bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Allosterism in the adenosine A2A and cannabinoid CB2 heteromer
Authors: Llinas del Torrent Claudia , Raïch Iu , Gonzalez Angel , Lillo Jaume , Casajuana‐Martin Nil , Franco Rafael , Pardo Leonardo , Navarro Gemma 
Published: July 2024

AbstractBackground and PurposeAllosterism is a regulatory mechanism for GPCRs that can be attained by ligand‐binding or protein–protein interactions with another GPCR. We have studied the influence of the dimer interface on the allosteric properties of the A2A receptor and CB2 receptor heteromer.Experimental ApproachWe have evaluated cAMP production, phosphorylation of signal‐regulated kinases (pERK1/2), label‐free dynamic mass redistribution, β‐arrestin 2 recruitment and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays in the absence and presence of synthetic peptides that disrupt the formation of the heteromer. Molecular dynamic simulations provided converging evidence that the heteromeric interface influences the allosteric properties of the A2AR–CB2R heteromer.Key ResultsApo A2AR blocks agonist‐induced signalling of CB2R. The disruptive peptides, with the amino acid sequence of transmembrane (TM) 6 of A2AR or CB2R, facilitate CB2R activation, suggesting that A2AR allosterically prevents the outward movement of TM 6 of CB2R for G protein binding. Significantly, binding of the selective antagonist SCH 58261 to A2AR also facilitated agonist‐induced activation of CB2R.Conclusions and ImplicationsIt is proposed that the A2AR–CB2R heteromer contains distinct dimerization interfaces that govern its functional properties. The molecular interface between protomers of the A2AR–CB2R heteromer interconverted from TM 6 for apo or agonist‐bound A2AR, blocking CB2R activation, to mainly the TM 1/7 interface for antagonist‐bound A2AR, facilitating the independent opening of intracellular cavities for G protein binding. These novel results shed light on a different type of allosteric mechanism and extend the repertoire of GPCR heteromer signalling.
VMF Diffuse: A unified rough diffuse BRDF
Authors: d'Eon Eugene , Weidlich Andrea 
Published: July 2024

AbstractWe present a practical analytic BRDF that approximates scattering from a generalized microfacet volume with a von Mises‐Fischer NDF. Our BRDF seamlessly blends from smooth Lambertian, through moderately rough height fields with Beckmann‐like statistics and into highly rough/porous behaviours that have been lacking from prior models. At maximum roughness, our model reduces to the recent Lambert‐sphere BRDF. We validate our model by comparing to simulations of scattering from geometries with randomly‐placed Lambertian spheres and show an improvement relative to a rough Beckmann BRDF with very high roughness.
MatUp: Repurposing Image Upsamplers for SVBRDFs
Authors: Gauthier A. , Kerbl B. , Levallois J. , Faury R. , Thiery J. M. , Boubekeur T. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractWe propose MatUp, an upsampling filter for material super‐resolution. Our method takes as input a low‐resolution SVBRDF and upscales its maps so that their rendering under various lighting conditions fits upsampled renderings inferred in the radiance domain with pre‐trained RGB upsamplers. We formulate our local filter as a compact Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), which acts on a small window of the input SVBRDF and is optimized using a data‐fitting loss defined over upsampled radiance at various locations. This optimization is entirely performed at the scale of a single, independent material. Doing so, MatUpleverages the reconstruction capabilities acquired over large collections of natural images by pre‐trained RGB models and provides regularization over self‐similar structures. In particular, our light‐weight neural filter avoids retraining complex architectures from scratch or accessing any large collection of low/high resolution material pairs – which do not actually exist at the scale RGB upsamplers are trained with. As a result, MatUpprovides fine and coherent details in the upscaled material maps, as shown in the extensive evaluation we provide.
Neural Histogram‐Based Glint Rendering of Surfaces With Spatially Varying Roughness
Authors: Shah I. , Gamboa L. E. , Gruson A. , Narayanan P. J. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe complex, glinty appearance of detailed normal‐mapped surfaces at different scales requires expensive per‐pixel Normal Distribution Function computations. Moreover, large light sources further compound this integration and increase the noise in the Monte Carlo renderer. Specialized rendering techniques that explicitly express the underlying normal distribution have been developed to improve performance for glinty surfaces controlled by a fixed material roughness. We present a new method that supports spatially varying roughness based on a neural histogram that computes per‐pixel NDFs with arbitrary positions and sizes. Our representation is both memory and compute efficient. Additionally, we fully integrate direct illumination for all light directions in constant time. Our approach decouples roughness and normal distribution, allowing the live editing of the spatially varying roughness of complex normal‐mapped objects. We demonstrate that our approach improves on previous work by achieving smaller footprints while offering GPU‐friendly computation and compact representation.
Bridge Sampling for Connections via Multiple Scattering Events
Authors: Schüßler Vincent , Hanika Johannes , Dachsbacher Carsten 
Published: July 2024

