate afferent/efferent one, and a more external re‐entrant one. Cells located in homotopic positions in each of these layers are reciprocally linked by an interlaminar loop of axonal processes, forming columnar‐like local circuits. Whether this type of organization also extends to the trigemino‐recipient DVR is, at present, not known. This question is of interest, since afferents forming this sensory pathway, exceptional among amniotes, are not thalamic but rhombencephalic in origin. We investigated this question by placing minute injections of neural tracers into selected locations of vital slices of the chicken telencephalon. We found that neurons of the trigemino‐recipient nucleus basorostralis pallii (Bas) establish reciprocal, columnar and homotopical projections with cells located in the overlying ventral mesopallium (MV). “Column‐forming” axons originated in B and MV terminate also in the intermediate strip, the fronto‐trigeminal nidopallium (NFT), in a restricted manner. We also found that the NFT and an internal partition of B originate substantial, coarse‐topographic projections to the underlying portion of the lateral striatum. We conclude that all sensory areas of the DVR are organized according to a common neuroarchitectonic motif, which bears a striking resemblance to that of the radial/laminar intrinsic circuits of the sensory cortices of mammals.
Research on Indoor UWB Positioning Based on Expectation Maximization in NLOS Environment
Authors: Zhou Taoyun , Xiao Minlei , Liu Yangyang , Cheng Yun , Liu Yi 
Published: June 2021

SummaryUltra‐wide band (UWB) technology is especially suitable for indoor positioning because of its strong anti‐interference ability, it can achieve centimeter‐level positioning accuracy in the line of sight (LOS) environment, but it is challenging to construct a robust and high‐precision algorithm in indoor complex and changeable environments. Therefore, it establishes an improved standard Kalman filter (SKF) based on expectation maximization (SKF‐EM), which models the prediction error covariance and measurement noise using the maximum likelihood criterion, estimates the filter parameters online through the expectation maximum theory, and updates the Kalman filter gain according to the Kalman filter based on dropped measurements method (SKF‐DMM). Experimental results show that: in case of serious occlusion, the maximum positioning error of SKF‐EM algorithm is 1.03 m, 39% lower than that of SKF and 60.2% lower than that of UWB.
Emerging roles of exosomal miRNAs in diabetes mellitus
Authors: He Xiaoyun , Kuang Gaoyan , Wu Yongrong , Ou Chunlin 
Published: June 2021

AbstractExosomes are small extracellular vesicles 40–160 nm in diameter that are secreted by almost all cell types. Exosomes can carry diverse cargo including RNA, DNA, lipids, proteins, and metabolites. Exosomes transfer substances and information between cells by circulating in body fluids and are thus involved in diverse physiological and pathological processes in the human body. Recent studies have closely associated exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) with various human diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), which is a complex multifactorial metabolic disorder disease. Exosomal miRNAs are emerging as pivotal regulators in the progression of DM, mainly in terms of pancreatic β‐cell injury and insulin resistance. Exosomal miRNAs are closely associated with DM‐associated complications, such as diabetic retinopathy (DR), diabetic nephropathy (DN), and diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), etc. Further investigations of the mechanisms of action of exosomal miRNAs and their role in DM will be valuable for the thorough understanding of the physiopathological process of DM. Here, we have summarized recent findings regarding exosomal miRNAs associated with DM to provide a new strategy for identifying potential diagnostic biomarkers and drug targets for the early diagnosis and treatment, respectively, of DM.
