bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Diversity and Geographic Distribution of Dog Tick Species In Sri Lanka and The Life Cycle of Brown Dog Tick, Rhipicephalus Sanguineus Under Laboratory Conditions
Authors: Rajakaruna Rupika Subashini 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Background
Tick infestations and canine tick-borne diseases have become a major emerging health concern of dogs in Sri Lanka. Information about tick species infesting dogs and their geographic distribution in Sri Lanka is largely unknown.
Methods
An island-wide, cross-sectional survey of tick species infesting the domestic dog was carried out, and the life cycle of the major dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus was studied under laboratory conditions.
Results
A total of 3,026 ticks were collected from 1,219 dogs of different breeds in all 25 districts in the three climatic zones: Wet, Dry, and Intermediate zones. Eight species in five genera were identified: R. sanguineus (63.4%), Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides (22.0%), Haemaphysalis bispinosa (12.5%), Haemaphysalis intermedia (0.9%), Haemaphysalis turturis (0.6%), Amblyoma integrum (0.4%), Dermacentor auratus (0.2%) and Hyalomma sp (0.06%). The brown dog tick, R. sanguineus was the dominant species in the Dry and Wet zones, while R. haemaphysaloides was the dominant species in the Intermediate zone. Species diversity (presented as Shannon diversity index H) in the three was 1.135, 1.021and 0.849 in Intermediate, Dry and Wet zones, respectively. Adults formed 94.7% with a significantly higher number of females, and the rest were nymphs. Rhipicephalus sanguineus preferred the anterior side of the host body, specifically the inner and outer side of the ear. In contrast, R. haemaphysaloides preferred the posterior side, mainly the fore and hind limbs. The three-host life cycle of R. sanguineus was completed within 70–126 days, all three stages successfully fed on the New Zealand white rabbits under laboratory conditions. The mean REI and RFI were 50.8 ± 9.69 and 9.1 ± 5.01, respectively. Larger females had higher reproductive success.
Conclusion
The dominant dog tick species and the species diversity varied in different climatic regions of Sri Lanka. Information on diversity, distribution and life cycle parameters is fundamental for studies of canine tick-borne infections, zoonoses, and their epidemiology.
Complete Genome Sequence of the First Chrysovirus From the Phytopathogenic Fungus Alternaria Solani on Potato in China
Authors: Hu Chenghui , Li Siwei , Wu Chunyan , Mi Yiran , Cai Qingnian , Zhou Tao , Zhao Can , Wu Xuehong 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
The full genome of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus, which was isolated from Alternaria solani strain DT-10 causing potato foliar disease and designated as Alternaria solani chrysovirus 1 (AsCV1), consisted of four dsRNA segments (dsRNA 1–4) with the length of 3600 bp, 3128 bp, 2996 bp, and 2714 bp, respectively. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp, 1084 amino acids (aa)), putative capsid protein (905 aa), Alphachryso-P3 (835 aa), and Alphachryso-P4 (729 aa) were encoded by dsRNA1, dsRNA2, dsRNA3, and dsRNA4, respectively, which had the highest identities of 41.77%-72.38% to the counterparts of Helminthosporium victoriae virus 145S (HvV145S) in the genus Alphachrysovirus of the family Chrysoviridae. Moreover, the 5′-untranslated regions (UTRs) with several unique inserts (3–37 bp) and deletions (5–64 bp) of AsCV1 dsRNA 1–4 shared 51.65%-68.01% identities to those of HvV145S. Phylogenetic analysis of RdRp suggested that AsCV1 clustered the most closely with HvV145S. Based on the characteristics of distinct host, low identities of encoded proteins, special traits in 5′-UTRs of dsRNA 1–4, and phylogenetic analysis of RdRp, AsCV1 was confirmed to be a new species in the genus Alphachrysovirus. To our best knowledge, this is the first alphachrysovirus identified from phytopathogenic A. solani.
Impact of Railroad Transport on Physical and Chemical Properties of Soils in the Railway Junction Zduńska Wola – Karsznice (Central Poland)
Authors: Tomczyk-Wydrych Ilona , Świercz Anna 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Railway operations and the accompanying infrastructure are responsible for the emission of pollutants and toxic substances that adversely affect both the atmospheric air, soil and the groundwater environment. The main groups include such compounds as: trace metals and aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Contamination of the soil and water environment with harmful substances can be associated with many activities carried out on the railway. The problem is particularly relevant to liquid fuel loading and refuelling facilities as well as to increased traffic at railway junctions.
When Giants Talk; Robotic Dialog During Thoracolumbar and Sacral Surgery
Authors: Schroeder Josh E , Houri Saadit , Weil Yoram A , Liebergall Meir , Moshioff Rami , Kaplan Leon 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Background: First spinal trauma patients treated in a specialized hybrid operating room (OR) using two robotic systems communicating during surgery.Methods: Retrospective review of patients with thoracolumbar or sacral fractures who underwent surgical fixation between Jan 2017 to Jan 2020 with robotic-guided percutaneous pedicle screw insertion in the specialized hybrid OR with Robotic flat panel 3D C-arm (ArtisZeego) for intraoperative interventional imaging connected with the robotic-guidance platform Renaissance (Mazor Robotics).Results: Twenty eight surgeries were performed in 27 patients; 23 with traumatic spinal fractures, 4 with multi-level thoracolumbar compression fractures due to severe osteoporosis. Average patient age 49 (range 12-86). Average radiation exposure time 40sec (range 12-114 sec). Average radiation exposure dose 11,584±SD uGym2 (range 4,454- 58,959). Lumber levels operated on were between T5 and S2 (shortest three vertebras and longest eight vertebras). 235 (range 5-11) trajectories were performed. All trajectories were accurate in all cases percutaneous pedicle screws placement was correct, without breach noted at the pedicle in any of the cases. No major complications reported. In all cases, follow-up x-rays showed adequate fracture reduction with restoration.Conclusions: Merging of surgical robotics technologies increases patient safety and surgeon and patient confidence in percutaneous spine traumatic procedures.
No Tendencies of Personality Traits in Blood Groups: a cross-sectional study conducted on Bangladeshi people.
Authors: Rupok Tahsin Ahmed , Dey Sunandan , Bostami Bayezid 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
No studies to date came up with fruitful consequences regarding if or not there is a relationship between blood groups and personality traits rather providing most conflicting, floundering, discrete, equivocal outcomes. Traditionally, Japanese and Korean people support the conception that there are natural inclinations of personality traits in blood groups. Our study aims to explore the rationality of this conception that personality traits and blood groups are interrelated. However, responses of the participants were collected using 50 items big-five factor personality inventory developed by Goldberg: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Intellect (Openness to experience). A two way multivariate analysis (MANOVA) was performed on total 148 participants including 85 males and 65 females using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. MANOVA results revealed that neither the significant main effect of blood groups [F (15,414) = 1.102, p > 0.05] nor had the significant interaction effect of blood groups and gender [F (15,414) = 1.111, p > 0.05] on the combined dependent variables. But this study found significant main effect of gender on the combined dependent variables [F (5,136) = 4.520, p = 0.001, (1-β) = 0.967, η2 = 0.143].This present study does not support the idea that there is significant relationship between blood groups and personality traits. But the idea that male personality significantly differs from female personality is well-supported by this study.
Pristionchus trametes n. sp. (Diplogastridae) isolated from the mushroom Trametes orientalis in Kyoto, Japan
Authors: Kanzaki Natsumi , Hamaguchi Keiko 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
A new species of Pristionchus was isolated from fruiting bodies of the wood-decaying fungus Trametes orientalis collected from Kyoto, Japan. Attempts to culture it using bacteria, yeast, and freeze-killed wax moth larvae as food or substrate failed. The eurystomatous form of the species was not found in the collected material, and the species is typologically characterized by: its ‘small’ stoma with thin, membrane-like cheilostomatal plates, a small triangular right subventral tooth, thorn-like dorsal tooth, and small left subventral denticles; a short, blunt male tail spike; and a short, conical female tail. Although the posterior probability support was not high (66%), phylogenetic analysis of both small and large ribosomal RNA gene subunits suggests that the species is closely related to P. elegans and P. bucculentus. The new species can be distinguished from those two by its diagnostic characters comprising the stomatal morphology and male and female tail characters.
Genome sequence of the coffee root-knot nematode Meloidogyne exigua
Authors: Thi Phan Ngan , Besnard Guillaume , Ouazahrou Rania , Sánchez William Solano , Gil Lisa , Manzi Sophie , Bellafiore Stéphane 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) cause serious damages on most crops. Here, we report a high-quality genome sequence of Meloidogyne exigua (population Mex1, Costa Rica), a major pathogen of coffee. Its mitogenome (20,974 bp) was first assembled and annotated. The nuclear genome was then constructed consisting of 206 contigs, with an N50 length of 1.89 Mb and a total assembly length of 42.1 Mb.
Transformation of the Concept of Soft Power in the Political Discourse of China
Authors: Yu Lan 
Published: July 2021