AbstractExplicit sampling of and connecting to light sources is often essential for reducing variance in Monte Carlo rendering. In dense, forward‐scattering participating media, its benefit declines, as significant transport happens over longer multiple‐scattering paths around the straight connection to the light. Sampling these paths is challenging, as their contribution is shaped by the product of reciprocal squared distance terms and the phase functions. Previous work demonstrates that sampling several of these terms jointly is crucial. However, these methods are tied to low‐order scattering or struggle with highly‐peaked phase functions.We present a method for sampling a bridge: a subpath of arbitrary vertex count connecting two vertices. Its probability density is proportional to all phase functions at inner vertices and reciprocal squared distance terms. To achieve this, we importance sample the phase functions first, and subsequently all distances at once. For the latter, we sample an independent, preliminary distance for each edge of the bridge, and afterwards scale the bridge such that it matches the connection distance. The scale factor can be marginalized out analytically to obtain the probability density of the bridge. This approach leads to a simple algorithm and can construct bridges of any vertex count. For the case of one or two inserted vertices, we also show an alternative without scaling or marginalization.For practical path sampling, we present a method to sample the number of bridge vertices whose distribution depends on the connection distance, the phase function, and the collision coefficient. While our importance sampling treats media as homogeneous we demonstrate its effectiveness on heterogeneous media.
Methodology for identifying the potential Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) tree species on a global scale
Authors: Davies Katharine , Starnes Thomas , Rivers Malin 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThere is a biodiversity crisis, and to prevent extinctions the most important sites to be effectively conserved must be identified. Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) include sites of importance for species survival. Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites, a subset of KBAs, contain ≥95% of the population of highly threatened species. Currently, only 47 tree species have been identified using the AZE criteria. The Global Tree Assessment, assessing the extinction risk of the world's tree species, has enabled trees to be incorporated into KBA and AZE sites. Here we present a methodology to utilize data from the IUCN Red List to identify potential AZE species for trees. This 10‐part methodology identified 2909 tree species as potential AZE species across the world, representing at least 5% of described tree species. As further tree species are assessments are published on the IUCN Red List, this methodology will be important for identifying potential AZE species. The methodology can be applied and adapted to any taxa on the IUCN Red List. This analysis serves as a prioritization mechanism for identifying species in urgent need of conservation action to prevent extinctions. The species identified can feed into national KBA identification efforts.
Generalizability in real‐world trials
Authors: Näher Anatol‐Fiete , Kopka Marvin , Balzer Felix , Schulte‐Althoff Matthias 
Published: July 2024

