bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What can kinematics tell us about the affective states of animals?
Authors: Guesgen MJ , Bench CJ 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAn animal's welfare state is intrinsically linked to its affective state. Evidence suggests that sentient, conscious animals can experience a range of affective states, such as pain, fear or boredom as well as positive affects like joy, curiosity, satiation or lust. In the behavioural assessment of animal welfare, there is increasing recognition that it is not simply which behaviours an animal engages in but also the quality of its movement. Kinematics is an approach which is being more widely applied to the behavioural assessment of animal welfare. Kinematics is a field of mechanics that describes the movement of points on a body by defining these points in a coordinate system and precisely tracking how they change in terms of space and time. A major opportunity exists for using kinematic technology to inform our understanding of the emotional state of animals. This review argues that kinematics is a useful methodology for identifying and characterising movement indicative of an animal's affective state. It demonstrates that kinematics: i) appears useful in detecting subtleties in the expression of affective states; ii) could be used in conjunction with, and add extra information to, affective tests (for example, an approach/avoidance paradigm); and iii) could potentially, eventually, be developed into an automated affective state detection system for improving the welfare of animals used in research or production. Furthering our knowledge of animal affective states using kinematics requires engagement from many areas of science outside of animal welfare, such as sports science, computer science, engineering and psychology.
Impact of maternal stress and nutrition on behavioural and physiological outcomes in young lambs
Authors: Rooke JA , Arnott G , Dwyer CM , Rutherford KMD 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe pre-natal period is of critical importance in defining how individuals respond to their environment throughout life. Stress experienced by pregnant females has detrimental effects on offspring behaviour, health and productivity. The sheep (Ovis aries) has been used as a model to inform human studies; however, in a farming context, the consequences for the lamb of stress experienced by the ewe have received less attention. The stressors that pregnant ewes are most frequently exposed to include sub-optimal nutrition and acute and chronic stressors related to husbandry and the environment. This review focuses upon the young sheep, from around 100 days old until adulthood and uses material identified from a systematic survey of the literature relating to production-relevant maternal stressors and lamb outcomes. Overall, the results demonstrated that stressors imposed upon the ewe altered progeny behavioural and physiological responses. However, detailed analysis of the literature shows several deficiencies in the field, as a whole, which greatly limit the ability to draw conclusions as to how welfare may be affected by pre-natal challenges in commercial sheep. These deficiencies included a lack of consistency in response due to the variety of both stressors imposed and responses measured. Key gaps in knowledge include the impact of ewe disease during pregnancy on outcomes for their progeny and more generally how different commercially relevant stressors interact. Furthermore, there is a need to develop a systematic series of behavioural and physiological measures that can be integrated to provide a holistic and practically applicable picture of offspring welfare.
Hang on: an evaluation of the hemp rope as environmental enrichment in C57BL/6 mice
Authors: Gjendal K , Sørensen DB , Kiersgaad MK , Ottesen JL 
Published: October 2017

AbstractWhen introducing environmental enrichment in laboratory animals, positive and/or negative effects on behavioural and physiological parameters should be evaluated. This three-step randomised controlled trial in male C57BL/6 mice investigated the effect of supplementing the environment with one or more hemp ropes. In part 1, the effect of a hemp rope on aggressive and social behaviour, stress and anxiety levels was assessed by social interaction test, elevated plus maze behaviour, and faecal corticosterone metabolites, respectively (n = 224 mice). In part 2, the effect of 1, 2 or 7 hemp ropes on aggressive behaviour in mice subjected to routine handling was evaluated by assessing the number of wounded companion animals and wounds per animal (n = 224). In part 3, climbing activity in the rope and amount of material shredded from the rope was assessed (n = 56). Mice housed with one hemp rope engaged in social behaviour for longer time than mice housed without a hemp rope, while no difference was detected in stress and anxiety levels. No difference was seen in the number of wounded animals or wounds per animal when adding 1, 2 or 7 hemp ropes to the existing environment in mice undergoing minimal human handling. The mice continuously shredded and climbed the rope, even when provided with a new rope, although time spent climbing decreased slightly over time. Thus, a hemp rope can be used as additional environmental enrichment amongst male C57BL/6 mice.
