bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A fast and accurate identification model for Rhinolophus bats based on fine-grained information
Authors: Cao Zhong , Li Chuxian , Wang Kunhui , He Kai , Wang Xiaoyun , Yu Wenhua 
Published: September 2023

AbstractBats are a crucial component within ecosystems, providing valuable ecosystem services such as pollination and pest control. In practical conservation efforts, the classification and identification of bats are essential in order to develop effective conservation management programs for bats and their habitats. Traditionally, the identification of bats has been a manual and time-consuming process. With the development of artificial intelligence technology, the accuracy and speed of identification work of such fine-grained images as bats identification can be greatly improved. Bats identification relies on the fine features of their beaks and faces, so mining the fine-grained information in images is crucial to improve the accuracy of bats identification. This paper presents a deep learning-based model designed for the rapid and precise identification of common horseshoe bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae:Rhinolophus) from Southern China. The model was developed by utilizing a comprehensive dataset of 883 high-resolution images of seven distinctRhinolophusspecies which were collected during surveys conducted between 2010 and 2022. An improved EfficientNet model with an attention mechanism module is architected to mine the fine-grained appearance of theseRhinolophus. The performance of the model beat other classical models, including SqueezeNet, AlexNet, VGG16_BN, ShuffleNetV2, GoogleNet, ResNet50 and EfficientNet_B0, according to the predicting precision, recall, accuracy, F1-score. Our model achieved the highest identification accuracy of 94.22% and an F1-score of 0.948 with low computational complexity. Heat maps obtained with Grad-CAM show that our model meets the identification criteria of the morphology ofRhinolophus. Our study highlights the potential of artificial intelligence technology for the identification of small mammals, and facilitating fast species identification in the future.
Chronic hyperpalatable diet induces impairment of hippocampal-dependent memories and alters glutamatergic and fractalkine axis signaling
Authors: Ribeiro Roberta , Silva Emanuele Guimarães , Moreira Felipe Caixeta , Gomes Giovanni Freitas , Cussat Gabriela Reis , Silva Barbara Stehling Ramos , da Silva Maria Carolina Machado , de Barros Fernandes Heliana , de Sena Oliveira Carolina , de Oliveira Guarnieri Leonardo , Lopes Victoria , Ferreira Cláudia Natália , de Faria Ana Maria Caetano , Maioli Tatiani Uceli , Ribeiro Fabíola Mara , de Miranda Aline Silva , Moraes Grace Schenatto Pereira , de Oliveira Antônio Carlos Pinheiro , Vieira Luciene Bruno 
Published: September 2023

AbstractChronic consumption of hyperpalatable and hypercaloric foods has been pointed out as a factor associated with cognitive decline and memory impairment in obesity. In this context, the integration between peripheral and central inflammation may play a significant role in the negative effects of an obesogenic environment on memory. However, little is known about how obesity-related peripheral inflammation affects specific neurotransmission systems involved with memory regulation. Here, we test the hypothesis that chronic exposure to a highly palatable diet may cause neuroinflammation, glutamatergic dysfunction, and memory impairment. For that, we exposed C57BL/6J mice to a high sugar and butter diet (HSB) for 12 weeks, and we investigated its effects on behavior, glial reactivity, blood–brain barrier permeability, pro-inflammatory features, glutamatergic alterations, plasticity, and fractalkine-CX3CR1 axis. Our results revealed that HSB diet induced a decrease in memory reconsolidation and extinction, as well as an increase in hippocampal glutamate levels. Although our data indicated a peripheral pro-inflammatory profile, we did not observe hippocampal neuroinflammatory features. Furthermore, we also observed that the HSB diet increased hippocampal fractalkine levels, a key chemokine associated with neuroprotection and inflammatory regulation. Then, we hypothesized that the elevation on glutamate levels may saturate synaptic communication, partially limiting plasticity, whereas fractalkine levels increase as a strategy to decrease glutamatergic damage.