AbstractReal‐world evidence (RWE) trials have a key advantage over conventional randomized controlled trials (RCTs) due to their potentially better generalizability. High generalizability of study results facilitates new biological insights and enables targeted therapeutic strategies. Random sampling of RWE trial participants is regarded as the gold standard for generalizability. Additionally, the use of sample correction procedures can increase the generalizability of trial results, even when using nonrandomly sampled real‐world data (RWD). This study presents descriptive evidence on the extent to which the design of currently planned or already conducted RWE trials takes sampling into account. It also examines whether random sampling or procedures for correcting nonrandom samples are considered. Based on text mining of publicly available metadata provided during registrations of RWE trials on clinicaltrials.gov, EU‐PAS, and the OSF‐RWE registry, it is shown that the share of RWE trial registrations with information on sampling increased from 65.27% in 2002 to 97.43% in 2022, with a corresponding increase from 14.79% to 28.30% for trials with random samples. For RWE trials with nonrandom samples, there is an increase from 0.00% to 0.95% of trials in which sample correction procedures are used. We conclude that the potential benefits of RWD in terms of generalizing trial results are not yet being fully realized.
The concept of onychodermis containing onychofibroblasts has histological (microanatomical), immunohistochemical as well as molecular basis
Authors: Shim Joonho , Park Ji‐Hye , Lee Taemin , Lee Dongyoun , Jang Kee‐Taek 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe terms “onychofibroblast” (nail‐specific fibroblast) and onychodermis (nail‐specific dermis) were first introduced in 2006 and 2012, respectively, based on distinctive histologic and immunohistochemical features from the dermis of the surrounding skin and have been demonstrated in multiple studies. Recently, based on molecular research, the definition of onychodermis containing onychofibroblasts has been expanded to encompass the area located between the nail matrix and bed epithelium and periosteum. Single‐cell RNA sequencing and in situ hybridization demonstrated that onychofibroblasts within the onychodermis express the genes including RSPO4, MSX1, WIF‐1, and BMP5, which are implicated in nail formation and/or in disorders with nail phenotype. A mutation in RSPO4, a component of the Wnt signaling pathway, causes anonychia congenita. Nail matrix onychodermis and nail bed onychodermis share many similar characteristics which differ from the surrounding normal dermis of the skin. Comparative spatial transcriptomic and single‐cell analyses of human nail units and hair follicles suggest that onychodermis is the counterpart of follicular dermal papilla, which plays a key role in hair follicle growth and morphogenesis. Onychomatricoma, as a nail‐specific tumor, has been demonstrated to be a mesenchymal tumor that originates from onychofibroblasts and is associated with the upregulation of Wnt signaling. Collectively, the onychodermis and onychofibroblasts play crucial roles in nail development and these specialized nail mesenchymal elements are key components in the pathogenesis of onychomatricoma. The concept of onychodermis containing onychofibroblasts is very important for nail biology and pathology.
The implicated role of GDF15 in gastrointestinal cancer
Authors: Xue Yingqi , Zhang Yan , Su Yale , Zhao Jiangqi , Yu Daoquan , Jo Yunju , Joo Jongkil , Lee Hyun Joo , Ryu Dongryeol , Wei Shibo 
Published: July 2024

AbstractBackgroundGrowth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), a stress‐responsive cytokine from transforming growth factor superfamily, is highly expressed in mammalian tissues, including pancreas, stomach and intestine under pathological conditions. In particular, elevated levels of GDF15 might play an important role in the development and progression of various gastrointestinal cancers (GCs), suggesting its potential as a promising target for disease prediction and treatment.MethodsIn this review, systematic reviews addressing the role of GDF15 in GCs were updated, along with the latest clinical trials focussing on the GDF15‐associated digestive malignancies.ResultsThe multiple cellular pathways through which GDF15 is involved in the regulation of physiological and pathological conditions were first summarized. Then, GDF15 was also established as a valuable clinical index, functioning as a predictive marker in diverse GCs. Notably, latest clinical treatments targeting GDF15 were also highlighted, demonstrating its promising potential in mitigating and curing digestive malignancies.ConclusionsThis review unveils the pivotal roles of GDF15 and its potential as a promising target in the pathogenesis of GCs, which may provide insightful directions for future investigations.
Impact of economic crises on corporate‐banking relationship: Evidence from Korea
Authors: Kim Dongwoo , Jung Hoon 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThis study tries to identify the impact of recent economic turmoil including the COVID‐19 pandemic and global financial crisis on a corporation's banking relationships. Using a wide range of unique data from 2008 to 2020 in the Korean loan market, this study compares the two crises periods to the ordinary periods. It is found that the effects of firm‐specific factors on banking relationships are strengthened (for loan amount) or weakened (for corporate size and credit rating) during the two crises. However, for the industrial sector a firm belongs to, the interaction effects of the crises show opposite signs.
Destocking waterways: Evidence that stocked Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii) were extracted at pumped irrigation diversions within 24 hours of release
Authors: Bretzel Joachim B. , Boys Craig A. , Stocks Jerom R. , Rourke Meaghan L. , Brauer Chris , Baumgartner Lee J. 
Published: July 2024