Aberrant MCM10 SUMOylation induces genomic instability mediated by a genetic variant associated with survival of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Tian Jianbo , Lu Zequn , Niu Siyuan , Zhang Shanshan , Ying Pingting , Wang Lu , Zhang Ming , Cai Yimin , Dong Tianyi , Zhu Ying , Zhong Rong , Wang Zhihua , Chang Jiang , Miao Xiaoping 
Published: June 2021

AbstractBackgroundEsophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the common gastrointestinal malignancy with an inferior prognosis outcome. DNA replication licensing aberration induced by dysregulation of minichromosome maintenance proteins (MCMs) causes genomic instability and cancer metastasis. SUMOylation modification plays a pivotal role in regulation of genomic integrity, while its dysregulation fueled by preexisting germline variants in cancers remains poorly understood.MethodsFirstly, we conducted two‐stage survival analysis consisting of an exome‐wide association study in 904 ESCC samples and another independent 503 ESCC samples. Then, multipronged functional experiments were performed to illuminate the potential biological mechanisms underlying the promising variants, and MCM10 influences the ESCC progression. Finally, we tested the effects of MCM10 inhibitors on ESCC cells.ResultsA germline variant rs2274110 located at the exon 15 of MCM10 was identified to be significantly associated with the prognosis of ESCC patients. Individuals carrying rs2274110‐AA genotypes confer a poor survival (hazard ratio = 1.61, 95% confidence interval = 1.35–1.93, p = 1.35 × 10−7), compared with subjects carrying rs2274110‐AG/GG genotypes. Furthermore, we interestingly found that the variant can increase SUMOylation levels at K669 site (Lys[K]699Arg[R]) of MCM10 protein mediated by SUMO2/3 enzymes, which resulted in an aberrant overexpression of MCM10. Mechanistically, aberrant overexpression of MCM10 facilitated the proliferation and metastasis abilities of ESCC cells in vitro and in vivo by inducing DNA over‐replication and genomic instability, providing functional evidence to support our population finding that high expression of MCM10 is extensively presented in tumor tissues of ESCC and correlated with inferior survival outcomes of multiple cancer types, including ESCC. Finally, MCM10 inhibitors Suramin and its analogues were revealed to effectively block the metastasis of ESCC cells.ConclusionsThese findings not only demonstrate a potential biological mechanism between aberrant SUMOylation, genomic instability and cancer metastasis, but also provide a promising biomarker aiding in stratifying ESCC individuals with different prognosis, as well as a potential therapeutic target MCM10.
Selection in males purges the mutation load on female fitness
Authors: Grieshop Karl , Maurizio Paul L. , Arnqvist Göran , Berger David 
Published: June 2021

AbstractTheory predicts that the ability of selection and recombination to purge mutation load is enhanced if selection against deleterious genetic variants operates more strongly in males than females. However, direct empirical support for this tenet is limited, in part because traditional quantitative genetic approaches allow dominance and intermediate-frequency polymorphisms to obscure the effects of the many rare and partially recessive deleterious alleles that make up the main part of a population's mutation load. Here, we exposed the partially recessive genetic load of a population of Callosobruchus maculatus seed beetles via successive generations of inbreeding, and quantified its effects by measuring heterosis—the increase in fitness experienced when masking the effects of deleterious alleles by heterozygosity—in a fully factorial sex-specific diallel cross among 16 inbred strains. Competitive lifetime reproductive success (i.e., fitness) was measured in male and female outcrossed F1s as well as inbred parental “selfs,” and we estimated the 4 × 4 male-female inbred-outbred genetic covariance matrix for fitness using Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations of a custom-made general linear mixed effects model. We found that heterosis estimated independently in males and females was highly genetically correlated among strains, and that heterosis was strongly negatively genetically correlated to outbred male, but not female, fitness. This suggests that genetic variation for fitness in males, but not in females, reflects the amount of (partially) recessive deleterious alleles segregating at mutation-selection balance in this population. The population's mutation load therefore has greater potential to be purged via selection in males. These findings contribute to our understanding of the prevalence of sexual reproduction in nature and the maintenance of genetic variation in fitness-related traits.
