bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Shortening the Frommelt Attitude Toward the Care Of the Dying Scale (FATCOD-B): a Brief 9-Item Version for Medical Education and Practice
Authors: Molinengo Giorgia , Loera Barbara , Miniotti Marco , Leombruni Paolo 
Published: May 2021

AbstractEnd-of-life care training has gaps in helping students to develop attitudes toward caring for the dying. Valid and reliable assessment tools are essential in building effective educational programmes. The Frommelt Attitude Toward the Care Of the Dying scale (FATCOD-B) is widely used to measure the level of comfort/discomfort in caring for the dying and to test the effectiveness of end-of-life care training. However, its psychometric properties have been questioned and different proposals for refinement and shortening have been put forward. The aim of this study is to get to a definitive reduction of the FATCOD-B through a valid and parsimonious synthesis of the previous attempts at scale revision. Data were gathered from a sample of 220 medical students. The item response theory approach was used in this study. Of the 14 items selected from two previous proposals for scale revision, 3 had a weak correlation with the whole scale and were deleted. The resulting 11-item version had good fit indices and withstood a more general and parsimonious specification (rating scale model). This solution was further shortened to 9 items by deleting 2 of 3 items at the same level of difficulty. The final 9-item version was invariant for gender, level of religiosity and amount of experience with dying persons, free from redundant items and able to scale and discriminate the respondents.
Fujita decomposition on families of abelian varieties
Authors: Pirola Gian Pietro 
Published: May 2021

AbstractLet $$F:{\mathcal {V}}\rightarrow B$$

F
:
V
→
B

be a smooth non-isotrivial $$1-$$

1
-

dimensional family of complex polarized abelian varieties and $$V_b=F^{-1}(b)$$

V
b

=

F

-
1

(
b
)

be the general fiber. Let $${\mathcal {F}}^1\subset R^1F_*{\mathbb {C}}$$

F

1

⊂

R
1

F

∗

C

be the associated Hodge bundle filtration, $${\mathcal {F}}^1_b=H^{1.0}(V_b).$$

F

b
1

=

H

1.0

(

V
b

)

.

Under the assumption that the Fujita decomposition for $${\mathcal {F}}^1$$

F

1

is non trivial, that is there is a non trivial flat sub-bundle $$0\ne {\mathbb {U}}\subset {\mathcal {F}}^1,$$