The concept of “soft power”, which has entered the official lexicon of the Chinese Communist Party, has American roots. At the heart of Joseph Nye’s concept is a call for flexible use of the “intangible power resources” of culture and political ideals to influence the behavior of people in other countries. For the Chinese power groups, Nye’s concept looked like a modern development of the “Art of War” reasoning, so J. Nye’s idea received a deep cross-cultural resonance in China.The article presents two main aspects of the research carried out by the author of the article on the influence of the concept of “soft power” in the political process. Firstly, the influence of the concept of “soft power” on the political process: the fourth generation of Chinese leaders, led by President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao, focused on soft power as the basis for the strategy of intercultural communication; Xi Jinping introduces the principle of cultural confidence, including values in the political discourse of modern China in a new era. This defines a new task of “soft power”. Secondly, “soft power” as a tool of political communication: the culture and ideology of Confucianism has a significant influence on the political process communication of the PRC. In these conditions, the ideology of the PRC adapts and uses Confucian concepts as a brand of intercultural communication and a kind of ideological bridge that can serve to ensure the preservation of national identity, form a positive image of the state and strengthen the country’s international position, and will become the basis for internal cohesion. Hence the authorities actively work to adapt “soft power” to the tasks of modern domestic and foreign policy. The studies carried out on this topic have shown that the concept of “soft power” of the PRC is a powerful instrument of the political culture of the PRC and a viable strategy of intercultural communication.
Water resources of the Desna river basin under future climate
Authors: Osypov Valeriy , Speka Oleh , Chyhareva Anastasiia , Osadcha Nataliia , Krakovska Svitlana , Osadchyi Volodymyr 
Published: July 2021

