bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Glucagon-like peptide-1 facilitates cerebellar parallel fiber glutamate release through PKA signaling in mice in vitro
Authors: Wang Xin-Yuan , Liu Yang , Cao Li-Xin , Li Yu-Zi , Wan Peng , Qiu De-Lai 
Published: May 2023

AbstractGlucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is mainly secreted by preproglucagon neurons; it plays important roles in modulating neuronal activity and synaptic transmission through its receptors. In the present study, we investigated the effects of GLP-1 on parallel fiber–Purkinje cell (PF-PC) synaptic transmission in mouse cerebellar slices using whole-cell patch-clamp recording and pharmacology methods. In the presence of a γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor antagonist, bath application of GLP-1 (100 nM) enhanced PF-PC synaptic transmission, with an increased amplitude of evoked excitatory postsynaptic synaptic currents (EPSCs) and a decreased paired-pulse ratio. The GLP-1-induced enhancement of evoked EPSCs was abolished by a selective GLP-1 receptor antagonist, exendin 9–39, as well as by the extracellular application of a specific protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor, KT5720. In contrast, inhibiting postsynaptic PKA with a protein kinase inhibitor peptide-containing internal solution failed to block the GLP-1-induced enhancement of evoked EPSCs. In the presence of a mixture of gabazine (20 μM) and tetrodotoxin (1 μM), application GLP-1 significantly increased frequency, but not amplitude of miniature EPSCs via PKA signaling pathway. The GLP-1-induced increase in miniature EPSC frequency was blocked by both exendin 9–39 and KT5720. Together, our results indicate that GLP-1 receptor activation enhances glutamate release at PF-PC synapses via the PKA signaling pathway, resulting in enhanced PF-PC synaptic transmission in mice in vitro. These findings suggest that, in living animals, GLP-1 has a critical role in the modulation of cerebellar function by regulating excitatory synaptic transmission at PF-PC synapses.
Foot plantar pressure and centre of pressure trajectory differ between straight and turning steps in infants
Authors: Price Carina , Montagnani Eleonora , Nester Christopher , Morrison Stewart C. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractPlantar pressure has been used to understand loading on infant feet as gait develops. Previous literature focused on straight walking, despite turning accounting for 25% of infant self-directed steps. We aimed to compare centre of pressure and plantar pressure in walking steps in different directions in infants. Twenty-five infants who were walking confidently participated in the study (aged 449 ± 71 days, 96 ± 25 days after first steps). Plantar pressure and video were recorded whilst five steps per infant were combined for three step types: straight, turning inwards and outwards. Centre of pressure trajectory components were compared for path length and velocity. Pedobarographic Statistical Parametric Mapping explored differences in peak plantar pressure for the three step types. Significant differences were identified primarily in the forefoot with higher peak pressures in straight steps. Centre of pressure path was longer in the medial–lateral direction during turning (outward 4.6 ± 2.3, inward 6.8 ± 6.1, straight 3.5 ± 1.2 cm, p < .001). Anterior–posterior velocity was higher in straight steps and medial–lateral velocity highest turning inwards. Centre of pressure and plantar pressures differ between straight and turning steps with greatest differences between straight and turning. Findings may be attributed to walking speed or a function of turning experience and should influence future protocols.
