bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Detectivity optimization to measure ultraweak light fluxes using an EM-CCD as binary photon counter array
Authors: Khaoua Ibtissame , Graciani Guillaume , Kim Andrey , Amblard François 
Published: February 2021

AbstractFor a wide range of purposes, one faces the challenge to detect light from extremely faint and spatially extended sources. In such cases, detector noises dominate over the photon noise of the source, and quantum detectors in photon counting mode are generally the best option. Here, we combine a statistical model with an in-depth analysis of detector noises and calibration experiments, and we show that visible light can be detected with an electron-multiplying charge-coupled devices (EM-CCD) with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 3 for fluxes less than $$30\,{\text{photon}}\,{\text{s}}^{ - 1} \,{\text{cm}}^{ - 2}$$

30

photon

s

-
1

cm

-
2

. For green photons, this corresponds to 12 aW $${\text{cm}}^{ - 2}$$

cm

-
2

≈ $$9{ } \times 10^{ - 11}$$

9

×

10

-
11

lux, i.e. 15 orders of magnitude less than typical daylight. The strong nonlinearity of the SNR with the sampling time leads to a dynamic range of detection of 4 orders of magnitude. To detect possibly varying light fluxes, we operate in conditions of maximal detectivity $${\mathcal{D}}$$
D
rather than maximal SNR. Given the quantum efficiency $$QE\left( \lambda \right)$$

Q
E

λ

of the detector, we find $${ \mathcal{D}} = 0.015\,{\text{photon}}^{ - 1} \,{\text{s}}^{1/2} \,{\text{cm}}$$

