bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comprehensive kinetic study for Fischer–Tropsch reaction over KMoFe/CNTs nano‐structured catalyst
Authors: Yahyazadeh Arash , Boahene Philip , Emiola‐Sadiq Tolu , Dalai Ajay K. , Zhang Lifeng 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe kinetics of the Fischer–Tropsch (FT) reaction was evaluated through detailed experimentation with a KMo bimetallic promoted Fe catalyst supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The kinetic tests were conducted in a fixed‐bed reactor under operating conditions of P = 6.9–41.3 bar, T = 543–563 K, H2/CO = 1, gas hourly specific velocity (GHSV) = 2000 h−1. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism prevailing in CO activation and the rate equation for CO consumption during FT reactions over a 0.5K5Mo10Fe/CNTs catalyst. To evaluate the synergistic effects of Fe, Mo, and K phases on the catalyst activity, both fresh and spent catalysts were thoroughly characterized using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive spectroscopy (SEM‐EDS), X‐ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), and extended X‐ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) to ascertain the different phases (active sites) present and relevant interactions. Based on the adsorption of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, 22 possible mechanisms for monomer formation were proposed for FT synthesis in accordance with the Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson (LHHW) and Eley–Rideal (ER) adsorption theories. The best fit kinetic model was identified through a multi‐variable non‐linear regression analysis. The selected mechanistic model was based on carbide formation approach, where H2‐assisted adsorption of CO was considered for the derivation. Kinetic parameters such as activation energy, adsorption enthalpies of H2, and CO were estimated to be 65.0, −13.0, and −54.0 kJ/mol, respectively. Considering the developed kinetic model, the effects of reaction temperature and pressure were assessed on Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) product distribution. Additionally, the kinetic model was compared with the typical Anderson–Schulz–Flory model, suggesting the effects of water‐gas‐shift and the existence of additional formation pathway such as secondary re‐adsorption of olefins for heavier hydrocarbons.
Unraveling the Efficiency of Thioxanthone Based Triplet Sensitizers: A Detailed Theoretical Study
Authors: Chandra Garain Bidhan , Pati Swapan K. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPhotochemical activation by triplet photosensitizers is highly expedient for a green focus society. In this work, we have theoretically probed excited state characteristics of thioxanthone and its derivatives for their triplet harvesting efficiency using density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Absorption and triplet energies corroborate well with the available experimental data. Our results predict that both the S1 and T1 states are π‐π* in nature, which renders a high oscillator strength for S0 to S1 transition. Major triplet exciton conversion occurs through intersystem crossing (ISC) channel between the S1 (1π‐π*) and high energy 3n‐ π* state. Apart from that, there is both radiative and non‐radiative channel from S1 to S0, which competes with the ISC channel and reduces the triplet harvesting efficiency. For thioxanthones with −OMe (Me=Methyl) or −F substitution at 2 or 2’ positions, the ISC channel is not energetically feasible, causing sluggish intersystem crossing quantum yield (ΦISC). For unsubstituted thioxanthone and for isopropyl substitution at 2’ position, the S1‐T1 gap is slightly positive (
), rendering a lower triplet harvesting efficiency. For systems with −OMe or −F substitution at 3 or 3’ position of thioxanthone, because of buried π state and high energy π* state, the S1‐3nπ* gap becomes negative. This leads to a high ΦISC (>0.9), which is key to being an effective photocatalyst.
SSR‐based DNA fingerprinting of fruit crops
Authors: Testolin Raffaele , Messina Rachele , Cipriani Guido , De Mori Gloria 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe DNA fingerprinting of fruit crops, based on DNA microsatellite markers that are considered to be the key markers for the molecular analysis of germplasm collections, is reviewed. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) remain the markers of choice for fingerprinting in humans, animals, plants, and other living organisms. This review, that considers 44 fruit species, provides a set of markers that are suitable for profiling accessions and that should make the databases produced in different laboratories more comparable. Every effort has been made to select SSR markers that are robust and easily scorable considering that such analyses are sometimes used in legal cases. The review first describes the basic protocols, procedures, and methods of data analyses; it then describes the fingerprinting of individual species or groups of species, providing a set of SSR markers and appropriate guidance based on the revised literature and on the authors’ experience.
