bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of amblyopia treatment on macular microvasculature in children with anisometropic amblyopia using optical coherence tomographic angiography
Authors: Zhang Tengyue , Xie Shiyong , Liu Yangchen , Xue Caihong , Zhang Wei 
Published: January 2021

AbstractTo measure the retinal microvascular density in patients with anisometropic amblyopia using optical coherence tomographic angiography (OCTA) and to evaluate the effects of successful amblyopia treatment on microvasculature in retina. 59 children (5–12 years old) including 22 newly diagnosed unilateral anisometropic amblyopia, 16 recovered unilateral anisometropic amblyopia, and 21 control children were imaged with OCTA using 6 × 6-mm macular scan pattern. Vessel densities of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP), the deep capillary plexus (DCP), and the overall macular thickness were acquired and compared among the three groups. After adjustment for axial length, the amblyopia group showed lower macular vessel density in the SCP (P = 0.005) and in the DCP (P = 0.004) compared with that of the control group. However, for the recovered amblyopia group, no difference of vessel density was found when compared with the control group in both the SCP (P = 0.548) and the DCP (P = 0.124). No difference of the mean macular thickness was found among three groups (P ≥ 0.15). Children with anisometropic amblyopia have reduced macular vessel density in OCTA, while no difference of macular vessel density was found between the recovered amblyopic and control eyes. Macular thickness showed no difference in anisometropic amblyopia and remained unchanged after amblyopic treatment.
Fibrillar pharmacology of functionalized nanocellulose
Authors: Wong Sam , Alidori Simone , Mello Barbara P. , Almeida Bryan Aristega , Ulmert David , Brendel Matthew B. , Scheinberg David A. , McDevitt Michael R. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractCellulose nanocrystals (CNC) are linear organic nanomaterials derived from an abundant naturally occurring biopolymer resource. Strategic modification of the primary and secondary hydroxyl groups on the CNC introduces amine and iodine group substitution, respectively. The amine groups (0.285 mmol of amine per gram of functionalized CNC (fCNC)) are further reacted with radiometal loaded-chelates or fluorescent dyes as tracers to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile of the fCNC in vivo. In this way, these nanoscale macromolecules can be covalently functionalized and yield water-soluble and biocompatible fibrillar nanoplatforms for gene, drug and radionuclide delivery in vivo. Transmission electron microscopy of fCNC reveals a length of 162.4 ± 16.3 nm, diameter of 11.2 ± 1.52 nm and aspect ratio of 16.4 ± 1.94 per particle (mean ± SEM) and is confirmed using atomic force microscopy. Size exclusion chromatography of macromolecular fCNC describes a fibrillar molecular behavior as evidenced by retention times typical of late eluting small molecules and functionalized carbon nanotubes. In vivo, greater than 50% of intravenously injected radiolabeled fCNC is excreted in the urine within 1 h post administration and is consistent with the pharmacological profile observed for other rigid, high aspect ratio macromolecules. Tissue distribution of fCNC shows accumulation in kidneys, liver, and spleen (14.6 ± 6.0; 6.1 ± 2.6; and 7.7 ± 1.4% of the injected activity per gram of tissue, respectively) at 72 h post-administration. Confocal fluorescence microscopy reveals cell-specific accumulation in these target tissue sinks. In summary, our findings suggest that functionalized nanocellulose can be used as a potential drug delivery platform for the kidneys.
Dynamical behaviour of ultrathin [CoFeB (tCoFeB)/Pd] films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy
Authors: Silva Ana S. , Sá Simão P. , Bunyaev Sergey A. , Garcia Carlos , Sola Iñigo J. , Kakazei Gleb N. , Crespo Helder , Navas David 
Published: January 2021

AbstractCoFeB-based ultrathin films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy are promising for different emerging technological applications such as nonvolatile memories with low power consumption and high-speed performance. In this work, the dynamical properties of [CoFeB (tCoFeB)/Pd (10 Å)]5 multilayered ultrathin films (1 Å ≤ tCoFeB ≤ 5 Å) are studied by using two complementary methods: time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect and broadband ferromagnetic resonance. The perpendicular magnetization is confirmed for multilayers with tCoFeB ≤ 4 Å. The effective perpendicular magnetic anisotropy reaches a clear maximum at tCoFeB = 3 Å. Further increase of CoFeB layer thickness reduces the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and the magnetization became in-plane oriented for tCoFeB ≥ 5 Å. This behaviour is explained by considering competing contributions from surface and magnetoelastic anisotropies. It was also found that the effective damping parameter αeff decreases with CoFeB layer thickness and for tCoFeB = 4 Å reaches a value of ~ 0.019 that is suitable for microwave applications.