D
=
0.015

photon

-
1

s

1
/
2

cm

, and a non-negligible sensitivity to blackbody radiation for T > 50 °C. This work should help design highly sensitive luminescence detection methods and develop experiments to explore dynamic phenomena involving ultra-weak luminescence in biology, chemistry, and material sciences.
A social Beaufort scale to detect high winds using language in social media posts
Authors: Weaver Iain S. , Williams Hywel T. P. , Arthur Rudy 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPeople often talk about the weather on social media, using different vocabulary to describe different conditions. Here we combine a large collection of wind-related Twitter posts (tweets) and UK Met Office wind speed observations to explore the relationship between tweet volume, tweet language and wind speeds in the UK. We find that wind speeds are experienced subjectively relative to the local baseline, so that the same absolute wind speed is reported as stronger or weaker depending on the typical weather conditions in the local area. Different linguistic tokens (words and emojis) are associated with different wind speeds. These associations can be used to create a simple text classifier to detect ‘high-wind’ tweets with reasonable accuracy; this can be used to detect high winds in a locality using only a single tweet. We also construct a ‘social Beaufort scale’ to infer wind speeds based only on the language used in tweets. Together with the classifier, this demonstrates that language alone is indicative of weather conditions, independent of tweet volume. However, the number of high-wind tweets shows a strong temporal correlation with local wind speeds, increasing the ability of a combined language-plus-volume system to successfully detect high winds. Our findings complement previous work in social sensing of weather hazards that has focused on the relationship between tweet volume and severity. These results show that impacts of wind and storms are found in how people communicate and use language, a novel dimension in understanding the social impacts of extreme weather.
Early life stress during the neonatal period alters social play and Line1 during the juvenile stage of development
Authors: Cuarenta Amelia , Kigar Stacey L. , Henion Ian C. , Chang Liza , Bakshi Vaishali P. , Auger Anthony P. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractEarly life stress (ELS) has been shown to have a significant impact on typical brain development and the manifestation of psychological disorders through epigenetic modifications that alter gene expression. Line1, a retrotransposon associated with genetic diversity, has been linked with various psychological disorders that are associated with ELS. Our previous work demonstrated altered Line1 DNA copy number in the neonatal period following stressful experiences; we therefore chose to investigate whether early life stress altered Line1 retrotransposition persists into the juvenile period of development. Our study uses a neonatal predator odor exposure (POE) paradigm to model ELS in rats. We examined Line1 using qPCR to assess Line1 expression levels and DNA copy number in the male and female juvenile amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex—areas chosen for their association with affective disorders and stress. We report a sex difference in Line1 levels within the juvenile amygdala. We also find that ELS significantly increases Line1 DNA copy number within the juvenile amygdala which correlates with reduced juvenile social play levels, suggesting the possibility that Line1 may influence juvenile social development.
The association between impairment of HDL cholesterol efflux capacity and atrial remodeling in atrial fibrillation
Authors: Minami-Takano Asuka , Iwata Hiroshi , Miyosawa Katsutoshi , Shiozawa Tomoyuki , Hayashi Hidemori , Funamizu Takehiro , Ishii Kai , Nozaki Yui , Tabuchi Haruna , Sekita Gaku , Shimada Kazunori , Sumiyoshi Masataka , Nakazato Yuji , Daida Hiroyuki , Minamino Tohru 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis cross-sectional study enrolled 202 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who had undergone catheter ablation and evaluated the association between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) functionality, cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) of HDL, and the pathophysiology of left atrial structural remodeling. Participants were divided into two groups, based on their left atrial volume index (LAVI) (< 34 mL/m2, n = 60 vs. LAVI ≥ 34 mL/m2, n = 142). We quantified three types of HDL CECs by the presence or absence of cyclic-AMP, as entire, and CEC dependent or not dependent on ATP binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and termed them Global CEC, ABCA1 CEC, and Non-ABCA1 CEC, respectively. Consequently, Global and Non-ABCA1 CECs were significantly impaired in patients with an enlarged LA (Global CEC: p = 0.039, Non-ABCA1 CEC: p = 0.022). Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that Non-ABCA1 CEC was significantly associated with an enlarged LA after adjusting for the conventional risk factors of AF. Furthermore, the association of higher Non-ABCA1 CEC with an enlarged LA was independent of serum levels of HDL cholesterol and serum myeloperoxidase (Odds ratio of 1 standard deviation higher: 0.64, 95% confidence interval: 0.43–0.95, p = 0.027). The findings of this study indicate the potential contribution of reduced Non-ABCA1 CEC in HDL to the pathophysiology in left atrial structural remodeling of patients with AF.
Salicylic acid is a key player of Arabidopsis autophagy mutant susceptibility to the necrotrophic bacterium Dickeya dadantii
Authors: Rigault Martine , Citerne Sylvie , Masclaux-Daubresse Céline , Dellagi Alia 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAutophagy is a ubiquitous vesicular process for protein and organelle recycling in eukaryotes. In plant, autophagy is reported to play pivotal roles in nutrient recycling, adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses. The role of autophagy in plant immunity remains poorly understood. Several reports showed enhanced susceptibility of different Arabidopsis autophagy mutants (atg) to necrotrophic fungal pathogens. Interaction of necrotrophic bacterial pathogens with autophagy is overlooked. We then investigated such interaction by inoculating the necrotrophic enterobacteriumDickeya dadantiiin leaves of theatg2andatg5mutants and anATG8aoverexpressing line. OverexpressingATG8aenhances plant tolerance toD. dadantii. Whileatg5mutant displayed similar susceptibility to the WT, theatg2mutant exhibited accelerated leaf senescence and enhanced susceptibility upon infection. Both phenotypes were reversed when thesid2mutation, abolishing SA signaling, was introduced in theatg2mutant. High levels of SA signaling inatg2mutant resulted in repression of the jasmonic acid (JA) defense pathway known to limitD. dadantiiprogression inA. thaliana. We provide evidence that inatg2mutant, the disturbed hormonal balance leading to higher SA signaling is the main factor causing increased susceptibility to theD. dadantiinecrotroph by repressing the JA pathway and accelerating developmental senescence.
MUTYH is associated with hepatocarcinogenesis in a non-alcoholic steatohepatitis mouse model
Authors: Sakamoto Hiroki , Miyanishi Koji , Tanaka Shingo , Ito Ryo , Hamaguchi Kota , Sakurada Akira , Sato Masanori , Kubo Tomohiro , Osuga Takahiro , Murase Kazuyuki , Takada Kohichi , Nakabeppu Yusaku , Kobune Masayoshi , Kato Junji 
Published: February 2021

