bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sedimentological and archaeological evidence for a Late Antique Little Ice Age climate event (536–660 CE) as recorded in a fluvial strath terrace of the Esino River (Marche region, Italy)
Authors: Montanari Alessandro , Mainiero Maurizio , Farabollini Piero , Pignocchi Gaia 
Published: March 2022

ABSTRACT
Stratigraphic analysis of two sections of a fluvial strath terrace exposed on the left bank of the Esino River near the village of Trocchetti (province of Ancona, Marche region of central Italy), and the study of a large landslide located near the village of San Cristoforo, a few kilometers down valley from the Trocchetti fluvial terrace, provide evidence for two catastrophic environmental events, namely: (1) the aggradation on the riverbed of coarse, chaotic gravel due to a violent flashflood; and (2) the formation of a large ephemeral lake as the consequence of the landslide that barred the river channel at San Cristoforo. Archaeological and historical information about the lost Roman city of Tuficum, which was located just a kilometer upriver from the Trocchetti terrace, and ceramic artifacts found in the chaotic gravel unit, led us to the hypothesis that both the flashflood and the landslide were induced by the sudden, severe climate change of the Late Antique Little Ice Age (mid-sixth century to mid-seventh century CE).
Revisiting the archaeological site of Grotta dei Baffoni Cave (Frasassi Gorge, Italy): Integrated stratigraphy, archaeometry, and geochronology of upper Pleistocene–Holocene cave sediments
Authors: Montanari Alessandro , Ferretti Marco Peter , Mainiero Maurizio , McGee David , Pignocchi Gaia , Recanatini Stefano , Zorzin Roberto 
Published: March 2022

ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present old and new data about our integrated interdisciplinary stratigraphic study of sedimentary deposits preserved in the Grotta dei Baffoni Cave of the Frasassi hypogenic cave complex, including sedimentological, paleontological, archaeometric, and radiometric analyses. This research work allowed us to reconstruct the geologic, environmental, and human history of this part of the northeastern Apennines of Italy for the past 200,000 years, from the late Middle Pleistocene to the Present. Accumulation of alluvial sediment began in this cave ~200,000 years ago, when an entrance was breached by the Sentino River during its process of incision and deepening of the Frasassi Gorge coupled with regional tectonic uplift. Flooding of the cave went on until the entrance sill of the cave was lifted up to an elevation that could no longer be reached by the river, sometime in the mid–Late Pleistocene. After this, windblown dust (i.e., loess) and coarser carbonate clasts derived from the disintegration of the vaults due to cryogenic processes and/or seismically induced collapses of the limestone vaults, accumulated on this now-dry underground environment. The stratigraphy of an ~4-m-thick sedimentary deposit accumulated in the vast atrium room of the cave was measured, sampled, and documented in two excavation trenches in 1952 by archaeologist Anton Mario Radmilli. By collecting a dozen stratigraphically located osteological finds for 14C dating, and revisiting artifacts collected by Radmilli, which are archived respectively in the Museum of Natural History of Verona and in the National Museum of Archaeology of Ancona, we assessed that the cave was frequented by wild animals, such as cave bear and ibex, starting in the mid–Late Pleistocene. Dating of charcoal particles from subsurface sediments in the inner part of the cave suggested that fires were lit in this cave by Epigravettian visitors during the Younger Dryas cold period. Scarce archaeological evidence nevertheless suggests that man began using this underground environment for worship practices probably in the early Neolithic. Human bones in the lower part of one of Radmilli's excavations yielded early Eneolithic ages. No other human bones were found in overlying levels of this excavation, but the typology of animal bones and associated ceramic artifacts, corroborated by our 14C dates, suggest that this cave was utilized as a worship or ritual place until the early Middle Bronze Age. After that, the cave was sporadically used as a shelter for herders until recent times.
Multimodal Magnetic Resonance and Fluorescence Imaging of the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Transplantation in the Brain
Authors: Zhang Y. C. , Wang J. W. , Wu Y. , Tao Q. , Wang F. F. , Wang N. , Ji X. R. , Li Y. G. , Yu S. , Zhang J. Z. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
The understanding of the engrafted cell behaviors such as the survival, growth and distribution is the prerequisite to optimize cell therapy, and a multimodal imaging at both anatomical and molecular levels is designed to achieve this goal. We constructed a lentiviral vector carrying genes of ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1), near-infrared fluorescent protein (iRFP) and enhanced green fluorescent protein (egfp), and established the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) culture stably expressing these three reporter genes. These iPSCs showed green and near-infrared fluorescence as well as the iron uptake capacity in vitro. After transplanted the labeled iPSCs into the rat brain, the engrafted cells could be in vivo imaged using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and near-infrared fluorescent imaging (NIF) up to 60 days at the anatomical level. Moreover, these cells could be detected using EGFP immunostaining and Prussian blue stain at the cellular level. The developed approach provides a novel tool to study behaviors of the transplanted cells in a multimodal way, which will be valuable for the effectiveness and safety evaluation of cell therapy.
Susac syndrome with a unique involvement of the thoracic spinal cord
Authors: Mahmoud Rola A , Ungerer Robert , Gratton Sean , Schwartzman Michael J 
Published: March 2022

