bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Voxel‐based superimposition of serial craniofacial CBCTs: Reliability, reproducibility and segmentation effect on hard‐tissue outcomes
Authors: Häner Simeon T. , Kanavakis Georgios , Matthey François , Gkantidis Nikolaos 
Published: September 2019

AbstractObjectivesTo test the reliability and reproducibility of a fast and user‐friendly voxel‐based 3D superimposition method and the effect of bone segmentation on its outcomes.Setting and sample populationThis prospective methodological study assessed 15 pairs of pre‐existing serial CBCT images (interval: 1.69 ± 0.37 years) obtained from growing patients (initial age: 11.75 ± 0.59 years).Materials and MethodsVolumes were superimposed on the anterior cranial base using Dolphin 3D software. Reliability was assessed visually, by inspecting the overlap of the superimposition reference structures. Reproducibility was tested with intra‐ and inter‐operator comparisons of superimposition outcomes.ResultsThe method presented good reliability in all cases. The median differences between intra‐ and inter‐operator comparisons at various tested areas ranged from 0.06 to 0.16 mm and from 0.15 to 0.24 mm, respectively. In few individual cases, differences exceeded 0.5 mm. There was no evidence that the error increased upon increase in the magnitude of the detected T0‐T1 changes. However, the superimposition error increased when the distance between the measurement area and the superimposition reference also increased. For a single image, the median error of bone surface segmentation ranged in different areas between 0.05 and 0.12 mm, with few exceptions where it slightly exceeded 0.25 mm.ConclusionsThe tested voxel‐based superimposition method presented good efficiency, cranial base matching and reproducibility in a growing patient sample. Segmentation error was considered minimal. The total error reached clinically relevant levels in very few cases. Thus, this technique is considered appropriate for clinical use, when 3D assessment of craniofacial changes is required.
miR‐155 promotes macrophage pyroptosis induced by Porphyromonas gingivalis through regulating the NLRP3 inflammasome
Authors: Li Chen , Yin Wanting , Yu Ning , Zhang Dongmei , Zhao Haijiao , Liu Jingbo , Liu Junchao , Pan Yaping , Lin Li 
Published: September 2019

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of this study is to detect pyroptosis in macrophages stimulated with Porphyromonas gingivalis and elucidate the mechanism by which P. gingivalis induces pyroptosis in macrophages.MethodsThe immortalized human monocyte cell line U937 was stimulated with P. gingivalis W83. Flow cytometry was carried out to detect pyroptosis in macrophages. The expression of miR‐155 was detected by real‐time PCR and inhibited using RNAi. Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) 1, cleaved GSDMD, caspase (CAS)‐1, caspase‐11, apoptosis‐associated speck‐like protein (ASC), and NOD‐like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) were detected by Western blotting, and IL‐1β and IL‐18 were detected by ELISA.ResultsThe rate of pyroptosis in macrophages and the expression of miR‐155 increased upon stimulation with P. gingivalis and pyroptosis rate decreased when miR‐155 was silenced. GSDMD‐NT, CAS‐11, CAS‐1, ASC, NLRP3, IL‐1β, and IL‐18 levels increased, but SOCS1 decreased in U937 cells after stimulated with P. gingivalis. These changes were weakened in P. gingivalis‐stimulated U937 macrophages transfected with lentiviruses carrying miR‐155 shRNA compared to those transfected with non‐targeting control sequence. However, there was no significant difference in ASC expression between P. gingivalis‐stimulated shCont and shMiR‐155 cells.ConclusionsPorphyromonas gingivalis promotes pyroptosis in macrophages during early infection. miR‐155 is involved in this process through regulating the NLRP3 inflammasome.
