bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Deep phenotyping of attention impairments and the ‘Inattention Biotype’ in Major Depressive Disorder
Authors: Keller Arielle S. , Ball Tali M. , Williams Leanne M. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractBackgroundAttention impairment is an under-investigated feature and diagnostic criterion of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) that is associated with poorer outcomes. Despite increasing knowledge regarding mechanisms of attention in healthy adults, we lack a detailed characterization of attention impairments and their neural signatures in MDD.MethodsHere, we focus on selective attention and advance a deep multi-modal characterization of these impairments in MDD, using data acquired from n = 1008 patients and n = 336 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Selective attention impairments were operationalized and anchored in a behavioral performance measure, assessed within a battery of cognitive tests. We sought to establish the accompanying neural signature using independent measures of functional magnetic resonance imaging (15% of the sample) and electroencephalographic recordings of oscillatory neural activity.ResultsGreater impairment on the behavioral measure of selective attention was associated with intrinsic hypo-connectivity of the fronto-parietal attention network. Not only was this relationship specific to the fronto-parietal network unlike other large-scale networks; this hypo-connectivity was also specific to selective attention performance unlike other measures of cognition. Selective attention impairment was also associated with lower posterior alpha (8–13 Hz) power at rest and was related to more severe negative bias (frequent misidentifications of neutral faces as sad and lingering attention on sad faces), relevant to clinical features of negative attributions and brooding. Selective attention impairments were independent of overall depression severity and of worrying or sleep problems.ConclusionsThese results provide a foundation for the clinical translational development of objective markers and targeted therapeutics for attention impairment in MDD.
Dosimetric comparison of level II lymph nodes between mono-isocentric and dual-isocentric approaches in 3D-CRT and IMRT techniques in breast radiotherapy of mastectomy patients
Authors: Nadi Saba , Abedi-Firouzjah Razzagh , Banaei Amin , Bijari Salar , Elahi Mahdi 
Published: September 2019

AbstractAim:To evaluate the dosimetric parameters of level II lymph nodes in chest wall three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) of mastectomy patients using dual-isocentric (DIT) and mono-isocentric techniques (MIT).Materials and methods:Computed tomography (CT) images of 20 mastectomy patients undergoing chest wall external radiotherapy were used as the input data for the abovementioned techniques. Selected dosimetric parameters were calculated for the axillary level I–III lymph nodes, chest wall, heart and lung. Paired t-test statistical analysis was used for comparing the results of MIT and DIT in both 3D-CRT and IMRT methods.Results:There were significant differences in Dmin (minimum dose), Dmax (maximum dose) and maximum–minimum dose between MIT and DIT techniques (13, −8·6, −52·2% differences for Dmin, Dmax and maximum–minimum, respectively) in IMRT. There were also significant differences for Dmean (mean dose), Dmax and maximum–minimum dose (7·8, −11·4, −44·6% differences in Dmean, Dmax and maximum–minimum, respectively) in 3D-CRT (p < 0·05). In addition, there were not any differences in the dosimetric parameters for heart, lung and level I and III lymph nodes.Conclusion:In both 3D-CRT and IMRT methods, level II lymph node dose distribution in MIT was closer to the prescribed dose compared with DIT due to the position of these nodes in the field junction area. To achieve a better dose homogeneity, it could be recommended to use MIT instead of DIT in 3D-CRT and IMRT for mastectomy patients.
Awareness of cardiovascular risk factors among university students in Turkey
Authors: Güneş F. Esra , Bekiroglu Nural , Imeryuz Neşe , Agirbasli Mehmet 
Published: September 2019

Abstract

Aim:
To determine the awareness of cardiovascular risk factors among university students in Turkey.

Background:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in developed countries. The use of tobacco products and unhealthy diet are prominent habits that increase the risk of CVD.

Methods:
Healthy university students (n = 2450) aged between 18 and 22 years in Istanbul filled out the questionnaire about the awareness of CVD risk factors and participated in this cross-sectional study. They were asked several questions with regard to the importance of CVD risk factors.

Findings:
The leading responses for men and women were, respectively, high cholesterol (58.3; 72.3%), stress (58.8; 71.8%), hypertension (50; 64.2%), smoking (53.1; 58.7%), obesity (46.8; 64.3%), diabetes (41.7; 52.7%), inactivity (43.3; 47.8%), and CVD in family history (31.8; 44.4%). Unhealthy diet (9.7; 15.3%), exposure to second-hand cigarette smoking (24.4; 34%), and poor socioeconomic status (22.6; 22.3%) were also considered to be important. The study also revealed that men disregard the risk factors more frequently. Another comparison between body mass index groups revealed that obese subjects gave significantly lower importance to cardiovascular risk factors.

