bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Outer retinal tubulation formation and clinical course of advanced age-related macular degeneration
Authors: Arrigo Alessandro , Aragona Emanuela , Battaglia Ottavia , Saladino Andrea , Amato Alessia , Borghesan Federico , Pina Adelaide , Calcagno Francesca , Hassan Farah Rashid , Bandello Francesco , Battaglia Parodi Maurizio 
Published: July 2021

AbstractOuter retinal tubulations (ORT) are a relatively new finding characterizing outer retinal atrophy. The main aim of the present study was to describe ORT development in advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and to assess its relationship with disease’s severity. Patients with advanced AMD characterized either by macular neovascularization or geographic atrophy, showing signs of outer retinal disruption or retinal pigment epithelium atrophy on structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) at the inclusion examination were prospectively recruited. All the patients underwent complete ophthalmologic evaluation, structural OCT scans and fundus autofluorescence imaging. The planned follow-up was of 3-years. Main outcome measures were ORT prevalence, mechanism of ORT formation, mean time needed for complete ORT formation, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), definitely decreased autofluorescence (DDAF) area, questionably decreased autofluorescence (QDAF) area, retinal layer thickness, foveal sparing, number of intravitreal injections. We also assessed the possible role of external limiting membrane (ELM) and Müller cells in ORT pathogenesis. Seventy eyes (70 patients) were included; 43 showed dry AMD evolving to geographic atrophy, while 27 displayed the features of wet AMD. Baseline BCVA was 0.5 ± 0.5 LogMAR, decreasing to 0.9 ± 0.5 LogMAR at the 3-year follow-up (p < 0.01). We detected completely formed ORT in 26/70 eyes (37%), subdivided as follows: 20 eyes (77%) wet AMD and 6 eyes (23%) dry AMD (p < 0.01). ORT took 18 ± 8 months (range 3–35 months) to develop fully. We described the steps leading to ORT development, characterized by progressive involvement of, and damage to the photoreceptors, the ELM and the RPE. Eyes displaying ORT were associated with a smaller QDAF area, less retinal layers damage and lower rate of foveal sparing than eyes free of ORT (p < 0.01). We also described pigment accumulations simulating ORT, which were detected in 16/70 eyes (23%), associated with a greater loss of foveal sparing, increased DDAF area and smaller QDAF area at the 3-year follow-up (p < 0.01). In conclusion, this study provided a description of the steps leading to ORT development in AMD. ELM and Müller cells showed a role in ORT pathogenesis. Furthermore, we described a subtype of pigment hypertrophy mimicking ORT, evaluating its clinical utility.
Sequencing for germline mutations in Swedish breast cancer families reveals novel breast cancer risk genes
Authors: Helgadottir Hafdis T. , Thutkawkorapin Jessada , Lagerstedt-Robinson Kristina , Lindblom Annika 
Published: July 2021

AbstractIdentifying genetic cancer risk factors will lead to improved genetic counseling, cancer prevention and cancer care. Analyzing families with a strong history of breast cancer (BC) has been a successful method to identify genes that contribute to the disease. This has led to discoveries of high-risk genes like the BRCA-genes. Nevertheless, many BC incidences are of unknown causes. In this study, exome sequencing on 59 BC patients from 24 Swedish families with a strong history of BC was performed to identify variants in known and novel BC predisposing genes. First, we screened known BC genes and identified two pathogenic variants in the BRIP1 and PALB2 genes. Secondly, to identify novel BC genes, rare and high impact variants and segregating in families were analyzed to identify 544 variants in novel BC candidate genes. Of those, 22 variants were defined as high-risk variants. Several interesting genes, either previously linked with BC or in pathways that when flawed could contribute to BC, were among the detected genes. The strongest candidates identified are the FANCM gene, involved in DNA double-strand break repair, and the RAD54L gene, involved in DNA recombination. Our study shows identifying pathogenic variants is challenging despite a strong family history of BC. Several interesting candidates were observed here that need to be further studied.
Association of self-rated health with chronic disease, mental health symptom and social relationship in older people
Authors: Yang Hongling , Deng Qin , Geng Qingshan , Tang Yanfei , Ma Jun , Ye Weitao , Gan Qiangsheng , Rehemayi Rehemutula , Gao Xiaoli , Zhu Chunyan 
Published: July 2021

