bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Thermal laser ablation with tunable lesion size reveals multiple origins of seizure-like convulsions in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Fouad Anthony D. , Liu Alice , Du Angelica , Bhirgoo Priya D. , Fang-Yen Christopher 
Published: March 2021

AbstractLaser microsurgery has long been an important means of assessing the functions of specific cells and tissues. Most laser ablation systems use short, highly focused laser pulses to create plasma-mediated lesions with dimensions on the order of the wavelength of light. While the small size of the lesion enables ablation with high spatial resolution, it also makes it difficult to ablate larger structures. We developed an infrared laser ablation system capable of thermally lesioning tissues with spot sizes tunable by the duration and amplitude of laser pulses. We used our laser system in the roundworm C. elegans to kill single neurons and to sever the dorsal and ventral nerve cords, structures that are difficult to lesion using a plasma-based ablation system. We used these ablations to investigate the source of convulsions in a gain-of-function mutant for the acetylcholine receptor ACR-2. Severing the ventral nerve cord caused convulsions to occur independently anterior and posterior to the lesion, suggesting that convulsions can arise independently from distinct subsets of the motor circuit.
Soil moisture signature in global weather balloon soundings
Authors: Denissen Jasper M. C. , Orth René , Wouters Hendrik , Miralles Diego G. , van Heerwaarden Chiel C. , de Arellano Jordi Vilà-Guerau , Teuling Adriaan J. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe land surface influences the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) through its impacts on the partitioning of available energy into evaporation and warming. Previous research on understanding this complex link focused mainly on site-scale flux observations, gridded satellite observations, climate modeling, and machine-learning experiments. Observational evidence of land surface conditions, among which soil moisture, impacting ABL properties at intermediate landscape scales is lacking. Here, we use a combination of global weather balloon soundings, satellite-observed soil moisture, and a coupled land-atmosphere model to infer the soil moisture impact on the ABL. The inferred relationship between soil moisture and surface flux partitioning reflects distinctive energy- and water-limited regimes, even at the landscape scale. We find significantly different behavior between those two regimes, associating dry conditions with on average warmer (≈3 K), higher (≈400 m) and drier (≈1 kPa) afternoon ABLs than wet conditions. This evidence of land–atmosphere coupling from globally distributed atmospheric measurements highlights the need for an accurate representation of land–atmosphere coupling into climate models and their climate change projections.
Solvent engineered synthesis of layered SnO for high-performance anodes
Authors: Jaśkaniec Sonia , Kavanagh Seán R. , Coelho João , Ryan Seán , Hobbs Christopher , Walsh Aron , Scanlon David O. , Nicolosi Valeria 
Published: March 2021

AbstractBatteries are the most abundant form of electrochemical energy storage. Lithium and sodium ion batteries account for a significant portion of the battery market, but high-performance electrochemically active materials still need to be discovered and optimized for these technologies. Recently, tin(II) oxide (SnO) has emerged as a highly promising battery electrode. In this work, we present a facile synthesis method to produce SnO microparticles whose size and shape can be tailored by changing the solvent nature. We study the complex relationship between wet-chemistry synthesis conditions and resulting layered nanoparticle morphology. Furthermore, high-level electronic structure theory, including dispersion corrections to account for van der Waals forces, is employed to enhance our understanding of the underlying chemical mechanisms. The electronic vacuum alignment and surface energies are determined, allowing the prediction of the thermodynamically favoured crystal shape (Wulff construction) and surface-weighted work function. Finally, the synthesized nanomaterials were tested as Li-ion battery anodes, demonstrating significantly enhanced electrochemical performance for morphologies obtained from specific synthesis conditions.
Development of digital measures for nighttime scratch and sleep using wrist-worn wearable devices
Authors: Mahadevan Nikhil , Christakis Yiorgos , Di Junrui , Bruno Jonathan , Zhang Yao , Dorsey E. Ray , Pigeon Wilfred R. , Beck Lisa A. , Thomas Kevin , Liu Yaqi , Wicker Madisen , Brooks Chris , Kabiri Nina Shaafi , Bhangu Jaspreet , Northcott Carrie , Patel Shyamal 
Published: March 2021