Pressure and temperature predictions of Al2O3/water nanofluid flow in a porous pipe for different nanoparticles volume fractions: combination of CFD and ACOFIS
Authors: Babanezhad Meisam , Behroyan Iman , Marjani Azam , Shirazian Saeed 
Published: January 2021

AbstractArtificial intelligence (AI) techniques have illustrated significant roles in finding general patterns of CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) results. This study is conducted to develop combination of the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm with the fuzzy inference system (ACOFIS) for learning the CFD results of a physical case study. This binary join of the ACOFIS and CFD was used for pressure and temperature predictions of Al2O3/water nanofluid flow in a heated porous pipe. The intelligence of ACOFIS is investigated for different input numbers and pheromone effects, as the ant colony tuning parameter. The results showed that the intelligence of the ACOFIS could be found for three inputs (x and y nodes coordinates and nanoparticles fraction) and the pheromone effect of 0.1. At the system intelligence, the ACOFIS could predict the pressure and temperature of the nanofluid on any values of the nanoparticles fraction between 0.5 and 2%. Comparing the ANFIS and the ACOFIS, it was shown that both methods could reach the same accuracy in predictions of the nanofluid pressure and temperature. The root mean square error (RMSE) of the ACOFIS (~ 1.3) was a little more than that of the ANFIS (~ 0.03), while the total process time of the ANFIS (~ 213 s) was a bit more than that of the ACOFIS (~ 198 s). The AI algorithms process time (less than 4 min) shows their ability in the reduction of CFD modeling calculations and expenses.
Nucleation pathways in barium silicate glasses
Authors: McKenzie Matthew E. , Deng Binghui , Van Hoesen D. C. , Xia Xinsheng , Baker David E. , Rezikyan Aram , Youngman Randall E. , Kelton K. F. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractNucleation is generally viewed as a structural fluctuation that passes a critical size to eventually become a stable emerging new phase. However, this concept leaves out many details, such as changes in cluster composition and competing pathways to the new phase. In this work, both experimental and computer modeling studies are used to understand the cluster composition and pathways. Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics approaches are used to analyze the thermodynamic and kinetic contributions to the nucleation landscape in barium silicate glasses. Experimental techniques examine the resulting polycrystals that form. Both the modeling and experimental data indicate that a silica rich core plays a dominant role in the nucleation process.
Copper oxide-based cathode for direct NADPH regeneration
Authors: Kadowaki J. T. , Jones T. H. , Sengupta A. , Gopalan V. , Subramaniam V. V. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractNearly a fourth of all enzymatic activities is attributable to oxidoreductases, and the redox reactions supported by this vast catalytic repertoire sustain cellular metabolism. In many biological processes, reduction depends on hydride transfer from either reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) or its phosphorylated derivative (NADPH). Despite longstanding efforts to regenerate NADPH by various methods and harness it to support chemoenzymatic synthesis strategies, the lack of product purity has been a major deterrent. Here, we demonstrate that a nanostructured heterolayer Ni–Cu2O–Cu cathode formed by a photoelectrochemical process has unexpected efficiency in direct electrochemical regeneration of NADPH from NADP+. Remarkably, two-thirds of NADP+ was converted to NADPH with no measurable production of the inactive (NADP)2 dimer and at the lowest reported overpotential [− 0.75 V versus Ag/AgCl (3 M NaCl) reference]. Sputtering of nickel on the copper-oxide electrode nucleated an unexpected surface morphology that was critical for high product selectivity. Our results should motivate design of integrated electrolyzer platforms that deploy this heterogeneous catalyst for direct electrochemical regeneration of NADH/NADPH, which is central to design of next-generation biofuel fermentation strategies, biological solar converters, energy-storage devices, and artificial photosynthesis.
