bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of predation on small semi-aquatic mammals by the Eurasian otter through genetic analysis of spraints
Authors: Balmori-de la Puente Alfonso , Fernández-González Ángel , Castresana Jose 
Published: November 2024

AbstractSmall semi-aquatic mammals play a critical role in the river ecosystem and can be used as bioindicators of environmental health. Many populations of these species are threatened by multiple factors, mainly habitat degradation, but also by other causes such as predation. Among potential predators, the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is known to prey on some of these species, but the significance of the impact on their populations remains uncertain. To study the effect of the Eurasian otter on the small semi-aquatic mammal community, we collected feces containing hair remains from different rivers in the Iberian Peninsula and used genetic methods to identify the predator and prey species. We identified 83 Eurasian otter spraints containing 25 Iberian desmans (Galemys pyrenaicus), 21 Iberian water shrews (Neomys anomalus), and 28 Southern water voles (Arvicola sapidus). These prey species were recorded in different watersheds throughout the study area and over a long period of time, indicating their widespread presence in the otter diet. These findings are of particular concern for the Iberian desman, given its endangered status. Our results highlight the need to specifically investigate less abundant but ecologically significant groups consumed by the otter, such as semi-aquatic mammals, to better understand the influence of this predator on the riparian ecosystem. In addition, future efforts should address the genetic analysis of feces containing hair remains from different riparian carnivores to assess the impact of predation on the viability of semi-aquatic mammal populations.
Robustifying a reinforcement learning agent-based bionic reflex controller through an adaptive sliding mode control
Authors: Basumatary Hirakjyoti , Adhar Daksh , Hazarika Shyamanta M. 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Maintaining object grasp stability represents a pivotal challenge within the domain of robotic manipulation and upper-limb prosthetics. Perturbations originating from external sources frequently disrupt the stability of grasps, resulting in slippage occurrences. Also, if the grasping forces are not optimal while controlling the slip, it may result in the deformation of the objects. This study investigates the robustification of a reinforcement learning (RL) policy for implementing intelligent bionic reflex control, i.e., slip and deformation prevention of the grasped objects. RL-derived policies are vulnerable to failures in environments characterized by dynamic variability. To mitigate this vulnerability, we propose a methodology involving the incorporation of an adaptive sliding mode controller into a pre-trained RL policy. By exploiting the inherent invariance property of the sliding mode algorithm in the presence of uncertainties, our approach strengthens the robustness of the RL policies against diverse and dynamic variations. Numerical simulations substantiate the efficacy of our approach in robustifying RL policies trained within simulated environments.
Exploring the relations between teachers’ high-quality language features and preschoolers and kindergarteners’ vocabulary learning
Authors: Farrow JeanMarie , Wasik Barbara A. , Hindman Annemarie H. 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
This study explored the use of sophisticated vocabulary, complex syntax, and decontextualized language (including book information, conceptual information, past/future experiences, and vocabulary information) in teachers’ instructional interactions with children during the literacy block in prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms. The sample included 33 teachers and 421 children. We examined correlations among these language features and their unique contributions to children’s vocabulary learning. Teachers who used more sophisticated vocabulary also engaged in more decontextualized talk about vocabulary and past/future experiences. Additionally, teachers’ use of complex syntax was uniquely associated with talk about conceptual information. Both complex syntax and conceptual information talk predicted children’s vocabulary learning; however, complex syntax emerged as the sole predictor when accounting for this relationship. This finding suggests that decontextualized talk about concepts, characterized by complex language structures, may facilitate vocabulary acquisition.