AbstractNon-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-related HCC is associated with oxidative stress. However, the mechanisms underlying the development of NASH-related HCC is unclear. MUTYH is one of the enzymes that is involved in repair of oxidative DNA damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between MUTYH and NASH-related hepatocarcinogenesis. MUTYH wild-type (Mutyh+/+), heterozygous (Mutyh+/−), and MUTYH-null (Mutyh−/−) mice were fed a high-fat high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet or HFHC + high iron diet (20 mice per group) for 9 months. Five of 20 Mutyh−/− mice fed an HFHC + high iron diet developed liver tumors, and they developed more liver tumors than other groups (especially vs. Mutyh+/+ fed an HFHC diet, P = 0.0168). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed significantly higher accumulation of oxidative stress markers in mice fed an HFHC + high iron diet. The gene expression profiles in the non-tumorous hepatic tissues were compared between wild-type mice that developed no liver tumors and MUTYH-null mice that developed liver tumors. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis identified the involvement of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and increased expression of c-Myc in MUTYH-null liver. These findings suggest that MUTYH deficiency is associated with hepatocarcinogenesis in patients with NASH with hepatic iron accumulation.
Insufficient sampling constrains our characterization of plant microbiomes
Authors: Bullington Lorinda S. , Lekberg Ylva , Larkin Beau G. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPlants host diverse microbial communities, but there is little consensus on how we sample these communities, and this has unknown consequences. Using root and leaf tissue from showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), we compared two common sampling strategies: (1) homogenizing after subsampling (30 mg), and (2) homogenizing bulk tissue before subsampling (30 mg). We targeted bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and non-AM fungi in roots, and foliar fungal endophytes (FFE) in leaves. We further extracted DNA from all of the leaf tissue collected to determine the extent of undersampling of FFE, and sampled FFE twice across the season using strategy one to assess temporal dynamics. All microbial groups except AM fungi differed in composition between the two sampling strategies. Community overlap increased when rare taxa were removed, but FFE and bacterial communities still differed between strategies, with largely non-overlapping communities within individual plants. Increasing the extraction mass 10 × increased FFE richness ~ 10 ×, confirming the severe undersampling indicated in the sampling comparisons. Still, seasonal patterns in FFEs were apparent, suggesting that strong drivers are identified despite severe undersampling. Our findings highlight that current sampling practices poorly characterize many microbial groups, and increased sampling intensity is necessary for increase reproducibility and to identify subtler patterns in microbial distributions.
A retrospective analysis of debridement in the treatment of chronic injury of lactating nipples
Authors: Gao Haifeng , Wang Jie , Ding Songtao , Li Yan , Zhang Yi , He Xiangping 
Published: February 2021

