bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Generation of translucent Xenopus tropicalis through triple knockout of pigmentation genes
Authors: Nakajima Keisuke , Tazawa Ichiro , Furuno Nobuaki 
Published: September 2023

AbstractAmphibians generally have three types of pigment cells, namely, melanophores (black and brown), xanthophores (yellow and red), and iridophores (iridescent). Single knockout of the tyr, slc2a7, and hps6 genes in Xenopus tropicalis results in the absence of melanophores, xanthophores, and iridophores, respectively. The generation of triple‐ knockout (3KO) X. tropicalis for these three genes could allow for observation of internal organs without sacrificing the animals, which would be transparent due to the absence of pigments. In this study, we generated 3KO X. tropicalis, which is one of the most widely used model amphibians, through crossing of a slc2a7 single‐knockout frog with a tyr and hps6 double‐knockout frog, followed by intercrossing of their offspring. The 3KO tadpoles had transparent bodies like the nop mutant and the frogs had translucent bodies. This translucency allowed us to observe the heart, lungs, stomach, liver, and digestive tract through the ventral body skin without surgery. After intravital staining, 3KO X. tropicalis showed much clearer fluorescent signals of mineralized tissues compared with the wild type. These 3KO X. tropicalis provide a useful mutant line for continuous observation of internal organs and fluorescent signals in the body. In particular, such 3KO frogs would revolutionize fluorescence monitoring in transgenic tadpoles and frogs expressing fluorescent proteins.
Climate change alone cannot explain boreal caribou range recession in Quebec since 1850
Authors: Morineau Chloé , Boulanger Yan , Gachon Philippe , Plante Sabrina , St‐Laurent Martin‐Hugues 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe contraction of species range is one of the most significant symptoms of biodiversity loss worldwide. While anthropogenic activities and habitat alteration are major threats for several species, climate change should also be considered. For species at risk, differentiating the effects of human disturbances and climate change on past and current range transformations is an important step towards improved conservation strategies. We paired historical range maps with global atmospheric reanalyses from different sources to assess the potential effects of recent climate change on the observed northward contraction of the range of boreal populations of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Quebec (Canada) since 1850. We quantified these effects by highlighting the discrepancies between different southern limits of the caribou's range (used as references) observed in the past and reconstitutions obtained through the hindcasting of the climate conditions within which caribou are currently found. Hindcasted southern limits moved ~105 km north over time under all reanalysis datasets, a trend drastically different from the ~620 km reported for observed southern limits since 1850. The differences in latitudinal shift through time between the observed and hindcasted southern limits of distribution suggest that caribou range recession should have been only 17% of what has been observed since 1850 if recent climate change had been the only disturbance driver. This relatively limited impact of climate reinforces the scientific consensus stating that caribou range recession in Quebec is mainly caused by anthropogenic drivers (i.e. logging, development of the road network, agriculture, urbanization) that have modified the structure and composition of the forest over the past 160 years, paving the way for habitat‐mediated apparent competition and overharvesting. Our results also call for a reconsideration of past ranges in models aiming at projecting future distributions, especially for endangered species.
Seniority Differentials in High Yield Bonds: Evolution, Valuation, and Ratings
Authors: Fridson Martin , Yang Yanzhe , Wang Jiajun 
Published: September 2023