0
≠
U
⊂

F

1

,

we show that $$V_b$$

V
b

has non-trivial endomorphism: $$End(V_b)\ne {\mathbb {Z}}.$$

E
n
d
(

V
b

)
≠
Z
.
Who suffers and how much from corruption? Evidence from firm-level data
Authors: Cieślik Andrzej , Goczek Łukasz 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIn this article, we study firm-level determinants of corruption using a sample of 164,000 companies from 144 countries for the 2005–2020 period. We analyze two variables related to corruption: the perception of corruption as an obstacle to doing business using an ordinal logit model and actual bribe tax payments using a fractional logit model. Controlling for other factors, both sets of our empirical results show that the extent of corruption is related to the time spent dealing with regulations and inspections. We argue that firms which spend more time dealing with administrative procedures have a greater perception of corruption and are forced to make significantly higher bribe payments. Therefore, in a successful fight against corruption, it is essential to simplify administrative procedures by reducing their number and eliminating direct contacts between firms and officials.
Fighting Against Plant Saline Stress: Development of a Novel Bioactive Composite Based on Bentonite and L-Proline
Authors: Merino Danila , Iglesias María J. , Mansilla Andrea Y , Casalongué Claudia A. , Alvarez Vera A. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSoil salinity is one of the most critical environmental stresses that affects crop productivity. In a context in which world demand for food is growing continuously, this problem requires urgent attention. Actions that go beyond traditional agricultural practices are needed. The objective of the current study was to develop a bioactive, economic, and sustainable compound that can increase the tolerance of cultivated plants in saline-stress situations by combining the hosting capacity of natural bentonite nanoclay (Bent) with a phytoactive osmoprotective compound, L-Proline (Pro). The Bent-Pro nanocomposite synthesis method, its final chemical structure, and in vitro bioactivity were addressed here. The results indicated that Bent can retain a maximum of 14.4% (w/w) of Pro. The (001) X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak of Bent shifted to smaller angles in the pattern of Bent-Pro, indicating that Pro has a monolayer arrangement between the Bent layers. The results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) also supported this result. Pro was also retained on the edges or external surfaces of Bent, as indicated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, Pro functional groups identified by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy indicated that it was present in its zwitterionic form. The role of Bent-Pro as a protector against plant saline stress was assayed using Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana) as a model, demonstrating that it mitigates the detrimental effects of NaCl-mediated salt stress on seed germination and the leaf chlorophyll level, thus highlighting the relevance of this contribution and the versatility and broad applicability of clays.
Effects of equal channel angular pressing and heat treatments on the microstructures and mechanical properties of selective laser melted and cast AlSi10Mg alloys
Authors: Snopiński Przemysław , Król Mariusz , Pagáč Marek , Petrů Jana , Hajnyš Jiří , Mikuszewski Tomasz , Tański Tomasz 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
This study investigated the impact of the equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) combined with heat treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AlSi10Mg alloys fabricated via selective laser melting (SLM) and gravity casting. Special attention was directed towards determining the effect of post-fabrication heat treatments on the microstructural evolution of AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated using two different routes. Three initial alloy conditions were considered prior to ECAP deformation: (1) as-cast in solution treated (T4) condition, (2) SLM in T4 condition, (3) SLM subjected to low-temperature annealing. Light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction line broadening analysis, and electron backscattered diffraction analysis were used to characterize the microstructures before and after ECAP. The results indicated that SLM followed by low-temperature annealing led to superior mechanical properties, relative to the two other conditions. Microscopic analyses revealed that the partial-cellular structure contributed to strong work hardening. This behavior enhanced the material’s strength because of the enhanced accumulation of geometrically necessary dislocations during ECAP deformation.
Equipartition principle for Wigner matrices
Authors: Bao Zhigang , Erdős László , Schnelli Kevin 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWe prove that the energy of any eigenvector of a sum of several independent large Wigner matrices is equally distributed among these matrices with very high precision. This shows a particularly strong microcanonical form of the equipartition principle for quantum systems whose components are modelled by Wigner matrices.
Eddy Induced Trapping and Homogenization of Freshwater in the Bay of Bengal
Authors: Paul Nihar , Sukhatme Jai , Sengupta Debasis , Gayen Bishakhdatta 
Published: May 2021