Conclusion:
Observations indicate that awareness levels of CVD risk factors have to be improved among university students. It is emphasized that primary healthcare workers are very important in the screening of CVD risk factors in an opportunistic and systematic way and in providing consultancy on changing risky behaviors (diet, smoking, etc.). Therefore, it is of utmost importance that primary healthcare workers make interventions to reduce the risk level by determining the CVD risk.
Consequences of microbial diversity in forest nitrogen cycling: diverse ammonifiers and specialized ammonia oxidizers
Authors: Isobe Kazuo , Ise Yuta , Kato Hiroyu , Oda Tomoki , Vincenot Christian E , Koba Keisuke , Tateno Ryunosuke , Senoo Keishi , Ohte Nobuhito 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
We tested the ecosystem functions of microbial diversity with a focus on ammonification (involving diverse microbial taxa) and nitrification (involving only specialized microbial taxa) in forest nitrogen cycling. This study was conducted on a forest slope, in which the soil environment and plant growth gradually changed. We measured the gross and net rates of ammonification and nitrification, the abundance of predicted ammonifiers and nitrifiers, and their community compositions in the soils. The abundance of predicted ammonifiers did not change along the soil environmental gradient, leading to no significant change in the gross ammonification rate. On the other hand, the abundance of nitrifiers and the gross nitrification rate gradually changed. These accordingly determined the spatial distribution of net accumulation of ammonium and nitrate available to plants. The community composition of predicted ammonifiers gradually changed along the slope, implying that diverse ammonifiers were more likely to include taxa that were acclimated to the soil environment and performed ammonification at different slope locations than specialized nitrifiers. Our findings suggest that the abundance of ammonifiers and nitrifiers directly affects the corresponding nitrogen transformation rates, and that their diversity affects the stability of the rates against environmental changes. This study highlights the role of microbial diversity in biogeochemical processes under changing environments and plant growth.
Extreme inbreeding in a European ancestry sample from the contemporary UK population
Authors: Yengo Loic , Wray Naomi R. , Visscher Peter M. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractIn most human societies, there are taboos and laws banning mating between first- and second-degree relatives, but actual prevalence and effects on health and fitness are poorly quantified. Here, we leverage a large observational study of ~450,000 participants of European ancestry from the UK Biobank (UKB) to quantify extreme inbreeding (EI) and its consequences. We use genotyped SNPs to detect large runs of homozygosity (ROH) and call EI when >10% of an individual’s genome comprise ROHs. We estimate a prevalence of EI of ~0.03%, i.e., ~1/3652. EI cases have phenotypic means between 0.3 and 0.7 standard deviation below the population mean for 7 traits, including stature and cognitive ability, consistent with inbreeding depression estimated from individuals with low levels of inbreeding. Our study provides DNA-based quantification of the prevalence of EI in a European ancestry sample from the UK and measures its effects on health and fitness traits.
A two-step strategy for high-efficiency fluorescent dye removal from wastewater
Authors: Gui Wanyuan , Lin Junpin , Liang Yongfeng , Qu Yuhai , Zhang Laiqi , Zhang Hui , Li Xiaochun 
Published: September 2019

AbstractConventional circulating activated sludge techniques (CASS) are time consuming (72 h) and energy intensive, all of which greatly limits their use. Although advanced oxidation techniques (e.g., photocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis UV/•OH, and Electro-Fenton) can reduce the treatment time by several hours, the slow generation and fast coupling of electron and hole make the low degradation efficiency. In this work, an intact route using a two-step strategy is developed to eliminate organic dyes from wastewater in only a few minutes. The electron and hole exhibit “fast generation and slow coupling” by using the new technique via electrolytic discharge plasma (EDP) combined with a core-shell structure Au@SiO2 nanocatalyst for [Rhodamine (RhB)/Eosin yellowish (EY)] dyes degradation in wastewater. Results demonstrate that the synergy of EDP and Au@SiO2 nanocatalyst enhances degradation kinetics, and it is effective in degrading different concentrations of RhB and EY dyes in the range of 50–1.5 mg/L. Then, the Au@SiO2 nanocatalyst (over 99%) and carbon impurities are filtered by a porous nanocomposite ultrafiltration membrane. Favorable contributions of the two-step strategy are further ascertained based on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and relative removal efficiency. This two-step strategy provides an unprecedented rapid approach for industrial wastewater treatment.
A “human knockout” model to investigate the influence of the α-actinin-3 protein on exercise-induced mitochondrial adaptations
Authors: Papadimitriou I. D. , Eynon N. , Yan X. , Munson F. , Jacques M. , Kuang J. , Voisin S. , North K. N. , Bishop D. J. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractResearch in α-actinin-3 knockout mice suggests a novel role for α-actinin-3 as a mediator of cell signalling. We took advantage of naturally-occurring human “knockouts” (lacking α-actinin-3 protein) to investigate the consequences of α-actinin-3 deficiency on exercise-induced changes in mitochondrial-related genes and proteins, as well as endurance training adaptations. At baseline, we observed a compensatory increase of α-actinin-2 protein in ACTN3 XX (α-actinin-3 deficient; n = 18) vs ACTN3 RR (expressing α-actinin-3; n = 19) participants but no differences between genotypes for markers of aerobic fitness or mitochondrial content and function. There was a main effect of genotype, without an interaction, for RCAN1-4 protein content (a marker of calcineurin activity). However, there was no effect of genotype on exercise-induced expression of genes associated with mitochondrial biogenesis, nor post-training physiological changes. In contrast to results in mice, loss of α-actinin-3 is not associated with higher baseline endurance-related phenotypes, or greater adaptations to endurance exercise training in humans.
Electro-osmotic Treatment of Dredged Sediment by Different Power Supply Modes: Energy Consumption and Electro-osmotic Transport Volume
Authors: Zheng Lingwei , Zhu Xiada , Xie Xinyu , Li Jinzhu 
Published: September 2019

