bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Flower‐like Bismuth Oxide as an Efficient, Durable and Selective Electrocatalyst for Artificial N2 Fixation in Ambient Condition
Authors: Chang Bing , Liu Qin , Chen Ninghua , Yang Yingchun 
Published: February 2019

AbstractAmmonia is a basic industrial chemical, which is widely used in industry and agriculture. Traditional Haber–Bosch N2 fixation process is not environmentally friendly, which not only excessively consumes energy, but releases enormous amount of greenhouse gas. Electrochemical N2 reduction is an ideal alternative to N2 fixation, but it requires effective electrocatalyst for N2 reduction reaction (NRR). Herein, we develop a flower‐like β‐Bi2O3 catalyst for artificial N2 fixation with outstanding NRR performance and selectivity in ambient condition. This β‐Bi2O3 nanoflower shows an excellent NH3 yield of 19.92 μg h−1 mg−1cat. and Faradaic Efficiency of 4.3 % at −0.8 V in 0.1 M Na2SO4 solution, better than most reported NRR electrocatalysts. This electrocatalyst also exhibits superb electrochemical stability and durability.
Dimensionality Expansion of a Butterfly Shaped Pd4 Framework: Constructing Edge‐Sharing Pd6 Tetrahedra
Authors: Shimamoto Kento , Sunada Yusuke 
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe construction of well‐defined transition‐metal clusters has attracted substantial attention due to their unique chemical and/or physical properties. Metal clusters with 1D or 2D structures are now accessible by template‐synthesis methods, in which multiple metal atoms are arranged with the aid of template molecules and their 1D or 2D structures. However, the rational synthesis of 3D clusters remains challenging, mostly due to a lack of appropriate template molecules. Herein, we report the rational synthesis of a 2D butterfly shaped Pd4 framework (2) and 3D edge‐sharing Pd6 tetrahedra (5) by treatment of easily available organosilicon compounds with Pd(CNtBu)2. The diphenylsilylene moiety thereby serves as the key component to generate the butterfly structure of the Pd4 clusters in 2. A dimensionality expansion, induced by two Cl atoms, of two butterfly shaped Pd4 subunits supported by two diphenylsilylene moieties afforded the edge‐sharing tetrahedral architecture of the Pd6 cluster in 5.
Resin Swelling in Mixed Solvents Analysed using Hansen Solubility Parameter Space
Authors: Ran Yanrui , Byrne Fergal , Ingram Ian D. V. , North Michael 
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe swelling of resins (Merrifield and HypoGel 200) in mixtures of two solvents was generally found not to vary linearly with the relative amount of each solvent in the mixture. Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) space could be used to define high, medium and low swelling regions for each resin. The variation of resin swelling with binary solvent composition could then be explained based on the HSP parameters of the two solvents and the way in which the line connecting the points corresponding to the two pure solvents bisected the swelling region for the resin. The applicability of the methodology was demonstrated by showing that an appropriate mixture of two green solvents was more effective for solid‐phase peptide synthesis on Merrifield resin than use of either individual solvent and could completely replace the use of traditional polar aprotic and chlorinated solvents for this application. It was also shown that the high resin swelling area of Merrifield resin can be used to predict mixtures of green solvents that will dissolve linear, unfunctionalised polystyrene.
Iridium(I)‐Catalyzed C−H Borylation in Air by Using Mechanochemistry
Authors: Pang Yadong , Ishiyama Tatsuo , Kubota Koji , Ito Hajime 
Published: February 2019

AbstractMechanochemistry has been applied for the first time to an iridium(I)‐catalyzed C−H borylation reaction. By using either none or just a catalytic amount of a liquid, the mechanochemical C−H borylation of a series of heteroaromatic compounds proceeded in air to afford the corresponding arylboronates in good‐to‐excellent yields. A one‐pot mechanochemical C−H borylation/Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling sequence for the direct synthesis of 2‐aryl indole derivatives is also described. The present study constitutes an important milestone towards the development of industrially attractive solvent‐free C−H bond functionalization processes in air.
Differential expression of neurexin genes in the mouse brain
Authors: Uchigashima Motokazu , Cheung Amy , Suh Julie , Watanabe Masahiko , Futai Kensuke 
Published: February 2019