Almost 20 years ago, one of the coauthors of this article published a study that reported finding systematically wider yield spreads on senior corporate bonds than on subordinated bonds with the same credit rating, but issued by different companies. The study also showed that this difference in spreads did not represent a market “anomaly” or failure to price risk correctly, but instead reflected differences in the actual, and hence the expected, loss rates of the securities. And such differences were in turn shown to stem from the practice of the rating agencies—which was abandoned about ten years ago—of rating a given issuer's subordinated debt two “notches” below that of its senior debt. Partly in response to this finding, all of the major agencies modified their use of this “two‐notch” convention by initiating in‐depth fundamental analysis of subordinated issuers on a case‐by‐case basis.In the meantime, the near disappearance of subordinated debt in the high yield market since the global financial crisis and its partial replacement by secured debt has furnished the authors of this article with a seemingly related “anomaly” to explore—namely, the tendency of secured bonds to have higher yields than samerated senior unsecured bonds. As in the earlier study of the senior‐subordinated puzzle, the authors' analysis confirms that the market has been properly pricing the relative risks of the different securities by showing that the actual loss rates of the secured issues have been systematically higher than those of like‐rated senior unsecured issues. The clear suggestion of these findings, as in the case of the earlier study, is that those investors who have chosen to incur the costs of analyzing expected loss rates instead of relying solely on the ratings have been rewarded for their efforts. And if the past is a guide to the future, this article may also succeed in spurring the rating agencies to make further refinements to their methods.
Assessing co-diversification in host-associated microbiomes
Authors: Moeller Andrew H. , Sanders Jon G. , Sprockett Daniel D. , Landers Abigail 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
When lineages of hosts and microbial symbionts engage in intimate interactions over evolutionary timescales, they can diversify in parallel (i.e., co-diversify), producing associations between the lineages' phylogenetic histories. Tests for co-diversification of individual microbial lineages and their hosts have been developed previously, and these have been applied to discover ancient symbioses in diverse branches of the tree of life. However, most host–microbe relationships are not binary but multipartite, in that a single host-associated microbiota can contain many microbial lineages, generating challenges for assessing co-diversification. Here, we review recent evidence for co-diversification in complex microbiota, highlight the limitations of prior studies, and outline a hypothesis testing approach designed to overcome some of these limitations. We advocate for the use of microbiota-wide scans for co-diversifying symbiont lineages and discuss tools developed for this purpose. Tests for co-diversification for simple host symbiont systems can be extended to entire phylogenies of microbial lineages (e.g., metagenome-assembled or isolate genomes, amplicon sequence variants) sampled from host clades, thereby providing a means for identifying co-diversifying symbionts present within complex microbiota. The relative ages of symbiont clades can corroborate co-diversification, and multi-level permutation tests can account for multiple comparisons and phylogenetic non-independence introduced by repeated sampling of host species. Discovering co-diversifying lineages will generate powerful opportunities for interrogating the molecular evolution and lineage turnover of ancestral, host-species specific symbionts within host-associated microbiota.
Abstract
How can we identify the symbionts in complex microbiomes? In this study we evaluate recent evidence that certain lineages within animal gut microbial communities have co-diversified with their host species and populations, and we present statistical approaches for identifying co-diversifying microbial lineages while accounting for multiple testing and phylogenetic non-independence. Discovering the co-diversifying lineages in microbiomes enables discrimination between transient microbial lineages and ancestral, host-species specific symbionts that have been maintained over host evolutionary timescales.
Depletion of dexamethasone in cattle: Food safety study in dairy and beef cattle
Authors: Chicoine Al , Renaud David L. , Enouri Saad S. , Dowling Patricia M. , Gu Yu , Johnson Ron J. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractDexamethasone is approved for cattle in Canada for several conditions, but no withdrawal times are currently provided on the approved labels. Recently, the list of Maximum Residues Limits for Veterinary Drugs in Foods in Canada was amended to include dexamethasone. The objectives of this study were to determine the residue depletion profile of dexamethasone after an extra‐label dosage regimen in milk of healthy lactating dairy cattle (n = 18) and in edible tissues of healthy beef cattle (n = 16) and to suggest withdrawal intervals. Dexamethasone was administered intramuscularly at 0.05 mg/kg daily for 3 days. Milk samples were collected prior to treatment and every 12 h up to 96 h post‐dose. Muscle, liver, kidney, and peri‐renal fat tissues were collected from beef cattle at 3, 7, 11, or 15 days post‐dose. Dexamethasone analysis was performed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrophotometry. Dexamethasone residues were detected in milk samples up to 36 h. Muscle and fat had no detectable dexamethasone residues while kidney and liver had detectable residues only on day 3 post‐dose. A withdrawal interval of 48 h for milk in Canadian dairy cattle and 7 days for meat in Canadian beef cattle are suggested for the dexamethasone treatment regimen most commonly requested to CgFARAD™.
Field‐work reveals a novel function for MAX2 in a native tobacco's high‐light adaptions
Authors: Li Suhua , Baldwin Gundega , Yang Caiqiong , Lu Ruirui , Meng Shuaishuai , Huang Jianbei , Wang Ming , Baldwin Ian T. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractLaboratory studies have revealed that strigolatone (SL) and karrikin (KAR) signalling mediate responses to abiotic and biotic stresses, and reshape branching architecture that could increase reproductive performance and crop yields. To understand the ecological function of SL and KAR signalling, transgenic lines of wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata, silenced in SL/KAR biosynthesis/signalling were grown in the glasshouse and in two field plots in the Great Basin Desert in Utah over four field seasons. Of the lines silenced in SL and KAR signalling components (irMAX2, irD14, irKAI2 and irD14 × irKAI2 plants), which exhibited the expected increases in shoot branching, only irMAX2 plants showed a strong leaf‐bleaching phenotype when grown in the field. In the field, irMAX2 plants had lower sugar and higher leaf amino acid contents, lower lifetime fitness and were more susceptible to herbivore attack compared to wild‐type plants. These irMAX2 phenotypes were not observed in glasshouse‐grown plants. Transcriptomic analysis revealed dramatic responses to high‐light intensity in irMAX2 leaves in the field: lutein contents decreased, and transcriptional responses to high‐intensity light, singlet oxygen and hydrogen peroxide increased. PAR and UV‐B manipulations in the field revealed that the irMAX2 bleaching phenotype is reversed by decreasing PAR, but not UV‐B fluence. We propose that NaMAX2 functions in high‐light adaptation and fitness optimisation by regulating high‐light responses independently of its roles in the SL and KAR signalling pathways. The work provides another example of the value of studying the function of genes in the complex environments in which plants evolved, namely nature.
Relationship between health practices with attitudes towards pregnancy and motherhood and pregnancy symptoms in Iranian pregnant women: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Montazeri Maryam , Shabani Fatemeh , Rezaie Ronya , Mirghafourvand Mojgan 
Published: September 2023