AbstractPatients with atopic dermatitis experience increased nocturnal pruritus which leads to scratching and sleep disturbances that significantly contribute to poor quality of life. Objective measurements of nighttime scratching and sleep quantity can help assess the efficacy of an intervention. Wearable sensors can provide novel, objective measures of nighttime scratching and sleep; however, many current approaches were not designed for passive, unsupervised monitoring during daily life. In this work, we present the development and analytical validation of a method that sequentially processes epochs of sample-level accelerometer data from a wrist-worn device to provide continuous digital measures of nighttime scratching and sleep quantity. This approach uses heuristic and machine learning algorithms in a hierarchical paradigm by first determining when the patient intends to sleep, then detecting sleep–wake states along with scratching episodes, and lastly deriving objective measures of both sleep and scratch. Leveraging reference data collected in a sleep laboratory (NCT ID: NCT03490877), results show that sensor-derived measures of total sleep opportunity (TSO; time when patient intends to sleep) and total sleep time (TST) correlate well with reference polysomnography data (TSO:r = 0.72,p < 0.001; TST:r = 0.76,p < 0.001;N = 32). Log transformed sensor derived measures of total scratching duration achieve strong agreement with reference annotated video recordings (r = 0.82,p < 0.001;N = 25). These results support the use of wearable sensors for objective, continuous measurement of nighttime scratching and sleep during daily life.
Digital public health surveillance: a systematic scoping review
Authors: Shakeri Hossein Abad Zahra , Kline Adrienne , Sultana Madeena , Noaeen Mohammad , Nurmambetova Elvira , Lucini Filipe , Al-Jefri Majed , Lee Joon 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe ubiquitous and openly accessible information produced by the public on the Internet has sparked an increasing interest in developing digital public health surveillance (DPHS) systems. We conducted a systematic scoping review in accordance with the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews to consolidate and characterize the existing research on DPHS and identify areas for further research. We used Natural Language Processing and content analysis to define the search strings and searched Global Health, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar from 2005 to January 2020 for peer-reviewed articles on DPHS, with extensive hand searching. Seven hundred fifty-five articles were included in this review. The studies were from 54 countries and utilized 26 digital platforms to study 208 sub-categories of 49 categories associated with 16 public health surveillance (PHS) themes. Most studies were conducted by researchers from the United States (56%, 426) and dominated by communicable diseases-related topics (25%, 187), followed by behavioural risk factors (17%, 131). While this review discusses the potentials of using Internet-based data as an affordable and instantaneous resource for DPHS, it highlights the paucity of longitudinal studies and the methodological and inherent practical limitations underpinning the successful implementation of a DPHS system. Little work studied Internet users’ demographics when developing DPHS systems, and 39% (291) of studies did not stratify their results by geographic region. A clear methodology by which the results of DPHS can be linked to public health action has yet to be established, as only six (0.8%) studies deployed their system into a PHS context.
Impurity induced scale-free localization
Authors: Li Linhu , Lee Ching Hua , Gong Jiangbin 
Published: March 2021

AbstractNon-Hermitian systems have been shown to have a dramatic sensitivity to their boundary conditions. In particular, the non-Hermitian skin effect induces collective boundary localization upon turning off boundary coupling, a feature very distinct from that under periodic boundary conditions. Here we develop a full framework for non-Hermitian impurity physics in a non-reciprocal lattice, with periodic/open boundary conditions and even their interpolations being special cases across a whole range of boundary impurity strengths. We uncover steady states with scale-free localization along or even against the direction of non-reciprocity in various impurity strength regimes. Also present are Bloch-like states that survive albeit broken translational invariance. We further explore the co-existence of non-Hermitian skin effect and scale-free localization, where even qualitative aspects of the system’s spectrum can be extremely sensitive to impurity strength. Specific circuit setups are also proposed for experimentally detecting the scale-free accumulation, with simulation results confirming our main findings.
Clinical Experiences of School-Based Clinicians With Stuttering: A Mixed Methods Survey
Authors: Panico James , Daniels Derek E. , Yarzebinski Charity , Hughes Charles D. 
Published: March 2021

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the clinical experiences of school-based speech-language pathologists related to stuttering by exploring common clinical situations and challenges speech-language pathologists face when working with individuals who stutter and their families.