AbstractFreshwater from rivers influences Indian summer monsoon rainfall and tropical cyclones by stratifying the upper layer and warming the subsurface ocean in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). Here, we use in situ and satellite data with reanalysis to showcase how river water experiences a significant increase in salinity on sub‐seasonal timescales. This involves the trapping and homogenization of freshwater by a cyclonic eddy in the Bay. Using a specific example from 2015, river water is shown to enter an eddy along its attracting manifolds within a period of 2 weeks. This leads to the formation of a highly stratified subsurface layer within the eddy. When freshest, the eddy has the largest sea‐level anomaly, spins fastest, and supports strong lateral gradients in salinity. Subsequently, observations reveal a progressive increase in salinity inside the eddy within a month. In particular, salty water spirals in, and freshwater is pulled out across the eddy boundary. Lagrangian experiments elucidate this process, whereby horizontal chaotic mixing provides a mechanism for the rapid increase in surface salinity. A salinity budget also suggests that horizontal advection explains much of the change in mixed layer salinity. Further, the adjustment of this freshwater eddy triggers submesoscale dynamics which appear to be an integral part of the process of salinity homogenization. This pathway is distinct from vertical diffusive mixing and is likely to be important for the evolution of salinity in the BoB.
Chromosomal copy number heterogeneity predicts survival rates across cancers
Authors: van Dijk Erik , van den Bosch Tom , Lenos Kristiaan J. , El Makrini Khalid , Nijman Lisanne E. , van Essen Hendrik F. B. , Lansu Nico , Boekhout Michiel , Hageman Joris H. , Fitzgerald Rebecca C. , Punt Cornelis J. A. , Tuynman Jurriaan B. , Snippert Hugo J. G. , Kops Geert J. P. L. , Medema Jan Paul , Ylstra Bauke , Vermeulen Louis , Miedema Daniël M. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSurvival rates of cancer patients vary widely within and between malignancies. While genetic aberrations are at the root of all cancers, individual genomic features cannot explain these distinct disease outcomes. In contrast, intra-tumour heterogeneity (ITH) has the potential to elucidate pan-cancer survival rates and the biology that drives cancer prognosis. Unfortunately, a comprehensive and effective framework to measure ITH across cancers is missing. Here, we introduce a scalable measure of chromosomal copy number heterogeneity (CNH) that predicts patient survival across cancers. We show that the level of ITH can be derived from a single-sample copy number profile. Using gene-expression data and live cell imaging we demonstrate that ongoing chromosomal instability underlies the observed heterogeneity. Analysing 11,534 primary cancer samples from 37 different malignancies, we find that copy number heterogeneity can be accurately deduced and predicts cancer survival across tissues of origin and stages of disease. Our results provide a unifying molecular explanation for the different survival rates observed between cancer types.
Exploring protein hotspots by optimized fragment pharmacophores
Authors: Bajusz Dávid , Wade Warren S. , Satała Grzegorz , Bojarski Andrzej J. , Ilaš Janez , Ebner Jessica , Grebien Florian , Papp Henrietta , Jakab Ferenc , Douangamath Alice , Fearon Daren , von Delft Frank , Schuller Marion , Ahel Ivan , Wakefield Amanda , Vajda Sándor , Gerencsér János , Pallai Péter , Keserű György M. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractFragment-based drug design has introduced a bottom-up process for drug development, with improved sampling of chemical space and increased effectiveness in early drug discovery. Here, we combine the use of pharmacophores, the most general concept of representing drug-target interactions with the theory of protein hotspots, to develop a design protocol for fragment libraries. The SpotXplorer approach compiles small fragment libraries that maximize the coverage of experimentally confirmed binding pharmacophores at the most preferred hotspots. The efficiency of this approach is demonstrated with a pilot library of 96 fragment-sized compounds (SpotXplorer0) that is validated on popular target classes and emerging drug targets. Biochemical screening against a set of GPCRs and proteases retrieves compounds containing an average of 70% of known pharmacophores for these targets. More importantly, SpotXplorer0 screening identifies confirmed hits against recently established challenging targets such as the histone methyltransferase SETD2, the main protease (3CLPro) and the NSP3 macrodomain of SARS-CoV-2.
Effects of potent neutralizing antibodies from convalescent plasma in patients hospitalized for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection
Authors: Gharbharan Arvind , Jordans Carlijn C. E. , GeurtsvanKessel Corine , den Hollander Jan G. , Karim Faiz , Mollema Femke P. N. , Stalenhoef – Schukken Janneke E. , Dofferhoff Anthonius , Ludwig Inge , Koster Adrianus , Hassing Robert-Jan , Bos Jeannet C. , van Pottelberge Geert R. , Vlasveld Imro N. , Ammerlaan Heidi S. M. , van Leeuwen – Segarceanu Elena M. , Miedema Jelle , van der Eerden Menno , Schrama Thijs J. , Papageorgiou Grigorios , te Boekhorst Peter , Swaneveld Francis H. , Mueller Yvonne M. , Schreurs Marco W. J. , van Kampen Jeroen J. A. , Rockx Barry , Okba Nisreen M. A. , Katsikis Peter D. , Koopmans Marion P. G. , Haagmans Bart L. , Rokx Casper , Rijnders Bart J. A. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIn a randomized clinical trial of 86 hospitalized COVID-19 patients comparing standard care to treatment with 300mL convalescent plasma containing high titers of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, no overall clinical benefit was observed. Using a comprehensive translational approach, we unravel the virological and immunological responses following treatment to disentangle which COVID-19 patients may benefit and should be the focus of future studies. Convalescent plasma is safe, does not improve survival, has no effect on the disease course, nor does plasma enhance viral clearance in the respiratory tract, influence SARS-CoV-2 antibody development or serum proinflammatory cytokines levels. Here, we show that the vast majority of patients already had potent neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at hospital admission and with comparable titers to carefully selected plasma donors. This resulted in the decision to terminate the trial prematurely. Treatment with convalescent plasma should be studied early in the disease course or at least preceding autologous humoral response development.
A long term global daily soil moisture dataset derived from AMSR-E and AMSR2 (2002–2019)
Authors: Yao Panpan , Lu Hui , Shi Jiancheng , Zhao Tianjie , Yang Kun , Cosh Michael H. , Gianotti Daniel J. Short , Entekhabi Dara 
Published: May 2021