Synergistic induction of astrocytic differentiation by factors secreted from meninges in the mouse developing brain
Authors: Kawamura Yoichiro , Katada Sayako , Noguchi Hirofumi , Yamamoto Hiroyuki , Sanosaka Tsukasa , Iihara Koji , Nakashima Kinichi 
Published: October 2017

Astrocytes, which support diverse neuronal functions, are generated from multipotent neural stem/precursor cells (NS/PCs) during brain development. Although many astrocyte‐inducing factors have been identified and studied in vitro, the regions and/or cells that produce these factors in the developing brain remain elusive. Here, we show that meninges‐produced factors induce astrocytic differentiation of NS/PCs. Consistent with the timing when astrocytic differentiation of NS/PCs increases, expression of astrocyte‐inducing factors is upregulated. Meningeal secretion‐mimicking combinatorial treatment of NS/PCs with bone morphogenetic protein 4, retinoic acid and leukemia inhibitory factor synergistically activate the promoter of a typical astrocytic marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein. Taken together, our data suggest that meninges play an important role in astrocytic differentiation of NS/PCs in the developing brain.
Timing of Deglacial AMOC Variability From a High‐Resolution Seawater Cadmium Reconstruction
Authors: Valley Shannon , Lynch‐Stieglitz Jean , Marchitto Thomas M. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractA new, high‐resolution record of benthic seawater Cd (Cdw) was generated from a Florida Straits sediment core at 546 m water depth. The record provides additional evidence for Cdw below modern values in this channel during the Younger Dryas and Heinrich Stadial 1—climatological periods associated with ice sheet melt. Lower Cdw values are interpreted as a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), reflecting a decreased northward transport of southern sourced higher‐nutrient intermediate waters by the surface return flow of AMOC. Comparison of this new Cdw record with previously published neodymium isotope and δ18O records from the same core shows synchronous transitions, further illustrating the connection between Cdw levels and AMOC strength in the Florida Straits. An increase in Cdw near 16 ka bolsters existing evidence for a resumption of upper branch AMOC strength approximately midway through Heinrich Stadial 1.
A Lagrangian Transport Eulerian Reaction Spatial (LATERS) Markov Model for Prediction of Effective Bimolecular Reactive Transport
Authors: Sund Nicole , Porta Giovanni , Bolster Diogo , Parashar Rishi 
Published: October 2017

AbstractPrediction of effective transport for mixing‐driven reactive systems at larger scales, requires accurate representation of mixing at small scales, which poses a significant upscaling challenge. Depending on the problem at hand, there can be benefits to using a Lagrangian framework, while in others an Eulerian might have advantages. Here we propose and test a novel hybrid model which attempts to leverage benefits of each. Specifically, our framework provides a Lagrangian closure required for a volume‐averaging procedure of the advection diffusion reaction equation. This hybrid model is a LAgrangian Transport Eulerian Reaction Spatial Markov model (LATERS Markov model), which extends previous implementations of the Lagrangian Spatial Markov model and maps concentrations to an Eulerian grid to quantify closure terms required to calculate the volume‐averaged reaction terms. The advantage of this approach is that the Spatial Markov model is known to provide accurate predictions of transport, particularly at preasymptotic early times, when assumptions required by traditional volume‐averaging closures are least likely to hold; likewise, the Eulerian reaction method is efficient, because it does not require calculation of distances between particles. This manuscript introduces the LATERS Markov model and demonstrates by example its ability to accurately predict bimolecular reactive transport in a simple benchmark 2‐D porous medium.
Photopatterning Freestanding Chiral Nematic Mesoporous Organosilica Films
Authors: Terpstra Andrea S. , Hamad Wadood Y. , MacLachlan Mark J. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractChiral nematic mesoporous organosilica (CNMO) films are functionalized with a mixture of hydrophobic silanes and spiropyran compounds to create freestanding photochromic films that can be used for reversible photo­patterning. The mesoporosity and interconnected pore structure of the films imparted by the cellulose nanocrystal template enables a large cross‐section of the material to be functionalized. Thus, the materials show intense absorption spectra from the tethered spiropyran and rapid color changes when the porous films are irradiated with UV or white light. The spiropyran‐bound CNMO films behave as reversible sensors where metal binding to the spiropyran results in visible color changes detectable by the naked eye. These metals can be removed in the presence of ethanol and white light, regenerating the metal‐free film. The proof‐of‐concept demonstrated in this paper may help to develop new photochromic displays, security features, and patterns.