Prognostic and immunological role of FDX1 in pan-cancer: an in-silico analysis
Authors: Liu Ziqiang , Miao Jinfeng 
Published: May 2023

AbstractPrevious research has demonstrated that ferredoxin 1 (FDX1) contributes to the accumulation of toxic lipoylated dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase (DLAT) and results in cuproptotic cell death. However, the role that FDX1 plays in human cancer prognosis and immunology is still not well understood. The original data was obtained from TCGA and GEO databases and integrated using R 4.1.0. The TIMER2.0, GEPIA, and BioGPS databases were used to explore FDX1 expression. The impact of FDX1 on prognosis was analyzed using the GEPIA and Kaplan–Meier Plotter databases. External validation will be performed using the PrognoScan database. FDX1 expression in different immune and molecular subtypes of human cancers was evaluated using the TISIDB database. The correlation between FDX1 expression and immune checkpoints (ICP), microsatellite instability (MSI), and tumor mutational burden (TMB) in human cancers was analyzed using R 4.1.0. The TIMER2.0 and GEPIA databases were used to study the relationship between FDX1 expression and tumor-infiltrating immune cells. With the c-BioPortal database, we investigated the genomic alterations of FDX1. Pathway analysis and assessment of the sensitivity potential of FDX1-related drugs were also performed. Using the UALCAN database, we analyzed the differential expression of FDX1 in KIRC (kidney renal clear cell carcinoma) with different clinical features. Coexpression networks of FDX1 were analyzed using LinkedOmics. In general, FDX1 was expressed differently in different types of cancer in humans. Expression of FDX1 was strongly correlated with patient prognosis, ICP, MSI, and TMB. FDX1 was also participated in immune regulation and the tumor microenvironment. Coexpression networks of FDX1 were primarily involved in oxidative phosphorylation regulation. Pathway analysis revealed that the expression of FDX1 was correlated to cancer-related and immune-related pathways. FDX1 has the potential to serve as a biomarker for pan-cancer prognosis and immunology, as well as a novel target for tumor therapy.
Dual quantum cascade lasers for noninvasive glucose detection using photoacoustic spectroscopy
Authors: Aloraynan Abdulrahman , Rassel Shazzad , Kaysir Md. Rejvi , Ban Dayan 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThe combination of mid-infrared and photoacoustic spectroscopy has shown promising developments as a substitute for invasive glucose detection technology. A dual single-wavelength quantum cascade laser system has been developed using photoacoustic spectroscopy for noninvasive glucose monitoring. Biomedical skin phantoms with similar properties to human skin have been prepared with blood components at different glucose concentrations as test models for the setup. The detection sensitivity of the system has been improved to ± 12.5 mg/dL in the hyperglycemia blood glucose ranges. An ensemble machine learning classifier has been developed to predict the glucose level in the presence of blood components. The model, which was trained with 72,360 unprocessed datasets, achieved a 96.7% prediction accuracy with 100% of the predicted data located in zones A and B of Clarke’s error grid analysis. These findings fulfill both the US Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada requirements for glucose monitors.
Predicting the potential geographical distribution of onion thrips, Thrips tabaci in India based on climate change projections using MaxEnt
Authors: Karuppaiah V. , Maruthadurai R. , Das Bappa , Soumia P. S. , Gadge Ankush S. , Thangasamy A. , Ramesh S. V. , Shirsat Dhananjay V. , Mahajan Vijay , Krishna Hare , Singh Major 
Published: May 2023

AbstractOnion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman, an economically important onion pest in India, poses a severe threat to the domestic and export supply of onions. Therefore, it is important to study the distribution of this pest in order to assess the possible crop loss, which it may inflict if not managed in time. In this study, MaxEnt was used to analyze the potential distribution of T. tabaci in India and predict the changes in the suitable areas for onion thrips under two scenarios, SSP126 and SSP585. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values of 0.993 and 0.989 for training and testing demonstrated excellent model accuracy. The true skill statistic value of 0.944 and 0.921, and the continuous Boyce index of 0.964 and 0.889 for training and testing, also showed higher model accuracy. Annual Mean Temperature (bio1), Annual Precipitation (bio12) and Precipitation Seasonality (bio15) are the main variables that determined the potential distribution of T. tabaci, with the suitable range of 22–28 °C; 300–1000 mm and 70–160, respectively. T. tabaci is distributed mainly in India's central and southern states, with 1.17 × 106 km2, covering 36.4% of land area under the current scenario. Multimodal ensembles show that under a low emission scenario (SSP126), low, moderate and optimum suitable areas of T. tabaci is likely to increase, while highly suitable areas would decrease by 17.4% in 2050 20.9% in 2070. Whereas, under the high emission scenario (SSP585), the high suitability is likely to contract by 24.2% and 51.7% for 2050 and 2070, respectively. According to the prediction of the BCC-CSM2-MR, CanESM5, CNRM-CM6-1 and MIROC6 model, the highly suitable area for T. tabaci would likely contract under both SSP126 and SSP585. This study detailed the potential future habitable area for T. tabaci in India, which could help monitor and devise efficient management strategies for this destructive pest.