AbstractChronic disease, mental health symptoms and poor social relations are reported common causes for poor self-rated health in older people. To assess the co-occurrence rate of chronic diseases, poor mental health and poor social relationships in older people, and determine their association with self-rated health. 6,551 older people in Zhongshan, China, participated a large health surveillance program were randomly selected and questioned about their SRH, chronic conditions, mental health symptoms and social relationships. The association between self-rated health and chronic conditions, poor mental health, social relationships, and their co-occurrence were analyzed. 56.4% of participants reported poor self-rated health. 39.1% experienced at least one chronic disease. 29.0% experienced one or more mental health symptoms; 19.5% experienced at least one poor social relationship. 7.8% had co-occurrence of chronic diseases, mental health problems, and poor social relationships. Logistic regressions showed that poor self-rated health was associated with chronic diseases, poor mental health, poor social relationships and their co-occurrence. The findings indicate the importance of managing chronic disease, poor mental health and poor social relationships for older people.
Evidence-based recommender system for high-entropy alloys
Authors: Ha Minh-Quyet , Nguyen Duong-Nguyen , Nguyen Viet-Cuong , Nagata Takahiro , Chikyow Toyohiro , Kino Hiori , Miyake Takashi , Denœux Thierry , Huynh Van-Nam , Dam Hieu-Chi 
Published: July 2021

AbstractExisting data-driven approaches for exploring high-entropy alloys (HEAs) face three challenges: numerous element-combination candidates, designing appropriate descriptors, and limited and biased existing data. To overcome these issues, here we show the development of an evidence-based material recommender system (ERS) that adopts Dempster–Shafer theory, a general framework for reasoning with uncertainty. Herein, without using material descriptors, we model, collect and combine pieces of evidence from data about the HEA phase existence of alloys. To evaluate the ERS, we compared its HEA-recommendation capability with those of matrix-factorization- and supervised-learning-based recommender systems on four widely known datasets of up-to-five-component alloys. Thek-fold cross-validation on the datasets suggests that the ERS outperforms all competitors. Furthermore, the ERS shows good extrapolation capabilities in recommending quaternary and quinary HEAs. We experimentally validated the most strongly recommended Fe–Co-based magnetic HEA (namely, FeCoMnNi) and confirmed that its thin film shows a body-centered cubic structure.
Endothelin receptor antagonism improves glucose handling, dyslipidemia, and adipose tissue inflammation in obese mice
Authors: Rivera-Gonzalez Osvaldo , Wilson Natalie A. , Coats Laura E. , Taylor Erin B. , Speed Joshua S. 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is elevated in patients with obesity; however, its contribution to the pathophysiology related to obesity is not fully understood. We hypothesized that high ET-1 levels cause dyslipidemia, inflammation, and insulin resistance within the adipose tissue of obese mice. To test this hypothesis, male C57BL/6J mice were fed either normal diet (NMD) or high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks followed by 2 weeks of treatment with either vehicle, atrasentan (ETA receptor antagonist, 10 mg/kg/day) or bosentan (ETA/ETB receptor antagonist, 100 mg/kg/day). Atrasentan and bosentan lowered circulating non-esterified free fatty acids and triglycerides seen in HFD mice, while atrasentan-treated mice had significantly lower liver triglycerides compared with non-treated HFD mice. ET-1 receptor blockade significantly improved insulin tolerance compared with insulin-resistant HFD mice and lowered expression of genes in epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) associated with insulin resistance and inflammation. Flow cytometric analyses of eWAT indicated that HFD mice had significantly higher percentages of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells compared with NMD mice, which was attenuated by treatment with atrasentan or bosentan. Atrasentan treatment also abolished the decrease in eosinophils seen in HFD mice. Taken together, these data indicate that ETA and ETA/ETB receptor blockade improves peripheral glucose homeostasis, dyslipidemia and liver triglycerides, and also attenuates the pro-inflammatory immune profile in eWAT of mice fed HFD. These data suggest a potential use for ETA and ETA/ETB receptor blockers in the treatment of obesity-associated dyslipidemia and insulin resistance.
Reservoir inflow predicting model based on machine learning algorithm via multi‐model fusion: A case study of Jinshuitan river basin
Authors: Zhang Wei , Wang Hanyong , Lin Yemin , Jin Jianle , Liu Wenjuan , An Xiaolan 
Published: July 2021

