bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
TGF-β2 levels in the aqueous humor are elevated in the second eye of high myopia within two weeks after sequential cataract surgery
Authors: Yan Weijia , Zhang Yaping , Cao Junguo , Yan Hong 
Published: October 2022

AbstractTransforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is the critical regulator of physiological and pathological conditions in lens. The TGF-β signaling pathway is closely associated with high myopia patients. Thirty eyes from fifteen patients with high myopia who received sequential cataract surgery were enrolled in this prospective study. Ten cataract patients with non-myopia were chosen as a control group. Aqueous humor (AH) samples were used to detect the levels of TGF-β1, TGF-β2, and TGF-β3 in both groups. Compared with the non-myopic cataracts patient group, the highly myopic cataracts group had a significantly higher TGF-β2 (P = 0.019). Besides, the level of TGF-β2 of the second eye was significantly higher than that in the first eye in high myopia cataract patients group (P = 0.037). And TGF-β1 showed significant differences with age and axial length of high myopia cataract patients. Therefore, TGF-β2 may contribute to the development of high myopia and cataract surgery increased the expression of TGF-β2.
Synergy of R-(–)carvone and cyclohexenone-based carbasugar precursors with antibiotics to enhance antibiotic potency and inhibit biofilm formation
Authors: Riester Oliver , Burkhardtsmaier Pia , Gurung Yuna , Laufer Stefan , Deigner Hans-Peter , Schmidt Magnus S. 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThe widespread use of antibiotics in recent decades has been a major factor in the emergence of antibiotic resistances. Antibiotic-resistant pathogens pose increasing challenges to healthcare systems in both developing and developed countries. To counteract this, the development of new antibiotics or adjuvants to combat existing resistance to antibiotics is crucial. Glycomimetics, for example carbasugars, offer high potential as adjuvants, as they can inhibit metabolic pathways or biofilm formation due to their similarity to natural substrates. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of carbasugar precursors (CSPs) and their application as biofilm inhibitors for E. coli and MRSA, as well as their synergistic effect in combination with antibiotics to circumvent biofilm-induced antibiotic resistances. This results in a biofilm reduction of up to 70% for the CSP rac-7 and a reduction in bacterial viability of MRSA by approximately 45% when combined with the otherwise ineffective antibiotic mixture of penicillin and streptomycin.
Prefrontal tDCS is unable to modulate mind wandering propensity or underlying functional or effective brain connectivity
Authors: Coulborn Sean , Fernández-Espejo Davinia 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThere is conflicting evidence over the ability to modulate mind-wandering propensity with anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (prefrontal tDCS). Here, 20 participants received 20-min of active and sham prefrontal tDCS while in the MRI scanner, in two separate sessions (counterbalanced). In each session, they completed two runs of a sustained attention to response task (before and during tDCS), which included probes recording subjective responses of mind-wandering. We assessed the effects of tDCS on behavioural responses as well as functional and effective dynamics, via dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) and dynamic causal modelling analyses over regions of the default mode, salience and executive control networks. Behavioural results provided substantial evidence in support of no effect of tDCS on task performance nor mind-wandering propensity. Similarly, we found no effect of tDCS on frequency (how often) or dwell time (time spent) of underlying brain states nor effective connectivity. Overall, our results suggest that prefrontal tDCS is unable to modulate mind-wandering propensity or influence underlying brain function. This expands previous behavioural replication failures in suggesting that prefrontal tDCS may not lead to even subtle (i.e., under a behavioural threshold) changes in brain activity during self-generated cognition.
The effects of point defect type, location, and density on the Schottky barrier height of Au/MoS2 heterojunction: a first-principles study
Authors: Sorkin Viacheslav , Zhou Hangbo , Yu Zhi Gen , Ang Kah-Wee , Zhang Yong-Wei 
Published: October 2022