A putative AGO protein, OsAGO17, positively regulates grain size and grain weight through OsmiR397b in rice
Authors: Zhong Jun , He Weijie , Peng Zhu , Zhang Hui , Li Feng , Yao Jialing 
Published: September 2019

SummaryArgonaute (AGO) proteins and small RNAs (sRNAs) are core components of the RNA‐induced silencing complex (RISC). It has been reported that miRNAs regulate plant height and grain size in rice, but which AGO is involved in grain size regulation remains unclear. Here, we report that enhanced expression of OsAGO17, a putative AGO protein, could improve grain size and weight and promote stem development in rice. Cytological evidence showed that these effects are mainly caused by alteration of cell elongation. Expression analyses showed that OsAGO17 was highly expressed in young panicles and nodes, which was consistent with the expression pattern of OsmiR397b. SRNA sequencing, stem‐loop RT‐PCR and sRNA blotting showed that the expression of OsmiR397b was reduced in ago17 and enhanced in the OsAGO17 OE lines. Four OsmiR397b target laccase (LAC) genes showed complementary expression patterns with OsAGO17 and OsmiR397b. Combined with the results of immunoprecipitation (IP) analysis, we suggested that OsAGO17 formed an RISC with OsmiR397b and affected rice development by suppression of LAC expression. In conclusion, OsAGO17 might be a critical protein in the sRNA pathway and positively regulates grain size and weight in rice.
It's lonely at the bottom (too): The effects of experienced powerlessness on social closeness and disengagement
Authors: Foulk Trevor A. , De Pater Irene E. , Schaerer Michael , du Plessis Christilene , Lee Randy , Erez Amir 
Published: September 2019

AbstractAlthough “powerlessness” is a pervasive experience for employees, prior social power research has predominantly focused on consequences of “powerfulness.” This has led to contradictory predictions for how experienced powerlessness influences employees’ social perceptions and behaviors. To resolve this theoretical tension, we build on Social Distance Theory (Magee & Smith) to develop a theoretical model suggesting that experienced powerlessness reduces social closeness and subsequently causes social disengagement behaviors both at work (reduced helping and increased interaction avoidance) and at home (increased withdrawal). Our model also elucidates the processes that cause powerlessness to reduce social closeness, demonstrating that employees’ affiliation motive and their expectation of others’ interest in affiliating explain this relationship. We further propose that the effect of powerlessness on social closeness will be stronger for employees high (vs. low) in political skill because these employees are more attuned to workplace power dynamics. We find support for our model in an experience‐sampling field experiment and two experimental scenario studies. Our research clarifies the effects of powerlessness on social closeness and organizationally relevant downstream consequences, qualifies dominant assumptions that the powerless always behave in ways opposite those of the powerful, and demonstrates the importance of political skill as a moderator of power's effects.
Defender–Attacker Games with Asymmetric Player Utilities
Authors: Zhai Qingqing , Peng Rui , Zhuang Jun 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThe presence of strategic attackers has become an important factor in the security and protection of systems, especially since the 9/11/2001 attacks, and considerable efforts have been dedicated to its study. When defending against the strategic attacker, many existing studies assume that the attacker would seek to minimize the defender's utility, which implies that the defender and attacker have symmetric utilities. However, the attacker's objective is determined by its own valuation of the system and target of the attack, which is not necessarily consistent with the defender's utility. If the attacker unexpectedly targets a different utility, then the defense strategy might no longer be optimal. In particular, the defense strategy could be inferior if the attacker's utility is not known to the defender. This study considers a situation where the defender's utility is the system survivability and the attacker's utility is the expected number of destroyed elements in the system. We investigate possible attack strategies under these two different utilities and compare (a) the conservative defense strategy when the attack utility is unknown to the defender with (b) the optimal defense strategy when the attack utility is known to the defender. We show that the conservative protection strategy is still optimal under asymmetric utilities when the contest intensity is smaller than one.