SummaryMillions of native fish are entrained into irrigation pumps in Australian rivers every year. It is often assumed these fish are wild, but stocked fish may also be affected. During fish entrainment surveys at two pump intakes on the Macquarie River, New South Wales, a noticeable increase of entrained juvenile Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii) was observed. DNA parentage analysis confirmed that a large proportion of these fish were linked to nearby fish restocking events. At both pump intakes, genetic analysis confirmed that at least 70% and 17% of the individuals sampled were stocked fish. This equated to up to 3% of the fish that were stocked – most of which were entrained less than 24 h after their release. Given the large number of unscreened irrigation pumps in this reach of river, and more broadly throughout the Murray–Darling Basin, fish losses at pump intakes have the potential to remove large numbers of stocked fish from the river where they are released to support native fish recovery and boost recreational fishing opportunities. The use of fish‐protection screens at pump intakes may be a suitable solution to reduce the number of fish entrained and thus increase the survival of recently stocked fish in the rivers.
Canopy cover and soil moisture influence forest understory plant responses to experimental summer drought
Authors: Koelemeijer Irena A. , Severholt Isabelle , Ehrlén Johan , De Frenne Pieter , Jönsson Mari , Hylander Kristoffer 
Published: July 2024

AbstractExtreme droughts are globally increasing in frequency and severity. Most research on drought in forests focuses on the response of trees, while less is known about the impacts of drought on forest understory species and how these effects are moderated by the local environment. We assessed the impacts of a 45‐day experimental summer drought on the performance of six boreal forest understory plants, using a transplant experiment with rainout shelters replicated across 25 sites. We recorded growth, vitality and reproduction immediately, 2 months, and 1 year after the simulated drought, and examined how differences in ambient soil moisture and canopy cover among sites influenced the effects of drought on the performance of each species. Drought negatively affected the growth and/or vitality of all species, but the effects were stronger and more persistent in the bryophytes than in the vascular plants. The two species associated with older forests, the moss Hylocomiastrum umbratum and the orchid Goodyera repens, suffered larger effects than the more generalist species included in the experiment. The drought reduced reproductive output in the moss Hylocomium splendens in the next growing season, but increased reproduction in the graminoid Luzula pilosa. Higher ambient soil moisture reduced some negative effects of drought on vascular plants. Both denser canopy cover and higher soil moisture alleviated drought effects on bryophytes, likely through alleviating cellular damage. Our experiment shows that boreal understory species can be adversely affected by drought and that effects might be stronger for bryophytes and species associated with older forests. Our results indicate that the effects of drought can vary over small spatial scales and that forest landscapes can be actively managed to alleviate drought effects on boreal forest biodiversity. For example, by managing the tree canopy and protecting hydrological networks.
Tooth Anatomy Inspector: A comprehensive assessment of an extended reality (XR) application designed for teaching and learning of root canal anatomy by students
Authors: Diegritz Christian , Fotiadou Christina , Fleischer Felix , Reymus Marcel 
Published: July 2024