AbstractClimate change impact on water resources has been observed in Ukraine since the end of the 20th century. For now, only large-scale climate impact studies cover Ukraine's territory, having low credibility for a specific catchment. This study aims to calculate future changes in river discharge, water flow components, and soil water within the Desna basin and evaluate vulnerability trends on this basis. The framework assembles the process-based SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model and eight high-resolution regional climate models (RCMs) driven by RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios. The climate models are provided by the Euro-CORDEX initiative and based on three RCMs (RCA4, HIRHAM5, and RACMO22E) forced by five general circulation models (CNRM-CM5, EC-EARTH, IPSL-CM5A-MR, HadGEM2-ES, and MPI-ESM-LR). The results preferably show a moderate increase in the annual discharge until the end of the 21st century. The intra-annual changes of water balance components negatively affect the vegetation period because of higher dryness and temperature stress but reduce flood risk, diffuse pollution, and water erosion in the far future. In the river basin management plan, the highest attention should be paid to adaptive strategies in agriculture because of possible water deficit in the vegetation season under future climate scenarios.
Interaction of Ectodomain of Respiratory Syncytial Virus G Protein with TLR2/ TLR6 Heterodimer: An In vitro and In silico Approach to Decipher the Role of RSV G Protein in Pro-inflammatory Response against the Virus
Authors: Alshaghdali Khalid , Saeed Mohd , Kamal Mohammad Amjad , Saeed Amir 
Published: July 2021

Background:
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been shown to be linked with various
forms of respiratory diseases, such as common cold and lower respiratory tract illnesses like pneumonia and
bronchiolitis. TLRs play critical role in generating host immune response against RSV. TLRs are expressed not
only on leukocytes but also on many other cell types and can recognize RSV. Previous studies have established
that RSV can interact with TLR4 and initiate inflammatory cascade of cytokines. The data from a recent study
indicated that TLR2/TLR6 is involved in RSV recognition and subsequent innate immune activation. However,
the nature of binding and the envelope protein of RSV involved in this interaction with TLRs are not studied
yet.

Objective:
We hypothesized that RSV G protein can bind to TLRs and mediate the inflammatory immune response
against the virus infection. Therefore, we investigated whether RSV G protein could activate innate immune
response through TLR signaling.

