bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Concurrent brain parcellation and connectivity estimation via co‐clustering of resting state fMRI data: A novel approach
Authors: Cheng Hewei , Liu Jie 
Published: February 2021

AbstractConnectional topography mapping has been gaining widespread attention in human brain imaging studies. However, existing methods might not effectively utilize the information from neuroimaging data, thus hindering the understanding of the underlying connectional organization in the brain and uncovering the optimal clustering number from the data. In this study, we propose a novel method for the automated construction of inherent functional connectivity topography in a data‐driven manner by leveraging the power of co‐clustering‐based on resting state fMRI (rs‐fMRI) data. We propose the co‐clustering‐based method not only for concurrently parcellating two interconnected brain regions of interest (ROIs) under consideration into functionally homogenous subregions, but also for estimating the connectivity between these subregions from the two brain ROIs. In particular, we first model the connectional topography mapping as a co‐clustering‐based bipartite graph partitioning problem for constructing the inherent functional connectivity topography between the two interconnected brain ROIs. We also adopt an objective criterion, that is, silhouette width index measuring clustering quality, for determining the optimal number of clusters. The proposed method has been validated for mapping thalamocortical connectional topography based on rs‐fMRI data of 57 subjects. Validation results have demonstrated that our method identified the optimal solution with five pairs of mutually connected subregions of the thalamocortical system from the rs‐fMRI data, and could yield more meaningful, interpretable, and homogenous connectional topography than existing methods. The proposed method was further validated by the high symmetry of the mapped connectional topography between two hemispheres.
Comparative analysis of corrugation effect on thermohydraulic performance of double‐pipe heat exchangers
Authors: Sruthi B. , Sasidhar A. , Surendra Kumar A. , Sahu Mithilesh Kumar 
Published: February 2021

AbstractHeat transfer augmentation in heat exchangers has been a key research topic in recent times. Over the years, many methods have been proposed for heat transfer enhancement, such as providing fins, changing the cross‐sectional area of tubes, vortex generator, twisted tape inserts, and so forth. In addition to the above‐mentioned techniques, corrugation of tubes was also proposed by a few authors who demonstrated that this method could effectively increase the heat transfer rate. To address the same in this study, the different corrugation profiles have been created with the help of CATIA software for the study. The simulations were performed using ANSYS R19.2. The results so obtained were used to calculate the various thermal and hydraulic perfoallrmance parameters of the heat exchanger with the help of macros created in MS Excel. The result shows that the use of corrugation on the inner tube of the heat exchanger increased the heat transfer coefficient, fanning friction factor, and rate of cooling by 5%–21%, 90%–355%, and 25.67%–157.40%, respectively, in case of the plain double‐pipe heat exchanger for the mass flow rate variation of 5–25 kg/min. It is also observed that the smooth tube has more thermohydraulic performance as 1.2152.
Numerical investigation on the electronic components' cooling for different coolants by finite element method
Authors: Redwan Didarul A. , Chowdhury Emdadul H. , Rahman Md. Habibur , Prince Hasib A. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractIn this study, we conducted a numerical simulation to examine the cooling performance of an aluminum finned heat sink attached to a silicon chip, placed in a chamber of a rectangular cross‐section. The heat sink is cooled by convective heat transfer utilizing nine commercially available gaseous coolants, namely air, hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, freon12 vapor, propane, and ammonia. To select an appropriate coolant for electronic devices in terms of thermal–hydraulic performance, the maximum temperature on the chip domain and the associated pressure drop in the cooling channel as a function of coolant velocity are analyzed for the aforementioned fluids. It has been found that the minimum temperature is recorded for propane and freon12 vapor, which is approximately 31.1°C, for a coolant velocity of 0.5 m/s, but freon12 vapor shows the highest pressure drop, approximately 900 mPa, among all coolants. In the overall velocity regime, hydrogen shows the best cooling performance in terms of both cooling capacity and hydrodynamic characteristics. But considering safety issues, helium can be a better alternative. This comprehensive study provides a better understanding of different coolant performances, which will aid engineers to develop an effective cooling technique to accommodate the inexorably rising power demand.
Cesarean section rates in a tertiary referral hospital in Beirut from 2018 to 2020: Our experience using the Robson Classification
Authors: Abdallah Wael , Abi Tayeh Georges , Cortbaoui Emilia , Nassar Malek , Yaghi Nancy , Abdelkhalek Yara , Kesrouani Assaad , Finan Ramzi , Mansour Fersan , Attieh Elie , Suidan Joe , El Kassis Nadine , Aouad Norma , Atallah David 
Published: February 2021

