bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Characterization of 3 phylogenetically distinct membrane-bound d-gluconate dehydrogenases of Gluconobacter spp. and their biotechnological application for efficient 2-keto-d-gluconate production
Authors: Kataoka Naoya , Saichana Natsaran , Matsutani Minenosuke , Toyama Hirohide , Matsushita Kazunobu , Yakushi Toshiharu 
Published: February 2022

ABSTRACT
We identified a novel flavoprotein–cytochrome c complex d-gluconate dehydrogenase (GADH) encoded by gndXYZ of Gluconobacter oxydans NBRC 3293, which is phylogenetically distinct from previously reported GADHs encoded by gndFGH and gndSLC of Gluconobacter spp. To analyze the biochemical properties of respective GADHs, Gluconobacter japonicus NBRC 3271 mutant strain lacking membranous d-gluconate dehydrogenase activity was constructed. All GADHs (GndFGH, GndSLC, and GndXYZ) were successfully overexpressed in the constructed strain. The optimal pH and KM value at that pH of GndFGH, GndSLC, and GndXYZ were 5, 6, and 4, and 8.82 ± 1.15, 22.9 ± 5.0, and 11.3 ± 1.5 m m, respectively. When the mutants overexpressing respective GADHs were cultured in d-glucose-containing medium, all of them produced 2-keto-d-gluconate, revealing that GndXYZ converts d-gluconate to 2-keto-d-gluconate as well as other GADHs. Among the recombinants, the gndXYZ-overexpressing strain accumulated the highest level of 2-keto-d-gluconate, suggesting its potential for 2-keto-d-gluconate production.
Distribution regression in duration analysis: an application to unemployment spells
Authors: Delgado Miguel A , García-Suaza Andrés , Sant’Anna Pedro H C 
Published: February 2022

SummaryThis article proposes inference procedures for distribution regression models in duration analysis using randomly right-censored data. This generalizes classical duration models by allowing situations where explanatory variables’ marginal effects freely vary with duration time. The article discusses applications to testing uniform restrictions on the varying coefficients, inferences on average marginal effects, and others involving conditional distribution estimates. Finite sample properties of the proposed method are studied by means of Monte Carlo experiments. Finally, we apply our proposal to study the effects of unemployment benefits on unemployment duration.
Seed Damage by the Neotropical Brown Stink Bug, Euschistus heros (F.) to Resistant Soybean Cultivars with the Block Technology Versus a Susceptible Cultivar
Authors: Pastorio Oliveira Weslley , Lucini Tiago , Ricardo Panizzi Antônio 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Laboratory and greenhouse studies were conducted with the Neotropical brown stink bug, Euschistus heros (F.), to evaluate and compare adult damage at two infestation levels (2 and 4 adults/plant) and feeding behavior on seeds of three resistant soybean cultivars bearing the Block technology (‘BRS 1003 IPRO’, ‘BRS 543 RR’, and ‘BRS 391’) compared to a susceptible cultivar (‘BRS 5601 RR’). No difference in number or weight of damaged seeds (as percentages) was found among the cultivars at either infestation level. Differences were only observed between infestation levels within cultivar; higher values were reported with 4 adults/plant, except for ‘BRS 543 RR’. At 2 adults/plant, total seed area damaged (mm2) and percentage of seed area damaged were significantly lower only on ‘BRS 1003 IPRO’; significant differences among cultivars were found in damage to internal but not external seed surfaces. At 4 adults/plant, all Block cultivars differed from ‘BRS 5601 RR’ in overall seed damage, and greater percent damage occurred on both seed surfaces on ‘BRS 5601 RR’. Electropenetrography (EPG) demonstrated that adults reached and fed in the seeds of all soybean cultivars. However, the feeding event duration in seeds of Block cultivars was much shorter than on ‘BRS 5601 RR’, which likely explains differences between internal and external seed damage. Furthermore, the total duration of feeding activities on seeds of Block cultivars was ca. 4–6 times shorter than on the susceptible cultivar; these two EPG feeding variables account for the lower seed damage observed for the Block cultivars. These cultivars represent an important new strategy for pest control on soybean.
Heartbeat tracking task performance, an indicator of interoceptive accuracy, is associated with improvement of exercise tolerance in patients undergoing home-based cardiac rehabilitation
Authors: Miyazaki Shinjiro , Kanbara Kenji , Kunikata Jun , Tobiume Atsushi , Hayashino Shusei , Namba Tsunetatsu , Matsumoto Ichiro , Takagi Yuichiro , Minamino Tetsuo 
Published: February 2022