AbstractTreatment strategies for nipple injury are mainly based on aetiology. However, some damaged nipples do not heal after the aetiology was corrected. This study retrospectively analyses the effect of debridement for treating chronic injury of lactating nipples. The medical records on nipple injury management in the authors’ department from December 2015 to January 2020 were retrospectively analysed. A total of 167 patients were enrolled and grouped based on the presence or absence of nipple debridement. The difference in the healing effect, pain relief rate and recurrence rate of nipple injury between the two groups after 1 week was examined. The cure rate of nipple injury in the intervention group (54.3%) was significantly higher than in the control group (26.7%). In addition, the complete pain relief rate in the intervention group (48.1%) was significantly higher than in the control group (23.3%). However, the recurrence rates between the two groups (36.4% (16/44) vs. 34.8% (8/23)) had no statistically significant differences. For patients with no improvement after correction of the aetiology of the in the nipple damage, debridement can improve the healing environment of nipple breakage and thus relieve nipple pain.
Second generation laryngeal mask airway during laparoscopic living liver donor hepatectomy: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Kim Doyeon , Park Sukhee , Kim Jong Man , Choi Gyu Seong , Kim Gaab Soo 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe second-generation laryngeal mask airway (LMA) provides a higher sealing pressure than classical LMA and can insert the gastric drainage tube. We investigated the difference in respiratory variables according to the use of second-generation LMA and endotracheal tube (ETT) in laparoscopic living liver donor hepatectomy (LLDH). In this single-blind randomized controlled trial, intraoperative arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure at 2 h after the airway devices insertion (PaCO2_2h) was compared as a primary outcome. Participants were randomly assigned to the following groups: Group LMA (n = 45, used Protector LMA), or Group ETT (n = 43, used cuffed ETT). Intraoperative hemodynamic and respiratory variables including mean blood pressure (MBP), heart rate (HR), and peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) were compared. Postoperative sore throat, hoarseness, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and pulmonary aspiration were recorded. The PaCO2_2h were equally effective between two groups (mean difference: 0.99 mmHg, P = 0.003; 90% confidence limits: − 0.22, 2.19). The intraoperative change in MBP, HR, and PIP were differed over time between two groups (P < 0.001, P = 0.015, and P = 0.039, respectively). There were no differences of the incidence of postoperative complications at 24 h following LLDH (sore throat and hoarseness: P > 0.99, PONV: P > 0.99, and P = 0.65, respectively). No case showed pulmonary aspiration in both groups. Compared with endotracheal tube, second-generation LMA is equally efficient during LLDH. The second-generation LMA can be considered as the effective airway devices for securing airway in patients undergoing prolonged laparoscopic surgery.
Trial Registration This study was registered at the Clinical Trial Registry of Korea (https://cris.nih.go.kr. CRiS No. KCT0003711).
Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland
Authors: Ren Yueheng , Zhu Yanpeng , Baldan Davide , Fu Mengdi , Wang Bin , Li Junsheng , Chen Anping 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWild ungulates are an important part of terrestrial ecosystems and play a critical role in maintaining ecosystem health and integrity. In many grassland ecosystems that are habituated by wild ungulates, the coexistence of domestic ungulates has created a conflict over grazing resources. Solving this conflict requires a balanced and sustainable policy that satisfies both the needs of wildlife protection and food production. Here, we assess the optimal grassland livestock carrying capacity of an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, given the coexistence of wild populations of kiangs (Equus kiang) and Tibetan gazelles (Procapra picticaudata), two key species grazing in this region. We use kriging and the MaxEnt method to estimate the population sizes of kiangs and Tibetan gazelles in Maduo County, Qinghai Province. We then convert the estimated population size of the two species into sheep units and calculate the residual carrying capacity for livestock grazing. We show that after accounting for the grazing need for kiangs and Tibetan gazelles, grassland in Maduo is capable of supporting 420,641 sheep units, which is slightly more than the current livestock population. However, the residual carrying capacity is highly uneven across the region, and overgrazing is found in many areas of Maduo, especially in northern Maduo. This research provides a useful framework for planning sustainable livestock farming for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other regions facing wildlife-livestock conflict.
A retrospective study of hypofractionated radiotherapy for keloids in 100 cases
Authors: Wen Ping , Wang Taifang , Zhou Yueling , Yu Yue , Wu Chunli 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAt present, the consensus on the best treatment for keloids is the combination of clinical and surgical therapies, if necessary, associated with adjuvant radiotherapy like brachytherapy. Whereas, the uniform scheme of radiotherapy in keloids is unclear. Here, we conducting a retrospective analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of a specific treatment regimen (20 Gy in 5 fractions) in keloid patients. We retrospectively analysed the medical records of keloid patients receiving auxiliary postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) treatment from 2009 to 2019. The patients were treated with the hypofractionation method of 20 Gy in 5 fractions. We compared the local control rate and complications, using the chi-square test and logistic regression analyses. After screening, we identified 100 keloid patients in this study, with a median follow-up of 59 months. In this study, the overall local control rate of keloid lesions was 84.8%. After multivariate analyses (primary keloid or not, family history, interval from surgery to irradiation and site), our research showed that primary keloid, site and interval from surgery to irradiation were significantly related to recurrence. Acute radiation injury and late radiation injury accounted for 3% (erythema) and 1% (skin sclerosis) of the total cases, respectively. Our results indicate that a postoperative hypofractionation with radiation dose of 20 Gy in 5 fractions may be effective, easy to accept and safe for keloid patients.
Transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of Hemidactylus frenatus during initial stages of tail regeneration
Authors: Nagumantri Sai Pawan , Banu Sarena , Idris Mohammed M. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractEpimorphic regeneration of appendages is a complex and complete phenomenon found in selected animals. Hemidactylus frenatus, house gecko has the remarkable ability to regenerate the tail tissue upon autotomy involving epimorphic regeneration mechanism. This study has identified and evaluated the molecular changes at gene and protein level during the initial stages, i.e., during the wound healing and repair mechanism initiation stage of tail regeneration. Based on next generation transcriptomics and De novo analysis the transcriptome library of the gecko tail tissue was generated. A total of 254 genes and 128 proteins were found to be associated with the regeneration of gecko tail tissue upon amputation at 1, 2 and 5-day post amputation (dpa) against control, 0-dpa through differential transcriptomic and proteomic analysis. To authenticate the expression analysis, 50 genes were further validated involving RTPCR. 327 genes/proteins identified and mapped from the study showed association for Protein kinase A signaling, Telomerase BAG2 signaling, paxillin signaling, VEGF signaling network pathways based on network pathway analysis. This study empanelled list of transcriptome, proteome and the list of genes/proteins associated with the tail regeneration.
Phonetic Effects in Child and Adult Word Segmentation
Authors: Katz Jonah , Moore Michelle W. 
Published: February 2021