Comparing two transitioning strategies to paliperidone palmitate once-every-6-months
Authors: Correll Christoph U. , Johnston Karen L. , Turkoz Ibrahim , Kutch Michael , Knight R. Karl , Doring Monica , Sajatovic Martha 
Published: November 2024

AbstractBackgroundA double-blind, randomized, active-controlled, parallel-group, noninferiority trial (NCT03345342) demonstrated that paliperidone palmitate once-every-6-months (PP6M) was noninferior to paliperidone palmitate once-every-3-months (PP3M) in preventing relapse in clinically stable adults with schizophrenia. This post hoc analysis assessed efficacy and safety following transition to PP6M from paliperidone once-monthly (PP1M) versus PP3M.MethodsAdults with schizophrenia who were clinically stable on moderate/high doses of PP1M or PP3M were randomly assigned 1:2 to dorsogluteal PP3M or PP6M treatment for 12 months. The primary efficacy measure was time to relapse during the 12-month DB phase. Secondary endpoints included change from DB baseline to endpoint in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total and subscale scores, Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale score, and Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale score. Safety was assessed by treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), vital signs, and clinical laboratory tests.ResultsOf 702 patients in the study, 231 transitioned from PP1M to PP6M and 247 transitioned from PP3M to PP6M. Low relapse rates for PP6M were observed regardless of transition pathway (PP1M/PP6M: 7.8%; PP3M/PP6M: 7.3%). Changes from DB baseline to endpoint in PANSS total, PSP, and CGI-S scores were similar between transition groups. In the DB phase, ≥1 TEAE was observed in 61.0% and 63.2% of patients in the PP1M/PP6M and PP3M/PP6M, groups, respectively.ConclusionAdults with schizophrenia who transitioned to PP6M from either PP1M or PP3M experienced similarly low relapse rates. Additionally, symptom and functionality scores supported the primary analysis and, along with TEAE incidences, were comparable between transition groups.
From the Surface to the Stratosphere: Large‐Scale Atmospheric Response to Antarctic Meltwater
Authors: Beadling Rebecca L. , Lin Pu , Krasting John , Ellinger William , Coomans Anna , Milward James , Turner Katherine , Xu Xiaoqi , Martin Torge , Molina Maria J. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThe ocean response to Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) mass loss has been extensively studied using numerical models, but less attention has been given to the atmosphere. We examine the global atmospheric response to AIS meltwater in an ensemble of experiments performed using two fully coupled climate models under a pre‐industrial climate. In response to AIS meltwater, the experiments yield cooling from the surface to the tropopause over the subpolar Southern Ocean, warming in the Southern Hemisphere polar stratosphere, and cooling in the upper tropical troposphere. Positive feedbacks, initiated by disrupted ocean‐atmosphere heat exchange, result in a change in the top‐of‐atmosphere radiative balance caused primarily through surface and near‐surface albedo changes. Changes in the atmospheric thermal structure alter the jet streams aloft. The results highlight the global influence of AIS melting on the climate system and the potential for impacts on mid‐latitude climate patterns and delayed regional warming signals.
The Influence of the Inner Magnetospheric Electric Field on Plasma Sheet Access
Authors: Ferradas C. P. , Thaller S. A. , Fok M.‐C. , Reeves G. D. , Larsen B. A. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThis study presents observations of the large‐scale electric field and H+ fluxes over the entire Van Allen Probes mission duration. These observations are used to determine the spatial distributions of the azimuthal component of the ExB drift velocity and the plasma sheet H+ pressure, and their geomagnetic activity dependence. To investigate the influence of the inner magnetospheric electric field on H+ plasma sheet access, the boundary of zero azimuthal ExB drift velocity (BZEB) is identified as a proxy of the inner extent of the convection electric field and its characteristics are compared with that of the inner edge of the H+ plasma sheet (H+ IEPS). We find that the large‐scale convection electric field has a dominant role on H+ plasma sheet access. This is evidenced by the good correlation between the BZEB and the H+ IEPS. Both boundaries present overall deeper access with increasing Kp. Moreover, both boundaries exhibit a similar deeper access on the evening sector compared to the afternoon sector, and both boundaries are more closely collocated in L for moderate and high Kp, while for low Kp the H+ IEPS is located at lower L than the BZEB. Furthermore, the collocation of both boundaries in L is better in the evening sector than in the afternoon sector, where the H+ IEPS lies farther inward in the afternoon sector for all Kp levels. This implies that the afternoon sector is the preferred region of the overlap between the hot ion plasma sheet and the cold plasmasphere.