AbstractFlood prevention and disaster mitigation have a great impact on people's lives and properties, and so it is urgent to realise high‐accuracy inflow predictions for flood early warning. To this end, a prediction model based on a machine learning algorithm via a multimodel combination method is proposed to predict the inflow of Jinshuitan reservoir. Firstly, a data formatting scheme called the ’hydrological regime profile‘ is designed for input data. The whole data set is partitioned into a low‐flow subset and a high‐flow subset. Considering the high dimensions of the complex input data, convolutional neural networks (CNN), EXtreme gradient Boosting model (XGBoost) and a partial least squares model (PLS) are used. In the CNN and XGBoost models, a special loss function weighted on inflow is designed to improve the performance on high‐inflow predictions. Finally, a multi‐model combination method is proposed to improve the prediction performance. Compared with XGBoost, CNN and PLS, the root mean square error of the combined model is reduced by 41.64%, 72.29% and 3.41%, respectively. As a consequence, the combined model is able to predict the inflows with higher accuracy compared to the single models.
Optimization of high breakdown voltage vertical trapezoidal GaN p‐n diode with a high‐K/low‐K compound dielectric for power applications
Authors: Du Jiangfeng , Zhao Zhiyuan , Tian Kuiyuan , Liu Yong , Jiang Yonggang , Yu Qi 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThis paper proposes a vertical trapezoidal GaN p‐n diode with a high‐K/low‐K compound dielectric (CD‐TGD) to improve the breakdown voltage (BV). By introducing the compound dielectric structure, a new peak of electric field will be induced in the n‐type GaN drift region of the trapezoidal diode, to make the electric field distribution in the drift‐region more uniform. The key parameters of the CD‐TGD, including the angle of the bevel structure, the doping concentration of drift region, and the size of high‐K/low‐K compound dielectric layers, have been comprehensively investigated by TCAD Silvaco simulation to reveal their impacts on the diode's properties. The breakdown voltage of the optimized structure is boosted from 2780 V for vertical GaN diodes (VGD) to 4360 V for CD‐TGD, which is 56.8% higher than that of VGD. The on‐state resistance of the optimized CD‐TGD is 1.53 mΩ·cm2, yielding a high FOM of 12.4 GW/cm2. What is more, the average breakdown electric field is 2.73 MV/cm, which is much closer to the material limits of GaN.
The first heavy-metal hot subdwarf composite binary SB 744
Authors: Németh P. , Vos J. , Molina F. , Bastian A. 
Published: July 2021

Aims. The long-period sdOB+G1V type spectroscopic binary SB 744 reveals strong lines of fluorine and lead in the optical spectrum of the sdOB star and subsolar metallicity in the G1V companion thanks to a radial velocity follow-up study. Using high-quality observations and Gaia astrometric data, we aim to measure the chemical composition and Galactic kinematics of the system to put it into context with known populations of hot subdwarfs. Such binary systems have great potential to provide insights into the late stages of binary evolution as well as into the mysterious formation of stripped-core helium-burning stars.
Methods. We analyzed the optical spectra with homogeneous atmospheric models to derive the surface parameters of the binary members from a direct wavelength space decomposition. Then, we independently measured the atmospheric properties of the cool companion. The two independent methods achieved consistent results, which were amended with constraints from spectral energy distributions to provide a subdwarf mass. In addition, Gaia astrometry allowed us to derive the Galactic kinematics of the system.
Results. SB 744 turned out to be an old, Population II system that has gone through dramatic events. The hot subdwarf star belongs to the heavy-metal subclass of sdOB stars and we report super-solar abundances of lead, based on Pb III/IV lines. The He abundance of the hot subdwarf is the lowest among the known heavy-metal sdOB stars. The presence of fluorine implies that SB 744 was once a hierarchical triple system and the inner binary has merged in the near past. As an alternative scenario, single-star evolution through late core helium flash and atmospheric mixing can also produce the observed fluorine abundances. The atmospheric metal overabundances that are currently observed may perhaps be the result of a combination of mixing processes during formation and radiative support.
Measurement of the impedance for a hybrid X-pinch load
Authors: Wang Liangping , Sun Tieping , Qiu Aici , Zhang Jinhai 
Published: July 2021