Method
This study utilized a mixed method survey design. A total of 200 participants completed an anonymous survey consisting of closed- and open-ended questions regarding knowledge for different age groups (preschool, school-age, adolescent), and confidence in assessment and treatment skills with stuttering.

Results
Findings revealed that participants generally were least comfortable assessing and treating preschoolers who stutter. Furthermore, qualitative analysis revealed a variety of common and challenging clinical scenarios across all three age levels.

Conclusions
Overall, it is important to recognize that school-based clinicians have varying experiences and perspectives when working with children who stutter. Several factors may contribute to this including academic and clinical training in stuttering. Future research is also discussed.
ELT-scale elongated LGS wavefront sensing: on-sky results
Authors: Bardou Lisa , Gendron Éric , Rousset Gérard , Gratadour Damien , Basden Alastair , Bonaccini Calia Domenico , Buey Tristant , Centrone Mauro , Chemla Fanny , Gach Jean-Luc , Geng Deli , Hubert Zoltán , Laidlaw Douglas J. , Morris Timothy J. , Myers Richard M. , Osborn James , Reeves Andrew P. , Townson Matthew J. , Vidal Fabrice 
Published: March 2021

Context. Laser guide stars (LGS) allow adaptive optics (AO) systems to reach greater sky coverage, especially for AO systems correcting the atmospheric turbulence on large fields of view. However LGS suffer from limitations, among which is their apparent elongation which can reach 20 arcsec when observed with large aperture telescopes such as the European Southern Observatory 39 m telescope. The consequences of this extreme elongation have been studied in simulations and laboratory experiments, although never on-sky, yet understanding and mitigating those effects is key to taking full advantage of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) six LGS.
Aims. In this paper we study the impact of wavefront sensing with an ELT-scale elongated LGS using on-sky data obtained with the AO demonstrator CANARY on the William Herschel telescope (WHT) and the ESO Wendelstein LGS unit. CANARY simultaneously observed a natural guide star and a superimposed LGS launched from a telescope placed 40 m away from the WHT pupil.
Methods. Comparison of the wavefronts measured with each guide star allows the determination of an error breakdown of the elongated LGS wavefront sensing. With this error breakdown, we isolate the contribution of the LGS elongation and study its impact. We also investigate the effects of truncation or undersampling of the LGS spots.
Results. We successfully used the elongated LGS wavefront sensor (WFS) to drive the AO loop during on-sky operations, but it necessitated regular calibrations of the non-common path aberrations on the LGS WFS arm. In the off-line processing of the data collected on-sky we separate the error term encapsulating the impact of LGS elongation in a dynamic and quasi-static component. We measure errors varying from 0 nm to 160 nm rms for the dynamic error and we are able to link it to turbulence strength and spot elongation. The quasi-static errors are significant and vary between 20 nm and 200 nm rms depending on the conditions. They also increase by as much as 70 nm over the course of 10 m. We do not observe any impact when undersampling the spots with pixel scales as large as 1.95″, while the LGS spot full width half maximum varies from 1.7″ to 2.2″; however, significant errors appear when truncating the spots. These errors appear for fields of view smaller than 10.4″ to 15.6″, depending on the spots’ elongations. Translated to the ELT observing at zenith, elongations as long as 23.5″ must be accommodated, corresponding to a field of view of 16.3″ if the most elongated spots are put across the diagonal of the subaperture.
Antimalarial Activity of Bidens pilosa Root Extract Co-spray Dried in the Presence of β-Cyclodextrin or Aerosil:Microcrystalline Cellulose Blend