Stability enhancement of bi‐directional voltage source converters in modern power systems
Authors: Ghasemi Mohamad Amin , Zarei Seyed Fariborz , Peyghami Saeed 
Published: May 2023

AbstractIn future modern power systems, reliability and resilience could be an extreme challenge caused by the stability issues of the bidirectional power converters (BPCs). The non‐linear dynamics of DC link voltage (DCLV) of BPCs in interaction with the existing linear control schemes may decrease the stability margin and cause operating‐point‐dependent instability issues. Existing approaches may solve this issue by reducing the DCLV control loop bandwidth, which considerably degrades the system performance. To tackle this issue, first, the root cause of the instability challenge is analytically investigated, and then, a non‐linear stabilizer control scheme based on Lyapunov theorem is proposed. Considering the non‐linear dynamic of the BPCs and the interaction between dynamics of DC link voltage and AC currents in the proposed stabilizer, it guarantees the stability of the converter in both directions of power flow and the full range of loading conditions. The performance of the proposed scheme is verified through simulation of the system under various operating conditions, considering uncertainties, disturbances, and short‐circuit events, and comparing it with that of prevalent controllers.
Learning global image representation with generalized‐mean pooling and smoothed average precision for large‐scale CBIR
Authors: Yao Jinliang , Li Yongqing , Yang Bing , Wang Chenrui 
Published: May 2023

AbstractContent‐based image retrieval (CBIR) is the problem of searching for items in an image database that are similar to the query image. Most of the existing image retrieval methods are trained based on metric learning loss functions (e.g. contrastive loss or triplet loss), however, which require the use of hard sample mining strategies (HMS) to better train the model. The HMS implies that picking out hard positive or negative samples increases the complexity of model training and requires a large amount of additional training time. To address this issue, lessons from recent work are leveraged on representation learning and a model called GS is proposed that combines the state‐of‐the‐art Generalized‐Mean (GeM) pooling and the smoothed average precision (AP). The entire network can be learned end‐to‐end by approximating the non‐differentiable AP function to a differentiable one‐without mining hard samples, only image‐level annotations. A model named GSA is also presented which achieves excellent retrieval performance jointly trained by two various loss functions. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and demonstrate the competitive performance on a common standard image retrieval dataset (Revisited Oxford and Paris).
Age-Specific Nomograms for Antral Follicle Count in Fertile and Infertile Indian Women: A Comparative Study
Authors: Jain Shivi , Shukla Ram Chandra , Jain Madhu , Mishra Rabindra Nath 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Objectives The aim of this study was to develop age-specific nomograms for antral follicle count (AFC) in fertile and infertile Indian women and (2) to compare the influence of age on AFC in both groups.
Setting and Design It is a prospective cross-sectional study in a tertiary-care hospital in north-central India.
Methods and Material One-thousand four-hundred seventy-eight fertile and 1,447 infertile women (primary infertility) of reproductive age (18–49 years) were recruited. One-thousand one-hundred eighty-one fertile and 1,083 infertile women fulfilled the selection criteria for the study. Transvaginal ultrasonography was done on the second or third day of the menstrual cycle.
Statistical Analysis Age-specific nomograms for AFC were built for the 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 97th percentiles in both groups. Correlation and regression analysis was done to estimate the relationship between the study variables. Statistical analysis was done by using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 20.