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the cesarean section rate using the Robson Classification for the first time in Lebanon, at Hôtel‐Dieu de France University Hospital, a tertiary referral center in Beirut.MethodsRoutine medical record data that included all live births from January 1, 2018 to September 30, 2020 was investigated. The overall cesarean section rate was recorded, and the size, cesarean section rate, and absolute and relative contributions were calculated within each group.ResultsThe overall cesarean section rate was 56.8%. The highest relative contribution to this rate came from Robson groups 5, 2 and 10, respectively. A decrease in cesarean section rate was noted in 2020 among women admitted for induction of labor (groups 2 and 4) following the implementation of new department policies and the restrictions caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.ConclusionMore than 50% of the deliveries in our department were by cesarean sections (CS). Strategies to reduce this rate should include stricter departmental policies for avoidance of unindicated primary CS and raising practitioners' and patients' awareness about trial of labor after cesarean section.
Employee psychological well‐being during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Germany: A longitudinal study of demands, resources, and exhaustion
Authors: Meyer Bertolt , Zill Alexander , Dilba Dominik , Gerlach Rebecca , Schumann Susen 
Published: February 2021

Many governments react to the current coronavirus/COVID‐19 pandemic by restricting daily (work) life. On the basis of theories from occupational health, we propose that the duration of the pandemic, its demands (e.g., having to work from home, closing of childcare facilities, job insecurity, work‐privacy conflicts, privacy‐work conflicts) and personal‐ and job‐related resources (co‐worker social support, job autonomy, partner support and corona self‐efficacy) interact in their effect on employee exhaustion. We test the hypotheses with a three‐wave sample of German employees during the pandemic from April to June 2020 (Nw1 = 2900, Nw12 = 1237, Nw123 = 789). Our findings show a curvilinear effect of pandemic duration on working women's exhaustion. The data also show that the introduction and the easing of lockdown measures affect exhaustion, and that women with children who work from home while childcare is unavailable are especially exhausted. Job autonomy and partner support mitigated some of these effects. In sum, women's psychological health was more strongly affected by the pandemic than men's. We discuss implications for occupational health theories and that interventions targeted at mitigating the psychological consequences of the COVID‐19 pandemic should target women specifically.
Mitochondrial–nuclear p53 trafficking controls neuronal susceptibility in stroke
Authors: Almeida Angeles , Sánchez‐Morán Irene , Rodríguez Cristina 
Published: February 2021

AbstractStroke is a major cause of death and long‐term disability in the adult. Neuronal apoptosis plays an essential role in the pathophysiology of ischemic brain damage and impaired functional recovery after stroke. The tumor suppressor protein p53 regulates key cellular processes, including cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, senescence, and apoptosis. Under cellular stress conditions, p53 undergoes post‐translational modifications, which control protein localization, stability, and proapoptotic activity. After stroke, p53 rapidly accumulates in the ischemic brain, where it activates neuronal apoptosis through both transcriptional‐dependent and ‐independent programs. Over the last years, subcellular localization of p53 has emerged as an important regulator of ischemia‐induced neuronal apoptosis. Upon an ischemic insult, p53 rapidly translocates to the mitochondria and interacts with B‐cell lymphoma‐2 family proteins, which activate the mitochondrial apoptotic program, with higher efficacy than through its activity as a transcription factor. Moreover, the identification of a human single nucleotide polymorphism at codon 72 of the Tp53 gene that controls p53 mitochondrial localization and cell susceptibility to apoptosis supports the important role of the p53 mitochondrial program in neuronal survival and functional recovery after stroke. In this article, we review the relevance of mitochondrial and nuclear localization of p53 on neuronal susceptibility to cerebral ischemia and its impact on functional outcome of stroke patients.
Simple position and orientation preconditioning scheme for minimum energy path calculations
Authors: Robertson Christopher , Habershon Scott 
Published: February 2021

AbstractMinimum‐energy path (MEP) calculations, such as those typified by the nudged elastic band method, require input of reactant and product molecular configurations at initialization. In the case of reactions involving more than one molecule, generating initial reactant and product configurations requires careful consideration of the relative position and orientations of the reactive molecules in order to ensure that the resulting MEP calculation proceeds without converging on an alternative reaction‐path, and without requiring excessive numbers of optimization iterations; as such, this initial system set‐up is most commonly performed “by hand,” with an expert user arranging reactive molecules in space to ensure that the following MEP calculation runs smoothly. In this Article, we introduce a simple preconditioning scheme which replaces this labor‐intensive, human‐knowledge‐based step with an automated deterministic computational scheme. In our approach, initial reactant and product configurations are generated such that steric hindrance between reactive molecules is minimized in the reactant and product configurations, while also simultaneously requiring minimal structural differences between the reactants and products. The method is demonstrated using a benchmark test‐set of >3400 organic molecular reactions, where comparison of the reactant/product configurations generated using our approach compare very well to initial configurations which were generated on an ad hoc basis.
Efficient hierarchical models for reactivity of organic layers on semiconductor surfaces
Authors: Luy Jan‐Niclas , Molla Mahlet , Pecher Lisa , Tonner Ralf 
Published: February 2021