Targeted RNA sequencing in the routine clinical detection of fusion genes in salivary gland tumors
Authors: Bubola Justin , MacMillan Christina M. , Demicco Elizabeth G. , Chami Rose A. , Chung Catherine T.‐S. , Leong Iona , Marrano Paula , Onkal Zeynep , Swanson David , Veremis Brandon M. , Weinreb Ilan , Zhang Lei , Antonescu Cristina R. , Dickson Brendan C. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractSalivary gland tumors represent a diverse group of neoplasms that occasionally pose a diagnostic challenge for pathologists, particularly with limited sampling. Gene fusions, which may reflect genetic drivers, are increasingly recognized in a subset of these neoplasms, and can be leveraged for diagnostic purposes. We performed a retrospective analysis on a cohort of 80 benign and malignant salivary gland tumors, enriched for subtypes known to harbor recurrent fusion events, to validate the diagnostic use of a targeted RNA sequencing assay to detect fusion transcripts. Testing identified fusion genes in 71% (24/34) of pleomorphic adenoma and carcinoma‐ex‐pleomorphic adenoma, with 56% of cases showing rearrangement of PLAG1 and 15% HMGA2. In addition to confirming known partners for these genes, novel PLAG1 fusion partners were identified, including DSTN, NTF3, and MEG3; CNOT2 was identified as a novel fusion partner for HMGA2. In adenoid cystic carcinoma, 95% of cases (19/20) were positive for a fusion event. MYB was rearranged in 60% (12/20), MYBL1 in 30% (6/20), and NFIB in 5% (1/20); two tumors exhibited novel fusion products, including NFIB‐TBPL1 and MYBL1‐VCPIP1. Fusion genes were identified in 64% (9/14) of cases of mucoepidermoid carcinoma; MAML2 was confirmed to partner with either CRTC1 (43%) or CRTC3 (21%). One salivary duct carcinoma was found to harbor a novel RAPGEF6‐ACSL6 fusion gene. Finally, as anticipated, gene fusions were not detected in any of the five acinic cell carcinomas included in the cohort. In summary, targeted RNA sequencing represents a diagnostically useful ancillary technique for identifying a variety of existing, and novel, fusion transcripts in the classification of salivary gland neoplasms.
Filtration Performance Degradation of In‐Use Masks by Vapors from Alcohol‐Based Hand Sanitizers and the Mitigation Solutions
Authors: He Weidong , Guo Yinghe , Liu Jingxian , Yue Yang , Wang Jing 
Published: June 2021

AbstractIn the current COVID‐19 pandemic, wearing masks and hand disinfection are widely adopted hygiene practices. Alcohol‐based sanitizers are commonly used for hand disinfection, however, the alcohol vapors can dissipate the charges on electrostatic filters. In the present study, the effects of alcohol vapors from alcohol‐based sanitizers during hand disinfection on the in‐use masks are studied. The results show that the negative effects are not significant for nonelectrostatic cotton masks or N95 respirators with multiple charged layers, but noticeable for surgical masks. After five rounds of hand disinfection, the filtration efficiencies of the filtering materials of the surgical masks decrease by more than 8% for 400 and 500 nm particles and by 3.7 ± 1.8% for 1 µm particles, the effective filtration efficiency of the surgical masks worn by the volunteers (with leakage considered) decreases by about 5% for ambient aerosol. In another process to imitate intensive disinfection procedures by healthcare workers, a 30 min surface cleaning process using alcohol‐based sanitizer is performed, and the effective efficiency of the N95 respirators worn by the volunteers decreases by nearly 9%. The simple practice of avoiding vapor during hand disinfection could mitigate the effects of alcohol vapor, which is demonstrated on two brands of surgical masks.
Fabrication of Novel Functional Cell‐Plastic Using Polyvinyl Alcohol: Effects of Cross‐Linking Structure and Mixing Ratio of Components on the Mechanical and Thermal Properties
Authors: Iritani Kohei , Nakanishi Akihito , Ota Ayami , Yamashita Takashi 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe current system of disposal of plastic materials fabricated from petroleum‐based resources causes serious environmental pollution. To solve the problem, a bioplastic called “cell‐plastic” is developed, in which unicellular green algal cells serve as a fundamental resource. This approach converts CO2 in the atmosphere directly into plastic products by exploiting the photosynthetic‐driven proliferation of algal cells. Herein, cell‐plastic films are fabricated using biodegradable and water‐soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a matrix, in which the effects of a cell‐to‐matrix mixing ratio and the chemical structure of the matrix on the mechanical and thermal properties are investigated. As a method of the chemical structural change, a cross‐linking structure is introduced to the matrix by connecting hydroxy groups of PVA using aldehyde. The tensile tests reveal that the PVA‐cell‐plastic film maintains the mechanical properties of PVA film. Moreover, a cross‐linked cell‐plastic film exhibits high water absorption, making it suitable as a functional cell‐plastic material.