Authors: Cortés-Rojas Diego F. , Lira de Medeiros Thales , Oliveira Claudio Bruno Silva de , Rodrigues Meurer Ywlliane da Silva , Andrade-Neto Valter Ferreira de , Oliveira Wanderley P. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe purpose of this work was to evaluate if the antimalarial activity of Bidens pilosa L. root extract could be enhanced by co-spray drying with the pharmaceutical excipients blend of colloidal silicon dioxide:microcrystalline cellulose and β-cyclodextrin. The in vivo antimalarial activity of the products was evaluated in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. Acute in vivo and in vitro toxicity in S5 HeLa cells were also carried out. B. pilosa L. root extract was lyophilized and used as a control. The spray-dried preparations enhanced the survival of the infected mice compared to the lyophilized crude root extract. The Bidens extract formulations were able to inhibit up to 71% of the growth of the parasite in the lowest tested dose, being about five times more active than the crude extract, thus showing significant partial antiplasmodial activity. The dried preparations did not show signals of toxicity in both the in vitro and in vivo assays. The results showed strong evidence that the co-spray drying of B. pilosa root extract with the selected pharmaceutical excipients might stabilize the bioactive compounds and enhance its antimalarial activity compared with the lyophilized crude extract.
Extended Frontobasal Approach for Skull Base Lesions
Authors: Faheem Mohd , Kumar Raj , Prajapati Hanuman Prasad 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Background Lesions involving the skull base can be approached by a variety of surgical corridors and extended frontobasal approach is one of them. It provides quite a wide exposure to lesions in the midline of anterior skull base, paranasal sinuses, and sphenoclival region.
Objective To share our experience, and list the merits and demerits, of this approach for anterior skull base lesions.
Methods A total of six cases were operated using extended frontobasal approach. Four of them were skull base tumors with extensive involvement of paranansal sinuses and extension into sellar, parasellar, and clival region. Fronto-orbital and sphenoethmoidal osteotomy provided adequate surgical access, thereby facilitating their excision. Two cases of frontonaso-orbital encephalocele with large bone defect at anterior skull base were also operated upon. Skull base repair was performed using autologous bone graft, pericranium, and fibrin glue.
Results  Gross total excision was achieved in four cases of skull base tumors with good cosmesis as transfacial access was obviated. Excision, repair, and reconstruction of two patients with frontonaso-orbital encephalocele were also done with acceptable cosmesis.
Conclusion The extended frontobasal approach is an excellent alternative for extensive anterior skull base tumors (up to posterior skull base), and also for the repair of large malformative lesions of the anterior skull base.
Glutathione Deficiency in HIV-1-Infected Children with Short Stature
Authors: Du Ping , Arpadi Stephen M. , Muscat Joshua , Richie John P. 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Objective This study was aimed to determine if glutathione (GSH) deficiency occurs in children with HIV infection and whether GSH deficiency is associated with HIV-related short stature.
Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study with two age-matched comparison groups in an inner city hospital-based pediatric AIDS/HIV outpatient clinic. Ten perinatally HIV-infected children aged 6 to 49 months with short stature (height–age percentile ≤5) were studied together with age-matched 10 HIV-infected children with normal height and 10 HIV-seronegative children with normal height. Total erythrocyte GSH (GSH and GSH disulfide) levels were determined by a modification of the 5,5′-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid glutathione disulfide reductase method. Other measures included complete blood counts, lymphocyte subset analysis, plasma albumin, cholesterol, vitamins A and E, and determination of HIV disease stage.
Discussion Erythrocyte GSH levels were lower in HIV-infected children with short stature (mean ± standard deviation [SD]: 0.639 µmol/mL ± 0.189) compared with HIV-infected children with normal height (mean ± SD: 0.860 µmol/mL ± 0.358; p < 0.05) and HIV-negative controls (mean ± SD: 0.990 µmol/mL ± 0.343; p < 0.05). Plasma levels of cholesterol, albumin, and vitamins A and E did not differ between the short-stature group and either the HIV-infected normal-height group or HIV-negative controls.
Conclusion These results demonstrate a GSH deficiency in HIV-infected children with short stature and support the hypothesis that GSH balance is important in growth among HIV-infected children.
Study of formation mechanism of double metal plasma jets in a low-current pulsed vacuum arc discharge
Authors: Tian Jia , Liu Wenzheng , Zhang Wenjun , Jiang Xitao 
Published: March 2021