Qualitative speed-accuracy tradeoff effects that cannot be explained by the diffusion model under the selective influence assumption
Authors: Rafiei Farshad , Rahnev Dobromir 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIt is often thought that the diffusion model explains all effects related to the speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) but this has previously been examined with only a few SAT conditions or only a few subjects. Here we collected data from 20 subjects who performed a perceptual discrimination task with five different difficulty levels and five different SAT conditions (5000 trials/subject). We found that the five SAT conditions produced robustly U-shaped curves for (i) the difference between error and correct response times (RTs), (ii) the ratio of the standard deviation and mean of the RT distributions, and (iii) the skewness of the RT distributions. Critically, the diffusion model where only drift rate varies with contrast and only boundary varies with SAT could not account for any of the three U-shaped curves. Further, allowing all parameters to vary across conditions revealed that both the SAT and difficulty manipulations resulted in substantial modulations in every model parameter, while still providing imperfect fits to the data. These findings demonstrate that the diffusion model cannot fully explain the effects of SAT and establishes three robust but challenging effects that models of SAT should account for.
Respiratory chain components are required for peptidoglycan recognition protein-induced thiol depletion and killing in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli
Authors: Yang Chun-Kai , Kashyap Des R. , Kowalczyk Dominik A. , Rudner David Z. , Wang Xindan , Gupta Dipika , Dziarski Roman 
Published: January 2021

AbstractMammalian peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs or PGLYRPs) kill bacteria through induction of synergistic oxidative, thiol, and metal stress. Tn-seq screening of Bacillus subtilis transposon insertion library revealed that mutants in the shikimate pathway of chorismate synthesis had high survival following PGLYRP4 treatment. Deletion mutants for these genes had decreased amounts of menaquinone (MK), increased resistance to killing, and attenuated depletion of thiols following PGLYRP4 treatment. These effects were reversed by MK or reproduced by inhibiting MK synthesis. Deletion of cytochrome aa3-600 or NADH dehydrogenase (NDH) genes also increased B. subtilis resistance to PGLYRP4-induced killing and attenuated thiol depletion. PGLYRP4 treatment also inhibited B. subtilis respiration. Similarly in Escherichia coli, deletion of ubiquinone (UQ) synthesis, formate dehydrogenases (FDH), NDH-1, or cytochrome bd-I genes attenuated PGLYRP4-induced thiol depletion. PGLYRP4-induced low level of cytoplasmic membrane depolarization in B. subtilis and E. coli was likely not responsible for thiol depletion. Thus, our results show that the respiratory electron transport chain components, cytochrome aa3-600, MK, and NDH in B. subtilis, and cytochrome bd-I, UQ, FDH-O, and NDH-1 in E. coli, are required for both PGLYRP4-induced killing and thiol depletion and indicate conservation of the PGLYRP4-induced thiol depletion and killing mechanisms in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
Adsorption of Cr(VI), Ni(II), Fe(II) and Cd(II) ions by KIAgNPs decorated MWCNTs in a batch and fixed bed process
Authors: Egbosiuba Titus Chinedu , Abdulkareem Ambali Saka , Kovo Abdulsalami Sanni , Afolabi Eyitayo Amos , Tijani Jimoh Oladejo , Bankole Mercy Temitope , Bo Shufeng , Roos Wiets Daniel 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe efficient removal of toxic metals ions from chemical industry wastewater is considered problematic due to the existence of pollutants as mixtures in the aqueous matrix, thus development of advanced and effective treatment method has been identified as a panacea to the lingering problems of heavy metal pollution. In this study, KIAgNPs decorated MWCNTs nano adsorbent was developed using combination of green chemistry protocol and chemical vapor deposition techniques and subsequently characterized using UV–Vis, HRTEM, HRSEM, XRD, FTIR and XPS. The adsorptive efficiency of MWCNTs-KIAgNPs for the removal of Cr(VI), Ni(II), Fe(II), Cd(II) and physico-chemical parameters like pH, TDS, COD, BOD, nitrates, sulphates, chlorides and phosphates from chemical industrial wastewater was examined in both batch and fixed bed systems. The result exhibited successful deposition of KIAgNPs on the surface of MWCNTs as confirmed by the microstructures, morphology, crystalline nature, functional groups and elemental characteristics of the MWCNTs-KIAgNPs. Optimum batch adsorption parameters include; pH (3 for Cr(VI) and 6 for Ni(II), Fe(II) and Cd(II) ions), contact time (60 min), adsorbent dosage (40 mg) and temperature (318 K). The binding capacities were obtained as follows; Cr6+ (229.540 mg/g), Ni2+ (174.784 mg/g), Fe2+ (149.552) and Cd2+ (121.026 mg/g), respectively. Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order kinetic model best described the experimental data in batch adsorption, while the thermodynamic parameters validated the chemisorption and endothermic nature of the adsorption process. In continuous adsorption, the metal ions were effectively removed at low metal influent concentration, low flow rate and high bed depth, whereby the experimental data were designated by Thomas model. The high physico-chemical parameters in the wastewater were successfully treated in both batch and fixed bed systems to fall within WHO permissible concentrations. The adsorption/desorption study illustrated over 80% metal removal by MWCNTs-KIAgNPs even after 8th adsorption cycle. This study demonstrated excellent performance of MWCNTs-KIAgNPs for chemical industry wastewater treatment.
