bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Tracking RNA with light: selection, structure, and design of fluorescence turn-on RNA aptamers
Authors: Trachman Robert J. , Ferré-D'Amaré Adrian R. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractFluorescence turn-on aptamers,in vitroevolved RNA molecules that bind conditional fluorophores and activate their fluorescence, have emerged as RNA counterparts of the fluorescent proteins. Turn-on aptamers have been selected to bind diverse fluorophores, and they achieve varying degrees of specificity and affinity. These RNA–fluorophore complexes, many of which exceed the brightness of green fluorescent protein and their variants, can be used as tags for visualizing RNA localization and transport in live cells. Structure determination of several fluorescent RNAs revealed that they have diverse, unrelated overall architectures. As most of these RNAs activate the fluorescence of their ligands by restraining their photoexcited states into a planar conformation, their fluorophore binding sites have in common a planar arrangement of several nucleobases, most commonly a G-quartet. Nonetheless, each turn-on aptamer has developed idiosyncratic structural solutions to achieve specificity and efficient fluorescence turn-on. The combined structural diversity of fluorophores and turn-on RNA aptamers has already produced combinations that cover the visual spectrum. Further molecular evolution and structure-guided engineering is likely to produce fluorescent tags custom-tailored to specific applications.
The Impact of Cohousing on Older Adults’ Quality of Life
Authors: Puplampu Vivian , Matthews Elise , Puplampu Gideon , Gross Murray , Pathak Sushila , Peters Sarah 
Published: August 2019

ABSTRACTThe global population including Canada’s is aging, which demands planning for housing that will support older adults’ quality of life. This mixed-method study is the first Canadian study to examine the impact of cohousing on older adults’ quality of life and involved 23 participants. The older adults rated their quality of life very high, especially in the environmental, physical, and psychological domains of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL_BREF) survey; quality of life in the social domain was rated low, which was surprising in light of the focus group data findings. Four themes of “belonging in a community”, “life in the community”, “changes associated with aging,” and “aging in place” emerged from the qualitative data to explain factors that influence older adults’ quality of life. This research provides foundational, strong evidence that seniors’ cohousing is an innovative housing solution that can support older adults’ quality of life.
Parent and facilitator experiences of an intensive parent and infant programme delivered in routine community settings
Authors: Leckey Yvonne , Hickey Gráinne , Stokes Ann , McGilloway Sinéad 
Published: August 2019

AbstractAim:The aims of this study were to (1) assess the initial experiences of parenthood amongst mainly disadvantaged mothers; (2) explore their views on the extent to which they felt they had benefitted (or not) from participating in a newly developed, intensive mother and baby support programme in the community; and (3) explore the perspectives of those who delivered the programme (i.e., facilitators), most of whom were Public Health Nurses (PHNs).Background:Positive parent–child interactions and appropriate levels of infant stimulation are essential to promoting a child’s well-being and laying a foundation in the early years for positive developmental outcomes. It is important, therefore, to examine participants’ experiences of community-based, family-focused, early prevention and intervention programmes.Methods:This study was undertaken as part of a larger evaluation of a newly developed parent and infant (PIN) programme which was delivered in two disadvantaged areas in Ireland. One-to-one interviews were conducted with both mothers (n= 22) and facilitators (n= 8) (including three PHNs) plus six focus groups with an additional sub-group of facilitators (n= 17).Findings:The collective findings suggest that mothers found the programme helpful in promoting a greater understanding of their infants’ behaviour and needs, and in alleviating stress and concerns associated with motherhood. Mothers described feeling more knowledgeable about the importance of regular and appropriate infant interaction to encourage learning and development. Facilitators, specifically PHNs, also reported a greater awareness of the value of infant socioemotional development for their clinical practice and observed greater positive communication between mothers and infants.Conclusion:These findings suggest that a community-based, intensive mother and baby programme can help to promote parental competence and enhance infant learning and development. Additional benefits in terms of early intervention and positive changes to public health nursing practice are also discussed.
The GATS and Financial Regulation: Time to Clear-House?
Authors: Papaconstantinou George A. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractIn the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, European Union regulators introduced the mechanism of ‘third-country equivalence’ for non-European financial institutions to access the EU internal market. This article evaluates for the first time the GATS-consistency of the European rules on third-country clearinghouses. Through this exercise, the article sheds light on the tension between financial regulation and WTO law, exploring how these two different disciplines can be reconciled. Building on the international economic law principles of non-discrimination and transparency, the analysis reveals that the European financial regulation could negatively impact the access of smaller countries to the EU market. The regulation in question is assessed under the GATS Article VI (Domestic Regulation), Article II (MFN), Article VII (Recognition), and the Annex on Financial Services prudential carve-out. The findings of the European case study indicate that the vast flexibility that trade law has delegated to national regulators possibly has adverse effects on the liberalization of financial services. The article concludes that if WTO Members do not derogate from their GATS obligations and commitments, the stability of the financial system would not be jeopardized, while the prospect of international integration would be increased.
The Adverse Effects of Technological Innovation under WTO Subsidy Rules
Authors: Kennedy Matthew 
Published: August 2019