Identification of public health priorities, barriers, and solutions for Kuwait using the modified Delphi method for stakeholder consensus
Authors: Gasana Janvier , Vainio Harri , Longenecker Joseph , Loney Tom , Ádám Balázs , Al‐Zoughool Mustafa 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe rapid modernization and economic developments in Kuwait, have been accompanied by substantial lifestyle changes such as unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. These modifiable behaviours have contributed to increased rates of non‐communicable diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Delphi Consensus Method was implemented in the current study to draw stakeholders from all sectors together to develop a consensus on the major public health priorities, barriers and solutions. The process involves administration of a series of questions to selected stakeholders through an iterative process that ends when a consensus has been reached among participants. Results of the iteration process identified obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases along with lack of enforcement of laws and regulation as priority health issues. Results also identified lack of national vision for the development of a public health system, lack of multidisciplinary research investigating sources of disease and methods of prevention and improving efficiency with existing resources in implementation and efficiency as the main barriers identified were. Solutions suggested included investing in healthcare prevention, strengthening communication between all involved sectors through intersectoral collaboration, awareness at the primary healthcare setting and use of electronic health records. The results offer an important opportunity for stakeholders in Kuwait to tackle these priority health issues employing the suggested approaches and solution.
On the enormous enhancement in water evaporation rates obtained by employing a different polar ambient
Authors: Karn Ashish , Ambs Jonathan , Deo Shashank S. , Vyas Ayush , Dwivedi Ayush , Kumar Abhay 
Published: June 2021

AbstractEnhancing evaporation rates are of great practical interest in many technological applications, such as water desalination or drying in industry. Evaporation mass flux is a function of ambient temperature, relative humidity, and velocity of the air passing over it. Since the conventional methods of increasing evaporation, namely increasing temperature, surface area, and so on, may not be always practically feasible or economical, novel methods of evaporation enhancement are necessary. The current study proposes that the introduction of a polar gas ambient above an evaporating liquid can drastically enhance its evaporation rate when the dipole moments of the evaporating liquid and the ambient gas are comparable. Thus, we explore the possibility of evaporation enhancement of water by introducing a polar Tetrafluoroethane gas ambient. The weight loss of water due to evaporation as well as the ambient temperature and air circulation conditions were measured. For each case, a companion experiment was carried out simultaneously under the same ambient conditions but without the presence of polar gas ambient. Each experiment lasted for 4 h. The evaporation rate has been found to be crucially dependent upon the polar gas ambient, the temperature as well as circulation conditions. Depending upon the temperature and circulation conditions, an enhancement of 59%–373% in evaporation rate has been recorded by the introduction of tetrafluoroethane gas ambient over the water surface. Some insights into the underlying mechanisms have been suggested in light of the physics of the evaporation process. Finally, some comparisons in the measured enhancement in evaporation rates under different experimental conditions are observed to concur with the suggested physical mechanism.