ObjectivesPregnancy is a vulnerable period for women’s health, and health practices play an essential role in this period. This study aimed to determine the relationship between health practices with attitudes toward pregnancy and motherhood and pregnancy symptoms.DesignIt was a cross-sectional study using cluster sampling conducted on 351 pregnant women in 2021–2022. Data were collected using questionnaires of socio-demographic characteristics, health practices in pregnancy (Health Practices Questionnaire-II), attitude towards motherhood and pregnancy (Prenatal Attitudes Towards motherhood and Pregnancy) and pregnancy symptoms (Pregnancy Symptoms Inventory). The general linear model (GLM), with the adjustment of socio-demographic characteristics, was used to determine the relationship of the health practices with attitudes towards motherhood and pregnancy and pregnancy symptoms.SettingHealth centres in Tabriz city, Iran.ParticipantsWomen were eligible if living in the Tabriz city, Iran, were pregnant and had a personal health record at the health centre.ResultsThe mean (SD) of the total health practices score was 117.9 (20.5) out of 34–170. The mean (SD) of the attitudes towards motherhood and pregnancy was 33.4 (4.5) out of 11–44. The mean (SD) of the pregnancy symptoms was 28.0 (12.1) out of 0–123. According to the Pearson correlation test, there was a significant direct correlation between health practices with attitudes towards motherhood and pregnancy (r=0.39; p<0.001) and a significant inverse correlation with pregnancy symptoms (r=−0.29; p<0.001). Based on the GLM with an increase in the score of health practices, the mean score of the attitude towards motherhood and pregnancy increased (B=0.07; 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.1), and the mean score of pregnancy symptoms decreased (B=−0.1; 95% CI: −0.2 to −0.05).ConclusionConsidering the relationship between health practices with the attitude towards motherhood and pregnancy symptoms, healthcare providers better use educational and counselling strategies to promote health practices in pregnant women.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of adding transarterial chemoembolisation to lenvatinib as first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in China
Authors: Li Wei , Wan Li 
Published: September 2023