AbstractSynapses, highly specialized membrane junctions between neurons, connect presynaptic neurotransmitter release sites and postsynaptic ligand‐gated channels. Neurexins (Nrxns), a family of presynaptic adhesion molecules, have been characterized as major regulators of synapse development and function. Via their extracellular domains, Nrxns bind to different postsynaptic proteins, generating highly diverse functional readouts through their postsynaptic binding partners. Not surprisingly given these versatile protein interactions, mutations and deletions of Nrxn genes have been identified in patients with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and schizophrenia. Therefore, elucidating the expression profiles of Nrxns in the brain is of high significance. Here, using chromogenic and fluorescent in situ hybridization, we characterize the expression patterns of Nrxn isoforms throughout the brain. We found that each Nrxn isoform displays a unique expression profile in a region‐, cell type‐, and sensory system‐specific manner. Interestingly, we also found that αNrxn1 and αNrxn2 mRNAs are expressed in non‐neuronal cells, including astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Lastly, we found diverse expression patterns of genes that encode Nrxn binding proteins, such as Neuroligins (Nlgns), Leucine‐rich repeat transmembrane neuronal protein (Lrrtms) and Latrophilins (Adgrls), suggesting that Nrxn proteins can mediate numerous combinations of trans‐synaptic interactions. Together, our anatomical profiling of Nrxn gene expression reflects the diverse roles of Nrxn molecules.
Architecture for diverse modulation techniques in SDR
Authors: Savitha G. , Karthikeyan S. 
Published: February 2019

SummarySoftware defined radio (SDR) technology supports multiple air interfaces and modulation formats for wireless devices, which is vital when paralleled with the proliferation of wireless standards. To achieve such flexibility and functionality, SDR uses Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with reconfigurable fabric. In the proposed work, different modulation techniques available in SDR are presented. Design and implementation procedure on Xilinx FPGA are also discussed. The VHDL hardware description language is used for designing and implementing the various modulators. The Xilinx EDA tool is used to synthesize the proposed one. The reconfiguration of bits is used to select the various modulation techniques dynamically with the help of Xilinx software. This proposed design makes the implementation of SDR based modulators very simple and fast.
A Straightforward Route to Aromatic Excited States in Molecular Motors that Improves Photochemical Efficiency
Authors: Wang Jun , Oruganti Baswanth , Durbeej Bo 
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe many successful efforts to optimize the thermal steps that are part of the reaction cycles of most light‐driven rotary molecular motors have not been followed by studies providing a similarly detailed understanding of how the efficiency of the photochemical steps that actually power the motors can be improved. Against this background, we herein use computational methods to investigate the merits of an approach to increase the quantum yields of E/Z‐photoisomerization‐based motors by enabling one of their two moieties to become aromatic in the photoactive excited state. Through quantum chemical calculations, a straightforward route to excited states of this type is found for motors where one moiety can be transformed into an aromatic anion by an electron donor at the other moiety. Furthermore, through molecular dynamics simulations, motors operated in such excited states are indeed predicted to be much more efficient than similar motors operated in the absence of excited‐state aromaticity.
Image quantification technology of the heterochromatin and euchromatin region for differential diagnosis in the lobular endocervical glandular hyperplasia
Authors: Kimura Fumikazu , Kobayashi Takaki , Kanai Ryo , Kobayashi Yukihiro , Yuhi Ohtani , Ota Hiroyoshi , Yamaguchi Masahiro , Yokokawa Yoshiharu , Uehara Takeshi , Ishii Keiko 
Published: February 2019

