bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Early Cretaceous Provenance, Sediment Dispersal, and Foreland Basin Development in Southwestern Montana, North American Cordillera
Authors: Rosenblume Justin A. , Finzel Emily S. , Pearson David M. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe Lower Cretaceous Kootenai Formation in western Montana records the onset of foredeep sedimentation in the Idaho‐Montana retroforeland basin of the North American Cordillera. Contrasting models for sediment dispersal during Early Cretaceous time have been proposed. We use sandstone petrography, large‐n (n = 600) detrital zircon U‐Pb geochronology, and mixture modeling to determine the provenance of the Kootenai Formation. These new data combined with additional data from the literature suggest three discrete provenance signatures. Type I sandstones are quartz‐rich with U‐Pb age peaks at ca. 158, 238, 410, 600, and 1,035 Ma; they were sourced from exhumed Jurassic continental strata and transported northward by axial drainages. Type II sandstones are lithic‐rich with U‐Pb age peaks at ca. 154, 166, 1,840, 1,920, 2,080, and 2,700 Ma; they were deposited by transverse rivers that drained exhumed lower‐middle Paleozoic strata from the Sevier belt. Type III sandstones contain feldspars and minor volcanic lithics with U‐Pb age spectra that are dominated by ca. 112 and 162 Ma ages; they were transported by transverse drainages that connected the hinterland of the orogen with the western Montana foreland. Based on provenance analysis of the Kootenai Formation, subtle Early Cretaceous thick‐skinned deformation in southwestern Montana did not exhume basement nor did it partition the foreland into locally sourced depocenters. Sediment sources for the western Montana foreland are consistent with those to the north in Alberta and different than southern Idaho. These data also provide insight into the translational history of terranes in the hinterland of the orogen during this time.
A high-quality genome assembly highlights rye genomic characteristics and agronomically important genes
Authors: Li Guangwei , Wang Lijian , Yang Jianping , He Hang , Jin Huaibing , Li Xuming , Ren Tianheng , Ren Zhenglong , Li Feng , Han Xue , Zhao Xiaoge , Dong Lingli , Li Yiwen , Song Zhongping , Yan Zehong , Zheng Nannan , Shi Cuilan , Wang Zhaohui , Yang Shuling , Xiong Zijun , Zhang Menglan , Sun Guanghua , Zheng Xu , Gou Mingyue , Ji Changmian , Du Junkai , Zheng Hongkun , Doležel Jaroslav , Deng Xing Wang , Stein Nils , Yang Qinghua , Zhang Kunpu , Wang Daowen 
Published: March 2021

AbstractRye is a valuable food and forage crop, an important genetic resource for wheat and triticale improvement and an indispensable material for efficient comparative genomic studies in grasses. Here, we sequenced the genome of Weining rye, an elite Chinese rye variety. The assembled contigs (7.74 Gb) accounted for 98.47% of the estimated genome size (7.86 Gb), with 93.67% of the contigs (7.25 Gb) assigned to seven chromosomes. Repetitive elements constituted 90.31% of the assembled genome. Compared to previously sequenced Triticeae genomes, Daniela, Sumaya and Sumana retrotransposons showed strong expansion in rye. Further analyses of the Weining assembly shed new light on genome-wide gene duplications and their impact on starch biosynthesis genes, physical organization of complex prolamin loci, gene expression features underlying early heading trait and putative domestication-associated chromosomal regions and loci in rye. This genome sequence promises to accelerate genomic and breeding studies in rye and related cereal crops.
Anti-metastatic effect of methylprednisolone targeting vascular endothelial cells under surgical stress
Authors: Hagi Takaomi , Kurokawa Yukinori , Kobayashi Noboru , Takahashi Tsuyoshi , Saito Takuro , Yamashita Kotaro , Tanaka Koji , Makino Tomoki , Yamasaki Makoto , Nakajima Kiyokazu , Eguchi Hidetoshi , Doki Yuichiro 
Published: March 2021