Methods:
Different TLR antagonists were used to assess the effect of the exposure of RSV and RSV G ectodomain
in human primary small airway epithelial cells (HSAECs). Various inflammatory cytokines, chemokines
and type I IFNs were measured by ELISA along with their mRNA expression by qPCR. In silico interaction
of RSV G protein with TLR2/TLR6 was also analyzed.

Results:
Results of ELISA and qPCR analysis have shown that TLR2/TLR6 signaling is activated in HSAECs
upon RSV and RSV G protein exposure which initiates innate immune response against RSV. Moreover, RSV
envelope protein G plays a crucial role in binding and activation of TLR2/TLR6 signaling.

Conclusion:
In summary, our study shows that TLR2/TLR6 play important role in the activation of innate
immune response upon RSV recognition which could be helpful in promoting RSV clearance and preventing
RSV-induced disease.
Real-world Utilisation of the Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Accompanying the Use of Risk Minimisation Tools in Patients with Dementia
Authors: Reinhardt Fritjof , Scarmeas Nikolaos , Karan Rajesh , Veldandi Uday K. , Modali Sunil , Duvvuri Krishna , Pathan Rashid K. 
Published: July 2021

Background:
Transdermal patches are convenient to use, especially in Rotkreuz ZG
Rotkreuz ZG patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-associated dementia. However, various identified
risks of errors in administering the patches cannot be disregarded. Patient Reminder Cards
(PRCs, included a Medication record sheet [MRS]) have been recently introduced as a risk minimisation
tool to prevent incorrect patch use (IU).

Objectives:
This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of PRCs to prevent IU and to investigate
the dose titration pattern of rivastigmine patches in a real-world setting.

Methods:
This multinational, observational, 11-month study included patients with AD currently
using rivastigmine patches (4.6 mg/day, 9.5 mg/day, 13.3 mg/day) accompanied by a caregiver.
Study outcomes were IU, including multiple patch use (MPU), incorrect patch placement, other
IUs, perceived usefulness of the PRCs, and titration patterns of the patches.

Results:
Of the total 614 patients included, most were aged ≥65 years and had mild-to-moderate
AD. Before and during the study, 27.7% and 18.0% of patients reported IU, respectively. Most pa-
tients used MRS, and 73.5% rated it ‘helpful’ and reported lower rates of IU than those who report-
ed it ‘not helpful’ (13.9%–16.5% vs. 20.2%). Overall, 141 patients had dose titrations, with 75.8%
being up-titrated from 4.6 mg/day to 9.5 mg/day after a mean duration of 58 days. Safety findings
were consistent with the established profile for the rivastigmine patch.

Conclusion:
PRC was effective as a risk minimisation tool in limiting the inappropriate use of ri-
vastigmine patches. The majority of patients requiring dose-change were up-titrated to 9.5 mg/day
patches.
NLP-MeTaxa: A Natural Language Processing Approach for Metagenomic Taxonomic Binning Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Matougui Brahim , Boukelia Abdelbasset , Belhadef Hacene , Galiez Clovis , Batouche Mohamed 
Published: July 2021

Background:
Metagenomics is the study of genomic content in mass from an environment
of interest such as the human gut or soil. Taxonomy is one of the most important fields of metagenomics,
which is the science of defining and naming groups of microbial organisms that share the
same characteristics. The problem of taxonomy classification is the identification and quantification of
microbial species or higher-level taxa sampled by high throughput sequencing.

Objective:
Although many methods exist to deal with the taxonomic classification problem, assignment
to low taxonomic ranks remains an important challenge for binning methods as is scalability to Gbsized
datasets generated with deep sequencing techniques.

Methods:
In this paper, we introduce NLP-MeTaxa, a novel composition-based method for taxonomic
binning, which relies on the use of words embeddings and deep learning architecture. The new proposed
approach is word-based, where the metagenomic DNA fragments are processed as a set of overlapping
words by using the word2vec model to vectorize them in order to feed the deep learning model.
NLP-MeTaxa output is visualized as NCBI taxonomy tree, this representation helps to show the connection
between the predicted taxonomic identifiers. NLP-MeTaxa was trained on large-scale data from
the NCBI RefSeq, more than 14,000 complete microbial genomes. The NLP-MeTaxa code is available
at the website: https://github.com/padriba/NLP_MeTaxa/.