AbstractThe WTO concluded in 2012 that subsidized aeronautical research and development (R&D) gave Boeing a head start in product development that caused serious prejudice to the interests of Airbus but later, in 2019, it could not decide how long that head start had lasted. Meanwhile, the WTO concluded in 2018 that launch aid for Airbus aircraft led to innovations that also improved later aircraft models, thereby contributing to serious prejudice to the interests of Boeing. Both conclusions relied on a causation analysis that considered the effects of technological innovation, which makes subsidies used for R&D particularly vulnerable to challenge. This novel analysis may be too broad for the actionable subsidy disciplines of the SCM Agreement.
Quantification of Surface Forcing Requirements for a Greenland Ice Sheet Model Using Uncertainty Analyses
Authors: Schlegel Nicole‐Jeanne , Larour Eric Y. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractThe Greenland Ice Sheet is a substantial reservoir of almost 7 m of sea level equivalent, and on average, climate dictates 60% of its sea level contribution. Changes in ice discharge, driven by perturbations in outlet glacier ice dynamics, constitute the rest. Climate also affects ice discharge, since the flow of interior ice feeding the outlet glaciers evolves in response to surface changes over time. Here, using an ice sheet model and uncertainty quantification, we explore ice flow sensitivity to climate‐driven changes in ice surface topography on multidecadal timescales. We find that changes in surface forcing near large outlet glaciers can influence region‐wide ice flow. Improvements to climate products should be prioritized in these areas, especially in the Central West and Southeast. Results also suggest that over most of Greenland, surface forcing should be supplied at a spatial resolution of 21 km or finer to accurately simulate ice response to climate change.
First Measurements of Surface Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Signals in a Grounded Bipole
Authors: Davis A. C. , Skibbe N. , Müller‐Petke M. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractSurface nuclear magnetic resonance (surface NMR) soundings are geophysical techniques that offer direct detection of groundwater. Ordinary surface NMR soundings are achieved with a wire loop that acts as both transmitter and receiver. We extend the capability of the technique by using a grounded electrical bipole as the measurement sensor. We provide the first successful measurements of surface NMR signals taken with a grounded electrode pair on a beach outside Perth, Western Australia. Simple changes to existing equations are sufficient to provide forward models for the changes in measurement technique, and the resulting groundwater models are consistent with coincident loop soundings. Our result opens the field for novel sounding techniques of surface NMR signals that could have broad impact on near‐surface groundwater investigations.
Low Latitude Ionospheric TEC Oscillations Associated With Periodic Changes in IMF Bz Polarity
Authors: Li Guozhu , Ning Baiqi , Zhao Xiukuan , Sun Wenjie , Hu Lianhuan , Xie Haiyong , Liu Kangkang , Ajith K. K. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractAn Ionospheric Observation Network for Irregularity and Scintillation in East/Southeast Asia was recently deployed. Using ionospheric total electron content (TEC) from the two crossed Beidou geostationary satellite receiver chains of the network along 110°E and 23°N and Doppler velocity measurements from the Sanya (18.3°N, 109.6°E) portable digital ionosonde, we report first observations of low latitude TEC oscillations synchronized over a wide longitude range in East/Southeast Asia, which occur at nighttime, after the main phase of the geomagnetic storm on 20 April 2018. A comparison among TEC and Doppler velocity and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz component shows that the periodic TEC enhancements correlate withFregion downward plasma drifts and IMF Bz southward turnings. The results suggest that the quasiperiodic southward turnings of IMF Bz could produce multiple short‐lived westward prompt penetration electric fields, which contribute to driving the nighttime low latitude TEC oscillations simultaneously over the wide longitude range.
Ecosystem Metabolism and Carbon Balance in Chesapeake Bay: A 30‐Year Analysis Using a Coupled Hydrodynamic‐Biogeochemical Model
Authors: Shen Chunqi , Testa Jeremy M. , Ni Wenfei , Cai Wei‐Jun , Li Ming , Kemp W. Michael 
Published: August 2019