AbstractPerioperative systemic inflammation induced by surgical stress elevates the risk of hematogenous cancer metastasis. This study investigated the anti-metastatic effects and mechanisms of methylprednisolone (MP) administration for surgical stress. We examined the effects of MP on the expression of adhesion molecules in human vascular endothelial cells and in a murine hepatic metastasis model under lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration, which mimics systemic inflammation induced by surgical stress. Serum E-selectin level was measured in blood samples obtained from 32 gastric cancer patients who were randomly assigned to treat preoperatively with or without MP. The expression of E-selectin in LPS-induced vascular endothelial cells was suppressed by MP. An adhesion assay showed the number of LPS-induced adherent tumour cells was significantly lower following MP. In the in vivo study, LPS significantly elevated the number of hepatic metastases, but pretreatment with MP before LPS significantly inhibited this elevation. The LPS-induced expression of E-selectin in the vascular endothelium of the portal vein was suppressed by MP. In human clinical samples, serum E-selectin level was significantly decreased by preoperative MP. Suppression of surgically induced systemic inflammation by MP administration might prevent hematogenous cancer metastases by suppressing the induction of E-selectin expression in the vascular endothelium.
Intranasal administration of the chemotherapeutic perillyl alcohol results in selective delivery to the cerebrospinal fluid in rats
Authors: Nehra Geetika , Andrews Shannon , Rettig Joan , Gould Michael N. , Haag Jill D. , Howard Steven P. , Thorne Robert G. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractPerillyl alcohol (POH) has been extensively studied for the treatment of peripheral and primary brain tumors. The intranasal route of administration has been preferred for dosing POH in early-stage clinical trials associated with promising outcomes in primary brain cancer. However, it is unclear how intranasal POH targets brain tumors in these patients. Multiple studies indicate that intranasally applied large molecules may enter the brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) through direct olfactory and trigeminal nerve-associated pathways originating in the nasal mucosa that bypass the blood–brain barrier. It is unknown whether POH, a small molecule subject to extensive nasal metabolism and systemic absorption, may also undergo direct transport to brain or CSF from the nasal mucosa. Here, we compared CSF and plasma concentrations of POH and its metabolite, perillic acid (PA), following intranasal or intravascular POH application. Samples were collected over 70 min and assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Intranasal administration resulted in tenfold higher CSF-to-plasma ratios for POH and tenfold higher CSF levels for PA compared to equal dose intravascular administration. Our preclinical results demonstrate POH undergoes direct transport from the nasal mucosa to the CSF, a finding with potential significance for its efficacy as an intranasal chemotherapeutic for brain cancer.
A comparison of continuous and discrete time modeling of affective processes in terms of predictive accuracy
Authors: Loossens Tim , Tuerlinckx Francis , Verdonck Stijn 
Published: March 2021

AbstractIntra-individual processes are thought to continuously unfold across time. For equally spaced time intervals, the discrete-time lag-1 vector autoregressive (VAR(1)) model and the continuous-time Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) model are equivalent. It is expected that by taking into account the unequal spacings of the time intervals in real data between observations will lead to an advantage for the OU in terms of predictive accuracy. In this paper, this is claim is being investigated by comparing the predictive accuracy of the OU model to that of the VAR(1) model on typical ESM data obtained in the context of affect research. It is shown that the VAR(1) model outperforms the OU model for the majority of the time series, even though time intervals in the data are unequally spaced. Accounting for measurement error does not change the result. Deleting large abrupt changes on short time intervals (that may be caused by externally driven events) does however lead to a significant improvement for the OU model. This suggests that processes in psychology may be continuously evolving, but that there are factors, like external events, which can disrupt the continuous flow.
Impact of pre- and post-variant filtration strategies on imputation
Authors: Charon Céline , Allodji Rodrigue , Meyer Vincent , Deleuze Jean-François 
Published: March 2021