Results:
We evaluated NLP-MeTaxa with a real and simulated metagenomic dataset and compared our
results to other tools' results. The experimental results have shown that our method outperforms the
other methods especially for the classification of low-ranking taxonomic class such as species and genus.

Conclusion:
In summary, our new method might provide novel insight for understanding the microbial
community through the identification of the organisms it might contain.
An Efficient Synthesis of α, β Unsaturated Ketones via Claisen-schmidt Condensation Reaction using Amino Acid Based Ionic Liquids
Authors: Selvaraj Ganesh Gopalsamy , Jayaraman Sakthinarayanan , Selvarasu Uthayanila , Velumani Bharathi Priya , Parasuraman Karthikeyan 
Published: July 2021

:
Synthesis of chalcone by Claisen–Schmidt condensation using recyclable L- aspartic
acid coupled with imidazolium-based ionic liquid as a green synthetic approach has been developed.
Present work offers significant advantages, such as high yield, enhanced reaction speed even
at room temperature, catalyst reusability, and the involvement of non-toxic reagents.

Background:
Chalcones belong to the flavonoid family and possess pharmacological and biological
activities, including antibacterial, antifungal, immunosuppressive, and anti-nociceptive properties.

Objective:
Ionic liquids have emerged as powerful tools for molecular organic solvents. Their
wide liquid range, easy recovery, and reusability make them a greener alternative to volatile organic
solvents. Thus, in the present work, our objective was to employ them as dual catalysts and solvent
systems for the synthesis of chalcone via the CS condensation.

Methods:
In a typical experiment, benzaldehyde (10 mmol), acetophenone (10 mmol), and 2.5
mol% (L-AAIL) ionic liquid were mixed in a 50 mL round-bottom flask. The reaction was proceeded
quickly at room temperature with stirring, and the resulting mixture became a biphasic system
with the precipitate at the bottom and the upper phase containing some unreacted substrate
which was separated from the catalyst by filtration and decantation. The catalyst was extracted
with CH2Cl2 and separated for the next cycle.

Results:
Claisen–Schmidt condensation accomplished with reasonable to good yields, ranging
from 78 to 95% at room temperature in presence of the [L-AAIL], as compared to the traditional
route at more than 100°C.

Conclusion:
[L-AAIL] is found a highly efficient and eco-friendly catalyst for the synthesis of
chalcone derivatives at room temperature. [L-AAIL] as a solvent and catalyst will exhibit real advantages
by providing a ‘green’ process with a safer operation. Furthermore, short reaction periods,
mild reaction conditions, easier separation, and reusability of ionic liquid made this methodology
valuable for synthetic organic chemists as well as industry.
The Development of a Web-Based Tobacco Tracker Tool to Crowdsource Campus Environmental Reports for Smoke and Tobacco–Free College Policies: Mixed Methods Study
Authors: Loureiro Sabrina F , Pulvers Kim , Gosdin Melissa M , Clift Keavagh , Rice Myra , Tong Elisa K 
Published: July 2021

Background
College campuses in the United States have begun implementing smoke and tobacco–free policies to discourage the use of tobacco. Smoke and tobacco–free policies, however, are contingent upon effective policy enforcement.

Objective
This study aimed to develop an empirically derived web-based tracking tool (Tracker) for crowdsourcing campus environmental reports of tobacco use and waste to support smoke and tobacco–free college policies.

Methods
An exploratory sequential mixed methods approach was utilized to inform the development and evaluation of Tracker. In October 2018, three focus groups across 2 California universities were conducted and themes were analyzed, guiding Tracker development. After 1 year of implementation, users were asked in April 2020 to complete a survey about their experience.

Results
In the focus groups, two major themes emerged: barriers and facilitators to tool utilization. Further Tracker development was guided by focus group input to address these barriers (eg, information, policing, and logistical concerns) and facilitators (eg, environmental motivators and positive reinforcement). Amongst 1163 Tracker reports, those who completed the user survey (n=316) reported that the top motivations for using the tool had been having a cleaner environment (212/316, 79%) and health concerns (185/316, 69%).

Conclusions
Environmental concerns, a motivator that emerged in focus groups, shaped Tracker’s development and was cited by the majority of users surveyed as a top motivator for utilization.