PurposeThe aim of the study was to investigate the effects of specific acoustic patterns on word learning and segmentation in 8- to 11-year-old children and in college students.MethodTwenty-two children (ages 8;2–11;4 [years;months]) and 36 college students listened to synthesized “utterances” in artificial languages consisting of six iterated “words,” which followed either a phonetically natural lenition–fortition pattern or an unnatural (cross-linguistically unattested) antilenition pattern. A two-alternative forced-choice task tested whether they could discriminate between occurring and nonoccurring sequences. Participants were exposed to both languages, counterbalanced for order across subjects, in sessions spaced at least 1 month apart.ResultsChildren showed little evidence for learning in either the phonetically natural or unnatural condition nor evidence of differences in learning across the two conditions. Adults showed the predicted (and previously attested) interaction between learning and phonetic condition: The phonetically natural language was learned better. The adults also showed a strong effect of session: Subjects performed much worse during the second session than the first.ConclusionsSchool-age children not only failed to demonstrate the phonetic asymmetry demonstrated by adults in previous studies but also failed to show strong evidence for any learning at all. The fact that the phonetic asymmetry (and general learning effect) was replicated with adults suggests that the child result is not due to inadequate stimuli or procedures. The strong carryover effect for adults also suggests that they retain knowledge about the sound patterns of an artificial language for over a month, longer than has been reported in laboratory studies of purely phonetic/phonological learning.Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13641284
Simple current control of permanent magnet synchronous machines for railway traction operating in six‐steps
Authors: Fang Xiaochun , Tian Zhongbei , Yang Zhongping , Lin Fei , Tricoli Pietro 
Published: February 2021

Due to the voltage limitation of the inverter DC‐link of railway traction systems, six‐step operations are widely used in the high‐speed region to improve the voltage utilization and increase the maximum fundamental frequency. The magnitude of the output voltage fundamental harmonic reaches the maximum for six‐step operations, while only the phase angle can be adjusted. This limitation makes it challenging to control the instantaneous current of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM). This paper proposes a single d‐axis current regulator flux‐weakening control scheme to improve the current control over six‐step operations of PMSM without changing the inverter output voltage modulation ratio by controlling only one degree of freedom. The voltage in six‐step operations is generated by synchronous space vector pulse width modulation based on basic bus clamping strategy with an effective limitation of the switching frequency in the full‐speed region. A simplified model of the current regulator is developed for the analysis and design of the controller parameters. This paper presents clear rules for entering and quitting six‐step operations effectively to achieve a smooth transition between double current regulators and the single current regulator control. The numerical results are verified by experimental measurements on a 7.5 kW PMSM drive.