AbstractThe carbon cycle in estuarine environments is difficult to quantify because of substantial spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the sources, exchanges, and fates of carbon. We overcame these challenges with a multidecade numerical modeling analysis of seasonal, interannual, and decadal variability in net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) and associated carbon fluxes in Chesapeake Bay. Interannual variability in NEM along the estuarine axis indicated a clear spatial dependency of NEM on riverine discharge, with elevated flows causing increasing upper bay heterotrophy and increasing lower bay autotrophy during wet years. Our 30‐year simulation suggested the Chesapeake Bay is somewhat unique among estuaries in its tendency toward net autotrophy as a consequence of its extremely high nutrient to organic matter input ratio and large size. Budgets of three different carbon pools revealed that the entire Chesapeake Bay is a CO2 source to the atmosphere and organic carbon source to the open shelf, providing quantitative export estimates for interpretation of anthropogenic perturbations to the regional carbon flux.
Shape-memory effects in molecular crystals
Authors: Ahmed Ejaz , Karothu Durga Prasad , Warren Mark , Naumov Panče 
Published: August 2019

AbstractMolecular crystals can be bent elastically by expansion or plastically by delamination into slabs that glide along slip planes. Here we report that upon bending, terephthalic acid crystals can undergo a mechanically induced phase transition without delamination and their overall crystal integrity is retained. Such plastically bent crystals act as bimorphs and their phase uniformity can be recovered thermally by taking the crystal over the phase transition temperature. This recovers the original straight shape and the crystal can be bent by a reverse thermal treatment, resulting in shape memory effects akin of those observed with some metal alloys and polymers. We anticipate that similar memory and restorative effects are common for other molecular crystals having metastable polymorphs. The results demonstrate the advantage of using intermolecular interactions to accomplish mechanically adaptive properties with organic solids that bridge the gap between mesophasic and inorganic materials in the materials property space.
Compartmentalization-induced phosphorescent emission enhancement and triplet energy transfer in aqueous medium
Authors: Li Zijian , Han Yifei , Wang Feng 
Published: August 2019