Emerging point‐of‐care autologous cellular therapy using adipose‐derived stromal vascular fraction for neurodegenerative diseases
Authors: Al‐kharboosh Rawan , Perera Jonathan Jude , Bechtle Alexandra , Bu Guojun , Quinones‐Hinojosa Alfredo 
Published: December 2022

AbstractNeurodegenerative disorders are characterized by the gradual decline and irreversible loss of cognitive functions and CNS structures. As therapeutic recourse stagnates, neurodegenerative diseases will cost over a trillion dollars by 2050. A dearth of preventive and regenerative measures to hinder regression and enhance recovery has forced patients to settle for traditional therapeutics designed to manage symptoms, leaving little hope for a cure. In the last decade, pre‐clinical animal models and clinical investigations in humans have demonstrated the safety and promise of an emerging cellular product from subcutaneous fat. The adipose‐derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) is an early intervention and late‐stage novel ‘at point’ of care cellular treatment, demonstrating improvements in clinical applications for Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. SVF is a heterogeneous fraction of cells forming a robust cellular ecosystem and serving as a novel and valuable source of point‐of‐care autologous cell therapy, providing an easy‐to‐access population that we hypothesize can mediate repair through ‘bi‐directional’ communication in response to pathological cues. We provide the first comprehensive review of all pre‐clinical and clinical findings available to date and highlight major challenges and future directions. There is a greater medical and economic urgency to innovate and develop novel cellular therapy solutions that enable the repair and regeneration of neuronal tissue that has undergone irreversible and permanent damage.
Fluctuations in resource availability shape the competitive balance among non‐native plant species
Authors: Tao Zhibin , Shen Changchao , Qin Wenchao , Nie Baoguo , Chen Pengdong , Wan Jinlong , Zhang Kaoping , Huang Wei , Siemann Evan 
Published: December 2022

AbstractFluctuating resource availability plays a critical role in determining non‐native plant invasions through mediating the competitive balance between non‐native and native species. However, the impact of fluctuating resource availability on interactions among non‐native species remains largely unknown. This represents a barrier to understanding invasion mechanisms, particularly in habitats that harbor multiple non‐native species with different responses to fluctuating resource availability. To examine the responses of non‐native plant species to nutrient fluctuations, we compared the growth of each of 12 non‐native species found to be common in local natural areas to nutrients supplied at a constant rate or supplied as a single large pulse in a pot experiment. We found that seven species produced more biomass with pulsed nutrients compared to constant nutrients (hereafter “benefitting species”), while the other five species did not differ between nutrient enrichment treatments (hereafter “non‐benefitting species”). To investigate how nutrient fluctuations influence the interactions among non‐native plant species, we established experimental non‐native communities in the field with two benefitting and two non‐benefitting non‐native species. Compared with constant nutrient supply, the single large pulse of nutrient did not influence community biomass, but strongly increased the biomass and cover of the benefitting species and decreased those of the non‐benefitting species. Furthermore, the benefitting species had higher leaf N content and greater plant height when nutrients were supplied as a single large pulse than at a constant rate, whereas the non‐benefitting species showed no differences in leaf N content and were shorter when nutrients were supplied as a single large pulse than at a constant rate. Our results add to the growing evidence that the individual responses of non‐native species to nutrient fluctuation are species‐specific. More importantly, benefitting species were favored by nutrients coming in a pulse, while non‐benefitting ones were favored by nutrients coming constantly when they grew together. This suggests that nutrient fluctuations can mediate the competitive balance among non‐native plants and may thus determine their invasion success in a community harboring multiple non‐native plant species.
Partial refuges from biological control due to intraspecific variation in protective host traits
Authors: Abram Paul K. , Haye Tim , Clarke Peggy , Grove Emily , Thiessen Jason , Gariepy Tara D. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPredicting how much of a host or prey population may be attacked by their natural enemies is fundamental to several subfields of applied ecology, particularly biological control of pest organisms. Hosts or prey can occupy refuges that prevent them from being killed by natural enemies, but habitat or ecological refuges are challenging or impossible to predict in a laboratory setting—which is often where efficacy and specificity testing of candidate biological control agents is done. Here we explore how intraspecific variation in continuous traits of individuals or groups that confer some protection from natural enemy attack—even after the natural enemy has encountered the prey—could provide partial refuges. The size of these trait‐based refuges (i.e., the proportion of prey that survive natural enemy encounters due to protective traits) should depend on the relationship between trait values and host/prey susceptibility to natural enemy attack and on how common different trait values are within a host/prey population. These can be readily estimated in laboratory testing of natural enemy impact on target or nontarget prey or hosts as long as sufficient host material is available. We provide a general framework for how intraspecific variation in protective host traits could be integrated into biological control research, specifically with reference to nontarget testing as part of classical biological control programs. As a case study, we exposed different host clutch sizes of target (pest) and nontarget (native species) stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) species to a well‐studied exotic biocontrol agent, the egg parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). We predicted that the smallest and largest clutches would occupy trait‐based refuges from parasitism. Although we observed several behavioral and reproductive responses to variation in host egg mass size by T. japonicus, they did not translate to increases in host survival large enough to change the conclusions of nontarget testing. We encourage researchers to investigate intraspecific variation in a wider variety of protective host and prey traits and their consequences for refuge size.