AbstractComputational modeling of organic interface formation on semiconductors poses a challenge to a density functional theory‐based description due to structural and chemical complexity. A hierarchical approach is presented, where parts of the interface are successively removed in order to increase computational efficiency while maintaining the necessary accuracy. First, a benchmark is performed to probe the validity of this approach for three model reactions and five dispersion corrected density functionals. Reaction energies are generally well reproduced by generalized gradient approximation‐type functionals but accurate reaction barriers require the use of hybrid functionals. Best performance is found for the model system that does not explicitly consider the substrate but includes its templating effects. Finally, this efficient model is used to provide coverage dependent reaction energies and suggest synthetic principles for the prevention of unwanted growth termination reactions for organic layers on semiconductor surfaces.
Overexpression of sirtuin 2 and its association with prognosis in acute ischemic stroke patients
Authors: Zhang Yun , Yan Qianfeng , Zhang Yan 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the correlation of sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) risk, severity, inflammation, and prognosis.MethodsA hundred and sixty‐four first episode AIS patients and 164 age and gender matched non‐AIS patients with high‐stroke‐risk factors (controls) were enrolled. Peripheral blood was collected and serum was separated for SIRT2 and pro‐inflammatory cytokines detection by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. AIS patients were continually followed up to 36 months or death, then recurrence‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated.ResultsSerum SIRT2 expression was increased in AIS patients compared to controls (p < 0.001), then receiver operative characteristic curve disclosed that the serum SIRT2 expression could differentiate AIS patients from controls with a good area under curve of 0.890 (95%CI: 0.854–0.926), a sensitivity of 78.7% and a specificity of 91.5% at the best cut‐off point. Serum SIRT2 expression was positively correlated with National Institute of Health stroke scale score (p < 0.001), serum tumor necrosis factor‐α (p < 0.001), interleukin (IL)‐6 (p = 0.012) and IL‐17 (p < 0.001) expressions in AIS patients. In addition, serum SIRT2 expression was elevated in recurrent/dead AIS patients compared to non‐recurrent/dead AIS patients (p = 0.025), and was also increased in dead AIS patients compared to survivors (p = 0.006). Moreover, RFS (p = 0.029) and OS (p = 0.049) were both worse in AIS patients with SIRT2 high expression compared to AIS patients with SIRT2 low expression.ConclusionSIRT2 may serve as a marker for AIS risk and prognosis in clinical practice.
The gene expression of long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs): MEG3 and H19 in adipose tissues from obese women and its association with insulin resistance and obesity indices
Authors: Daneshmoghadam Javad , Omidifar Abolfazl , Akbari Dilmaghani Nader , Karimi Zahereh , Emamgholipour Solaleh , shanaki Mehrnoosh 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBackgroundThere is evidence regarding the role of two lncRNAs: MEG3 and H19 the pathomechanism of obesity and related disorders. Here, we aimed to evaluate the expression of MEG3 and H19 in visceral adipose tissues (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissues (SAT) of obese women (n = 18), as compared to normal‐weight women (n = 17). Moreover, we sought to identify the association of expression of MEG3 and H19 in SAT and VAT with obesity parameters, insulin resistance, and the mRNA expression of possible target genes involved in adipogenesis and lipogenesis including peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and acetyl‐CoA carboxylase (ACC).MethodsReal‐time PCR was performed to investigate the mRNA expression of the above‐mentioned genes in VAT and SAT from all participants.ResultsThe results showed lower mRNA levels of H19 in SAT of obese women, compared to normal‐weight women, while MEG3 expression was significantly higher in the SAT of the obese group rather than controls. Correlation analysis indicated that the transcript level of H19 had an inverse correlation with obesity indices and HOMA‐IR values. However, MEG3 expression displayed a positive correlation with all the indicated parameters in all participants. Interestingly, a positive correlation was found between transcript level of MEG3 in SAT with FAS and PPARγ. However, there was an inverse correlation between SAT expression of H19 and FAS.ConclusionsIt appears that lncRNAs, MEG3 and H19, are involved in obesity‐related conditions. However, more clinical studies are still required to clarify the relationships between lncRNAs with obesity and related abnormalities.
Aerobic exercise ameliorates cardiac hypertrophy by regulating mitochondrial quality control and endoplasmic reticulum stress through M2AChR