AbstractLong term surface soil moisture (SSM) data with stable and consistent quality are critical for global environment and climate change monitoring. L band radiometers onboard the recently launched Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission can provide the state-of-the-art accuracy SSM, while Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) and AMSR2 series provide long term observational records of multi-frequency radiometers (C, X, and K bands). This study transfers the merits of SMAP to AMSR-E/2, and develops a global daily SSM dataset (named as NNsm) with stable and consistent quality at a 36 km resolution (2002–2019). The NNsm can reproduce the SMAP SSM accurately, with a global Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 0.029 m3/m3. NNsm also compares well with in situ SSM observations, and outperforms AMSR-E/2 standard SSM products from JAXA and LPRM. This global observation-driven dataset spans nearly two decades at present, and is extendable through the ongoing AMSR2 and upcoming AMSR3 missions for long-term studies of climate extremes, trends, and decadal variability.
3-D thermal regime and dehydration processes around the regions of slow earthquakes along the Ryukyu Trench
Authors: Suenaga Nobuaki , Yoshioka Shoichi , Ji Yingfeng 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSeveral interplate seismic events, such as short-term slow slip events (S-SSEs) and low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs), have been identified in the Ryukyu Trench, southwestern Japan. As one of the specific characteristics of this seismicity, the depths at which S-SSEs occur at the plate interface beneath Okinawa Island are approximately 5–10 km shallower than those beneath the Yaeyama Islands. To elucidate the cause of this difference in depth, we constructed a three-dimensional, Cartesian thermomechanical subduction model and applied the subduction history of the Philippine Sea (PHS) plate in the model region. As a result, the interplate temperatures at which S-SSEs take place were estimated to range from 350 to 450 °C beneath Okinawa Island and from 500 to 600 °C beneath the Yaeyama Islands. The former temperature range is consistent with previous thermal modelling studies for the occurrence of slow earthquakes, but the latter temperature range is by approximately 150 °C higher than the former. Therefore, explaining how the depth difference in S-SSEs could be caused from the aspect of only the thermal regime is difficult. Using phase diagrams for hydrous minerals in the oceanic crust and mantle wedge, we also estimated the water content distribution on and above the plate interface of the PHS plate. Near the S-SSE fault planes, almost the same amount of dehydration associated with phase transformations of hydrous minerals from blueschist to amphibolite and from amphibolite to amphibole eclogite within the oceanic crust were inferred along Okinawa Island and the Yaeyama Islands, respectively. On the other hand, the phase transformations within the mantle wedge were inferred only beneath the Yaeyama Islands, whereas no specific phase transformation was inferred beneath Okinawa Island around the S-SSE occurrence region. Therefore, we conclude that dehydrated fluid derived from the oceanic crust at the plate interface would play a key role in the occurrence of S-SSEs.
Growth performance of five different strains of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) introduced to Tanzania reared in fresh and brackish waters
Authors: Moses Mbiru , Chauka Leonard J. , de Koning Dirk Jan , Palaiokostas Christos , Mtolera Matern S. P. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractFive introduced strains of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were tested for growth performance both in fresh- and brackish-water (2 salinity units) environments for 56 days. The BIG NIN, GIFT, Chitralada, “Ruvu Farm” and Silver YY strains with initial mean average weight (± standard error) of 96.4 ± 6.90 g, 104.1 ± 7.19 g, 137.2 ± 7.21 g, 53.2 ± 6.98 g and 95.3 ± 7.11 g, respectively were used. Individuals were tagged and pooled in hapas (12 m × 8.5 m × 2 m each), aligned into different ponds (20 m × 20 m each). Stocking density of 5 fish/m2 and 350 g/kg crude protein diet were used. Overall, the average weight gain for GIFT strain was 7.5%, 32%, 45% and 86.5% higher than BIG NIN, Chitralada, “Ruvu Farm” and Silver YY strains, respectively, across both environments. All strains performed significantly better (p < 0.05) when reared in brackish-water than their respective counterparts in freshwater, except for the BIG NIN strain. The morphometric correlations for all strains in both environments ranged from moderate (0.50) to strong positive (0.92). The GIFT strain demonstrated superior growth and genotype by environment interaction was weak and not important to be prioritized in breeding programs.
A localization method for wireless capsule endoscopy using side wall cameras and IMU sensor
Authors: Vedaei Seyed Shahim , Wahid Khan A. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractLocalizing the endoscopy capsule inside gastrointestinal (GI) system provides key information which leads to GI abnormality tracking and precision medical delivery. In this paper, we have proposed a new method to localize the capsule inside human GI track. We propose to equip the capsule with four side wall cameras and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), that consists of 9 Degree-Of-Freedom (DOF) including a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a magnetometer to monitor the capsule’s orientation and direction of travel. The low resolution mono-chromatic cameras, installed along the wide wall, are responsible to measure the actual capsule movement, not the involuntary motion of the small intestine. Finally, a fusion algorithm is used to combine all data to derive the traveled path and plot the trajectory. Compared to other methods, the presented system is resistive to surrounding conditions, such as GI nonhomogeneous structure and involuntary small bowel movements. In addition, it does not require external antenna or arrays. Therefore, GI tracking can be achieved without disturbing patients’ daily activities.
A hybrid modeling approach for assessing mechanistic models of small molecule partitioning in vivo using a machine learning-integrated modeling platform
Authors: Antontsev Victor , Jagarapu Aditya , Bundey Yogesh , Hou Hypatia , Khotimchenko Maksim , Walsh Jason , Varshney Jyotika 
Published: May 2021