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate the comparative cost-effectiveness of lenvatinib (LEN) plus transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) (LEN-TACE) and LEN alone to treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system.DesignA three-state partitioned survival model using clinical survival data from a phase III LAUNCH trial, a 5-year time horizon for costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) was constructed to analyse the cost-effectiveness of LEN-TACE. Clinical inputs were extracted from the LAUNCH trial, with outcomes extrapolated using standard and flexible parametric survival models. Costs and utilities derived from published literature were discounted at an annual rate of 5%. Sensitivity analyses and scenario analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the model.SettingThe Chinese healthcare system perspective.ParticipantsA hypothetical Chinese cohort of patients with advanced HCC.InterventionsTACE plus LEN versus LEN.Primary outcome measureCosts, QALYs, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER).ResultsBase-case analysis revealed that LEN-TACE would be cost-effective in China at the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $37 663 per QALYs, with improved effectiveness of 0.382 QALYs and additional cost of $12 151 (ICER: $31 808 per QALY). The probabilistic sensitivity analysis suggested that LEN-TACE had a 93.5% probability of cost-effectiveness at WTP threshold of three times gross domestic product per capital ($37 663). One-way deterministic sensitivity analysis indicated that the duration of LEN treatment in both two arms, utility of progression-free survival and the cost of TACE had a greater impact on the stability of ICER values. Scenario analyses results were in line with base-case analysis.ConclusionsLEN-TACE might be a cost-effective strategy compared with LEN for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced HCC in China.
Relationship between ocular surface pain and corneal nerve loss in dry eye diabetics: a cross-sectional study in Shenyang, China
Authors: Qin Guanghao , Chen Jiayan , Li Liangzhe , Qi Yifan , Zhang Qing , Wu Yi , You Yue , Yang Lanting , Moore Jonathan , Xu Ling , He Wei , Yu Sile , Pazo Emmanuel Eric , He Xingru 
Published: September 2023

BackgroundDiabetes mellitus has been associated with increased dry eye disease (DED) and exacerbates DED pathology.ObjectiveTo investigate the potential relationship between corneal nerve loss and ocular pain among diabetic patients with dry eye (DE).DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingHe Eye Specialist Hospital, Shenyang, China.ParticipantsThis study recruited 124 eyes of 62 diabetic patients diagnosed with DED between August and October 2022.Main outcome measuresBest-corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure, non-invasive tear breakup time, tear meniscus height, tear film lipid layer, conjunctival hyperaemia (redness score), conjunctivocorneal epithelial staining (CS score), central corneal sensitivity and vitro confocal corneal microscopy was assessed in all subjects. The Ocular Surface Disease Index Questionnaire assessed DE symptoms and ocular pain.ResultsThe study’s final analysis included 26 patients (52 eyes) without ocular pain and 36 patients (72 eyes) with ocular pain. The corneal nerve fibre density (CNFD), corneal nerve branch density (CNBD) and corneal nerve fibre length (CNFL) in patients with ocular pain were significantly lower than those without (p<0.001, p=0.004, and p<0.001, respectively). CNFD, CNBD and CNFL negatively correlated with ocular pain (r=−0.385, r=−0.260, r=−0.358, respectively). Moreover, CNFD, CNBD and CNFL have a significant (p<0.05) positive correlation with corneal sensitivity (r=0.523, r=0.330, r=0.421, respectively).ConclusionsCorneal nerve loss was associated with ocular pain and decreased corneal sensitivity in diabetic patients with DE. Further studies into the neurological role of ocular surface diseases can elaborate diagnostics, prognosis and treatment of diabetic patients with DE.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05193331).
Double charmed meson in pp and pA collisions production at the LHC within the dipole approach in momentum representation
Authors: dos Santos G. Sampaio , da Silveira G. Gil , Machado M. V. T. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractA study of double charmed meson production in proton–proton and proton–nucleus collisions at the LHC energies is performed. Based on the color dipole formalism developed in the transverse momentum representation and the double parton scattering mechanism, predictions are made for the transverse momentum differential cross section for different pairs of D-mesons. The theoretical results consider the center-of-mass energy and forward rapidities associated to the measurements by the LHCb Collaboration. The results considering different unintegrated gluon distributions are presented and compared to data and predictions for proton–nucleus collisions are provided.
Axion effective potentials induced by heavy sterile fermions
Authors: Mavromatos Nick E. , Sarkar Sarben 
Published: September 2023