Plasma jet formation was studied in a vacuum arc configured with a conical cathode located inside a hollow cylindrical anode. The outside of this anode was insulated, except at a 0.4 mm diameter micropore. The grounded vacuum chamber also served as an anode. The hollow cylindrical anode was connected to the grounded chamber anode through a resistor R. 170 A 14 μs arcs were excited by a pulse generator comprised of a series connection of a 0.1 F capacitor bank charged to 12 kV, a 200 μH inductor, and a 30 Ω resistor. Two plasma jets formed during the arc discharge, one originating from the cathode tip and the other through the micropore. It was found that when R was increased from 0 Ω to 1 MΩ, (1) the plasma jet originating at the micropore weakened, (2) the peak current to the hollow cylindrical anode decreased from 73 A to 0, and (3) the peak arc current decreased from 176 A to 150 A. Plasma jet velocities for R = 0 were inferred from the difference between electron current peak times at two probes, to be 9 km/s for the plasma jet from the cathode and 27 km/s for the plasma jet at the micropore.
Serum myokine levels after linear and flexible non‐linear periodized resistance training in overweight sedentary women
Authors: Mahmoud Nikseresht , Mohammadreza Hafezi Ahmadi , Abdolhosein Taheri Kalani , Mehdi Nikseresht , Arent Shawn M. 
Published: March 2021

ABSTRACTThis study compared the capacity of linear‐(LP) and non‐linear periodized (NLP) resistance training to improve select myokines and metabolic parameters in overweight sedentary women. An additional purpose was to compare these variables between the overweight and lean women. Fitness‐ and age‐matched overweight women between 28 and 43 years old were randomly allocated to LP (body fat [BF]% = 38.7 ± 2.6, n = 10), NLP (BF% = 39.3 ± 2.4, n = 9) and control (BF% = 39.8 ± 2.6, n = 9) groups. Lean women (BF% = 29.1 ± 2.3, n = 16) matched for age and fitness were also included for baseline comparison. Resistance training programmes (12 weeks, 3 d.wk−1, 9 exercises, 60–90% of 1‐repetition maximum [1RM]) were performed with different periodization schemes. Glucose, insulin, interleukin (IL)−7, IL‐15, and insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)−1 levels were measured at baseline and after training. Overweight subjects had significantly lower IL‐15, IGF‐1 and higher insulin, glucose, and insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment, HOMA‐IR) than lean subjects at baseline (all, P < .05). IL‐15 and VO2max increased significantly after NLP compared with CON, which was accompanied by a significant decrease in HOMA‐IR (all, P < .03). Muscular endurance improved significantly in both models after training compared to CON (all, P < .01), but it increased more in NLP than in LP (P = .01). Both training protocols were equally effective at reducing BF% and increasing IGF‐1, IL‐7, muscle mass and bench press 1RM (P < .01). It appears that LP and NLP are both effective strategies for improving health markers in overweight women, but LP is not as effective as NLP to improve IL‐15, HOMA‐IR and aerobic capacity.Highlights
Overweight women had a significantly lower IL‐15 and IGF‐1 compared to lean encounters, but no significant difference was noted for maximal strength, aerobic capacity, muscle mass, IL‐7 and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio.
Twelve weeks of either linear or flexible non‐linear periodized resistance training resulted in reduction in BF% and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, and increased IGF‐1, IL‐7, muscle mass and bench press 1RM, with no difference between the two training protocols.
Linear protocol is not as effective as non‐linear protocol to improve IL‐15, HOMA‐IR and aerobic capacity.