Results At every age, each percentile value of AFC was lower in infertile than in fertile women. The decline of AFC with increasing age was linear in both fertile (r = − 0.431, p < 0.001) and infertile (r = − 0.520, p < 0.001) women; however, the rate was higher in the latter (0.50 follicle/year) than in former (0.44 follicle/year) group. The variation in AFC explained by age was 16.3% in fertile and 22.7% in infertile women.
Conclusion AFC decreased linearly with advancing age in both fertile and infertile women, but more rapidly in the latter. The age only modestly explained the decline of AFC. The age-specific percentile thresholds for AFC should be used instead of age-independent constant thresholds in infertility counselling.
Mixed Methods Research in Global Development Studies: State-Sponsored Resettlement Schemes in Ethiopia
Authors: Wayessa Gutu O. , Nygren Anja 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThis article contributes to mixed-methods research in global development studies. It draws on empirical study of changes in access to livelihood resources ensuing from state-sponsored resettlement schemes in Oromia, Ethiopia. The analysis demonstrates that explaining and understanding processes and outcomes of development interventions can be expanded and deepened by the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative analysis uncovers the magnitude of changes, whereas qualitative analysis reveals political power relations and contextual meanings of the changes as experienced by affected people. The study shows that mixed-methods approach enables addressing the statistical and substantive significance of the variables in question and the diversity of meanings and experiences associated with development interventions. This strengthens the analytical power of research, providing opportunities to enhance evidence-based comprehension of generic patterns and specific conditions and outcomes of development interventions in diversified situations of the global South.
Moderate semantic minimalism: an eclectic approach to trichotomy of meaning
Authors: Rahman Abduwali , Xu Wanzhi 
Published: May 2023

AbstractIn linguistic communication, the speaker’s utterance simultaneously generates several levels of meaning related to Grice’s distinction between what is said and what is implicated. Yet, there is a lively debate about the two notions. This study gives a general overview of three schools: Semantic Minimalism, Radical Contextualism, and Moderate Contextualism. After surveying the current controversies in these theories, it introduces a new direction: Moderate Semantic Minimalism. This eclectic approach isolates the propositional meaning as what is asserted, something intermediate between the literal level of what is said and the intentional level of what is implicated. It tends to take the minimal notion of what is said to be relatively context-independent and does not have to be a truth-evaluable proposition.
Projecting the future: modelling Australian dialysis prevalence 2021–30
Authors: Keuskamp Dominic , Davies Christopher E. , Irish Georgina L. , Jesudason Shilpanjali , McDonald Stephen P. 
Published: May 2023

Objectives To project the prevalence of people receiving dialysis in Australia for 2021–30 to inform service planning and health policy. Methods Estimates were based on data from 2011 to 2020 from the Australia & New Zealand Dialysis & Transplant (ANZDATA) Registry and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We projected dialysis and functioning kidney transplant recipient populations for the years 2021–30. Discrete-time, non-homogenous Markov models were built on probabilities for transition between three mutually exclusive states (Dialysis, Functioning Transplant, Death), for five age groups. Two scenarios were employed – stable transplant rate vs a continued increase – to assess the impact of these scenarios on the projected prevalences. Results Models projected a 22.5–30.4% growth in the dialysis population from 14 554 in 2020 to 17 829 (‘transplant growth’) – 18 973 (‘transplant stable’) by 2030. An additional 4983–6484 kidney transplant recipients were also projected by 2030. Dialysis incidence per population increased and dialysis prevalence growth exceeded population ageing in 40–59 and 60–69 year age groups. The greatest dialysis prevalence growth was seen among those aged ≥70 years. Conclusion Modelling of the future prevalence of dialysis use highlights the increasing demand on services expected overall and especially by people aged ≥70 years. Appropriate funding and healthcare planning must meet this demand.
The effects of Alnus viridis encroachment in mountain pastures on the growth performance, carcass and meat quality of Dexter cattle and Engadine sheep
Authors: Zehnder T. , Schneider M. K. , Lüscher A. , Giller K. , Silacci P. , Messadène-Chelali J. , Berard J. , Kreuzer M. 