Integration of epigenomic and transcriptomic profiling uncovers EZH2 target genes linked to cysteine metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Lee Jaehyun , You Chaelin , Kwon Geunho , Noh Junho , Lee Kyubin , Kim Kyunghwan , Kang Keunsoo , Kang Kyuho 
Published: November 2024

AbstractEnhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), a key protein implicated in various cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is recognized for its association with epigenetic dysregulation and pathogenesis. Despite clinical explorations into EZH2-targeting therapies, the mechanisms underlying its role in gene suppression in HCC have remained largely unexplored. Here, we integrate epigenomic and transcriptomic analyses to uncover the transcriptional landscape modulated by selective EZH2 inhibition in HCC. By reanalyzing transcriptomic data of HCC patients, we demonstrate that EZH2 overexpression correlates with poor patient survival. Treatment with the EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat restored expression of genes involved in cysteine-methionine metabolism and lipid homeostasis, while suppressing angiogenesis and oxidative stress-related genes. Mechanistically, we demonstrate EZH2-mediated H3K27me3 enrichment at cis-regulatory elements of transsulfuration pathway genes, which is reversed upon inhibition, leading to increased chromatin accessibility. Among 16 EZH2-targeted candidate genes, BHMT and CDO1 were notably correlated with poor HCC prognosis. Tazemetostat treatment of HCC cells increased BHMT and CDO1 expression while reducing levels of ferroptosis markers FSP1, NFS1, and SLC7A11. Functionally, EZH2 inhibition dose-dependently reduced cell viability and increased lipid peroxidation in HCC cells. Our findings reveal a novel epigenetic mechanism controlling lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis susceptibility in HCC, providing a rationale for exploring EZH2-targeted therapies in this malignancy.
Harnessing the regenerative potential of interleukin11 to enhance heart repair
Authors: Shin Kwangdeok , Rodriguez-Parks Anjelica , Kim Chanul , Silaban Isabella M. , Xia Yu , Sun Jisheng , Dong Chenyang , Keles Sunduz , Wang Jinhu , Cao Jingli , Kang Junsu 
Published: November 2024

AbstractBalancing between regenerative processes and fibrosis is crucial for heart repair, yet strategies regulating this balance remain a barrier to developing therapies. The role of Interleukin 11 (IL11) in heart regeneration remains controversial, as both regenerative and fibrotic functions have been reported. We uncovered that il11a, an Il11 homolog in zebrafish, can trigger robust regenerative programs in zebrafish hearts, including cardiomyocytes proliferation and coronary expansion, even in the absence of injury. Notably, il11a induction in uninjured hearts also activates the quiescent epicardium to produce epicardial progenitor cells, which later differentiate into cardiac fibroblasts. Consequently, prolonged il11a induction indirectly leads to persistent fibroblast emergence, resulting in cardiac fibrosis. While deciphering the regenerative and fibrotic effects of il11a, we found that il11-dependent fibrosis, but not regeneration, is mediated through ERK activity, suggesting to potentially uncouple il11a dual effects on regeneration and fibrosis. To harness the il11a’s regenerative ability, we devised a combinatorial treatment through il11a induction with ERK inhibition. This approach enhances cardiomyocyte proliferation with mitigated fibrosis, achieving a balance between regenerative processes and fibrosis. Thus, we unveil the mechanistic insights into regenerative il11 roles, offering therapeutic avenues to foster cardiac repair without exacerbating fibrosis.