BackgroundLobular endocervical glandular hyperplasia (LEGH) was first described by Nucci et al. in 1999 and is believed to be a precancerous lesion of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma and gastric‐type adenocarcinoma in the uterine cervix. LEGH lesions do not always exhibit apparent cellular and structural atypia, so are difficult to distinguish from normal endocervical cells (EC cells) with cytological examination. Therefore, we often struggle to make a definite diagnosis of LEGH.MethodsWe used microscopy images of cytological specimens that were diagnosed as EC cells and LEGH cells. Signal intensity in whole nuclear area and in heterochromatin and euchromatin regions, euchromatin area ratio, and nuclear morphological features were quantified in each cell nucleus of the cases. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine statistical significance. Finally, we performed linear support vector machine (LSVM) modeling as a discriminant analysis using the quantified features.ResultsSignal intensity in whole nuclear area, and heterochromatin and euchromatin regions of EC cell nuclei were higher than that of the LEGH cell nuclei. Morphologically, EC cell nuclei were larger than LEGH cell nuclei, and nuclei of LEGH cells had irregular nuclear respectively membrane structure and an elongated shape. The LSVM accuracy of 10‐fold cross validation and leave‐one‐case‐out cross‐validation (LOCOCV) using all measured features were 84.7% to 89.3% and 78.6% to 86.0%, respectively.ConclusionsThe LVSM analysis using features extracted from signal intensity and morphological analysis was useful for discrimination of EC cells vs LEGH cells. We therefore believe that this image analysis method could be used for early detection of LEGH.
Cytomorphological spectrum of scalp lesions in the population of a developing country: A retrospective study
Authors: Sharma Pooja , Pathak Priya , Goyal Aditi , Sharma Sonal 
Published: February 2019

BACKGROUNDScalp lesions are frequently encountered in clinical practice. Fine‐needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) can characterize most of these lesions; however, there is little published work on cytology of scalp lesions.METHODSRecords of all the patients subjected to FNAC from January 2011 to August 2016 were retrieved from the archives of the Cytopathology section of our Institute. Out of the 71 852 cases reviewed, 896 patients, who presented with palpable scalp lesions, were included in the study. Aspirates were obtained with a 23‐gauge needle attached to a 10 mL disposable plastic syringe. May–Grünwald–Giemsa stained and Pap stained slides were prepared. Special stains and immunocytochemical analysis were done when necessary.RESULTSOut of the 896 cases of aspirates from scalp lesions, 155 (17.2%) aspirates were found to be inadequate for diagnosis. One hundred and fifty‐seven (21%) out of 741 adequate aspirates showed features of inflammatory or reactive pathology comprising of abscesses (57), cystic lesions (24), tubercular lesions (16), and reactive lymphadenopathy (66). Four hundred and fifteen (56%) aspirates revealed a tumor‐like etiology comprising of epidermal cyst (395), sebaceous cyst (4), dermoid cyst (1), calcinosis (7), vascular malformation (7), hematoma (5), and juvenile xanthogranulomatous lesion (1). Tumorous lesions formed 22.3% of the aspirates. Of these, 7 cases (4.2%) were of metastases to the scalp.CONCLUSIONIn a developing country, FNAC is a useful and cost‐effective investigation for the diagnosis of a wide spectrum of scalp lesions. It allows rapid diagnosis and permits timely intervention thereby preventing complications due to delay in diagnosis.
Estimating effects of arable land use intensity on farmland birds using joint species modeling
Authors: Stjernman Martin , Sahlin Ullrika , Olsson Ola , Smith Henrik G. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractDeclines in European farmland birds over past decades have been attributed to the combined effects of agricultural intensification and abandonment. Consequently, aspirations to stop declines should focus attention on reversing these changes through voluntary or policy‐driven interventions. The design of such interventions should ideally be informed by scientific knowledge of which aspects of the transformation of agricultural landscapes have contributed to the farmland bird declines. Declines may be associated with loss of natural habitats or the intensification and homogenization of land use management on production land, and furthermore, these changes may interact. Here, we applied an orthogonal design exploiting spatial variation in land use in a major agricultural region of Sweden to seek evidence for benefits to farmland birds of reversing some of the intensifications on and among arable fields and whether effects are modified by the availability of seminatural habitats (pastures and field borders) in the landscape. We accounted for the potentially confounding effect of interactions between species by using a joint species distribution model explicitly controlling for additional variation and covariation among species. We found that interventions aimed specifically at land in production could provide benefits to farmland birds. Landscapes with a higher proportion leys or fallows and/or with a more diverse set of crops held higher abundances of most farmland birds. However, effects were only apparent in landscapes with low availability of seminatural habitats and were sometimes even negative in landscapes with high amounts of such habitats, demonstrating context dependence. Even if we found little evidence of interactions between species, the joint modeling approach provided several benefits. It allowed information to be shared between species making analyses robust to uncertainty due to low abundances and provided direct information about the mean and variability in effects of studied predictors among species. We also found that care needs to be taken regarding prior and distributional assumptions as the importance of species interactions might otherwise be overstated. We conclude that this approach is well suited for evaluating agricultural policies by providing evidence for or against certain interventions or to be linked to policy scenarios of land use change.
Variability of functional traits and their syndromes in a freshwater fish species (Phoxinus phoxinus): The role of adaptive and nonadaptive processes
Authors: Raffard Allan , Cucherousset Julien , Prunier Jérôme G. , Loot Géraldine , Santoul Frédéric , Blanchet Simon 
Published: February 2019