Behavioral Determinants of Target Shifting and Deterrence in an Analog Cyber‐Attack Game
Authors: Kusumastuti Sarah A. , Blythe Jim , Rosoff Heather , John Richard S. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThis study examines how exploiting biases in probability judgment can enhance deterrence using a fixed allocation of defensive resources. We investigate attacker anchoring heuristics for conjunctive events with missing information to distort attacker estimates of success for targets with equal defensive resources. We designed and conducted a behavioral experiment functioning as an analog cyber attack with multiple targets requiring three stages of attack to successfully acquire a target. Each stage is associated with a probability of successfully attacking a layer of defense, reflecting the allocation of resources for each layer. There are four types of targets that have nearly equal likelihood of being successfully attacked, including one type with equally distributed success probabilities over every layer and three types with success probabilities that are concentrated to be lowest in the first, second, or third layer. Players are incentivized by a payoff system that offers a reward for successfully attacked targets and a penalty for failed attacks. We collected data from a total of 1,600 separate target selections from 80 players and discovered that the target type with the lowest probability of success on the first layer was least preferred among attackers, providing the greatest deterrent. Targets with equally distributed success probabilities across layers were the next least preferred among attackers, indicating greater deterrence for uniform‐layered defenses compared to defenses that are concentrated at the inner (second or third) levels. This finding is consistent with both attacker anchoring and ambiguity biases and an interpretation of failed attacks as near misses.
Using panel VAR to analyze international knowledge spillovers
Authors: Hovhannisyan Nune , Sedgley Norman 
Published: September 2019

AbstractTechnology diffusion often plays a critical role in models of trade and economic growth. Most existing empirical tests for international technology spillovers suggest some role for spillovers in explaining productivity growth. It has been relatively difficult, however, to identify separate roles for the direct and indirect channels of knowledge spillovers. The influence of these channels is often confounded owing to the focus on total‐factor productivity (TFP) and R&D spending within a cross‐section or panel data setting. This paper employs an alternative methodology to investigate the role of direct knowledge spillovers. Using citation‐weighted domestic patents, citation‐weighted foreign patents and value added for 14 U.S. manufacturing industries over the period 1977 to 2004 a panel VAR methodology is employed to investigate the dynamic role of direct and indirect knowledge spillovers. Evidence for the role of the direct knowledge spillovers channel is found—an increase in citation‐weighted patents abroad directly increases the measure of domestic citation‐weighted patents, after accounting for the influence of productivity/value added. The role of foreign innovative activity, however, is small relative to the role of U.S. innovative activity in explaining the dynamics of industry value added.
Within‐firm wage inequality and firm‐level exports
Authors: Georgiev Boris , Juul Henriksen Jonas 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThis paper analyzes changes in within‐firm inequality of hourly wages arising from export shocks to exporting firms in Denmark. We provide causal evidence that export demand shocks increase within‐firm inequality. Decomposing overall inequality into within and between components for occupational and educational groups, the results show that exports lead to a significant increase in within‐group wage inequality but do not affect the between‐group component. We develop a partial equilibrium model, featuring heterogeneous workers, which rationalizes these observations and shows how export demand shocks induce a complementarity effect, leading to increases in wage inequality within firms.
The impact of thin‐capitalization rules on the location of multinational firms’ foreign affiliates
Authors: Merlo Valeria , Riedel Nadine , Wamser Georg 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThis paper examines how restrictions on the tax deductibility of interest cost affect location choices of multinational corporations (MNCs). Many countries have introduced so‐called thin‐capitalization rules (TCRs) to prevent MNCs from shifting their tax base to countries with lower tax rates. As of 2012, in our sample of 172 countries, 61 countries have implemented a TCR. Using information on nearly all new foreign investments of German MNCs, we provide a number of new and interesting insights in how TCRs affect the decision of where to locate foreign entities. In particular, stricter TCRs are found to negatively affect location choices of MNCs. Our results include estimates of own‐ and cross‐elasticities of location choice and also novel results on the relative importance of tax base vs. tax rate effects. We finally provide estimates for different uncoordinated as well as coordinated policy scenarios.