Comparison of measurements obtained with TOF-Cuff placed on the arm and the TOF-Scan on the adductor pollicis muscle during general anaesthesia using mivacurium: a prospective observational clinical trial
Authors: Radkowski Paweł , Ruść Jakub , Kęska Mariusz 
Published: November 2024

AbstractAdequate neuromuscular monitoring of patients is essential to verify complete recovery of neuromuscular function before tracheal extubation. This study aimed to assess the correlation between the values acquired from the brachialis muscle using TOF-Cuff and those obtained from the adductor pollicis muscle with TOF-Scan during anaesthesia with mivacurium. Twenty-five patients were enrolled in the observational clinical trial, with the TOF-Cuff positioned on the upper arm and the TOF-Scan on the thumb. Train-of-four (TOF) values were simultaneously recorded by both devices at 30-second intervals before intubation. Subsequently, measurements were taken every 5 min until the removal of the endotracheal tube. Bland-Altman analyses were conducted to compare assessed endpoints obtained by using the TOF-Cuff and the TOF-Scan. The median onset time measured with TOF-Cuff was numerically longer compared to the TOF-Scan score (120 s vs. 90 s, P = 0.42). Spearman rank correlation revealed a significant positive correlation between onset times measured by TOF-Cuff and TOF-Scan (R = 0.73, P = 0.0001, 95% CI 0.446 to 0.875). For the time to recovery assessed with both methods, Spearman correlation coefficient was R = 0.35 and did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.1). Multiplying the time to recovery from the last dose (according to TOF-Scan) by 0.43 to 2.66, provided concordance with the TOF-Cuff result for the entire range of study group. Conclusion. The concordance between the TOF-Scan on the adductor pollicis and the TOF-Cuff on the upper limb was found to be good. However, both devices showed a false-negative result in patients with clinical symptoms of preterm recovery.
Deep learning for 3D vascular segmentation in hierarchical phase contrast tomography: a case study on kidney
Authors: Yagis Ekin , Aslani Shahab , Jain Yashvardhan , Zhou Yang , Rahmani Shahrokh , Brunet Joseph , Bellier Alexandre , Werlein Christopher , Ackermann Maximilian , Jonigk Danny , Tafforeau Paul , Lee Peter D. , Walsh Claire L. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractAutomated blood vessel segmentation is critical for biomedical image analysis, as vessel morphology changes are associated with numerous pathologies. Still, precise segmentation is difficult due to the complexity of vascular structures, anatomical variations across patients, the scarcity of annotated public datasets, and the quality of images. Our goal is to provide a foundation on the topic and identify a robust baseline model for application to vascular segmentation using a new imaging modality, Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography (HiP-CT). We begin with an extensive review of current machine-learning approaches for vascular segmentation across various organs. Our work introduces a meticulously curated training dataset, verified by double annotators, consisting of vascular data from three kidneys imaged using HiP-CT as part of the Human Organ Atlas Project. HiP-CT pioneered at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in 2020, revolutionizes 3D organ imaging by offering a resolution of around 20 μm/voxel and enabling highly detailed localised zooms up to 1–2 μm/voxel without physical sectioning. We leverage the nnU-Net framework to evaluate model performance on this high-resolution dataset, using both known and novel samples, and implementing metrics tailored for vascular structures. Our comprehensive review and empirical analysis on HiP-CT data sets a new standard for evaluating machine learning models in high-resolution organ imaging. Our three experiments yielded Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) scores of 0.9523, 0.9410, and 0.8585, respectively. Nevertheless, DSC primarily assesses voxel-to-voxel concordance, overlooking several crucial characteristics of the vessels and should not be the sole metric for deciding the performance of vascular segmentation. Our results show that while segmentations yielded reasonably high scores-such as centerline DSC ranging from 0.82 to 0.88, certain errors persisted. Specifically, large vessels that collapsed due to the lack of hydrostatic pressure (HiP-CT is an ex vivo technique) were segmented poorly. Moreover, decreased connectivity in finer vessels and higher segmentation errors at vessel boundaries were observed. Such errors, particularly in significant vessels, obstruct the understanding of the structures by interrupting vascular tree connectivity. Our study establishes the benchmark across various evaluation metrics, for vascular segmentation of HiP-CT imaging data, an imaging technology that has the potential to substantively shift our understanding of human vascular networks.