For a hybrid X-pinch load assembled in parallel with the return-current rods, the impedance of the hybrid X-pinch load is important for current division between the load and the current rods. In this paper, the experimental results of the investigation of the impedance of a hybrid X-pinch load on the Qiangguang facility (1.5 MA, 100 ns) were reported. The current of the X-pinch load was measured using a serial nickel foil resistor, and the voltage was measured using a two-stage resistive divider. The inductance of the X-pinch load was obtained by comparing the differential signal of the current with the voltage waveform, and it is about 4.7 nH, which is nearly equal to the calculated total inductance of the metal wire and the two X-pinch electrodes. The resistance of the X-pinch was determined by subtracting a part of the inductance from the measured voltage, and the following results were obtained. At the start of the current, the resistance of the X-pinch increases quickly from the metallic resistance of 0.16 Ω at room temperature for a 2-mm-length 30-μm-diameter Mo wire to 0.8 Ω in about 10 ns, and then, it falls fast to nearly zero, which suggests that the electrically exploding phase of the metal wire ends and the high conductive plasma is formed. As the current continues to flow through the Mo wire, the resistance increases once again from nearly zero to about 0.4 Ω at the moment when the X-pinch begins to burst x-ray radiation, which reflected that the micro-pinch dynamical process occurs and a hot and tight plasma zone is formed. Assuming that the tight plasma zone is 300 μm long with a 10 µm diameter and the temperature of the plasma is ∼1 keV, we can obtain that the resistance of the tight X-pinch spot is about 0.6 Ω, which is close to the value of 0.4 Ω obtained in the experiments.
Long-term decrease in Asian monsoon rainfall and abrupt climate change events over the past 6,700 years
Authors: Yang Bao , Qin Chun , Bräuning Achim , Osborn Timothy J. , Trouet Valerie , Ljungqvist Fredrik Charpentier , Esper Jan , Schneider Lea , Grießinger Jussi , Büntgen Ulf , Rossi Sergio , Dong Guanghui , Yan Mi , Ning Liang , Wang Jianglin , Wang Xiaofeng , Wang Suming , Luterbacher Jürg , Cook Edward R. , Stenseth Nils Chr. 
Published: July 2021

Significance
The variability of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is important for the functioning of ecological and societal systems at regional to continental scales, but the long-term evolution and interannual variability of this system is not well understood. Here, we present a stable isotope–based reconstruction of ASM variability covering 4680 BCE to 2011 CE. Superimposed on a gradual drying trend, a rapid drop in mean annual precipitation (>40%) toward persistently drier conditions occurred in ∼1675 BCE. This megadrought caused regional forest deterioration and enhanced aeolian activity affecting Chinese ecosystems. We argue that this abrupt aridification starting ∼2000 BCE triggered waves of human migration and societal transformation in northern China, which contributed to the alteration of spatial pattern of ancient civilizations.
Genome-scale metabolic network reconstruction of model animals as a platform for translational research
Authors: Wang Hao , Robinson Jonathan L. , Kocabas Pinar , Gustafsson Johan , Anton Mihail , Cholley Pierre-Etienne , Huang Shan , Gobom Johan , Svensson Thomas , Uhlen Mattias , Zetterberg Henrik , Nielsen Jens 
Published: July 2021