Engineering a reporter cell line to mimic the high oligomannose presenting surface immunoglobulin of follicular lymphoma B cells
Authors: Lim Butaek , Kydd LeNaiya , Jaworski Justyn 
Published: January 2021

AbstractSubtypes of B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, including follicular lymphomas, have shown a unique high oligomannose presentation on their immunoglobulins that will interact with natural receptors of the innate immunity, reportedly causing stimulation and proliferation. From deep sequencing of the variable heavy and light chain sequences of follicular lymphoma involved tissue sections, we identified the consensus variable sequences possessing glycosylation sites at the complementarity determining region. Using this information, we developed a cell line, referred to here as BZ, which displays the consensus variable segments as part of a surface antibody (IgM) and confirmed its presentation of high oligomannose on the heavy chain both in vitro and in vivo. An mCherry expressing variant provided a reporter cell line displaying the high oligomannose surface biomarker while affording clear fluorescent signals for FACS screening as well as for fluorescent in vivo imaging of ectopic xenograft tumors. In developing this reporter cell line that displays the biomarker glycan of follicular lymphoma, we provide a tool that may be used for future screening and validation of receptive moieties for selectively binding high oligomannose for development of targeted diagnostics or therapeutics to such B cell malignancies that display this unique glycan.
An improved time reversal mirror based on standard linear frequency modulation waveform
Authors: Wang Yongkang , Zhang Han , Li Huiling , Zheng Jianfeng , Guo Liang 
Published: January 2021

AbstractTime reversal mirror (TRM) technology is the adaptive focusing method evolved from the phase conjugate method in optics. Conventional incentive method in TRM technology is a narrow pulse signal with a high bandwidth. In this paper, the autocorrelation property of the TRM was proved from the time-reversal symmetry of the wave equation. The linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal is adopted as the exciting signal in the TRM, which gives the dual autocorrelation function waveform, including the exciting signal and transport channel response. Theoretical results show that the peak value of the transducer array’s focusing signal is determined by the pulse width of the LFM signal and the number of array elements. In addition, the adaptive filtering deconvolution method is used to precisely regulate the input signal to ensure that the final detecting signal is the expected LFM waveform, which eliminates the effect of the transport channel and enhances matched filtering effects. The results hold great theoretical significances for the development of TRM technology in ultrasonic detection.
High planting density induces the expression of GA3-oxidase in leaves and GA mediated stem elongation in bioenergy sorghum
Authors: Yu Ka Man Jasmine , McKinley Brian , Rooney William L. , Mullet John E. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe stems of bioenergy sorghum hybrids at harvest are > 4 m long, contain > 40 internodes and account for ~ 80% of harvested biomass. In this study, bioenergy sorghum hybrids were grown at four planting densities (~ 20,000 to 132,000 plants/ha) under field conditions for 60 days to investigate the impact shading has on stem growth and biomass accumulation. Increased planting density induced a > 2-fold increase in sorghum internode length and a ~ 22% decrease in stem diameter, a typical shade avoidance response. Shade-induced internode elongation was due to an increase in cell length and number of cells spanning the length of internodes.SbGA3ox2(Sobic.003G045900), a gene encoding the last step in GA biosynthesis, was expressed ~ 20-fold higher in leaf collar tissue of developing phytomers in plants grown at high vs. low density. Application of GA3 to bioenergy sorghum increased plant height, stem internode length, cell length and the number of cells spanning internodes. Prior research showed that sorghum plants lacking phytochrome B, a key photoreceptor involved in shade signaling, accumulated more GA1 and displayed shade avoidance phenotypes. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that increasing planting density induces expression ofGA3-oxidasein leaf collar tissue, increasing synthesis of GA that stimulates internode elongation.