AbstractPrediction of the first-in-human dosing regimens is a critical step in drug development and requires accurate quantitation of drug distribution. Traditional in vivo studies used to characterize clinical candidate’s volume of distribution are error-prone, time- and cost-intensive and lack reproducibility in clinical settings. The paper demonstrates how a computational platform integrating machine learning optimization with mechanistic modeling can be used to simulate compound plasma concentration profile and predict tissue-plasma partition coefficients with high accuracy by varying the lipophilicity descriptor logP. The approach applied to chemically diverse small molecules resulted in comparable geometric mean fold-errors of 1.50 and 1.63 in pharmacokinetic outputs for direct tissue:plasma partition and hybrid logP optimization, with the latter enabling prediction of tissue permeation that can be used to guide toxicity and efficacy dosing in human subjects. The optimization simulations required to achieve these results were parallelized on the AWS cloud and generated outputs in under 5 h. Accuracy, speed, and scalability of the framework indicate that it can be used to assess the relevance of other mechanistic relationships implicated in pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic phenomena with a lower risk of overfitting datasets and generate large database of physiologically-relevant drug disposition for further integration with machine learning models.
Age-adjusted cut-off values of lipid accumulation product (LAP) for predicting hypertension
Authors: Kaneva Anastasiya M. , Bojko Evgeny R. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractAmong the many factors considered relevant to hypertension, obesity and metabolic disturbances play an important role in the development of this pathology. Therefore, lipid accumulation product (LAP), an index of visceral adiposity, is a simple and effective indicator of hypertension risk. To date, the reference and cut-off values for LAP have not been defined. The aim of the study was to determine the age-adjusted optimal cut-off values of LAP for the prediction of hypertension risk. This cross-sectional case–control study comprised 1960 subjects ranging from 20 to 64 years of age. The participants underwent anthropometric tests, blood pressure measurements, questionnaire surveys and laboratory examinations. The cut-off values of LAP were determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. According to our study results, LAP values in healthy subjects increased with age, whereas there was no effect of age on LAP values in patients with hypertension. These two findings determine the presence of age-adjusted cut-off values of LAP for diagnosing hypertension. Increasing age is associated with an increase in the cut-off values of LAP to detect hypertension. In conclusion, hypertension risk should be estimated using the age-adjusted cut-off values of LAP; otherwise, the risk of hypertension might be overestimated or underestimated.