Abstract

Aims
Interoception is the sensing function of physiological conditions and is crucial in self-regulation and decision-making. We examined the association of heartbeat tracking task performance, an indicator of interoceptive accuracy, with the degree of improvement in exercise tolerance in patients undergoing home-based cardiac rehabilitation.

Methods and results
Participants underwent baseline peak oxygen uptake (VO2) measurements and a heartbeat tracking task. The heartbeat tracking task score varies between 0 and 1, with higher scores indicating a better heartbeat perception. After 6 months of home-based exercise training, peak VO2 was measured again, and the percentage change (%Δ peak VO2) relative to the peak VO2 at baseline was calculated. Univariate regression analysis was performed to examine the association between %Δ peak VO2 and the heartbeat tracking task score. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the predictors of %Δ peak VO2. Of 120 participants, 100 patients (age 65.9 ± 11.9 years; 86% male) were included. There was a significant positive association between %Δ peak VO2 and the heartbeat tracking task score at baseline (R2 = 0.236, P &lt; 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, the percentage of measured peak VO2 to the predicted value (%predicted peak VO2) (β = −0.248, P = 0.002), exercise adherence (β = 0.364, P &lt; 0.001), and heartbeat tracking task score at baseline (β = 0.372, P &lt; 0.001) were significantly associated with %Δ peak VO2.

Conclusions
Heartbeat tracking task performance, an indicator of interoceptive accuracy, at baseline is associated with the degree of improvement in exercise tolerance.
Associations between cardiovascular risk factors, biomarkers, and left ventricular mechanical dispersion: insights from the ACE 1950 Study
Authors: Aagaard Erika N , Lyngbakken Magnus N , Kvisvik Brede , Berge Trygve , Pervez Mohammad O , Ariansen Inger , Tveit Arnljot , Steine Kjetil , Røsjø Helge , Omland Torbjørn 
Published: February 2022

AbstractAimsMechanical dispersion measures left ventricular contraction heterogeneity and is associated with the risk of sudden cardiac death. However, the associations between mechanical dispersion and cardiovascular risk factors in early mid-life, and established biomarkers of sub-clinical myocardial injury and dysfunction are not known. We aimed to examine this in the general population.Methods and resultsDuring 2012–15, we included 2527 Norwegian individuals from the general population born in 1950, with measurements of mechanical dispersion by 2D speckle tracking echocardiography and concentrations of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) available. Mechanical dispersion was calculated as the standard deviation of the contraction duration of 17 strain segments. We assessed the associations between mechanical dispersion, concentrations of hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP, and cardiovascular risk factors collected at a national health screening survey two decades earlier. At echocardiography baseline, median age was 64 (interquartile range 63.5–64.5) years, 49.8% were women, 59.1% had hypertension, and 5.9% reported established coronary artery disease. Median mechanical dispersion was 38.0 (29.5–47.0) ms, median hs-cTnT concentration 6 (4–8) ng/L, and the median NT-proBNP concentration 54 (34–93) ng/L. Mechanical dispersion was associated with both hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP concentrations in multivariable models adjusted for clinical and echocardiographic variables. High body mass index, serum triglyceride concentrations, and low resting heart rate at Age 40 were independently associated with increased mechanical dispersion two decades later.ConclusionEstablished risk factors at Age 40 are associated with mechanical dispersion two decades later, and mechanical dispersion is cross-sectionally associated with biomarkers of subclinical myocardial injury and dysfunction.
The effects of weak selection on neutral diversity at linked sites
Authors: Charlesworth Brian 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
The effects of selection on variability at linked sites have an important influence on levels and patterns of within-population variation across the genome. Most theoretical models of these effects have assumed that selection is sufficiently strong that allele frequency changes at the loci concerned are largely deterministic. These models have led to the conclusion that directional selection for selectively favorable mutations, or against recurrent deleterious mutations, reduces nucleotide site diversity at linked neutral sites. Recent work has shown, however, that fixations of weakly selected mutations, accompanied by significant stochastic changes in allele frequencies, can sometimes cause higher diversity at linked sites when compared with the effects of fixations of neutral mutations. This study extends this work by deriving approximate expressions for the mean conditional times to fixation and loss of mutations subject to selection, and analyzing the conditions under which selection increases rather than reduces these times. Simulations are used to examine the relations between diversity at a neutral site and the fixation and loss times of mutations at a linked site that is subject to selection. It is shown that the long-term level of neutral diversity can be increased over the purely neutral value by recurrent fixations and losses of linked, weakly selected dominant or partially dominant favorable mutations, or linked recessive or partially recessive deleterious mutations. The results are used to examine the conditions under which associative overdominance, as opposed to background selection, is likely to operate.
Better Ask Your Neighbor: Renegotiating Media Trust During the Russian–Ukrainian Conflict
Authors: Pasitselska Olga 
Published: February 2022