A woman in her late 20s presented with headaches and subacute encephalopathy. MRIs showed multiple punctate subcortical and periventricular white matter hyperintensities with diffusion restriction, infratentorial lesions, leptomeningeal enhancement of the cervical spinal cord, brainstem and cerebellum and two areas of high-signal abnormality at T4 and T6 raising suspicion for multiple sclerosis or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.Further studies and evolution of her symptoms during her hospital stay confirmed the clinical triad of encephalopathy, branch retinal artery occlusions and hearing loss pathognomonic for Susac’s syndrome.While cervical spinal cord and cauda equina involvement have been reported in Susac’s syndrome previously, no thoracic spinal cord involvement has been reported.We report the novel MRI finding of thoracic spinal cord involvement in Susac’s syndrome. In order to avoid misdiagnosis, neurologists and neuroradiologists should be aware that any part of the spinal cord can be involved in Susac’s syndrome.
Streptococcus mitisinfective endocarditis in a patient with ventricular septal defect and orthodontic appliances
Authors: Amorgianos Dimitrios , Chen Hui Min , Walker Niki 
Published: March 2022

We describe a case of a girl in a remote and rural location in Scotland with a perimembranous ventricular septal defect and orthodontic appliances, who developed right-sided infective endocarditis fromStreptococcus mitisdue to abrasion of the oral mucosa from the arch wire following its adjustment in the dental clinic.Fitting and adjustment of orthodontic appliances are not considered to be high-risk dental procedures and antibiotic prophylaxis is not recommended even for patients at highest risk for infective endocarditis.
Private or shared room? A nationwide questionnaire survey on bereaved family members’ perceptions of where patients spend their last days
Authors: Otani Hiroyuki , Morita Tatsuya , Igarashi Naoko , Shima Yasuo , Miyashita Mitsunori 
Published: March 2022

BackgroundWhere patients receive end-of-life care influences their quality of life.ObjectivesTo clarify the effects of staying in a private or shared room in inpatient hospices.DesignA part of a Japanese multicentre survey to evaluate the quality of end-of-life care.Setting/participants779 bereaved families whose relatives who died from cancer in inpatient hospices.MeasurementsThe primary outcome was family-perceived need for improvement in environment-related professional care. Secondary end-points included: family satisfaction, environment-related family perception, and quality of death and dying (Good Death Inventory: GDI).Results574 responded (73.7%). 300 patients were in a private room from admission to discharge, 47 were in a shared room less than 50% of the time, and the remaining 85 were in a shared room 50% or more. There were significant differences in the need for improvement in shared (vs private) rooms, and in favour of private rooms for: ‘privacy was protected’, ‘easy for visitors to visit’, ‘could discuss sensitive issues with medical staff without concern’, and ‘could visit at night.’, as well as ‘living in calm circumstances’ and ‘spending enough time with family’ of the GDI. Contrarily, significant differences were found in favour of shared rooms for: ‘the patient could interact with other patients’. There was no significant difference in family satisfaction and total score of GDI.ConclusionThere are the advantages and disadvantages of spending one’s final days in a private or shared room, and adjusting rooms according to patients and their families’ values is necessary.
Association of frailty and cognitive function disorders in old patients with COVID-19: a protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Jiao Bo , Chen Mingyuan , Fan Minmin , Luo Xi , Chen Chan , Liu Jin 
Published: March 2022

IntroductionCOVID-19 infections have become an urgent worldwide public health concern. Although it is primarily a respiratory disease, up to two-thirds of hospitalised COVID-19 patients exhibit nervous system damage and an increased risk of frailty. In this study,we aim to investigate the relationship between frailty and cognitive function disorders in patients with COVID-19 with a systematic review and meta-analysis approach.Methods and analysisThis meta-analysis has been registered by the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. We will search for relevant studies from PubMed, Embase, Chinese Biological Medical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases, from their inception to 5 July 2021. We will also search reference lists of selected articles for additional studies. Our search strategy will have no language restrictions. We will employ a ﬁxed or random-effects model to calculate OR and 95% CIs for pooled data, and assess heterogeneity using Cochrane’s Q and I2 tests. The primary outcome will be the rate of cognitive disorders related to frailty in old patients with COVID-19.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval is not essential since data will be extracted from previously published studies. The results of this meta-analysis will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42021257148.
Relationship between stereopsis and vision-related quality of life in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion
Authors: Morikawa Shohei , Okamoto Fumiki , Murakami Tomoya , Sugiura Yoshimi , Hiraoka Takahiro , Okamoto Yoshifumi , Oshika Tetsuro 
Published: March 2022