Aberrant aggressive behavior in a mouse model of Angelman syndrome
Authors: Simchi Lilach , Kaphzan Hanoch 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAngelman syndrome (AS) is a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder due to the absence of the E3-ligase protein, UBE3A. Inappropriate social interactions, usually hyper-sociability, is a part of that syndrome. In addition, clinical surveys and case reports describe aggressive behavior in AS individuals as a severe difficulty for caretakers. A mouse model for AS recapitulates most of the human AS phenotypes. However, very few studies utilized this mouse model for investigating affiliative social behavior, and not even a single study examined aggressive behavior. Hence, the aim of the herein study was to examine affiliative and aggressive social behavior. For that, we utilized a battery of behavioral paradigms, and performed detailed analyses of these behaviors. AS mice exhibited a unique characteristic of reduced habituation towards a social stimulus in comparison to their wild-type (WT) littermates. However, overall there were no additional marked differences in affiliative social behavior. In contrast to the mild changes in affiliative behavior, there was a striking enhanced aggression in the AS mice compared to their WT littermates. The herein findings emphasize the use of AS mouse model in characterizing and measuring inappropriate aggressive behavior, and suggests these as tools for investigating therapeutic interventions aimed at attenuating aggressive behavior.
A randomized controlled trial of comparative effectiveness between the 2 dose and 3 dose regimens of hepatitis a vaccine in kidney transplant recipients
Authors: Prasoppokakorn Thaninee , Vanichanan Jakapat , Chaiteerakij Roongruedee , Jutivorakool Kamonwan , Udomkarnjananun Suwasin , Pongpirul Krit , Taesombat Wipusit , Wattanatorn Salin , Avihingsanon Yingyos , Tungsanga Kriang , Eiam-Ong Somchai , Praditpornsilpa Kearkiat , Townamchai Natavudh 
Published: January 2021

AbstractHepatitis A virus (HAV) is able to cause a spectrum of illnesses ranging from no symptom to fulminant hepatitis which may lead to acute kidney injury. Although hepatitis A vaccine is recommended in non-immune solid organ transplant recipients who live in or travel to endemic areas, the standard 2-dose vaccination regimen demonstrated less favorable immunogenicity among these population. The 3-dose regimen showed higher response rate and immune durability in patients with human immunodeficiency virus. However, this strategy has never been studied in solid organ transplant recipients. A single-center, open-labeled, computer-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a 2:1 allocation ratio was conducted from August 2017 to December 2018. The study compared the seroconversion rate after receiving 2- or 3-dose regimen of hepatitis A vaccine at 0, 6 and 0, 1, 6 months, respectively, in non-immune kidney transplant recipients. A total of 401 adult kidney transplant recipients were screened for anti-HAV IgG and 285 subjects had positive results so the seroprevalence was 71.1%. Of 116 seronegative recipients, 93 (80.2%) completed vaccination; 60 and 33 participants completed 2- and 3-dose vaccination, respectively. The baseline characteristics were comparable between both groups. The seroconversion rate at 1 month after vaccination was 51.7% in the standard 2-dose regimen and 48.5% in the 3-dose regimen (p = 0.769). Overall, the seroconversion rate appeared to be associated with high estimated glomerular infiltration rate, high serum albumin, and low intensity immunosuppressive regimen. Seroconversion rate after hepatitis A vaccination in kidney transplant recipients was less favorable than healthy population. Three-dose regimen did not show superior benefit over the standard 2-dose regimen. Other strategies of immunization may increase immunogenicity among kidney transplant recipients.