Authors: Ma Mei , Chen Wei , Hua Yijie , Jia Hao , Song Yinping , Wang Youhua 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAerobic exercise increases M2AChR, which thus improves cardiac function in cardiovascular disease (CVD) rats. This study aimed to determine whether aerobic exercise could ameliorate pressure overload‐induced heart hypertrophy through M2AChR, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of action. Mice were used to establish the myocardial hypertrophy model by transverse aortic constriction (TAC), and subjected to 2, 4, and 8 weeks of moderate‐intensity aerobic exercise and choline intervention (14 mg/kg/day). Our results showed that 4 and 8 weeks of exercise and choline intervention reduced excessive mitochondrial fission and autophagy of myocardial mitochondria, thereby improving the ultrastructure and function of mitochondria after TAC. Moreover, 8‐week exercise and choline intervention have enhanced parasympathetic function and promoted the expression of M2AChR. In addition, 8‐week exercise and choline intervention also inhibited the protein expression of myocardial MFN2, PERK/eIF2α/ATF4, and NLRP3/caspase‐1/IL‐1β signaling pathways, thereby effectively reducing mitochondrial fusion, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and inflammation. Taken together, these data suggest that pressure overload led to cardiac hypertrophy, cardiac dysfunction, and decreased parasympathetic function in cardiac tissues. Aerobic exercise attenuated cardiac dysfunction by modulating the expression of proteins involved in mitochondrial quality control, and induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and inflammation, thereby reducing cardiac hypertrophy and improving cardiac function in impaired heart tissues following TAC, which was likely mediated by M2AChR activation.
Posthatching developmental studies on the tongue and laryngeal entrance of the common quail (Coturnix coturnix, Linnaeus, 1758) in different five age‐stages
Authors: Abumandour Mohamed M. A. , Farrag Foad A. , El‐Mansi Ahmed , Lashen Samah Elsayed , Shukry Mustafa , Kassab Mohammed A. , Hamoda Hazem S. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe present study represents the first trial to characterize the ultrastructural of five ages of Coturnix coturnix. Lingual nail had membrane that differ in number among five studied ages. Filiform papillary system had four caudally directed papillae types; small (apex, rostral, and median part of body in 1 day, body in 10 and 20 days), long (apex and rostral part of body in 10 days, tip and two lateral area in 20, 30, 40‐days, lateral border in 1 and 10 days, two lateral area of body in 40 days), broad (median area of body in 20, 30, 40 days). Scales on the ventral surface of apex, mound. Lingual sulci on the apex and body without reaching tip in 10, 20, 30, 40‐days while, in 1 day the body had ridge caudally. Three papillae on posterior part of lateral border of body. W‐shape crest had papillae on its median part while, its lateral part had two giant papillae on each side. Dorsal giant papillae terminated caudally with six processes, while ventral papillae terminated caudally with three processes. The unique root appearance, at 1 day had four papillae while in 10‐day, it had one papilla however in 20, 30, 40 days, it had T‐shaped ridge. Mound had one longitudinal row on each side of cleft and two transverse papillary rows at its caudal border and additional row at 40‐days. Our findings exposed unique structural and functional characterizations of lingual and laryngeal entrance that reflected with feeding behavior.
Psychological well‐being of early and continuously treated phenylketonuria patients
Authors: Thiele Alena Gerlinde , Spieß Nicole , Ascherl Rudolf , Arelin Maria , Rohde Carmen , Kiess Wieland , Beblo Skadi 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBackgroundDespite enormous advances in therapy, phenylketonuria (PKU) remains an incurable, inherited metabolic disease requiring life‐long treatment with potential to negatively impact quality of life and psychological well‐being. Therefore, the aim of this study was to screen early diagnosed and continuously treated children with PKU on psychological strengths and behavioral difficulties.MethodsEvaluation of psychological strengths and behavioral difficulties in 49 patients with PKU (23f, 2‐17 years) by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; self‐report 11‐17 years and parent‐report 2‐17 years). Comparison to age, sex and BMI‐matched healthy controls (n = 98; 46f).ResultsIn patients with PKU and healthy controls median SDQ Total Difficulties Score and median scores of subscales were within the normal range in parent‐ and self‐report, irrespective of sex and age group (children 2‐10 years, adolescents 11‐17 years). No influence of long‐term metabolic control in PKU on SDQ could be revealed. The 2‐ to 10‐year‐old boys with PKU showed significantly higher scores in Prosocial Behavior compared to their healthy peers (P = .032). Likewise, adolescent boys with PKU showed fewer Conduct Problems (parent‐report, P = .006). Adolescent girls with PKU rated themselves more often as abnormal in the subscale Emotional Problems compared to their healthy peers (P = .041). This subscale was also responsible for a significantly different Total SDQ Difficulties Score between patients and their parents' report (P = .008).DiscussionSDQ represents a suitable instrument within the care for patients with PKU. Specific aspects, however, require separate consideration and evaluation with respect to this chronic disease. Special attention should be paid on adolescent PKU girls who seem to be at risk to develop emotional problem.