Photoluminescent Arrays of Nanopatterned Monolayer MoS2
Authors: Han Grace G. D. , Tu Kun‐Hua , Niroui Farnaz , Xu Wenshuo , Zhou Si , Wang Xiaochen , Bulović Vladimir , Ross Caroline A. , Warner Jamie H. , Grossman Jeffrey C. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractMonolayer 2D MoS2 grown by chemical vapor deposition is nanopatterned into nanodots, nanorods, and hexagonal nanomesh using block copolymer (BCP) lithography. The detailed atomic structure and nanoscale geometry of the nanopatterned MoS2 show features down to 4 nm with nonfaceted etching profiles defined by the BCP mask. Atomic resolution annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals the nanopatterned MoS2 has minimal large‐scale crystalline defects and enables the edge density to be measured for each nanoscale pattern geometry. Photoluminescence spectroscopy of nanodots, nanorods, and nanomesh areas shows strain‐dependent spectral shifts up to 15 nm, as well as reduction in the PL efficiency as the edge density increases. Raman spectroscopy shows mode stiffening, confirming the release of strain when it is nanopatterned by BCP lithography. These results show that small nanodots (≈19 nm) of MoS2 2D monolayers still exhibit strong direct band gap photoluminescence (PL), but have PL quenching compared to pristine material from the edge states. This information provides important insights into the structure–PL property correlations of sub‐20 nm MoS2 structures that have potential in future applications of 2D electronics, optoelectronics, and photonics.
Superaligned Carbon Nanotubes Guide Oriented Cell Growth and Promote Electrophysiological Homogeneity for Synthetic Cardiac Tissues
Authors: Ren Jing , Xu Quanfu , Chen Xiaomeng , Li Wei , Guo Kai , Zhao Yang , Wang Qian , Zhang Zhitao , Peng Huisheng , Li Yi‐Gang 
Published: October 2017

AbstractCardiac engineering of patches and tissues is a promising option to restore infarcted hearts, by seeding cardiac cells onto scaffolds and nurturing their growth in vitro. However, current patches fail to fully imitate the hierarchically aligned structure in the natural myocardium, the fast electrotonic propagation, and the subsequent synchronized contractions. Here, superaligned carbon‐nanotube sheets (SA‐CNTs) are explored to culture cardiomyocytes, mimicking the aligned structure and electrical‐impulse transmission behavior of the natural myocardium. The SA‐CNTs not only induce an elongated and aligned cell morphology of cultured cardiomyocytes, but also provide efficient extracellular signal‐transmission pathways required for regular and synchronous cell contractions. Furthermore, the SA‐CNTs can reduce the beat‐to‐beat and cell‐to‐cell dispersion in repolarization of cultured cells, which is essential for a normal beating rhythm, and potentially reduce the occurrence of arrhythmias. Finally, SA‐CNT‐based flexible one‐piece electrodes demonstrate a multipoint pacing function. These combined high properties make SA‐CNTs promising in applications in cardiac resynchronization therapy in patients with heart failure and following myocardial infarctions.
Nanoparticle Regrowth Enhances Photoacoustic Signals of Semiconducting Macromolecular Probe for In Vivo Imaging
Authors: Xie Chen , Zhen Xu , Lyu Yan , Pu Kanyi 
Published: October 2017

AbstractSmart molecular probes that emit deep‐tissue penetrating photoacoustic (PA) signals responsive to the target of interest are imperative to understand disease pathology and develop innovative therapeutics. This study reports a self‐assembly approach to develop semiconducting macromolecular activatable probe for in vivo imaging of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This probe comprises a near‐infrared absorbing phthalocyanine core and four poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) arms linked by ROS‐responsive self‐immolative segments. Such an amphiphilic macromolecular structure allows it to undergo an ROS‐specific cleavage process to release hydrophilic PEG and enhance the hydrophobicity of the nanosystem. Consequently, the residual phthalocyanine component self‐assembles and regrows into large nanoparticles, leading to ROS‐enhanced PA signals. The small size of the intact macromolecular probe is beneficial to penetrate into the tumor tissue of living mice, while the ROS‐activated regrowth of nanoparticles prolongs the retention along with enhanced PA signals, permitting imaging of ROS during chemotherapy. This study thus capitalizes on stimuli‐controlled self‐assembly of macromolecules in conjunction with enhanced heat transfer in large nanoparticles for the development of smart molecular probes for PA imaging.