Published: May 2023

Context Climate and economic changes promote the encroachment of woody plants on marginal mountain pastures. In the Alps, the main woody invader is the nitrogen-fixing shrub Alnus viridis (green alder). Robust breeds of different ruminant species may perform well on these shrub-encroached pastures. Aims To assess the effects of A. viridis encroachment levels of mountain pastures on the growth performance and carcass and meat characteristics of cattle and sheep. Methods For 8–9 weeks, 22 15-month-old growing Dexter cattle and 20 7-month-old weaned Engadine sheep were grazed rotationally on pastures in a subalpine zone with four different levels of A. viridis encroachment (average: 0.8%, 28.7%, 50.3% and 67.8%). Following slaughter, the assessed carcass and meat characteristics (longissimus thoracis and biceps femoris) included physicochemical meat quality, muscle fibre typing, fatty acid profiling (intramuscular and perirenal fat) and the sensory properties of patties. Key results The shrub encroachment levels had only minor effects on the animals. Interactions with the animal species influenced some sensory and fatty acid characteristics. The average daily gains were 201 g in the Dexter cattle and 104 g in the Engadine sheep. Both species achieved satisfactory carcass and meat quality and favourably low n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratios (0.63 and 0.68 in the intramuscular fat of the cattle and sheep, respectively). The meat from the Dexter cattle had a slightly higher cooking loss and shear force and a slightly lower proportion of fatty acids relevant to human health. Flavour appreciation was in favour of the burgers prepared from the beef. Conclusions Both robust breeds were suitable for producing meat on extensive pastures with A. viridis encroachment of up to 70%. Based on indirect evidence, it seems that neither species consumed significant quantities of leaves or bark from the trees. Implications Our study provides detailed information on rare robust breeds of two animal species in the context of meat production according to customer preferences. To better explain the differences between the two animal species, particularly in terms of fatty acid profiles, the role of the A. viridis understory needs to be clarified.
“I don’t care about the physical appearance in a job”
Authors: Martin-Rubió Xavier , Diert-Boté Irati 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
English-medium instruction (EMI) settings can be particularly challenging for lecturers since they must teach disciplinary content through a foreign language. This paper centers on an episode that reflects the demanding nature of EMI classrooms: a student objects to a part of the task instructions provided by the lecturer. Therefore, the objective of this study is first, to investigate the strategies used by an EMI lecturer in managing a challenging episode; and second, to identify the contextual factors that potentially impacted the lecturer’s pedagogical and interactional decisions in this situation. The episode is analyzed using multimodal analysis (Norris, 2004) and ethnographic knowledge from an interview with the lecturer. Findings reveal some degree of struggle in managing the situation adeptly, and suggest that unclearly delivered instructions, a resistance to delving into the underlying reason behind the conflict, an English-only policy, and a degree of language insecurity (and perhaps even lack of proficiency) appear to have played a relevant role in how the episode unfolded and was approached by the lecturer.
Object based Bayesian full-waveform inversion for shear elastography
Authors: Carpio Ana , Cebrián Elena , Gutiérrez Andrea 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
We develop a computational framework to quantify uncertainty in shear elastography imaging of anomalies in tissues. We adopt a Bayesian inference formulation. Given the observed data, a forward model and their uncertainties, we find the posterior probability of parameter fields representing the geometry of the anomalies and their shear moduli. To construct a prior probability, we exploit the topological energies of associated objective functions. We demonstrate the approach on synthetic two dimensional tests with smooth and irregular shapes. Sampling the posterior distribution by Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques we obtain statistical information on the shear moduli and the geometrical properties of the anomalies. General affine-invariant ensemble MCMC samplers are adequate for shapes characterized by parameter sets of low to moderate dimension. However, MCMC methods are computationally expensive. For simple shapes, we devise a fast optimization scheme to calculate the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimate representing the most likely parameter values. Then, we approximate the posterior distribution by a Gaussian distribution found by linearization about the MAP point to capture the main mode at a low computational cost.