AbstractLaboratory model tests were conducted in constant-voltage mode and constant-current mode for the one-dimensional electro-osmotic treatment of dredged sediment, with an approximately consistent initial electric power. The voltage, current, drainage rate, electro-osmotic transport volume, and energy consumption coefficient during the electro-osmotic process were measured and calculated. After treatment, the final soil moisture at designated positions in the test samples was measured to investigate the effects of different power supply modes. Further, the divergent phenomena observed with constant voltage and constant current were discussed. Based on an analysis of the measured energy consumption coefficients with time, we obtained a linear relationship between the applied/equivalent voltage and energy consumption coefficient. Furthermore, the electro-osmotic processes are divided into four stages by equal drainage quantity to obtain the energy consumption and electro-osmotic transport volume under different working conditions. The results reveal that the energy consumption of electro-osmosis is mainly determined by the applied voltage or the equivalent voltage for dredged sediment, while the value of electro-osmotic transport volume depends mainly on the change in soil water content rather than power supply modes. The drainage rate in constant-current mode was observed to be relatively steady, maintaining an approximately constant rate until the soil moisture was dramatically reduced. In other words, constant-current mode shows the advantages of being powerful and persistent in electro-osmotic treatment.
Nb-induced stabilisation of p53 in HPV-infected cells
Authors: Steels Anneleen , Vannevel Laura , Zwaenepoel Olivier , Gettemans Jan 
Published: September 2019

AbstractCervical cancer is caused by a persistent infection of the mucosal epithelia with high-risk human papilloma viruses (HPVs). The viral oncoprotein E6 is responsible for the inactivation of the tumour suppressor p53 and thus plays a crucial role in HPV-induced tumorigenesis. The viral E6 protein forms a trimeric complex with the endogenous E3 ubiquitine ligase E6AP and the DNA-binding domain (DBD) of p53, which results in the polyubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of p53. We have developed nanobodies (Nbs) against the DBD of p53, which substantially stabilise p53 in HeLa cells. The observed effect is specific for HPV-infected cells, since similar effects were not seen for U2OS cells. Despite the fact that the stabilised p53 was strongly nuclear enriched, its tumour suppressive functions were hampered. We argue that the absence of a tumour suppressive effect is caused by inhibition of p53 transactivation in both HPV-infected and HPV-negative cells. The inactivation of the transcriptional activity of p53 was associated with an increased cellular proliferation and viability of HeLa cells. In conclusion, we demonstrate that p53 DBD Nbs positively affect protein stability whilst adversely affecting protein function, attesting to their ability to modulate protein properties in a very subtle manner.
Few-cycle Regime Atomic Force Microscopy
Authors: López-Guerra Enrique A. , Somnath Suhas , Solares Santiago D. , Jesse Stephen , Ferrini Gabriele 
Published: September 2019

AbstractTraditionally, dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques are based on the analysis of the quasi-steady state response of the cantilever deflection in terms of Fourier analysis. Here we describe a technique that instead exploits the often disregarded transient response of the cantilever through a relatively modern mathematical tool, which has caused important developments in several scientific fields but that is still quite unknown in the AFM context: the wavelet analysis. This tool allows us to localize the time-varying spectral composition of the initial oscillations of the cantilever deflection when an impulsive excitation is given (as in the band excitation method), a mode that we call thefew-cycle regime. We show that this regime encodes very meaningful information about the tip-sample interaction in a unique and extremely sensitive manner. We exploit this high sensitivity to gain detailed insight into multiple physical parameters that perturb the dynamics of the AFM probe, such as the tip radius, Hamaker constant, sample’s elastic modulus and height of an adsorbed water layer. We validate these findings with experimental evidence and computational simulations and show a feasible path towards the simultaneous retrieval of multiple physical parameters.
Early life determinants induce sustainable changes in the gut microbiome of six-year-old children
Authors: Gschwendtner Silvia , Kang Hyena , Thiering Elisabeth , Kublik Susanne , Fösel Bärbel , Schulz Holger , Krauss-Etschmann Susanne , Heinrich Joachim , Schöler Anne , Schloter Michael , Standl Marie 
Published: September 2019