A unique chromosome translocation disrupting ClWIP1 leads to gynoecy in watermelon
Authors: Zhang Jie , Guo Shaogui , Ji Gaojie , Zhao Hong , Sun Honghe , Ren Yi , Tian Shouwei , Li Maoying , Gong Guoyi , Zhang Haiying , Xu Yong 
Published: September 2019

SummaryTo understand sex determination in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), a spontaneous gynoecious watermelon mutant, XHBGM, was selected from the monoecious wild type XHB. Using map‐based cloning, resequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, a unique chromosome translocation between chromosome 2 and chromosome 3 was found in XHBGM. Based on the breakpoint location in chromosome 2, a putative C2H2 zinc finger transcription factor gene, ClWIP1 (gene ID Cla008537), an orthologue of the melon gynoecy gene CmWIP1, was disrupted. Using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR‐associated system 9 to edit ClWIP1, we obtained gynoecious watermelon lines. Functional studies showed that ClWIP1 is expressed specifically in carpel primordia and is related to the abortion of carpel primordia in early floral development. To identify the cellular and metabolic processes associated with ClWIP1, we compared the shoot apex transcriptomes of two gynoecious mutants and their corresponding wild types. Transcriptome analysis showed that differentially expressed genes related to the ethylene and cytokinin pathways were upregulated in the gynoecious mutants. This study explores the molecular mechanism of sex determination in watermelon and provides a theoretical and technical basis for breeding elite gynoecious watermelon lines.
Genetic basis of kernel nutritional traits during maize domestication and improvement
Authors: Fang Hui , Fu Xiuyi , Wang Yuebin , Xu Jing , Feng Haiying , Li Weiya , Xu Jieting , Jittham Orawan , Zhang Xuan , Zhang Lili , Yang Ning , Xu Gen , Wang Min , Li Xiaowei , Li Jiansheng , Yan Jianbing , Yang Xiaohong 
Published: September 2019

SummaryThe nutritional traits of maize kernels are important for human and animal nutrition, and these traits have undergone selection to meet the diverse nutritional needs of humans. However, our knowledge of the genetic basis of selecting for kernel nutritional traits is limited. Here, we identified both single and epistatic quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that contributed to the differences of oil and carotenoid traits between maize and teosinte. Over half of teosinte alleles of single QTLs increased the values of the detected oil and carotenoid traits. Based on the pleiotropism or linkage information of the identified single QTLs, we constructed a trait–locus network to help clarify the genetic basis of correlations among oil and carotenoid traits. Furthermore, the selection features and evolutionary trajectories of the genes or loci underlying variations in oil and carotenoid traits revealed that these nutritional traits produced diverse selection events during maize domestication and improvement. To illustrate more, a mutator distance–relative transposable element (TE) in intron 1 of DXS2, which encoded a rate‐limiting enzyme in the methylerythritol phosphate pathway, was identified to increase carotenoid biosynthesis by enhancing DXS2 expression. This TE occurs in the grass teosinte, and has been found to have undergone selection during maize domestication and improvement, and is almost fixed in yellow maize. Our findings not only provide important insights into evolutionary changes in nutritional traits, but also highlight the feasibility of reintroducing back into commercial agricultural germplasm those nutritionally important genes hidden in wild relatives.
Condensation Droplet Distribution Regulated by Electrowetting
Authors: Yan Run , Chen Chung-Lung 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
This paper presents a visualization of condensation droplet distribution affected by the electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) approach. A single-side double-layer-electrode design (grid wire, thin wire, and thick wire) and coplanar-electrode design (zigzag) are discussed. Side-by-side experiments with applied 40 V DC electric potential are carried out to compare droplet distribution between identically designed charged and uncharged devices. The uncharged devices show a random droplet distribution, whereas charged devices have a regulated distribution based on the designed patterns. As droplets on the electrode boundaries become larger, they are likely to slide away and stay in electrode-free regions. The droplets “sit” inside the grid wires and distribute vertically along thin and thick wires. On the coplanar-electrode zigzag device, droplets are distributed vertically. The charged surfaces lead to a faster droplet growth rate and more dispersed droplet distribution. This phenomenon accelerates the shedding frequency of the droplets and frees up more areas for small droplets to nucleate and grow. The first shedding moment of the charged surfaces occurs earlier than the uncharged ones for all types of EWOD devices. The detected droplet shedding diameter ranges from 1.2 mm to 2.5 mm in this study. The number of large droplets is found greater on the charged devices compared with the uncharged devices and theoretical model. The work presented in this paper introduces a novel approach to actively influence droplet distribution on microfabricated condensing surfaces and indicates great potential for improving the condensation heat transfer rate via EWOD.