AbstractQuality control (QC) methods for genome-wide association studies and fine mapping are commonly used for imputation, however they result in loss of many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). To investigate the consequences of filtration on imputation, we studied the direct effects on the number of markers, their allele frequencies, imputation quality scores and post-filtration events. We pre-phrased 1031 genotyped individuals from diverse ethnicities and compared the imputed variants to 1089 NCBI recorded individuals for additional validation. Without QC-based variant pre-filtration, we observed no impairment in the imputation of SNPs that failed QC whereas with pre-filtration there was an overall loss of information. Significant differences between frequencies with and without pre-filtration were found only in the range of very rare (5E−04–1E−03) and rare variants (1E−03–5E−03) (p < 1E−04). Increasing the post-filtration imputation quality score from 0.3 to 0.8 reduced the number of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) < 0.001 2.5 fold with or without QC pre-filtration and halved the number of very rare variants (5E−04). Thus, to maintain confidence and enough SNVs, we propose here a two-step filtering procedure which allows less stringent filtering prior to imputation and post-imputation in order to increase the number of very rare and rare variants compared to conservative filtration methods.
Estimation of the prevalence and incidence of motor neuron diseases in two Spanish regions: Catalonia and Valencia
Authors: Barceló Maria A. , Povedano Mònica , Vázquez-Costa Juan F. , Franquet Álvaro , Solans Marta , Saez Marc 
Published: March 2021

AbstractAccording to the degree of upper and lower motor neuron degeneration, motor neuron diseases (MND) can be categorized into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) or progressive muscular atrophy (PMA). Although several studies have addressed the prevalence and incidence of ALS, there is a high heterogeneity in their results. Besides this, neither concept has been previously studied in PLS or PMA. Thus, the objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and incidence of MND, (distinguishing ALS, PLS and PMA), in the Spanish regions of Catalonia and Valencia in the period 2011–2019. Two population-based Spanish cohorts were used, one from Catalonia and the other from Valencia. Given that the samples that comprised both cohorts were not random, i.e., leading to a selection bias, we used a two-part model in which both the individual and contextual observed and unobserved confounding variables are controlled for, along with the spatial and temporal dependence. The prevalence of MND was estimated to be between 3.990 and 6.334 per 100,000 inhabitants (ALS between 3.248 and 5.120; PMA between 0.065 and 0.634; and PLS between 0.046 and 1.896), and the incidence between 1.682 and 2.165 per 100,000 person-years for MND (ALS between 1.351 and 1.754; PMA between 0.225 and 0.628; and PLS between 0.409–0.544). Results were similar in the two regions and did not differ from those previously reported for ALS, suggesting that the proposed method is robust and that neither region presents differential risk or protective factors.
Fractal dimension of coastline of Australia
Authors: Husain Akhlaq , Reddy Jaideep , Bisht Deepika , Sajid Mohammad 
Published: March 2021

AbstractCoastlines are irregular in nature having (random) fractal geometry and are formed by various natural activities. Fractal dimension is a measure of degree of geometric irregularity present in the coastline. A novel multicore parallel processing algorithm is presented to calculate the fractal dimension of coastline of Australia. The reliability of the coastline length of Australia is addressed by recovering the power law from our computational results. For simulations, the algorithm is implemented on a parallel computer for multi-core processing using the QGIS software,R-programming language and Python codes.
Exploring the capability of mayenite (12CaO·7Al2O3) as hydrogen storage material
Authors: Visbal Heidy , Omura Takuya , Nagashima Kohji , Itoh Takanori , Ohwaki Tsukuru , Imai Hideto , Ishigaki Toru , Maeno Ayaka , Suzuki Katsuaki , Kaji Hironori , Hirao Kazuyuki 
Published: March 2021