Correlation of elemental hyperaccumulation among the succulent and non-succulent halophytes of Gujarat, India
Authors: Vyas Suhas , Agoramoorthy Govindasamy , Gadhvi Kamlesh , Gamit Sandip , Dangar Kiran 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThis paper presents new data on the salt tolerance and avoidance mechanisms among various groups of halophytes in India. The halophytic flora in general has positive effect of high saline environments on growth and physiology. The coastal area of the Kachchh district in Gujarat includes about 350 km of shoreline along the Gulf of Kachchh. This study presents data on the elemental accumulation mechanisms in soil and halophytic flora (succulent and non-succulents). The halophytes were divided into two groups namely succulent with thick and fleshy leaves and stems as well as non-succulents with thin leaves and stem. The succulent halophytes included species such asSalicornia brachiata,Suaeda fruticosaandSuaeda nudiflora. The non-succulent halophytes includeAeluropus lagopoidesandUrochondra setulosa. Plant parts namely leaves (Phylloclade forSalicornia), stems and roots were analyzed during the monsoon season. The results of soil and plant mineral ion contents differed widely across the intertidal zones in the same habitat. Likewise, the intra species have varied in all nutrient levels and salt concentration. The accumulation of elemental concentration was high during the monsoon season in the succulentSalicornia brachiata, especially in leaves that showed Na+reaching high up to 7.6 meq g−1, whereas Cl−was noted to be 4.34 meq g−1. In the non-succulent halophytes, the accumulation of mineral ion concentration was lower when compared to succulent plants.
A repertoire of candidate effector proteins of the fungus Ceratocystis cacaofunesta
Authors: Ramos-Lizardo Gabriela N. , Mucherino-Muñoz Jonathan J. , Aguiar Eric R. G. R. , Pirovani Carlos Priminho , Corrêa Ronan Xavier 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe genus Ceratocystis includes many phytopathogenic fungi that affect different plant species. One of these is Ceratocystis cacaofunesta, which is pathogenic to the cocoa tree and causes Ceratocystis wilt, a lethal disease for the crop. However, little is known about how this pathogen interacts with its host. The knowledge and identification of possible genes encoding effector proteins are essential to understanding this pathosystem. The present work aimed to predict genes that code effector proteins of C. cacaofunesta from a comparative analysis of the genomes of five Ceratocystis species available in databases. We performed a new genome annotation through an in-silico analysis. We analyzed the secretome and effectorome of C. cacaofunesta using the characteristics of the peptides, such as the presence of signal peptide for secretion, absence of transmembrane domain, and richness of cysteine residues. We identified 160 candidate effector proteins in the C. cacaofunesta proteome that could be classified as cytoplasmic (102) or apoplastic (58). Of the total number of candidate effector proteins, 146 were expressed, presenting an average of 206.56 transcripts per million. Our database was created using a robust bioinformatics strategy, followed by manual curation, generating information on pathogenicity-related genes involved in plant interactions, including CAZymes, hydrolases, lyases, and oxidoreductases. Comparing proteins already characterized as effectors in Sordariomycetes species revealed five groups of protein sequences homologous to C. cacaofunesta. These data provide a valuable resource for studying the infection mechanisms of these pathogens in their hosts.
Müller matrix polarimetry for pancreatic tissue characterization
Authors: Sampaio Paulo , Lopez-Antuña Maria , Storni Federico , Wicht Jonatan , Sökeland Greta , Wartenberg Martin , Márquez-Neila Pablo , Candinas Daniel , Demory Brice-Olivier , Perren Aurel , Sznitman Raphael 
Published: September 2023

AbstractPolarimetry is an optical characterization technique capable of analyzing the polarization state of light reflected by materials and biological samples. In this study, we investigate the potential of Müller matrix polarimetry (MMP) to analyze fresh pancreatic tissue samples. Due to its highly heterogeneous appearance, pancreatic tissue type differentiation is a complex task. Furthermore, its challenging location in the body makes creating direct imaging difficult. However, accurate and reliable methods for diagnosing pancreatic diseases are critical for improving patient outcomes. To this end, we measured the Müller matrices of ex-vivo unfixed human pancreatic tissue and leverage the feature-learning capabilities of a machine-learning model to derive an optimized data representation that minimizes normal-abnormal classification error. We show experimentally that our approach accurately differentiates between normal and abnormal pancreatic tissue. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to use ex-vivo unfixed human pancreatic tissue combined with feature-learning from raw Müller matrix readings for this purpose.