AbstractFunctional traits can covary to form “functional syndromes.” Describing and understanding functional syndromes is an important prerequisite for predicting the effects of organisms on ecosystem functioning. At the intraspecific level, functional syndromes have recently been described, but very little is known about their variability among populations and—if they vary—what the ecological and evolutionary drivers of this variation are. Here, we quantified and compared the variability in four functional traits (body mass, metabolic rate, excretion rate, and boldness), their covariations and the subsequent syndromes among thirteen populations of a common freshwater fish (the European minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus). We then tested whether functional traits and their covariations, as well as the subsequent syndromes, were underpinned by the phylogenetic relatedness among populations (historical effects) or the local environment (i.e., temperature and predation pressure), and whether adaptive (selection or plasticity) or nonadaptive (genetic drift) processes sustained among‐population variability. We found substantial among‐population variability in functional traits and trait covariations, and in the emerging syndromes. We further found that adaptive mechanisms (plasticity and/or selection) related to water temperature and predation pressure modulated the covariation between body mass and metabolic rate. Other trait covariations were more likely driven by genetic drift, suggesting that nonadaptive processes can also lead to substantial differences in trait covariations among populations. Overall, we concluded that functional syndromes are population‐specific, and that both adaptive and nonadaptive processes are shaping functional traits. Given the pivotal role of functional traits, differences in functional syndromes within species provide interesting perspectives regarding the role of intraspecific diversity for ecosystem functioning.
Wildlife mortality on roads and railways following highway mitigation
Authors: Gilhooly Patrick S. , Nielsen Scott E. , Whittington Jesse , St. Clair Colleen Cassady 
Published: February 2019