AbstractWe utilized nanoporous mayenite (12CaO·7Al2O3), a cost-effective material, in the hydride state (H−) to explore the possibility of its use for hydrogen storage and transportation. Hydrogen desorption occurs by a simple reaction of mayenite with water, and the nanocage structure transforms into a calcium aluminate hydrate. This reaction enables easy desorption of H− ions trapped in the structure, which could allow the use of this material in future portable applications. Additionally, this material is 100% recyclable because the cage structure can be recovered by heat treatment after hydrogen desorption. The presence of hydrogen molecules as H− ions was confirmed by 1H-NMR, gas chromatography, and neutron diffraction analyses. We confirmed the hydrogen state stability inside the mayenite cage by the first-principles calculations to understand the adsorption mechanism and storage capacity and to provide a key for the use of mayenite as a portable hydrogen storage material. Further, we succeeded in introducing H− directly from OH− by a simple process compared with previous studies that used long treatment durations and required careful control of humidity and oxygen gas to form O2 species before the introduction of H−.
Occurrence and characterization of tremolite asbestos from the Mid Atlantic Ridge
Authors: Di Giuseppe Dario , Perchiazzi Natale , Brunelli Daniele , Giovanardi Tommaso , Nodari Luca , Della Ventura Giancarlo , Malferrari Daniele , Maia Marcia , Gualtieri Alessandro F. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractTremolite is one of the most common amphibole species and, in the fibrous form (i.e., characterized by crystals/particles consisting of fibres with length > 5 µm, width < 3 µm and aspect ratio > 3), one of the six asbestos minerals. Until now the attention of crystallographers has focused only on samples from continental environment. Here we report the first chemical and structural data of a tremolite asbestos found along the Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR) at the eastern intersection of the Romanche Transform Fault (Equatorial MAR). Tremolite is associated with chlorite and lizardite and was formed through the green shale facies lower than zeolite in a predominantly fluid system. MAR tremolite asbestos shows very slight deviations from the ideal crystal structure of tremolite. Differences in cation site partitioning were found with respect to tremolite asbestos from ophiolitic complexes, attributed to the different chemical–physical conditions during the mineral formation. In particular, oceanic tremolite asbestos is enriched in Al and Na, forming a trend clearly distinct from the continental tremolites.
Sites of blood collection and topical antiseptics associated with contaminated cultures: prospective observational study
Authors: Ota Koshi , Oba Koji , Fukui Keisuke , Ito Yuri , Hamada Emi , Mori Naomi , Oka Masahiro , Ota Kanna , Shibata Yuriko , Takasu Akira 
Published: March 2021

AbstractWe aimed to determine whether puncture sites for blood sampling and topical disinfectants are associated with rates of contaminated blood cultures in the emergency department (ED) of a single institution. This single-center, prospective observational study of 249 consecutive patients aged ≥ 20 years proceeded in the ED of a university hospital in Japan during 6 months. Pairs of blood samples were collected for aerobic and anaerobic culture from all patients in the ED. Physicians selected puncture sites and topical disinfectants according to their personal preference. We found 50 (20.1%) patients with potentially contaminated blood cultures. Fifty-six (22.5%) patients were true bacteremia and 143 (57.4%) patients were true negatives. Multivariate analysis associated more frequent contamination when puncture sites were disinfected with povidone-iodine than with alcohol/chlorhexidine (adjusted risk difference, 12.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 8.8–16.9; P < 0.001). Sites of blood collection were also associated with contamination. Femoral and central venous with other sites were associated with contamination more frequently than venous sites (adjusted risk difference), 13.1% (95% CI 8.2–17.9; P < 0.001]) vs. 17.3% (95% CI 3.6–31.0; P = 0.013). Rates of contaminated blood cultures were significantly higher when blood was collected from femoral sites and when povidone-iodine was the topical antiseptic.
Utilization potential of intraluminal optical coherence tomography for the Eustachian tube
Authors: Byun Hayoung , Kim Yeon Hoon , Xing Jingchao , Shin Su-Jin , Lee Seung Hwan , Yoo Hongki , Chung Jae Ho 
Published: March 2021