Optimizing the use of suppression zones for containment of invasive species
Authors: Lampert Adam , Liebhold Andrew M. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractDespite efforts to prevent their establishment, many invasive species continue to spread and threaten food production, human health, and natural biodiversity. Slowing the spread of established species is often a preferred strategy; however, it is also expensive and necessitates treatment over large areas. Therefore, it is critical to examine how to distribute management efforts over space cost‐effectively. Here we consider a continuous‐space bioeconomic model and we develop a novel algorithm to find the most cost‐effective allocation of treatment efforts throughout a landscape. We show that the optimal strategy often comprises eradication in the yet‐uninvaded area, and under certain conditions, it also comprises maintaining a “suppression zone,” an area between the invaded and the uninvaded areas, where treatment reduces the invading population but without eliminating it. We examine how the optimal strategy depends on the demographic characteristics of the species and reveal general criteria for deciding when a suppression zone is cost effective.
Identifying and protecting macroalgae detritus sinks toward climate change mitigation
Authors: Queirós Ana M. , Tait Karen , Clark James R. , Bedington Michael , Pascoe Christine , Torres Ricardo , Somerfield Paul J. , Smale Dan A. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractHarnessing natural solutions to mitigate climate change requires an understanding of carbon fixation, flux, and sequestration across ocean habitats. Recent studies have suggested that exported seaweed particulate organic carbon is stored within soft‐sediment systems. However, very little is known about how seaweed detritus disperses from coastlines, or where it may enter seabed carbon stores, where it could become the target of conservation efforts. Here, focusing on regionally dominant seaweed species, we surveyed environmental DNA (eDNA) from natural coastal sediments, and studied their connectivity to seaweed habitats using a particle tracking model parameterized to reproduce seaweed detritus dispersal behavior based on laboratory observations of seaweed fragment degradation and sinking. Experiments showed that seaweed detritus density changed over time, differently across species. This, in turn, modified distances traveled by released fragments until they reached the seabed for the first time, during model simulations. Dispersal pathways connected detritus from the shore to the open ocean but, importantly, also to coastal sediments, and this was reflected by field eDNA evidence. Dispersion pathways were also affected by hydrodynamic conditions, varying in space and time. Both the properties and timing of released detritus, individual to each macroalgal population, and short‐term near‐seabed and medium‐term water‐column transport pathways, are thus seemingly important in determining the connectivity between seaweed habitats and potential sedimentary sinks. Studies such as this one, supported by further field verification of sedimentary carbon sequestration rates and source partitioning, are still needed to help quantify the role of seaweed in the ocean carbon cycle. Such studies will provide vital evidence to inform on the potential need to develop blue carbon conservation mechanisms, beyond wetlands.
Investigating peak dispersion in free‐flow counterflow gradient focusing due to electroosmotic flow
Authors: Courtney Matthew , Glawdel Tomasz , Ren Carolyn L. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractFree‐flow electrophoresis (FFE) has the ability to continuously separate charged solutes from complex biological mixtures. Recently, a free‐flow counterflow gradient focusing mechanism has been introduced to FFE, and it offers the potential for improved resolution and versatility. However, further investigation is needed to understand the solute dispersion at the focal position. Therefore, the goal of this work is to model the impact of electroosmotic flow, which is found to produce a pressure‐driven backflow to maintain the fixed counterflow inputs. Like the counterflow, this backflow has a parabolic velocity profile that must be considered when predicting the concentration distribution of a given solute. After the model is established, preliminary experimental results are presented for a qualitative comparison. Results demonstrate a reasonable agreement at low applied voltages and provide a strong framework for future experimental validation.
The impact of environmental contaminants on extracellular vesicles and their key molecular regulators: A literature and database‐driven review
Authors: Carberry Celeste K. , Rager Julia E. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractExposure to environmental chemicals is now well recognized as a significant factor contributing to the global burden of disease; however, there remain critical gaps in understanding the types of biological mechanisms that link environmental chemicals to adverse health outcomes. One type of mechanism that remains understudied involves extracellular vesicles (EVs), representing small cell‐derived particles capable of carrying molecular signals such as RNAs, miRNAs, proteins, lipids, and chemicals through biological fluids and imparting beneficial, neutral, or negative effects on target cells. In fact, evidence is just now starting to grow that supports the role of EVs in various disease etiologies. This review aims to (1) Provide a landscape of the current understanding of the functional relationship between EVs and environmental chemicals; (2) Summarize current knowledge of EV regulatory processes including production, packaging, and release; and (3) Conduct a database‐driven analysis of known chemical–gene interactions to predict and prioritize environmentally relevant chemicals that may impact EV regulatory genes and thus EV regulatory processes. This approach to predicting environmentally relevant chemicals that may alter EVs provides a novel method for evidence‐based hypothesis generation for future studies evaluating the link between environmental exposures and EVs.