Water layer and radiation damage effects on the orientation recovery of proteins in single-particle imaging at an X-ray free-electron laser
Authors: E Juncheng , Stransky Michal , Shen Zhou , Jurek Zoltan , Fortmann-Grote Carsten , Bean Richard , Santra Robin , Ziaja Beata , Mancuso Adrian P. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe noise caused by sample heterogeneity (including sample solvent) has been identified as one of the determinant factors for a successful X-ray single-particle imaging experiment. It influences both the radiation damage process that occurs during illumination as well as the scattering patterns captured by the detector. Here, we investigate the impact of water layer thickness and radiation damage on orientation recovery from diffraction patterns of the nitrogenase iron protein. Orientation recovery is a critical step for single-particle imaging. It enables to sort a set of diffraction patterns scattered by identical particles placed at unknown orientations and assemble them into a 3D reciprocal space volume. The recovery quality is characterized by a “disconcurrence” metric. Our results show that while a water layer mitigates protein damage, the noise generated by the scattering from it can introduce challenges for orientation recovery and is anticipated to cause problems in the phase retrieval process to extract the desired protein structure. Compared to these disadvantageous effects due to the thick water layer, the effects of radiation damage on the orientation recovery are relatively small. Therefore, minimizing the amount of residual sample solvent should be considered a crucial step in improving the fidelity and resolution of X-ray single-particle imaging experiments.
Novel biphenylidene-thiopyrimidine derivatives as corrosion inhibitors for carbon-steel in oilfield produced water
Authors: Ali Hajar A. , Shaban Mahmoud M. , Abousalem Ashraf S. , Ghaith Eslam A. , Fouda Abdelaziz S. , Ismail Mohamed A. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe inhibiting efficiency of three newly synthesized organic compounds:5-((4'-(dimethylamino)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)methylene)-1,3-diethyl-2-thioxodihydropyrimidine-4,6(1H,5H)-dione (HM-1228), 5-((4'-(dimethylamino)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)methylene)-2-thioxodihydropyrimidine-4,6(1H,5H)-dione (HM-1227) and 5-((4'-(dimethylamino)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)methylene)pyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione (HM-1226) in oilfield produced water on the corrosion of carbon steel has been examined via electrochemical measurements; potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and electrochemical impedance (EIS) techniques. The adsorption of these compounds on the surface of carbon steel followed Langmuir isotherm. In addition, the surface morphology of uninhibited and inhibited carbon steel was examined by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), observing surface improvement when carbon steel samples exposed to the inhibited corrosive solutions. The average surface roughness (Ra) in oilfield produced water solution in the presence of 0.5 mM of HM-1228 inhibitor was 138.28 nm compared to the uninhibited surface 571.62 nm. To explore the corrosion inhibition mechanism, quantum chemical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations were utilized. The HM-1228 inhibitor demonstrated the highest corrosion inhibition efficiency at 94.8% by PDP measurements. The higher corrosion inhibition of compound HM-1228 can be attributed to the presence of di-N-ethyl groups that enhance both electron donating ability and lipophilic properties.
Rock deformation vs. radon emission: some constraints from shear stress-controlled experiments
Authors: Benà Eleonora , Spagnuolo Elena , Piersanti Antonio , Galli Gianfranco , Mazzoli Claudio , Sassi Raffaele 
Published: September 2023

AbstractNumerous field and laboratory studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between radon variation and seismic events, as well as the complex link between radon emission and rock deformation mechanisms. However, a clear understanding of this correspondence and systematic observations of these phenomena are still lacking, and recent experimental studies have yet to yield conclusive results. In this study, we investigate the possible relationships between radon migration dynamics and rock deformation at the micro-scale through laboratory experiments using the SHIVA apparatus under shear stress-controlled conditions and simultaneous high-resolution radon measurements. We studied the behaviour of three different lithologies to show that radon emission varies in response to rock deformation and this variation is highly dependent on the mineralogy and microstructure. This study represents the first attempt to define radon gas as an indicator of transient and rapid rock deformation at the micro-scale.