Generation of two mode mechanical squeezing induced by nondegenerate parametric amplification
Authors: Wodedo Muhdin Abdo , Tesfahannes Tesfay Gebremariam , Darge Tewodros Yirgashewa , Bedore Mulgeta Taddese , Kumela Alemayehu Getahun , Adera Gashaw Bekele 
Published: November 2024

AbstractSqueezing light in an optomechanical system involves reducing quantum noise in one of the light’s quadratures through the interaction between optical and mechanical modes. However, achieving successful implementation requires careful control of experimental parameters, which can be challenging. Here, we investigate a two-mode squeezed light transfer from optical to mechanical modes induced by a non-degenerate optical parametric amplifier (OPA). The optomechanical system is driven by frequencies nearly resonant with the anti-stokes fields that can realize cooling mechanical oscillators and quantum state transfer within a resolved sideband (good cavity) limit. Our results show that when a non-degenerate OPA is placed inside the optical cavity, the degree of squeezing in both optical and mechanical modes is significantly enhanced. This leads to the two-mode squeezed light being transferred into two-mode mechanical squeezing in the presence of the non-degenerate OPA under weak optomechanical coupling strength. Interestingly, we found that with negligible thermal bath noise, the two-mode squeezed light completely transferred to yield 50% mirror-mirror squeezing. In contrast, at higher thermal noise, the transfer of squeezed light is weak, causing the system to lose its quantum properties and behave more classically. Furthermore, we have shown that the degree of squeezing in the weak coupling regime drastically decreases with increasing mechanical dissipation rates. We believe that our scheme can achieve strong mechanical squeezing in hybrid optomechanical systems and facilitate homodyne detection to measure the quadratures of the squeezed light.
Sugar beet root susceptibility to storage rots and downregulation of plant defense genes increases with time in storage
Authors: Kandel Shyam L. , Eide John D. , Firrincieli Andrea , Finger Fernando L. , Lafta Abbas M. , Fugate Karen K. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractStorage rots are a significant cause of postharvest losses for the sugar beet crop, however, intrinsic physiological and genetic factors that determine the susceptibility of roots to pathogen infection and disease development are unknown. Research, therefore, was carried out to evaluate the disease development in sugar beet roots caused by two common storage pathogens as a function of storage duration and storage temperature, and to identify changes in the expression of defense genes that may be influencing the root susceptibility to disease. To evaluate root susceptibility to disease, freshly harvested roots were inoculated with Botrytis cinerea or Penicillium vulpinum on the day of harvest or after 12, 40, or 120 d storage at 5 or 12 °C and the weight of rotted tissue present in the roots after incubation for 35 d after inoculation were determined. Disease susceptibility and progression to B. cinerea and P. vulpinum increased with storage duration with elevations in susceptibility occurring more rapidly to B. cinerea than P. vulpinum. Also, B. cinerea was more aggressive than P. vulpinum and caused greater rotting and tissue damage in postharvest sugar beet roots. Storage temperature had minimal effect on root susceptibility to these rot-causing pathogens. Changes in defense gene expression were determined by sequencing mRNA isolated from uninoculated roots that were similarly stored for 12, 40 or 120 d at 5 or 12 °C. As susceptibility to rot increased during storage, concurrent changes in defense-related gene expression were identified, including the differential expression of 425 pathogen receptor and 275 phytohormone signal transduction pathway-related genes. Furthermore, plant resistance and hormonal signaling genes that were significantly altered in expression coincident with the change in root susceptibility to storage rots were identified. Further investigation into the function of these genes may ultimately elucidate methods by which storage rot resistance in sugar beet roots may be improved in the future.