Assessing urban rainfall‐runoff response to stormwater management extent
Authors: Miller Andrew J. , Welty Claire , Duncan Jonathan M. , Baeck Mary Lynn , Smith James A. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractWe report an empirical analysis of the hydrologic response of three small, highly impervious urban watersheds to pulse rainfall events, to assess how traditional stormwater management (SWM) alters urban hydrographs. The watersheds vary in SWM coverage from 3% to 61% and in impervious cover from 45% to 67%. By selecting a set of storm events that involved a single rainfall pulse with >96% of total precipitation delivered in 60 min, we reduced the effect of differences between storms on hydrograph response to isolate characteristic responses attributable to watershed properties. Watershed‐average radar rainfall data were used to generate local storm hyetographs for each event in each watershed, thus compensating for the extreme spatial and temporal heterogeneity of short‐duration, intense rainfall events. By normalizing discharge values to the discharge peak and centring each hydrograph on the time of peak we were able to visualize the envelope of hydrographs for each group and to generate representative composite hydrographs for comparison across the three watersheds. Despite dramatic differences in the fraction of watershed area draining to SWM features across these three headwater tributaries, we did not find strong evidence that SWM causes significant attenuation of the hydrograph peak. Hydrograph response for the three watersheds is remarkably uniform despite contrasts in SWM, impervious cover and spatial patterns of land cover type. The primary difference in hydrograph response is observed on the recession limb of the hydrograph, and that change appears to be associated with higher storm‐total runoff in the watersheds with more area draining to SWM. Our findings contribute more evidence to the work of previous authors suggesting that SWM is less effective at attenuating urban hydrographs than is commonly assumed. Our findings also are consistent with previous work concluding that percent impervious cover may have greater influence on runoff volume than percent SWM coverage.
X‐ray luminescence computed tomography using a hybrid proton propagation model and Lasso‐LSQR algorithm
Authors: Guo Hongbo , Zhao Hengna , Yu Jingjing , He Xiaowei , He Xuelei , Song Xiaolei 
Published: June 2021

AbstractX‐ray luminescence computed tomography (XLCT) uses external X‐rays for luminescence excitation, which is becoming a promising molecular imaging technique with superb penetration depth and spatial resolution. To achieve the tomographic mapping of luminescence distribution, accurate optical propagation model and suitable reconstruction method are two keys for XLCT, but not satisfied. To overcome the limitation of the single proton propagation model (e.g., DE, SP3), we adopted a hybrid diffusion equation with third order simplified spherical harmonics (DE‐SP3) model for XLCT. To enable fast iteration and accurate sparse reconstruction, we also integrated in the inversion optimization, with a novel Least Square QR‐factorization based on the Lasso (Lasso‐LSQR) algorithm. We first simulated the light propagation in various kinds of organs under DE model and SP3 model, respectively. By comparison with the Monte Carlo, these tissues can be categorized into two types, namely DE‐fitted tissues that include muscle and lung, and SP3‐fitted tissues including heart, kidney, liver, and stomach. According to the above classification results, we built a hybrid DE‐SP3 model to more accurately describing light transport. Numerical simulations and in vivo experiments illustrated that hybrid DE‐SP3 model achieves superior reconstruction performance in terms of location accuracy, and spatial resolution than DE, and less computational cost than SP3. The hybrid DE‐SP3 model materializes a balance between accuracy and efficiency for XLCT.
The in vivo dissolution of tricalcium silicate bone cement
Authors: Lin Qing , Zhang Xiaojuan , Liang Dong , Li Junlin , Wang Wei , Wang Zhao , Wong Ching‐Ping 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate the in vivo dissolution of tricalcium silicate (Ca3SiO5, C3S) bone cement in the rabbit femoral defect. Results indicated that C3S paste directly integrated with the bone tissue without the protection of the bone‐like apatite. Calcium silicate hydrate gel (C–S–H gel) and Ca(OH)2 were the main components of C3S paste. The dissolution model of C3S paste was a mass loss rather than a decrease in volume. The initial dissolution of C3S paste (0 ~ 6 weeks) was greatly attributed to the release of Ca(OH)2, and the later dissolution (>6 weeks) was attributed to the decalcification of C‐S‐H gel. Although the mass of C3S paste could decrease by more than 19 wt % after 6 weeks of implantation, the created pores (<1 μm) were not large enough for the bone tissue to migrate into C3S paste. The loss of Ca ions also resulted in the transformation of SiO4 tetrahedrons from Q1 and Q2 to Q0, Q3, and Q4 in C‐S‐H gel. Because only isolated SiO4 tetrahedrons (Q0) and Ca ions could be absorbed by the bone tissue, C3S paste gradually transformed into a silica‐rich gel. The fundamental reason for no decrease in volume of C3S paste was that the SiO4 tetrahedron network still maintained the frame structure of C3S paste during the implantation.