AbstractImaging the Eustachian tube is challenging because of its complex anatomy and limited accessibility. This study fabricated a fiber-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) catheter and investigated its potential for assessing the Eustachian tube anatomy. A customized OCT system and an imaging catheter, termed the Eustachian OCT, were developed for visualizing the Eustachian tube. Three male swine cadaver heads were used to study OCT image acquisition and for subsequent histologic correlation. The imaging catheter was introduced through the nasopharyngeal opening and reached toward the middle ear. The OCT images were acquired from the superior to the nasopharyngeal opening before and after Eustachian tube balloon dilatation. The histological anatomy of the Eustachian tube was compared with corresponding OCT images, The new, Eustachian OCT catheter was successfully inserted in the tubal lumen without damage. Cross-sectional images of the tube were successfully obtained, and the margins of the anatomical structures including cartilage, mucosa lining, and fat could be successfully delineated. After balloon dilatation, the expansion of the cross-sectional area could be identified from the OCT images. Using the OCT technique to assess the Eustachian tube anatomy was shown to be feasible, and the fabricated OCT image catheter was determined to be suitable for Eustachian tube assessment.
Modulation of torque evoked by wide-pulse, high-frequency neuromuscular electrical stimulation and the potential implications for rehabilitation and training
Authors: Donnelly Chris , Stegmüller Jonathan , Blazevich Anthony J. , Crettaz von Roten Fabienne , Kayser Bengt , Neyroud Daria , Place Nicolas 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for rehabilitation is proportional to the evoked torque. The progressive increase in torque (extra torque) that may develop in response to low intensity wide-pulse high-frequency (WPHF) NMES holds great promise for rehabilitation as it overcomes the main limitation of NMES, namely discomfort. WPHF NMES extra torque is thought to result from reflexively recruited motor units at the spinal level. However, whether WPHF NMES evoked force can be modulated is unknown. Therefore, we examined the effect of two interventions known to change the state of spinal circuitry in opposite ways on evoked torque and motor unit recruitment by WPHF NMES. The interventions were high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and anodal transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS). We show that TENS performed before a bout of WPHF NMES results in lower evoked torque (median change in torque time-integral: − 56%) indicating that WPHF NMES-evoked torque might be modulated. In contrast, the anodal tsDCS protocol used had no effect on any measured parameter. Our results demonstrate that WPHF NMES extra torque can be modulated and although the TENS intervention blunted extra torque production, the finding that central contribution to WPHF NMES-evoked torques can be modulated opens new avenues for designing interventions to enhance WPHF NMES.
Administration of β-lactam antibiotics and delivery method correlate with intestinal abundances of Bifidobacteria and Bacteroides in early infancy, in Japan
Authors: Imoto Naruaki , Kano Chie , Aoyagi Yumi , Morita Hiroto , Amanuma Fumitaka , Maruyama Hidekazu , Nojiri Shuko , Hashiguchi Naoyuki , Watanabe Shin 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe intestinal microbiome changes dynamically in early infancy. Colonisation byBifidobacteriumandBacteroidesand development of intestinal immunity is interconnected. We performed a prospective observational cohort study to determine the influence of antibiotics taken by the mother immediately before delivery on the intestinal microbiome of 130 healthy Japanese infants. Faecal samples (383) were collected at 1, 3, and 6 months and analysed using next-generation sequencing. Cefazolin was administered before caesarean sections, whereas ampicillin was administered in cases with premature rupture of the membranes and in Group BStreptococcus-positive cases.BifidobacteriumandBacteroideswere dominant (60–70% mean combined occupancy) at all ages. A low abundance ofBifidobacteriumwas observed in infants exposed to antibiotics at delivery and at 1 and 3 months, with no difference between delivery methods. A lower abundance ofBacteroideswas observed after caesarean section than vaginal delivery, irrespective of antibiotic exposure. Additionally, occupancy byBifidobacteriumat 1 and 3 months and byBacteroidesat 3 months differed between infants with and without siblings. All these differences disappeared at 6 months. Infants exposed to intrapartum antibiotics displayed alteredBifidobacteriumabundance, whereas abundance ofBacteroideswas largely associated with the delivery method. Existence of siblings also significantly influenced the microbiota composition of infants.
A cautionary tale for machine learning generated configurations in presence of a conserved quantity
Authors: Azizi Ahmadreza , Pleimling Michel 
Published: March 2021

AbstractWe investigate the performance of machine learning algorithms trained exclusively with configurations obtained from importance sampling Monte Carlo simulations of the two-dimensional Ising model with conserved magnetization. For supervised machine learning, we use convolutional neural networks and find that the corresponding output not only allows to locate the phase transition point with high precision, it also displays a finite-size scaling characterized by an Ising critical exponent. For unsupervised learning, restricted Boltzmann machines (RBM) are trained to generate new configurations that are then used to compute various quantities. We find that RBM generates configurations with magnetizations and energies forbidden in the original physical system. The RBM generated configurations result in energy density probability distributions with incorrect weights as well as in wrong spatial correlations. We show that shortcomings are also encountered when training RBM with configurations obtained from the non-conserved Ising model.