AbstractWildlife mortality caused by collisions with vehicles on roads is increasingly and effectively mitigated with exclusion fencing and crossing structures, but this solution potentially changes wildlife habitat use and distribution to increase the risk of mortality on adjacent, unmitigated railways. We investigated this potential side‐effect of mitigating the TransCanada Highway, which was completed in sections between 1983 and 2013, on the rate of wildlife mortality on the nearby transcontinental mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Banff National Park. For each transportation class (highway and railway), we calculated collision rate as the number of collisions per year and km for two guilds (carnivores and ungulates) before and after mitigation occurred between 1981 and 2014. We constructed additional models for each transportation class and each of four species groups with adequate sample sizes: elk (Cervus canadensis), other ungulates (family Cervidae), bears (Ursus spp.), and coyotes (Canis latrans). Across guilds, mortality rates declined after mitigation, particularly on the highway (as expected) and most strongly for ungulates. For individual species groups, mortality on the railway for elk was best predicted by year and population size, without the inclusion of mitigation status on the adjacent highway. However, collision rates on the railway increased after mitigation for other ungulates (mostly deer, Odocoileus spp.) while also increasing over time. Collision rates on the railway increased over time for bears, but not in relation to highway mitigation. We found no evidence that the spatial distribution of collisions on the railway changed after highway mitigation, as might be expected from a funneling effect of crossing structures. Our results support and extend previous work demonstrating that exclusion fencing and wildlife crossing structures reduce wildlife mortalities on the highway at this location, and provide limited evidence, for other ungulates alone, that such mitigation may increase mortality on the adjacent railway. Similar analyses are warranted in other locations, particularly mountainous regions, where major transportation features often occur in close proximity.
Community resistance to an invasive forest insect–fungus mutualism
Authors: Thompson Brian M. , Bodart Jake , Gruner Daniel S. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractAntagonistic species interactions may prevent introduced species from becoming invasive in novel geographic ranges. Within mutualisms, resistance to any partner can impact the mutualism as a whole. Larvae of the globally invasive Sirex woodwaspSirex noctilio(Hymenoptera: Siricidae) complete their development in the sapwood ofPinusspp. (Pinaceae) only in the presence of the fungus,Amylostereum areolatum(Basidiomycota). In the Southern Hemisphere wherePinusare introduced,Sirex noctiliois an outbreak invasive pest, but in North America wherePinusis indigenous it has not irrupted to economic levels 15+ yr since introduction. To test the biotic resistance hypothesis, we characterized the arthropod community attracted to and co‐infestingPinus resinosatrees at the geographic frontier of its introduced North American range, quantified antagonistic interactions observed within trees, and assayed competition of fungal species under laboratory conditions. A suite of potential natural enemies and competitors inhabitedSirex‐infestedP. resinosatrees. Trees experimentally exposed to ovipositingSirex noctiliofemales and to physical wounding attracted greater numbers of saprophagous beetles (Cerambycidae:Xylotrechus sagittatusand Curculionidae:Ips pini) and parasitoid wasps (Ichneumonidae:Ibalia leucospoides) compared to undamaged controls. Recruitment ofXylotrechusandIbaliawas positively related to numbers of oviposition scars left bySirexfemales. Within xylem tissue, abundantXylotrechuslarvae killed and consumed more than 10% ofSirexlarvae. This facultative intraguild predation was positively density‐dependent but nonlinear, with a unimodal peak at intermediateSirexdensity.Sirexdensity in xylem was weakly, negatively related toIpsbark beetle density, suggesting potential competition between fungal associates (Ascomycota:Ophiostoma ips) for sapwood resources. Benchtop experiments in natural and artificial media supported the hypothesis of competition betweenIpsandSirexfungal associates, with faster growth and competitive dominance of the bluestain fungus under most scenarios tested. Altogether, this study provides evidence for multiple mechanisms of biotic resistance, whereby a resident community reduces survival or performance of both an invasive insect and its fungal mutualist.
Coupled biosynthesis and esterification of 1,2,4‐butanetriol to simplify its separation from fermentation broth
Authors: Feng Xinjun , Gao Wenjie , Zhou Yifei , Zhao Zhiqiang , Liu Xiutao , Han Xiaojuan , Xian Mo , Zhao Guang 
Published: February 2019

Abstract1,2,4‐Butanetriol (BT) is a valuable chemical with versatile applications in many fields and can be produced through biosynthetic pathways. As a trihydric alcohol, BT possesses good water solubility and is very difficult to separate from fermentation broth, which does complicate the production process and increase the cost. To develop a novel method for BT separation, a biosynthetic pathway for 1,2,4‐butanetriol esters with poor water solubility was constructed. Wax ester synthase/acyl‐coenzyme A: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (Atf) from Acinetobacter baylyi, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and Escherichia coli were screened, and the acyltransferase from A. baylyi (AtfA) was found to have higher capability. The BT producing strain with AtfA overexpression produced 49.5 mg/L BT oleate in flask cultivation. Through enhancement of acyl‐CoA production by overexpression of the acyl‐CoA synthetase gene fadD and deleting the acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase gene fadE, the production was improved to 64.4 mg/L. Under fed‐batch fermentation, the resulting strain produced up to 1.1 g/L BT oleate. This is the first time showed that engineered E. coli strains can successfully produce BT esters from xylose and free fatty acids.