AbstractTriplet energy transfer occurs frequently in natural photosynthetic organisms to protect against photo-oxidative stress. For artificial light-harvesting systems, several challenges need to be addressed to realize triplet energy transfer especially in aqueous medium. Specifically, the phosphors should be shielded from water and molecular oxygen, which facilitate to maintain intense emission intensity. Moreover, the donor‒acceptor phosphors should be organized in close proximity, yet simultaneously avoiding direct homo- and hetero-interactions to minimize the potential energy losses. Herein an effective strategy has been developed to meet these requirements, by employing a rod−coil amphiphile as the compartmentalized agent. It renders synergistic rigidifying and hydrophobic shielding effects, giving rise to enhanced phosphorescent emission of the platinum(II) complexes in aqueous environment. More importantly, the donor‒acceptor platinum(II) phosphors feature ordered spatial organization in the ternary co-assembled system, resulting in high light-harvesting efficiency. Therefore, the compartmentalization strategy represents an efficient approach toward color-tunable phosphorescent nanomaterials.
Planning for sustainable cities by estimating building occupancy with mobile phones
Authors: Barbour Edward , Davila Carlos Cerezo , Gupta Siddharth , Reinhart Christoph , Kaur Jasleen , González Marta C. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractAccurate occupancy is crucial for planning for sustainable buildings. Using massive, passively-collected mobile phone data, we introduce a novel framework to estimate building occupancy at unprecedented scale. We show that, at urban-scale, occupancy differs widely from current estimates based on building types. For commercial buildings, we find typical occupancy rates are 5 times lower than current assumptions imply, while for residential buildings occupancy rates vary widely by neighborhood. Our mobile phone based occupancy estimates are integrated with a state-of-the-art urban building energy model to understand their impact on energy use predictions. Depending on the assumed relationship between occupancy and internal building loads, we find energy consumption which differs by +1% to −15% for residential buildings and by −4% to −21% for commercial buildings, compared to standard methods. This highlights a need for new occupancy-to-load models which can be applied at urban-scale to the diverse set of city building types.
Vapor-deposited zeolitic imidazolate frameworks as gap-filling ultra-low-k dielectrics
Authors: Krishtab Mikhail , Stassen Ivo , Stassin Timothée , Cruz Alexander John , Okudur Oguzhan Orkut , Armini Silvia , Wilson Chris , De Gendt Stefan , Ameloot Rob 
Published: August 2019

AbstractThe performance of modern chips is strongly related to the multi-layer interconnect structure that interfaces the semiconductor layer with the outside world. The resulting demand to continuously reduce the k-value of the dielectric in these interconnects creates multiple integration challenges and encourages the search for novel materials. Here we report a strategy for the integration of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as gap-filling low-k dielectrics in advanced on-chip interconnects. The method relies on the selective conversion of purpose-grown or native metal-oxide films on the metal interconnect lines into MOFs by exposure to organic linker vapor. The proposed strategy is validated for thin films of the zeolitic imidazolate frameworks ZIF-8 and ZIF-67, formed in 2-methylimidazole vapor from ALD ZnO and native CoOx, respectively. Both materials show a Young’s modulus and dielectric constant comparable to state-of-the-art porous organosilica dielectrics. Moreover, the fast nucleation and volume expansion accompanying the oxide-to-MOF conversion enable uniform growth and gap-filling of narrow trenches, as demonstrated for 45 nm half-pitch fork-fork capacitors.
A combined variational and diagrammatic quantum Monte Carlo approach to the many-electron problem
Authors: Chen Kun , Haule Kristjan 
Published: August 2019