AbstractUsing DFT calculations, we investigate the effects of the type, location, and density of point defects in monolayer MoS2 on electronic structures and Schottky barrier heights (SBH) of Au/MoS2 heterojunction. Three types of point defects in monolayer MoS2, that is, S monovacancy, S divacancy and MoS (Mo substitution at S site) antisite defects, are considered. The following findings are revealed: (1) The SBH for the monolayer MoS2 with these defects is universally higher than that for its defect-free counterpart. (2) S divacancy and MoS antisite defects increase the SBH to a larger extent than S monovacancy. (3) A defect located in the inner sublayer of MoS2, which is adjacent to Au substrate, increases the SBH to a larger extent than that in the outer sublayer of MoS2. (4) An increase in defect density increases the SBH. These findings indicate a large variation of SBH with the defect type, location, and concentration. We also compare our results with previously experimentally measured SBH for Au/MoS2 contact and postulate possible reasons for the large differences among existing experimental measurements and between experimental measurements and theoretical predictions. The findings and insights revealed here may provide practical guidelines for modulation and optimization of SBH in Au/MoS2 and similar heterojunctions via defect engineering.
Optimising expression of the large dynamic range FRET pair mNeonGreen and superfolder mTurquoise2ox for use in the Escherichia coli cytoplasm
Authors: Mertens Laureen M. Y. , den Blaauwen Tanneke 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThe fluorescent proteins superfolder mTurquoise2ox (sfTq2ox) and mNeonGreen function excellently in mammalian cells, but are not well expressed in E. coli when forming the N-terminus of constructs. Expression was increased by decreasing structures at the start of their coding sequences in the mRNA. Unfortunately, the expression of mNeonGreen started from methionine at position ten as optimisation introduced an alternative RBS in the GFP N-terminus of mNeonGreen. The original start-codon was not deleted, which caused the expression of isomers starting at the original start-codon and at the start-codon at the beginning of the GFP N-terminus. By omitting the GFP N-terminus of mNeonGreen and optimising the structure of its mRNA, the expression of a mixture of isomers was avoided, and up to ~ 50-fold higher expression rates were achieved for mNeonGreen. Both fluorescent proteins can now be expressed at readily detectable levels in E. coli and can be used for various purposes. One explored application is the detection of in-cell protein interactions by FRET. mNeonGreen and sfTq2ox form a FRET pair with a larger dynamic range than commonly used donor–acceptor pairs, allowing for an excellent signal-to-noise ratio, which supports the detection of conformational changes that affect the distance between the interacting proteins.
The ambiguous feeling between “mine” and “not-mine” measured by integrated information theory during rubber hand illusion
Authors: Niizato Takayuki , Nishiyama Yuta , Sakamoto Kotaro , Kazama Takumi , Okabayashi Tatsuya , Yamaguchi Taiki 
Published: October 2022

AbstractHuman body awareness is adaptive to context changes. The illusory sense of body ownership has been studied since the publication of the rubber hand illusion, where ambiguous body ownership feeling was first defined. Phenomenologically, the ambiguous body ownership is attributed to a conflict between feeling and judgement: it characterises a discrepancy between first- and third-person processes. Although Bayesian inference can explain this malleability of body image, it still fails to relate the subjective feeling to physiological data. This study attempts to explain subjective experience during rubber hand illusions by using integrated information theory (IIT). The integrated information $$\Phi$$
Φ
in IIT measures the difference between the whole system and its subsystems. By analysing seven different time-series of physiological data representing a small body–brain system, we demonstrate that the integrity of the whole system during the illusion decreases, while the integrity of its subsystems increases. These general tendencies agree with many brain-image analyses and subjective reports; furthermore, we found that subjective ratings as ambiguous body ownership were associated with $$\Phi$$
Φ
. Our result suggests that IIT can explain the general tendency of the sense of ownership illusions and individual differences in subjective experience during the illusions.
Psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy assessed in a four-waves survey
Authors: de Girolamo Giovanni , Ferrari Clarissa , Candini Valentina , Buizza Chiara , Calamandrei Gemma , Caserotti Marta , Gavaruzzi Teresa , Girardi Paolo , Habersaat Katrine Bach , Lotto Lorella , Scherzer Martha , Starace Fabrizio , Tasso Alessandra , Zamparini Manuel , Zarbo Cristina 
Published: October 2022

AbstractCOVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the mental health and well-being (WB) of citizens. This cross-sectional study included 4 waves of data collection aimed at identifying profiles of individuals with different levels of WB. The study included a representative stratified sample of 10,013 respondents in Italy. The WHO 5-item well-being scale (WHO-5) was used for the assessment of WB. Different supervised machine learning approaches (multinomial logistic regression, partial least-square discriminant analysis—PLS-DA—, classification tree—CT—) were applied to identify individual characteristics with different WB scores, first in waves 1–2 and, subsequently, in waves 3 and 4. Forty-one percent of participants reported “Good WB”, 30% “Poor WB”, and 28% “Depression”. Findings carried out using multinomial logistic regression show that Resilience was the most important variable able for discriminating the WB across all waves. Through the PLS-DA, Increased Unhealthy Behaviours proved to be the more important feature in the first two waves, while Financial Situation gained most relevance in the last two. COVID-19 Perceived Risk was relevant, but less than the other variables, across all waves. Interestingly, using the CT we were able to establish a cut-off for Resilience (equal to 4.5) that discriminated good WB with a probability of 65% in wave 4. Concluding, we found that COVID-19 had negative implications for WB. Governments should support evidence-based strategies considering factors that influence WB (i.e., Resilience, Perceived Risk, Healthy Behaviours, and Financial Situation).
Sex chromosomes in the tribe Cyprichromini (Teleostei: Cichlidae) of Lake Tanganyika
Authors: Behrens Kristen A. , Koblmüller Stephan , Kocher Thomas D. 
Published: October 2022

AbstractSex determining loci have been described on at least 12 of 22 chromosomes in East African cichlid fishes, indicating a high rate of sex chromosome turnover. To better understand the rates and patterns of sex chromosome replacement, we used new methods to characterize the sex chromosomes of the cichlid tribe Cyprichromini from Lake Tanganyika. Our k-mer based methods successfully identified sex-linked polymorphisms without the need for a reference genome. We confirm the three previously reported sex chromosomes in this group. We determined the polarity of the sex chromosome turnover on LG05 in Cyprichromis as ZW to XY. We identified a new ZW locus on LG04 in Paracyprichromis brieni. The LG15 XY locus in Paracyprichromis nigripinnis was not found in other Paracyprichromis species, and the sample of Paracyprichromis sp. “tembwe” is likely to be of hybrid origin. Although highly divergent sex chromosomes are thought to develop in a stepwise manner, we show two cases (LG05-ZW and LG05-XY) in which the region of differentiation encompasses most of the chromosome, but appears to have arisen in a single step. This study expands our understanding of sex chromosome evolution in the Cyprichromini, and indicates an even higher level of sex chromosome turnover than previously thought.
Attention mechanism‐based model for short‐term bus traffic passenger volume prediction
Authors: Mei Zhenyu , Yu Wanting , Tang Wei , Yu Jiahao , Cai Zhengyi 
Published: October 2022

AbstractTo explore the relevance between bus stops and make the real‐time prediction of bus passenger flow more accurate, this paper proposes a Traffic Forecast Model based on the Attention mechanism (TFMA). The model combines data preprocessing with bus stops’ information coding to predict short‐term bus passenger flow based on the real‐time relevance of the bus stops. First of all, the paper conducts a statistical analysis of the actual public transportation card data of Suzhou, China, and obtains the characteristics of real‐time relevance of different bus stops. Secondly, bus route and bus stop information, the passenger flow rate of change, weather, date, and other related factors are integrated into the coding information of the bus stops. Then the method relies on the Attention mechanism to calculate the real‐time relevance of the bus stops parallelly; the core algorithm also uses a multi‐headed mechanism to increase the connection of the channel and the residual error, further improving the prediction ability. Finally, this article uses actual data from Suzhou's public transport for verification. The results show that: In terms of accuracy, TFMA outperforms multiple linear regression, GRU, and LightGBM, reaching a very high accuracy of nearly 90%.
The influence analysis of antenna radiation pattern aberration of airborne radar on clutter feature
Authors: Ye Haijun , Kuang Yunlian , Shen Yuewei , Qin Guojie 
Published: October 2022