Abnormal basement membrane results in increased keratinocyte-derived periostin expression in psoriasis similar to wound healing
Authors: Flink Lili Borbála , Ghaffarinia Ameneh , Papp Benjamin Tamás , Varga Ákos , Vigh András István , Vidács Dániel László , Kui Róbert , Kemény Lajos , Bata-Csörgő Zsuzsanna , Bozó Renáta 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe psoriatic skin resembles wound healing, and it shows abnormalities at the basement membrane (BM), also in the non-lesional skin. Fibroblast-derived dermal periostin has well-known functions in wound healing and Th2-mediated diseases, such as atopic dermatitis. Here we show that serum periostin level was elevated in psoriatic patients, remarkably in the systemically treated ones. Obvious periostin positivity was detected in basal keratinocytes of the non-lesional, lesional, and previously-lesional psoriatic vs. healthy skin. Ex vivo skin models were generated to examine how different skin injuries affect periostin expression during wound healing. Our newly developed cultured salt-split model demonstrated that BM-injury induced periostin expression in basal keratinocytes, and periostin levels in the supernatant were also increased upon healing. In wound healing models, β1-integrin expression was similarly induced. β1-integrin blocking caused reduced periostin expression in in vitro scratch assay, indicating that β1-integrin can mediate periostin production. In contrast to atopic dermatitis, psoriatic basal keratinocytes are in an activated state and show a stable wound healing-like phenotype with the overexpression of periostin. This abnormal BM-induced wound healing as a potential compensatory mechanism can be initiated already in the non-lesional skin present in the lesion and keratinocytes can remain activated in the healed skin.
Trajectories of social withdrawal and social anxiety and their relationship with self-esteem before, during, and after the school lockdowns
Authors: Cruz Sara , Sousa Mariana , Marchante Marta , Coelho Vítor Alexandre 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic affected adolescents’ social withdrawal and social anxiety. Yet, self-esteem may have acted as a protective factor during this period. This study aimed to compare the trajectories of social withdrawal and social anxiety before (Year 1), during (Year 2 and 3), and after (Year 4) the closure of schools imposed by the COVID-19-related lockdowns, and to investigate the association of self-esteem with these trajectories. Participants were 844 (50.6% boys) Portuguese adolescents (mean age 12.70 years, SD = 1.14). The Social and Emotional Competencies Evaluation Questionnaire (QACSE) was used to assess social withdrawal and social anxiety, while The Global Self-Esteem scale of the Self-Description Questionnaire II was used to measure self-esteem. Growth curve analysis showed that social withdrawal and social anxiety had more negative trajectories during the year in which the school closures occurred. In addition, adolescents reported higher social withdrawal after the lockdowns than before the pandemic. Higher self-esteem was associated with a more positive trajectory in social withdrawal. Therefore, the results showed the negative of impact of the closure of schools on adolescents’ social anxiety and social withdrawal, and that self-esteem was a protective factor during these challenging and adverse events.