AbstractA model of (3 + 1)-dimensional leptogenesis, proposed previously by the authors, requires a CPT Violating (CPTV) background of the Kalb–Ramond (KR) axion field. The KR axion is a pseudoscalar, which is dual to the field strength of the spin-one field present in the massless gravitational multiplet in the theory of closed bosonic strings (compactified to four dimensions). Microscopic models for the emergence of such backgrounds are provided both by low-energy string-inspired gravitational theories with torsion (including (primordial) gravitational and axial gauge anomalies) and by Einstein–Cartan gravity, a closely related simpler model. In this work we examine the pseudoscalar quanta of the KR axion in this background using the methods of effective field theory. In our model for leptogenesis there is a single sterile right-handed neutrino (RHN) with mass $$m_N.$$

m
N

.

At energies lower than $$m_N,$$

m
N

,

an axion potential is derived by integrating out at one loop the sterile neutrino in the spirit of effective field theory. The stability of this axion potential is important for the viability of our model. The vacuum of this potential is generally metastable. The stability of the vacuum is determined by the ratio of the torsion-induced-axion coupling (which depends on the string mass scale) to $$m_N,$$

m
N

,

which should be larger or equal to one, for the validity of our effective field theory. The vacuum is metastable only for axion couplings much larger than the sterile neutrino mass (large string mass scales, e.g. comparable to the four-dimensional Planck mass), with a lifetime much larger than the age of the observable Universe. By contrast, if axion couplings are comparable to the RHN mass the false vacuum is highly unstable, with a lifetime much smaller than the age of the observable Universe; in this case the CPTV leptogenesis scenario is not viable.
Impact of nonextensivity on the transport coefficients of a magnetized hot and dense QCD matter
Authors: Rath Shubhalaxmi , Dash Sadhana 
Published: September 2023

AbstractWe have studied the impact of the nonextensivity on the transport coefficients related to charge and heat in thermal QCD. For this purpose, the electrical ($$\sigma _\textrm{el}$$

σ
el

), Hall ($$\sigma _\textrm{H}$$

σ
H

), thermal ($$\kappa $$
κ
) and Hall-type thermal ($$\kappa _\textrm{H}$$

κ
H

) conductivities are determined using the kinetic theory approach in association with the nonextensive Tsallis statistical mechanism. The effect of nonextensivity is encoded in the nonextensive Tsallis distribution function, where the deviation of the parameter q from 1 signifies the degree of nonextensivity in the concerned system. The thermal and electrical conductivities are found to increase with the introduction of nonextensivity, which means that the deviation of the medium from thermal equilibrium enhances both charge and heat transports. With the magnetic field, the deviations of $$\sigma _\textrm{el}$$

σ
el

, $$\sigma _\textrm{H}$$

σ
H

, $$\kappa $$
κ
and $$\kappa _\textrm{H}$$

κ
H

from their respective equilibrated values increase, whereas these deviations decrease with the chemical potential. We have also studied how the extent of the nonextensivity modulates the longevity of magnetic field. Present work is further extended to the study of some observables associated with the aforesaid transport phenomena, such as the Knudsen number and the elliptic flow within the nonextensive Tsallis framework.