AbstractIn order to quantitatively evaluate the influence of the aberration of the antenna radiation pattern of airborne radar on clutter feature, the range‐azimuth two dimensional (2D) model of the airborne radar clutter is established. Then the theoretic modelling and simulation analysis are proposed in three aspects, including the Doppler, power spectrum and space‐time 2D characteristics of the clutter. Finally, the processing of moving target indication, pulse Doppler and space‐time adaptive processing are used to suppress the clutter of the echo signals before and after the aberration. The results of the simulations indicate the aberration would elevate the sidelobe level, extend the power spectrum and bend the space‐time trajectory of the clutter Doppler spectra. And the residual clutter would be elevated nearly 5 dB after STAP processing. Then the pattern preserving and fast time cancel combined space‐time adaptive processing method is proposed, which can obtain narrow clutter notch and large improvement factor, and effectively suppress clutter. The modelling and quantitative analysis study have important theoretical and engineering significance for the detection capability of the airborne radar installed on the fuselage of the aircraft platform, the tactical and technical performance index, and improving the signal processing ability of airborne radar.
Guest editorial: intelligent ubiquitous computing and advanced learning systems for biomedical engineering
Authors: Chakraborty Chinmay , Khosravi Mohammad , Garg Lalit , Kaiser M. Shamim , Li Xingwang , Song Houbing 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThis special issue editorial introduces the latest development in emerging technologies of biomedical engineering, including big medical data, artificial intelligence, cloud/fog computing, federated learning, ubiquitous computing and communication, internet of things, wireless technologies, and security and privacy. In this special issue, nine manuscripts are published related to advanced learning and computing systems for biomedical engineering.
Transmission spectroscopy of WASP-7 b with UVES
Authors: Rahmati Hossein , Czesla Stefan , Khalafinejad Sara , Mollière Paul 
Published: October 2022

Context. Transmission spectroscopy is a prime technique to study the chemical composition and structure of exoplanetary atmospheres. Strong excess absorption signals have been detected in the optical Na i D1, 2 Fraunhofer lines during transits of hot Jupiters, which are attributed to the planetary atmospheres and allow us to constrain their structure.
Aims. We study the atmosphere of WASP-7 b by means of high-resolution transit spectroscopy in the sodium lines.
Methods. We analyzed a spectral transit time series of 89 high-resolution spectra of the hot Jupiter WASP-7 b that was observed using the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES). We used the telluric lines for an accurate alignment of the spectra and carried out a telluric correction with molecfit. Stellar magnetic activity was monitored by investigating chromospheric lines such as the Ca ii H and K, and hydrogen Hα lines. Finally, we obtained transmission spectra and light curves for various lines.
Results. The star shows no identifiable flares and, if any, marginal changes in activity during our observing run. The sodium transmission spectra and corresponding light curves clearly show signs of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and the stellar center-to-limb variation that we modeled using synthetic spectra. A statistically significant, narrow absorption feature with a line contrast of 0.50 ± 0.06% (at ~8.3σ level) and a full width at half maximum of 0.13 ± 0.02 Å is detected at the location of the Na i D2 line. For the Na i D1 line signal, we derived a line contrast of 0.13 ± 0.04% (at ~3.2σ level), which we consider a tentative detection. In addition, we provide upper limits for absorption by the hydrogen Balmer lines (Hα, Hβ, and Hγ), K i λ7699 Å, Ca ii H and K, and infra-red triplet lines.
Modeling the effects of clumpy winds in the high-energy light curves of γ-ray binaries
Authors: Kefala E. , Bosch-Ramon V. 
Published: October 2022