Significance
Animal models and genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) are two important tools for studying human diseases, but a proper integration of the two is lacking. To bridge them, we developed a reproducible and systematic framework by which the GEMs for major model animals are reconstructed and maintained. Due to the shared namespace, biological insights can be inferred from comparative analysis of the omics data from different animal models of the same disease. The drug targets and biomarkers derived from integrative metabolic analysis can thus be validated and translated to treatments and/or diagnostic methods. As an example, we demonstrated their utility in discovering potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, where there is a lack of effective diagnostics and treatments.
Integration of signals from different cortical areas in higher order thalamic neurons
Authors: Sampathkumar Vandana , Miller-Hansen Andrew , Sherman S. Murray , Kasthuri Narayanan 
Published: July 2021

Significance
Higher order thalamic neurons receive input from layer 5 cells of different cortical regions. We address the issue of a possible convergence of information from these different cortical areas onto individual thalamic relay cells. We leverage advances in genetic labeling and serial electron microscopy to address this question. Using dual labeling to distinguish inputs from sensory and motor cortical areas, we provide evidence of integration of different cortical signals on single thalamic relay cells in the posterior medial nucleus. This provides insight into the complex functioning of thalamus.
Massive corpora and models of cross‑cultural communication styles in Cognitive Linguistics
Authors: Pavlovic Vladan 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
The paper addresses a pair of construction variants: the N1 V for N2
to-infinitive construction and its version without for, in the cases when both are possible with
the same main verb (I need for him to leave / I need you to stop). It aims
to point to the importance of the use of massive e-corpora in gaining better insight into the given construction pair. It also
aims to test the hypothesis that the obtained quantitative data from such corpora can at least partially be accounted for by the
interplay of: (1) the differences in the semantics of the two construction variants (based on combining relevant
cognitive-linguistic insights), (2) the differences in the lexical semantics of the main verbs, and (3) extra-linguistic factors
dealt with by models of cross-cultural communication styles. The paper thus argues for a tighter integration of
cognitive-linguistic insights and a social-interactional perspective on language phenomena.
Parts of speech membership as a factor of meaning extension and level of abstraction
Authors: Kanasugi Petra 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Czech and Japanese show formal differences in adnominal modification. Czech tends to utilize adjectives for both
classification and qualification purposes whereas Japanese tends to express classification by compounding and to use a whole range
of parts of speech for qualification. As a result, part of speech membership often differs between the Czech and Japanese
rendering of the same referential content. It has been shown that parts of speech dispose of schematic meaning which contributes
to conceptualization. Based on the results of corpus analysis, I argue that the difference in part of speech membership results
in different tendencies in meaning extension and ultimately in different meaning of the two counterparts, Czech adjectives are
more abstract and schematic, while Japanese verbs are more concrete.
English Medium Instruction and the potential of translanguaging practices in higher education
Authors: Dillon Anna , Chell Geraldine , Moussa-Inaty Jase , Gallagher Kay , Grey Ian 
Published: July 2021

AbstractIn the UAE, although Arabic is the first and official language (L1), English has become the medium of instruction and the language of discourse in higher education in most subject domains. The pedagogical implications of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in the specific context of higher education in the UAE are not well understood, and research is needed to establish what kinds of support speakers of English as a second or additional language (L2) might need to fully access content knowledge in English without burdening learning. Our empirical work hypothesizes that learning content through L2 may lead to more favourable results if the L1 is explicitly drawn upon as a resource in addition to the L2. This study provided undergraduate students with learning materials in three experimental conditions (Arabic-only, English-only, and dual language). Students’ performance was then assessed in three areas of linguistic competence, namely translation into Arabic of a list of English words and phrases, comprehension of an English written text, and translation into Arabic of English words and phrases in context. A series of one way ANOVAs and post-hoc comparisons were carried out to determine differences between the three conditions. The study confirms that overall, for students with an intermediate language level, the presentation of dual language reading materials has a greater impact on their outcomes in comparison with the presentation of reading materials in the L1 or L2 only. This highlights the critical need for raising awareness of translanguaging practices in EMI contexts.