Combined Exercise Modulates Cortisol, Testosterone, and Immunoglobulin A Levels in Individuals Living With HIV/AIDS
Authors: Melo Bruno P. , Guariglia Débora A. , Pedro Rafael E. , Bertolini Dennis A. , de Paula Ramos Solange , Peres Sidney B. , Franzói de Moraes Solange M. 
Published: September 2019

Background: Combined exercise (CE) has been recommended for individuals living with HIV/AIDS (ILWHA) under antiretroviral therapy. However, depending on the intensity and duration, physical exercise may occasionally increase inflammatory parameters and reduce immunological responses that if not reversed, cause health injury specifically in this population. Information about immunological and hormonal responses after CE in ILWHA has not been completely elucidated. Therefore, the aim is to verify the acute effects of CE on cortisol, testosterone, immunoglobulin A, and pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines over 24 hours in ILWHA.Methods: Noninfected individuals and ILWHA undergone 5 sessions of CE prior to the acute assessment session. Seventy-two hours after the last session, the subjects were submitted to one session of CE (aerobic exercise: 25 min at 60–70% reserve heart rate and resistance exercise: 3 sets of 15 maximum repetitions of 6 exercises). Saliva samples were collected before, immediately, 6 and 24 hours after CE.Results: CE reduced cortisol (6 h: 2.54 [0.58] vs 0.65 [0.22] pg·mL−1;P = .02), increased testosterone (all moments) and immunoglobulin A levels (24 h: 255.3 [44.7] vs 349.2 [41.9] μm·mL−1;P = .01) without significant difference in cytokines levels in ILWHA.Conclusion: CE modulates cortisol, testosterone, and immunoglobulin A levels without the change in immunological parameters in ILWHA.
Fabrics, geothermometry, and geochronology of the Songshugou ophiolite: Insights into the tectonic evolution of the Shangdan suture, Qinling orogen, China
Authors: Sun Shengsi , Dong Yunpeng , Liu Xiaoming , He Dengfeng , Cheng Chao 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThe Songshugou ophiolite, located in the northern Qinling belt, consists mainly of metamorphosed mafic and ultramafic rocks recording details of deformation and metamorphism that occurred during subduction, accretion, and collision along the Shangdan suture in the Qinling orogenic belt. Electron backscatter diffraction measurements revealed that the harzburgites are dominated by olivine C-type crystal preferred orientations (CPOs), which were possibly induced by high pressure during slab subduction. Olivine A-type CPOs were also observed in some harzburgites, representing the remnants of the original fabric in oceanic mantle rocks formed in the spreading center of the Shangdan ocean. Coarse-grained dunites are characterized by B-type CPOs, which may have been caused by melt-rock reactions and/or high water contents in a suprasubduction-zone setting during exhumation. Fine-grained dunites are also dominated by B-type CPOs, suggesting that grain-size reduction related to mylonitization did not result in fabric variations. Combined with the mineral assemblages, application of geothermometry suggested that the Songshugou ophiolite has experienced metamorphism and deformation under amphibolite-facies conditions. Zircons from garnet-bearing amphibole schist are characterized by flat heavy rare earth element (HREE) patterns and low Th/U ratios and yielded a mass spectrometry U-Pb age of 500.5 ± 8.8 Ma, representing the peak metamorphic age of the metamafic rocks. Other zircons displayed relative HREE enrichment and a clearly negative Eu anomaly and gave an age of 492.5 ± 3.0 Ma, constraining the time of the exhumation of the ophiolite. Integrated with all the available regional geology, our new fabric, geochemical, and geochronological data suggest that the tectonic evolution of the Songshugou ophiolite can be proximately constrained as subduction at ca. 500 Ma and exhumation at ca. 492 Ma.