AbstractWhile the association between early life determinants and the development of the gut microbiome composition in infancy has been widely investigated, a potential persistent influence of early life determinants on the gut microbial community after its stabilization at later childhood remains largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to identify the association between several early life determinants and the gut microbiome composition in six-year-old children from the LISA birth cohort. A total number of 166 fecal samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene-based barcoding to assess bacterial diversity pattern. The bacterial profiles were investigated for their association with maternal smoking during pregnancy, mode of delivery, breastfeeding, antibiotic treatment between one and two years of age, gender and socioeconomic status (SES). While alpha and beta diversity of the infants’ gut microbiome remained unaffected, amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) annotated to Firmicutes and Actinobacteria responded to early life determinants, mostly to feeding practice and antibiotics use. ASVs associated to Bacteriodetes remained unaffected. Our findings indicate that early life determinants could have a long-term sustainable effect on the gut microflora of six-year-old children, however, associations with early life determinates are weaker than reported for infants.
Molecular-scale modeling of light emission by combustion: An ab initio study
Authors: Miyamoto Yoshiyuki , Komatsu Tokutaro 
Published: September 2019

AbstractDespite the advanced understanding of combustion, the mechanisms of subsequent light emission have not attracted much attention. In this work, we model the light emission as electronic excitation throughout the oxidation reaction. We examined the simple dynamics of the collision of an oxygen molecule (O2) with a kinetic energy of 4, 6, or 10 eV with a stationary target molecule (Mg2, SiH4 or CH4). Time-dependent density functional theory was used to monitor electronic excitation. For a collision between O2 and Mg2, the electronic excitation energy increased with the incident kinetic energy. In contrast, for a collision between O2 and SiH4 molecules, a substantial electronic excitation occurred only at an incident kinetic energy of 10 eV. The electronic excitation was qualitatively reproduced by analysis using complete active space self-consistent field method. On the other hand, collision between O2 and CH4 molecules shows reflection of these molecules indicating that small-mass molecules could show neither oxidation nor subsequent electronic excitation upon collision with an O2 molecule. We believe that this work provides a first step toward understanding the light-emission process during combustion.
UAV target detection and parameter estimation in non‐homogeneous clutter
Authors: Huang Rui , Du Xiao‐Yong , Hu Wei‐Dong 
Published: September 2019

Aiming at the problem of UAV target detection and parameter estimation in non‐homogeneous clutter with STLFMCW radar, a SK‐CFAR detector is proposed based on the local spectrum refinement. By using zoom‐FFT, the two‐dimensional spectrum of the received signal is extracted for local template matching. Subsequently, the two‐dimensional SK‐CFAR detector and CLEAN technique are applied to decide whether there exist some targets in the region of interest. Compared with Radon–Fourier transform (RFT) and moving target detection (MTD), the proposed estimator based on local speed compensation is a good choice for the trade‐off of high performance and low computational load even though the input signal‐to‐clutter ratio approaches to −24 dB.
A Prospective Study to Evaluate Effectiveness of a Tinnitus Relief Device in a Clinical Setup
Authors: Aggarwal Nitin , Gupta Soniya , Goyal Prashant 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Introduction Tinnitus has been shown to decrease the quality of life of a person. Being a less understood domain of the medical field, there are no definitive established therapies that can be applied to all patients of tinnitus. The current study is an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of the Tinnitus Relief device in the patients of tinnitus.
Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of Tinnitus Relief device TRx in treatment of tinnitus.
Methods A prospective study involving 67 participants suffering from tinnitus was conducted in a clinical setup at Delhi, Chandigarh, and Mumbai. These participants were subjected to pure tone audiometry (PTA) and an interview using Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire. These participants were advised to use Tinnitus Relief device TR201, TR301, TR401 for more than 6 to 10 months. Improvement in tinnitus in terms of percentage, questions pertaining to THI, and overall improvement in life (subjective) were evaluated after discontinuation of the use of the device in each participant.
Results It was found that there was significant improvement in mean THI score, following treatment with Tinnitus Relief TRx. This device was also able to completely alleviate 5 out of 12 associated complaints of tinnitus. No association could be found between the use of Tinnitus Relief therapy and hearing loss.
Conclusion Tinnitus Relief TRx can emerge as an effective tool for treatment of the tinnitus and can improve the life of the sufferer.