Risk of rapid progression to dialysis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without diabetes-related complications at diagnosis
Authors: Shih Hong-Mo , Tsai Wen-Chen , Wu Pei-Yu , Chiu Li-Ting , Kung Pei-Tseng 
Published: September 2023

AbstractMany adults with diabetes mellitus are unaware worldwide. The study objectives aimed to evaluate the risk of dialysis within 5 years of diagnosis between patients with newly diagnosed diabetes with and without diabetes-related complications. A retrospective longitudinal nationwide cohort study was conducted. Patients diagnosed with diabetes between 2005 and 2013 were followed up until 2018. They were categorized based on the presence or absence of complications, the number of complications, and the diabetes complications severity index (DCSI) scores. Dialysis outcomes were determined through the Registry of Catastrophic Illness from the National Health Insurance Research Database. Among the analyzed patients, 25.38% had complications at diagnosis. Patients with complications at diagnosis had a significantly higher risk of dialysis within 5 years (adjusted hazard ratio: 9.55, 95% confidence interval CI 9.02–10.11). Increasing DCSI scores and the number of complications were associated with higher dialysis risks. Patients with one complication had a 7.26-times higher risk (95% CI 6.83–7.71), while those with ≥ 3 complications had a 36.12-times higher risk (95% CI 32.28–40.41). In conclusion, newly diagnosed diabetes patients with complications face an increased risk of dialysis within 5 years. The severity and number of complications are directly linked to the risk of dialysis within this timeframe.
RAD-Seq analysis of wild Japanese garlic (Allium macrostemon Bunge) growing in Japan revealed that this neglected crop was previously actively utilized
Authors: Probowati Wiwit , Koga Shogo , Harada Kentaro , Nagano Yukio , Nagano Atsushi J. , Ishimaru Kanji , Ohshima Kazusato , Fukuda Shinji 
Published: September 2023

AbstractAllium macrostemon Bunge, commonly referred to as "no-biru" in Japan, is a widespread wild onion species found across the country. Despite being deeply entwined in ancient Japanese culture, it remains an underutilized crop in Japan. Determining the origins of its domestic populations and understanding their genetic composition is crucial to highlighting the plant's historical significance in Japan. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by examining the genetic diversity of 47 A. macrostemon samples from various regions in Japan using RAD-Seq. Our analyses distinguished unique population structures, dividing the samples into three distinct groups: A, B, and C. Notably, groups A and B showed clear evidence of bulb propagation, while group C did not. Group C formed four subgroups: C1, C2, C3, and C4. Hybridization between subgroup C1 and either group A, B, or both, resulted in the emergence of subgroups C2, C3, and C4. Thus, groups A, B, and C1 are posited as the ancestral populations. Additionally, our morphological observations indicated distinct differences among these three groups. Our findings also suggest that human migration may have influenced the plant's distribution, hinting at active usage in the past that later waned, causing its current underutilized status.
Texture-based brain networks for characterization of healthy subjects from MRI
Authors: da Silveira Rafael Vinícius , Li Li Min , Castellano Gabriela 
Published: September 2023

AbstractBrain networks have been widely used to study the relationships between brain regions based on their dynamics using, e.g. fMRI or EEG, and to characterize their real physical connections using DTI. However, few studies have investigated brain networks derived from structural properties; and those have been based on cortical thickness or gray matter volume. The main objective of this work was to investigate the feasibility of obtaining useful information from brain networks derived from structural MRI, using texture features. We also wanted to verify if texture brain networks had any relation with established functional networks. T1-MR images were segmented using AAL and texture parameters from the gray-level co-occurrence matrix were computed for each region, for 760 subjects. Individual texture networks were used to evaluate the structural connections between regions of well-established functional networks; assess possible gender differences; investigate the dependence of texture network measures with age; and single out brain regions with different texture-network characteristics. Although around 70% of texture connections between regions belonging to the default mode, attention, and visual network were greater than the mean connection value, this effect was small (only between 7 and 15% of these connections were larger than one standard deviation), implying that texture-based morphology does not seem to subside function. This differs from cortical thickness-based morphology, which has been shown to relate to functional networks. Seventy-five out of 86 evaluated regions showed significant (ANCOVA,p < 0.05) differences between genders. Forty-four out of 86 regions showed significant (ANCOVA,p < 0.05) dependence with age; however, the R2indicates that this is not a linear relation. Thalamus and putamen showed a very unique texture-wise structure compared to other analyzed regions. Texture networks were able to provide useful information regarding gender and age-related differences, as well as for singling out specific brain regions. We did not find a morphological texture-based subsidy for the evaluated functional brain networks. In the future, this approach will be extended to neurological patients to investigate the possibility of extracting biomarkers to help monitor disease evolution or treatment effectiveness.