AbstractDuring violent conflict, the evaluation of information sources often presents a complex challenge. Social interactions play a critical role for mediating audiences’ trust as they negotiate contested information spreading across the media and social networks. This study uses focus groups and individual interviews, conducted in the propaganda-saturated environment of the Russian–Ukrainian conflict, to investigate how audiences develop and negotiate practices for assigning trust to the mediated and social sources. It identifies three verification practices, each based on a different notion of pragmatic trust: Reliance on ideologically close sources; skepticism toward individual sources while trusting media as institution; or institutional distrust and cynical disillusionment. Each practice is embedded in participants’ social environment, which both supplies information and helps negotiating appropriate verification practices. The article concludes by discussing implications for studies of media trust and socially shaped understanding of the media.
BioCro II: a software package for modular crop growth simulations
Authors: Lochocki Edward B , Rohde Scott , Jaiswal Deepak , Matthews Megan L , Miguez Fernando , Long Stephen P , McGrath Justin M 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
The central motivation for mechanistic crop growth simulation has remained the same for decades: to reliably predict changes in crop yields and water usage in response to previously unexperienced increases in air temperature and CO2 concentration across different environments, species and genotypes. Over the years, individual process-based model components have become more complex and specialized, increasing their fidelity but posing a challenge for integrating them into powerful multiscale models. Combining models is further complicated by the common strategy of hard-coding intertwined parameter values, equations, solution algorithms and user interfaces, rather than treating these each as separate components. It is clear that a more flexible approach is now required. Here we describe a modular crop growth simulator, BioCro II. At its core, BioCro II is a cross-platform representation of models as sets of equations. This facilitates modularity in model building and allows it to harness modern techniques for numerical integration and data visualization. Several crop models have been implemented using the BioCro II framework, but it is a general purpose tool and can be used to model a wide variety of processes.
Taking Love and Care Seriously: An Emergent Research Agenda for Remaking Worlds in the Wake of Violence
Authors: Krystalli Roxani , Schulz Philipp 
Published: February 2022

AbstractWhile research on armed conflict focuses primarily on violence and suffering, this article explores the practices of love and care that sit alongside these experiences of harm. Motivated by our omissions to pay sufficient attention to love and care in our research to date, we ask: How can centering practices of love and care illuminate different pathways for understanding the remaking of worlds in the wake of violence? Building on interdisciplinary literature, we conceptualize love and care as practices and potential sites of politics that shape how people survive and make sense of violence as well as imagine and enact lives in its wake. Drawing from our respective research in Colombia and Uganda, we argue that paying attention to love and care expands scholarly understandings of the sites associated with remaking a world, draws attention to the simultaneity of harms and care, sheds light on the textured meanings of politics and political work, and highlights ethical and narrative dilemmas regarding how to capture these political meanings without reducing their intricacies. For each of the pillars of our argument, we propose a set of questions and avenues that can shape emergent research agendas on taking love and care seriously in contexts of armed conflict.
The Shortcomings of International Humanitarian Law in Access Negotiations: New Strategies and Ways Forward
Authors: Breslawski Jori 
Published: February 2022