Context. High-mass gamma-ray binaries are powerful nonthermal galactic sources, some of them hosting a pulsar whose relativistic wind interacts with a likely inhomogeneous stellar wind. So far, modeling these sources including stellar wind inhomogeneities has been done using either simple analytical approaches or heavy numerical simulations, none of which allow for an exploration of the parameter space that is both reasonably realistic and general.
Aims. Applying different semi-analytical tools together, we study the dynamics and high-energy radiation of a pulsar wind colliding with a stellar wind with different degrees of inhomogeneity to assess the related observable effects.
Methods. We computed the arrival of clumps to the pulsar wind-stellar wind interaction structure using a Monte Carlo method and a phenomenological clumpy-wind model. The dynamics of the clumps that reach deep into the pulsar wind zone was computed using a semi-analytical approach. This approach allows for the characterization of the evolution of the shocked pulsar wind region in times much shorter than the orbital period. With this three-dimensional information about the emitter, we applied analytical adiabatic and radiative models to compute the variable high-energy emission produced on binary scales.
Results. An inhomogeneous stellar wind induces stochastic hour-timescale variations in the geometry of the two-wind interaction structure on binary scales. Depending on the degree of stellar wind inhomogeneity, 10–100% level hour-scale variability in the X-rays and gamma rays is predicted, with the largest variations occurring roughly once per orbit.
Conclusions. Our results, based on a comprehensive approach, show that present X-ray and future very-high-energy instrumentation can allow us to trace the impact of a clumpy stellar wind on the shocked pulsar wind emission in a gamma-ray binary.
Auditory Evoked Potentials in Communication Disorders: An Overview of Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Maggu Akshay R. 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThis article provides a brief overview of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) and their application in the areas of research and clinics within the field of communication disorders. The article begins with providing a historical perspective within the context of the key scientific developments that led to the emergence of numerous types of AEPs. Furthermore, the article discusses the different AEP techniques in the light of their feasibility in clinics. As AEPs, because of their versatility, find their use across disciplines, this article also discusses some of the research questions that are currently being addressed using AEP techniques in the field of communication disorders and beyond. At the end, this article summarizes the shortcomings of the existing AEP techniques and provides a general perspective toward the future directions. The article is aimed at a broad readership including (but not limited to) students, clinicians, and researchers. Overall, this article may act as a brief primer for the new AEP users, and as an overview of the progress in the field of AEPs along with future directions, for those who already use AEPs on a routine basis.
Neonatal Frequency-Following Responses: A Methodological Framework for Clinical Applications
Authors: Gorina-Careta Natàlia , Ribas-Prats Teresa , Arenillas-Alcón Sonia , Puertollano Marta , Gómez-Roig M Dolores , Escera Carles 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThe frequency-following response (FFR) to periodic complex sounds is a noninvasive scalp-recorded auditory evoked potential that reflects synchronous phase-locked neural activity to the spectrotemporal components of the acoustic signal along the ascending auditory hierarchy. The FFR has gained recent interest in the fields of audiology and auditory cognitive neuroscience, as it has great potential to answer both basic and applied questions about processes involved in sound encoding, language development, and communication. Specifically, it has become a promising tool in neonates, as its study may allow both early identification of future language disorders and the opportunity to leverage brain plasticity during the first 2 years of life, as well as enable early interventions to prevent and/or ameliorate sound and language encoding disorders. Throughout the present review, we summarize the state of the art of the neonatal FFR and, based on our own extensive experience, present methodological approaches to record it in a clinical environment. Overall, the present review is the first one that comprehensively focuses on the neonatal FFRs applications, thus supporting the feasibility to record the FFR during the first days of life and the predictive potential of the neonatal FFR on detecting short- and long-term language abilities and disruptions.