PAA/alumina composites prepared with different molecular weight polymers and utilized as support for nickel‐based catalyst
Authors: Zhou Peng , Wang Song , Tao ChuanLan , Guo Xingkui , Hao Luhan , Shao Qian , Liu Lei , Wang Ya‐Ping , Chu Wei , Wang Bin , Luo Shi‐Zhong , Guo Zhanhu 
Published: October 2017

AbstractMesoporous alumina, as a porous, high specific surface area, high activity, and heat stable material, has been widely used as an industrial adsorbent, catalyst, and catalyst support. The modification of alumina with organic polymers has been widely investigated in recent years. In this study, we compared the dependence of the adsorption of a polyelectrolyte, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) on γ‐alumina particles on polymer size via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm analysis, and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. We found that PAA with a hydrodynamic diameter greater than the alumina pore size would only adsorb on the outer surface of the oxides. For polymers with hydrodynamic diameters smaller than the alumina pore size, PAA infiltration resulted in a monolayer coverage of both the outer and inner surfaces of the oxide. Among the three PAA that could infiltrate the alumina pores, the one with the smallest molecular weight showed the highest adsorbed amount on alumina. The temperature, pH, concentration, and ionic strength of the PAA solutions were varied to illustrate the physicochemical differences of the prepared polymer/oxide composite materials. The high PAA‐loaded composites were treated with a nickel ion solution, converted to Ni/alumina catalysts, and used in the methanation of carbon dioxide. The Ni/alumina catalysts were analyzed with X‐ray diffraction and temperature‐programmed reduction to illustrate the structural characteristics. The catalytic CO2 methanation of the catalyst samples revealed that a solution pH value higher than pKa of PAA favored the formation of catalysts with high catalytic activity.
Charge Generation and Recombination in an Organic Solar Cell with Low Energetic Offsets
Authors: Ran Niva A. , Love John A. , Heiber Michael C. , Jiao Xuechen , Hughes Michael P. , Karki Akchheta , Wang Ming , Brus Viktor V. , Wang Hengbin , Neher Dieter , Ade Harald , Bazan Guillermo C. , Nguyen Thuc‐Quyen 
Published: October 2017

AbstractOrganic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells require energetic offsets between the donor and acceptor to obtain high short‐circuit currents (JSC) and fill factors (FF). However, it is necessary to reduce the energetic offsets to achieve high open‐circuit voltages (VOC). Recently, reports have highlighted BHJ blends that are pushing at the accepted limits of energetic offsets necessary for high efficiency. Unfortunately, most of these BHJs have modest FF values. How the energetic offset impacts the solar cell characteristics thus remains poorly understood. Here, a comprehensive characterization of the losses in a polymer:fullerene BHJ blend, PIPCP:phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM), that achieves a high VOC (0.9 V) with very low energy losses (Eloss = 0.52 eV) from the energy of absorbed photons, a respectable JSC (13 mA cm−2), but a limited FF (54%) is reported. Despite the low energetic offset, the system does not suffer from field‐dependent generation and instead it is characterized by very fast nongeminate recombination and the presence of shallow traps. The charge‐carrier losses are attributed to suboptimal morphology due to high miscibility between PIPCP and PC61BM. These results hold promise that given the appropriate morphology, the JSC, VOC, and FF can all be improved, even with very low energetic offsets.