AbstractMost wars now take place within states instead of between them. In many cases, this requires humanitarians to contend with non-state armed groups in order to access civilians. While armed groups are widely perceived as a threat to the delivery of humanitarian aid, they vary in the extent to which they allow or hinder humanitarian access. Current understandings of this variation revolve around armed groups’ motivations to comply with international humanitarian law (IHL). However, most humanitarians acknowledge that using IHL in negotiations for humanitarian access with armed groups is not a viable strategy. I argue that scholars should broaden their study of humanitarian access by investigating the viability of other strategies and, in particular, the strategy of community acceptance. Drawing upon interviews with humanitarian practitioners, this article discusses the shortcomings of IHL in access negotiations with armed groups, the promises of community acceptance, and the implications of these arguments.
Reference Intervals for Thyrotropin Hormone in the General Andean Population of Quito-Ecuador Using Electrochemiluminescence Assay
Authors: Villagómez Torres Diana , Sáenz-Flor Klever V , Velepucha Pablo S , Cordova Andree O 
Published: February 2022

Abstract

Background
Thyroid function is one of the most current procedures in the evaluation of endocrine function performed in daily practice; the reference intervals for thyrotropin (TSH) depend on the assay technology and the instruments in each laboratory. The main objective of this study is to determine the thyrotropin reference values in patients considered as euthyroid, living in the Andean region, at 2850 meters above sea level (Quito, Ecuador).

Methods
A cross-sectional, analytical, epidemiological study was conducted using a sample of 595 healthy adult volunteer donors from the Military Hospital Blood Bank in Quito-Ecuador. Serum samples were analyzed for thyrotropin levels using electrochemiluminescence. The reference values were calculated using recommendations from the CLSI C28A3 guide.

Results
The mean age of the overall sample was 35.7 (7.2) years, 50.9% (n = 303) were women. TSH recovered in the total sample showed a median of 2.64 mIU/L (2.5th–97.5th percentiles: 0.91–8.35 mIU/L); after removing outliers the reference values for the studied population were 0.87 to 5.21 mIU/L, without differences by sex.