AbstractTwo of the most influential ideas developed by Richard Feynman are the Feynman diagram technique and his variational approach. Here we show that combining both, and introducing a diagrammatic quantum Monte Carlo method, results in a powerful and accurate solver to the generic solid state problem, in which a macroscopic number of electrons interact by the long range Coulomb repulsion. We apply it to the quintessential problem of solid state, the uniform electron gas, which is at the heart of the density functional theory success in describing real materials, yet it has not been adequately solved for over 90 years. Our method allows us to calculate numerically exact momentum and frequency resolved spin and charge response functions. This method can be applied to a number of moderately interacting electron systems, including models of realistic metallic and semiconducting solids.
Direct observation of a uniaxial stress-driven Lifshitz transition in Sr2RuO4
Authors: Sunko Veronika , Abarca Morales Edgar , Marković Igor , Barber Mark E. , Milosavljević Dijana , Mazzola Federico , Sokolov Dmitry A. , Kikugawa Naoki , Cacho Cephise , Dudin Pavel , Rosner Helge , Hicks Clifford W. , King Philip D. C. , Mackenzie Andrew P. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractPressure represents a clean tuning parameter for traversing the complex phase diagrams of interacting electron systems, and as such has proved of key importance in the study of quantum materials. Application of controlled uniaxial pressure has recently been shown to more than double the transition temperature of the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4, leading to a pronounced peak in Tc versus strain whose origin is still under active debate. Here we develop a simple and compact method to passively apply large uniaxial pressures in restricted sample environments, and utilise this to study the evolution of the electronic structure of Sr2RuO4 using angle-resolved photoemission. We directly visualise how uniaxial stress drives a Lifshitz transition of the γ-band Fermi surface, pointing to the key role of strain-tuning its associated van Hove singularity to the Fermi level in mediating the peak in Tc. Our measurements provide stringent constraints for theoretical models of the strain-tuned electronic structure evolution of Sr2RuO4. More generally, our experimental approach opens the door to future studies of strain-tuned phase transitions not only using photoemission but also other experimental techniques where large pressure cells or piezoelectric-based devices may be difficult to implement.
MRI-based 3D-printed surgical guides for breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy
Authors: Ko Beom Seok , Kim Namkug , Lee Jong Won , Kim Hee Jeong , Chung Il-Young , Kim Jisun , Lee Sae Byul , Son Byung Ho , Kim Hak Hee , Seo Joon Beom , Kim Sung-Bae , Gong Gyung-Yub , Kim Guk Bae , Lee Sangwook , Choi Seung Hyun , Ahn Sei Hyun 
Published: August 2019

AbstractMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most accurate technique for evaluating residual tumor after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. However, precise determination of the extent of dispersed residual tumor in the breast following treatment remains a difficult task. We hereby introduce three-dimensional (3D)-printed surgical guides for use in breast cancer patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery after receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. We prospectively applied the 3D-printed surgical guides on breast cancer patients who underwent partial breast resection after receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Breasts and tumors were modeled in 3D by using pretreatment magnetic resonance images, and surgical guides were created by using a 3D printer to mark the primary tumor. Out of the five patients who participated in the study, all patients had clear resection margins, and two patients experienced complete pathological remission. There were no recurrences during the median follow-up period of 21.9 months. Thus, our newly-developed 3D-printed surgical guides were useful for accurately marking the extent of breast tumor based on pretreatment magnetic resonance images, which is important for designating the extent of surgery needed in patients who have received neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Distribution of psychological distress is stable in recent decades and follows an exponential pattern in the US population
Authors: Tomitaka Shinichiro , Kawasaki Yohei , Ide Kazuki , Akutagawa Maiko , Ono Yutaka , Furukawa Toshi A. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractThe prevalence of psychological distress is fairly stable in industrialised countries in recent decades, but the reasons for this stability remain unknown. To investigate the mechanisms underlying stability of psychological distress in the general population of the United States, we analysed the mathematical patterns of the distribution of psychological distress in recent decades. The present study utilised the Kessler psychological distress scale (K6) data from the 1997‒2017 United States National Health Interview Survey. We used overlap coefficients and graphical analysis to investigate the stability and mathematical patterns of the K6 distribution. Overlap coefficients and graphical analysis demonstrated that the distribution of K6 total scores was stable in the United States over the past two decades. Furthermore, the distributions of K6 total scores exhibited an exponential pattern, with the exception of the lower end of the distribution. These findings suggest that the lack of change in the prevalence of psychological distress over several decades is due to the stability of psychological distress distribution itself. Furthermore, the stability of the distribution of psychological distress over time may be linked to the exponential pattern of psychological distress distribution.