Accurate Determination of Coulombic Efficiency for Lithium Metal Anodes and Lithium Metal Batteries
Authors: Adams Brian D. , Zheng Jianming , Ren Xiaodi , Xu Wu , Zhang Ji‐Guang 
Published: October 2017

AbstractLithium (Li) metal is an ideal anode material for high energy density batteries. However, the low Coulombic efficiency (CE) and the formation of dendrites during repeated plating and stripping processes have hindered its applications in rechargeable Li metal batteries. The accurate measurement of Li CE is a critical factor to predict the cycle life of Li metal batteries, but the measurement of Li CE is affected by various factors that often lead to conflicting values reported in the literature. Here, several parameters that affect the measurement of Li CE are investigated and a more accurate method of determining Li CE is proposed. It is also found that the capacity used for cycling greatly affects the stabilization cycles and the average CE. A higher cycling capacity leads to faster stabilization of Li anode and a higher average CE. With a proper operating protocol, the average Li CE can be increased from 99.0% to 99.5% at a high capacity of 6 mA h cm−2 (which is suitable for practical applications) when a high‐concentration ether‐based electrolyte is used.
Negotiating Ethical Paradoxes in Conducting a Randomized Controlled Trial: Aligning Intervention Science with Participatory Values
Authors: Javdani Shabnam , Singh Sukhmani , Sichel Corianna E. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractIn this article, we describe ethical tensions we have faced in the context of our work as intervention scientists, where we aim to promote social justice and change systems that impact girls involved in the juvenile legal system. These ethical tensions are, at their core, about resisting collusion with systems of control while simultaneously collaborating with them. Over the course of designing and implementing a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an ecological advocacy intervention for girls, called ROSES, ethical paradoxes crystalized and prompted us to engage in critical reflection and action toward the aim of moving away from conducting research on legal‐system‐involved girls and moving toward a more democratic, participatory process of inquiry with girls. Our experience revealed two intertwined paradoxes that ultimately served generative purposes. First, in collaborating with legal system stakeholders, we observed a single story of girls’ pathology narrated for girls, without girls, and ultimately internalized by girls. Second, in reflecting critically on the ethical implications of our study design, it became clear that the design was grounded in a medical model of inquiry although the intervention we sought to evaluate was based, in part, on resistance to the medical model. We describe emergent ethical tensions and the solutions we sought, which center on creating counternarratives and counterspaces that leverage, extend, and disrupt our existing RCT. We detail these solutions, focusing on how we restructured our research team to enhance structural competence, shifted the subject of inquiry to include the systems in which youth are embedded, and created new opportunities for former research participants to become co‐researchers through formal roles on an advisory board.
The athlete's hematological response to hypoxia: A meta‐analysis on the influence of altitude exposure on key biomarkers of erythropoiesis
Authors: Lobigs Louisa M. , Sharpe Ken , Garvican‐Lewis Laura A. , Gore Christopher J. , Peeling Peter , Dawson Brian , Schumacher Yorck O. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAltitude training is associated with changes in blood markers, which can confound results of the Athlete?s Biological Passport (ABP). This meta‐analysis aims to describe the fluctuations during‐ and post‐altitude in key ABP variables; hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]), square‐root transformed reticulocyte percentage (sqrt(retic%)) and the OFF‐score.Individual de‐identified raw data were provided from 17 studies. Separate linear mixed effects analyses were performed for delta values from baseline for [Hb], sqrt(retic%) and OFF‐score, by altitude phase (during and post). Mixed models were fitted with the hierarchical structure: study and subject within study as random effects. Delta values as response variables and altitude dose (in kilometer hours; km.hr = altitude (m) / 1000 x hours), sex, age, protocol and baseline values as fixed effects. Allowances were made for potential autocorrelation.Within two days at natural altitude [Hb] rapidly increased. Subsequent delta [Hb] values increased with altitude dose, reaching a plateau of 0.94 g/dL [95%CI (0.69, 1.20)] at ~1000 km.hr. Delta sqrt(retic%) and OFF‐score were the first to identify an erythrocyte response, with respective increases and decreases observed within 100 to 200 km.hr. Post‐altitude, [Hb] remained elevated for two weeks. Delta sqrt(retic%) declined below baseline, the magnitude of change was dependent on altitude dose. Baseline values were a significant covariate (p<0.05).The response to altitude is complex resulting in a wide range of individual responses, influenced primarily by altitude dose and baseline values. Improved knowledge of the plausible hematological variations during‐ and post‐altitude provides fundamental information for both the ABP expert and sports physician.