Conclusions
General laboratory practice should improve harmonization of TSH assays. This is a must in daily clinical practice, since it would allow us to share real reference intervals in an established population and may be related to the presence or absence of thyroid pathology.
Whole genome sequence analyses-based assessment of virulence potential and antimicrobial susceptibilities and resistance of Enterococcus faecium strains isolated from commercial swine and cattle probiotic products
Authors: Shridhar Pragathi B , Amachawadi Raghavendra G , Tokach Mike , Patel Isha , Gangiredla Jayanthi , Mammel Mark , Nagaraja T G 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Enterococcus faecium is one of the more commonly used bacterial species as a probiotic in animals. The organism, a common inhabitant of the gut of animals and humans, is a major nosocomial pathogen responsible for a variety infections in humans and sporadic infections in animals. In swine and cattle, E. faecium-based probiotic products are used for growth promotion and gut functional and health benefits. The objective of this study was to utilize whole genome sequence-based analysis to assess virulence potential, detect antimicrobial resistance genes, and analyze phylogenetic relationships of E. faecium strains from commercial swine and cattle probiotics. Genomic DNA extracted from E. faecium strains, isolated from commercial probiotic products of swine (n = 9) and cattle (n = 13), were sequenced in an Illumina MiSeq platform and analyzed. Seven of the nine swine strains and seven of the 13 cattle strains were identified as Enterococcus lactis, and not as E. faecium. None of the 22 probiotic strains carried major virulence genes required to initiate infections, but many carried genes involved in adhesion to host cells, which may benefit the probiotic strains to colonize and persist in the gut. Strains also carried genes encoding resistance to a few medically important antibiotics, which included aminoglycosides [aac(6ʹ)-Ii, aph(3ʹ)-III, ant(6)-Ia], macrolide, lincosamide and streptogramin B (msrC), tetracyclines [tet(L) and tet(M)], and phenicols [cat-(pc194)]. The comparison of the genotypic to phentypic AMR data showed presence of both related and unrelated genes in the probiotic strains. Swine and cattle probiotic E. faecium strains belonged to diverse sequence types. Phylogenetic analysis of the probiotic strains, and strains of human (n = 29), swine (n = 4), and cattle (n = 4) origin, downloaded from GenBank, indicated close clustering of strains belonging to the same species and source, but a few swine and cattle probiotic strains clustered closely with other cattle and human fecal strains. In conclusion, the absence of major virulence genes characteristic of the clinical E. faecium strains suggests that these probiotic strains are unlikely to initiate opportunistic infection. However, the carriage of AMR genes to medically important antibiotics and close clustering of the probiotic strains with other human and cattle fecal strains suggests that probiotic strains may pose risk to serve as a source of transmitting AMR genes to other gut bacteria.
Visualization of Reelin Secretion from Primary Cultured Neurons by Bioluminescence Imaging
Authors: Nakao Yousuke , Yokawa Satoru , Kohno Takao , Suzuki Takahiro , Hattori Mitsuharu 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Reelin is a secreted glycoprotein important for brain development and synaptic plasticity in the adult brain. Some reports suggest that Reelin is secreted from the nerve terminals and functions as a neurotransmitter. However, the mechanism of Reelin secretion is unknown. In this study, we visualized Reelin secretion by bioluminescence imaging using a fusion protein of Reelin and Gaussia luciferase (GLase-Reelin). GLase-Reelin expressed in HEK293T cells was correctly processed and secreted. Luminescence signals from the secreted GLase-Reelin of primary cultured neurons were visualized by bioluminescence microscopy. Reelin secretory events were observed at neurites and cell bodies. Bioluminescence imaging was also performed before and after KCl depolarization to compare the secretory events of Reelin and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The secretion of BDNF increased markedly shortly after depolarization. In contrast, the frequency of Reelin secretion did not change significantly by depolarization. Thus, Reelin secretion from neurites might not be regulated in a neuronal activity-dependent manner.
Case report: gastric sleeve surgery leads to new onset Crohn’s disease
Authors: Holinger Courtney , Skidmore Adam 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
We report on the case of a 23-year-old male, who developed diffuse gastrointestinal Crohn’s disease 2 months after gastric sleeve surgery. Prior to the surgery this patient had no previous symptoms of an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). His only risk factor for IBD was a positive family history and he was otherwise well. As bariatric weight loss surgery becomes more widely practiced, there have been multiple sources indicating a possible causal link between bariatric surgery and new onset Crohn’s disease.
Galaxy luminosity functions at redshifts 0.6–1.2 in the Chandra Deep Field South
Authors: Sharma M , Page M J , Breeveld A A 
Published: February 2022

ABSTRACT
We present the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) galaxy luminosity function (LF) and luminosity density (LD) measurements in the far-UV (1500 Å) wavelength, in the redshift range $z$ = 0.6–1.2. The UV LF is derived using XMM-Newton Optical Monitor (XMM-OM), UV (1600–4000 Å) observations of the Chandra Deep Field South, over an area of 396 arcmin2. Using the deep UV imaging of the CDFS, we identified &gt;2500 galaxies in our sample with UVW1AB ≤ 24.5 mag. This sample, along with various other catalogues containing redshift information, is used to calculate the binned representation of the galaxy UV LF in the two redshift bins 0.6 ≤ $z$ &lt; 0.8 and 0.8 ≤ $z$ &lt; 1.2, having a wide range of 1500 Å rest-frame UV magnitudes (ΔM1500 ≃ 3), reaching ≃ 1–1.5 magnitudes fainter than previous studies at similar redshifts. The binned LF is described well by the Schechter function form. Using maximum-likelihood, the Schechter function is fitted to the unbinned data to obtain the best-fitting values of the the UV galaxy LF parameters. We find that characteristic magnitude M* brightens by 0.8 mag from $z$ = 0.7 to $z$ = 1, implying an increase in the star formation activity between these redshifts, as reported by past studies. Our estimate of the faint-end slope $-1.10^{+0.19}_{-0.18}$ is on the shallower side compared with previous studies at $z$ = 0.7, whereas a value of $-1.56^{+0.19}_{-0.18}$ estimated for $z$ = 1.0, agrees with previous results given the uncertainties.