AbstractAimTo develop and evaluate a suitable software application for mobile devices designed for teaching root canal anatomy to undergraduate students in an informative and engaging manner.MethodologyExtracted human teeth were scanned by μCT and digitized by converting into STL files. An extended reality (XR) application illustrating the root canal anatomy of the scanned teeth was developed. Prior to deployment, undergraduate dental students were voluntarily asked about their expectations regarding an educational application on tooth anatomy. After a testing phase of the application on a mobile device and within a virtual reality environment, a subsequent evaluation was conducted to assess their overall experience in relation to their initial expectations. Data were analysed using Kolmogorov‐Smirnov test and Mann‐Whitney U test. The level of significance was set to .05 (p = .05).ResultsThe application was able to meet the expectations of the students in all categories (p < .466–.731). Furthermore, it was evaluated as user‐friendly (98.2%) and highly motivating for the purpose of learning more on root canal anatomy (100%).ConclusionGiven the overwhelmingly positive reception from undergraduate dental students, the application emerges to be a promising supplementary teaching method for the endodontic curriculum.
Achieving high adhesion and low‐temperature sintering for multilayer ceramic capacitors by tunning the structure of SrO‐ZnO‐B2O3‐SiO2 glass
Authors: Chen Chunyu , Yang Yali , Li Ao , Zhu Jiayi , Zhang Liangzhu , Zeng Huidan 
Published: July 2024

AbstractMultilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) are one of the most widely used and rapidly advancing chip electronic components for high frequency and high integration applications. It is challenging to develop low‐temperature sintering copper pastes for fabricating MLCC terminal electrodes with high adhesion and reliability. Herein, our work demonstrates a novel SrO‐ZnO‐B2O3‐SiO2 glass as a fluxing agent for lowering the sintering temperature of copper paste to enhance adhesion and reliability for MLCCs. It is found that Sr ions as glass modifiers can not only effectively lower the sintering temperature of the glass to 775°C, but also contribute a promotion to the thermal expansion coefficient, which originates from the conversion of the stable [ZnO4] network into a loose [ZnO6] network. The copper paste containing 12.5 SrO‐32.5 ZnO‐40 B2O3‐15 SiO2 (mol.%) was applied for practical terminal electrode sintering at 775°C, exhibiting a dense surface without cracks, integrated cross‐sectional morphology, and high adhesion force (10.2 LB). Furthermore, MLCCs showed lower square resistance (5.65 mΩ/sq), higher reliability in reflow soldering testing (265°C,110 cm/min), and resistance to soldering heat testing (235 ± 5°C, 30 s). Therefore, this work blazes the trail of preparing a novel low‐melting glass for terminal electrode applicable copper paste for the practical MLCCs industry.
Prediction of internal stress in alumina laminates induced by shrinkage mismatch based on elastic model modification
Authors: Kanno Teruyoshi , Sakatani Arisa , Kurita Hiroki , Narita Fumio 
Published: July 2024

AbstractCracks induced by internal stresses compromise the structural integrity of ceramic laminates. Such stresses can be classified into thermal stress derived from thermal expansion mismatch and shrinkage stress derived from shrinkage mismatch. Analytical models have been proposed for the former, whereas only numerical predictions have been explored for the latter. In this study, an equation is constructed to predict the shrinkage stress by modifying an elastic solution proposed in previous studies. We fabricated laminates with three‐layer sandwiched structures using only alumina specimens with high and low densities to control the shrinkage and avoid thermal mismatch. Surface cracks were initiated when the shrinkage stress exceeded the flexural strength of the surface layer. Although the original strength of the surface layer was 308.8 MPa, the laminates’ flexural strength was lower than that because of shrinkage constraint. Our results demonstrate that the shrinkage stress was successfully estimated analytically using a few material properties measured in an ordinary environment. This study will ensure the structural integrity of ceramic laminates in laminate designs.
On the Choice of Parameters for the Lognormal Model for Response Times: Commentary on Becker et al. (2013)
Authors: van der Linden Wim J. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractIn a recently published article in this journal, Becker et al. claim that, because of a missing slope parameter, the lognormal model for response times on test items almost never holds in practice. However, the authors' critique rests on a misrepresentation of the model, which already does have the equivalent of a slope parameter. More importantly, their extra parameter spoils the interpretation of the parameters for the test‐takers' speed and labor intensity of the items necessary for a response‐time model to be empirically meaningful while their proposed interpretation of the extra parameter seems unwarranted. An analysis of the authors' earlier empirical comparison between the original and their alternative version of the model does not seem to support much of a conclusion about the relative fit of the two models. Also, their simulation study conducted to demonstrate the necessity of the extra slope parameter appears to be based on data simulated in favor of their parameter.