Visualizing the deep cerebellar nuclei using quantitative susceptibility mapping: An application in healthy controls, Parkinson's disease patients and essential tremor patients
Authors: Zhang Youmin , Huang Pei , Wang Xinhui , Xu Qiuyun , Liu Yu , Jin Zhijia , Li Yan , Cheng Zenghui , Tang Rongbiao , Chen Shengdi , He Naying , Yan Fuhua , Haacke E. Mark 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe visualization and identification of the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) (dentate [DN], interposed [IN] and fastigial nuclei [FN]) are particularly challenging. We aimed to visualize the DCN using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), predict the contrast differences between QSM and T2* weighted imaging, and compare the DCN volume and susceptibility in movement disorder populations and healthy controls (HCs). Seventy‐one Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, 39 essential tremor patients, and 80 HCs were enrolled. The PD patients were subdivided into tremor dominant (TD) and postural instability/gait difficulty (PIGD) groups. A 3D strategically acquired gradient echo MR imaging protocol was used for each subject to obtain the QSM data. Regions of interest were drawn manually on the QSM data to calculate the volume and susceptibility. Correlation analysis between the susceptibility and either age or volume was performed and the intergroup differences of the volume and magnetic susceptibility in all the DCN structures were evaluated. For the most part, all the DCN structures were clearly visualized on the QSM data. The susceptibility increased as a function of volume for both the HC group and disease groups in the DN and IN (p < .001) but not the FN (p = .74). Only the volume of the FN in the TD‐PD group was higher than that in the HCs (p = .012), otherwise, the volume and susceptibility among these four groups did not differ significantly. In conclusion, QSM provides clear visualization of the DCN structures. The results for the volume and susceptibility of the DCN can be used as baseline references in future studies of movement disorders.
Excess healthcare costs of psychological distress in young women: Evidence from linked national Medicare claims data
Authors: Jayawardana Danusha , Gannon Brenda , Doust Jenny , Mishra Gita D. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe prevalence of mental health disorders in young adults is increasing, yet there is limited empirical evidence on its economic consequences. We contribute to the literature by estimating the healthcare costs of psychological distress using panel data of young women (aged 18–23 years with a 5‐year follow‐up) from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health and linked administrative data from Medicare Australia. Our empirical strategy is based on the classical two‐part model of healthcare costs with individual specific fixed‐effects. We complement our analysis with a test for selection on unobservables to address potential concerns of endogeneity. We find that young women with psychological distress have 15% higher annual healthcare costs (excluding hospital costs) than women with no psychological distress. A large proportion of these costs is driven by the use of antidepressants and the services of psychiatrists and psychologists. We further find that women with psychological distress have higher out‐of‐pocket costs on these mental health related services compared to non‐mental health specific services. Additionally, we show that the effect of psychological distress on healthcare costs is highest during the first 6 months of onset, which gradually decreases afterwards. The findings justify the importance of policy initiatives towards early prevention and treatment of psychological distress, especially among young women.
Celecoxib promotes the efficacy of STING‐targeted therapy by increasing antitumor CD8+ T‐cell functions via modulating glucose metabolism of CD11b+Ly6G+ cells
Authors: Kosaka Akemi , Yajima Yuki , Yasuda Shunsuke , Komatsuda Hiroki , Nagato Toshihiro , Oikawa Kensuke , Kobayashi Hiroya , Ohkuri Takayuki 
Published: December 2022

AbstractRecent studies have shown that activation of the cGAS‐STING pathway is a key process in antitumor immune responses and various kinds of STING agonists have been developed for cancer immunotherapy. Despite promising preclinical studies, preliminary clinical results have shown only a modest effect of STING agonists. There is therefore a need to develop more effective treatment strategies. Based on previous observations that COX‐2 is frequently overexpressed not only in a variety of cancers but also in tumor myeloid cells and that it suppresses antitumor immunity and promotes tumor survival by producing PGE2, we investigated the antitumor effects of combination therapy with a STING agonist cGAMP and the selective COX‐2 inhibitor celecoxib in mouse models. Combination treatment with cGAMP and celecoxib inhibited tumor growth compared with either monotherapy, and the combination therapy induced both local and systemic antitumor immunity. cGAMP treatment decreased PD‐1 expression on tumor‐infiltrating T‐cells and enhanced T‐cell activation in tumor‐draining lymph nodes regardless of the presence of celecoxib. Meanwhile, although celecoxib treatment did not alter the frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T‐cells, it enhanced the expression of costimulatory molecules and glycolysis‐associated genes in tumor‐infiltrating CD11b+Ly6G+ cells. Moreover, we also found that celecoxib decreased lactate efflux and increased the frequency of IFN‐γ‐ and TNF‐α‐producing CD8+ T‐cells in the tumor microenvironment. Taken together, our findings suggest that combined treatment with celecoxib may be an effective strategy to improve the antitumor efficacy of STING agonists.