BackgroundTo investigate the relationship between stereopsis and vision-related quality of life (VR-QOL) in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) before and after treatment with intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR).MethodsThis prospective multicentred observational study included 37 patients undergoing IVR treatment for unilateral BRVO and 24 age-matched healthy controls.Stereopsis was evaluated using the TNO stereo test (TNO) and Titmus stereo test (TST) every month, and the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25) was administered at baseline, then at 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment.ResultsTime course of the changes in stereopsis and VR-QOL. IVR treatment significantly reduced central fovea thickness and improved both the TNO and the TST from 2 to 12 months (both p<0.05). Stereopsis before and after IVR injection in the eyes with BRVO were significantly worse than those in control subjects (TNO, p<0.001; TST, p<0.001). The VFQ-25 composite score significantly improved from 3 to 12 months after IVR treatment (p<0.05). Univariate analysis showed that the TNO score at baseline was significantly correlated with the VFQ-25 composite score at baseline and after treatment (p<0.05, p<0.05, respectively). TST score was not associated with the VFQ-25 composite score at baseline or after treatment.ConclusionsTreatment with IVR for BRVO improved cystoid macular oedema, which was correlated to improved stereopsis, although not to the control level. The TNO score at baseline was associated with VR-QOL in patients with BRVO.
Responsiveness and meaningful change thresholds of the Living with Pulmonary Fibrosis (L-PF) questionnaire Dyspnoea and Cough scores in patients with progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases
Authors: Swigris Jeffrey J , Bushnell Donald M , Rohr Klaus , Mueller Heiko , Baldwin Michael , Inoue Yoshikazu 
Published: March 2022

BackgroundThe Living with Pulmonary Fibrosis (L-PF) questionnaire assesses symptoms and quality of life in patients with fibrosing interstitial lung diseases (ILDs). Its Dyspnoea and Cough domains, whose items’ responses are based on a 24-hour recall, have scores ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity. We evaluated the ability of these domain scores to detect change and estimated their meaningful change thresholds in patients with progressive fibrosing ILDs.MethodsThe INBUILD trial enrolled subjects with progressive fibrosing ILDs other than idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The L-PF questionnaire was completed at baseline and week 52. The responsiveness of the Dyspnoea and Cough scores was evaluated by comparing changes in these scores with 52-week changes in three anchors: forced vital capacity % predicted and two self-reported items, one for global physical health and one for global quality of life. We used a triangulation approach including anchor-based and distribution-based methods to estimate meaningful change thresholds.ResultsThe analyses included 542 subjects with an L-PF Dyspnoea score at baseline and week 52, and 538 subjects with an L-PF Cough score at baseline and week 52. The L-PF Dyspnoea and Cough scores were responsive to change over 52 weeks. Triangulation of anchor-based and distribution-based estimates resulted in meaningful change thresholds of 6 to 7 points for the L-PF Dyspnoea score and 4 to 5 points for the L-PF Cough score to differentiate subjects who were stable or improved from those who deteriorated.ConclusionThese analyses support the responsiveness, one aspect of validity, of the L-PF Dyspnoea and Cough domains scores as measures of symptom severity in patients with progressive fibrosing ILDs. Estimates for meaningful change thresholds in these domain scores may be of value in interpreting the effects of interventions in these patients.Trial registration numberNCT02999178.
Optimizing Storage Performance with Calibrated Interrupts
Authors: Tai Amy , Smolyar Igor , Wei Michael , Tsafrir Dan 
Published: March 2022

After request completion, an I/O device must decide whether to minimize latency by immediately firing an interrupt or to optimize for throughput by delaying the interrupt, anticipating that more requests will complete soon and help amortize the interrupt cost. Devices employ adaptive interrupt coalescing heuristics that try to balance between these opposing goals. Unfortunately, because devices lack the semantic information about which I/O requests are latency-sensitive, these heuristics can sometimes lead to disastrous results.
Instead, we propose addressing the root cause of the heuristics problem by allowing software to explicitly specify to the device if submitted requests are latency-sensitive. The device then “calibrates” its interrupts to completions of latency-sensitive requests. We focus on NVMe storage devices and show that it is natural to express these semantics in the kernel and the application and only requires a modest two-bit change to the device interface. Calibrated interrupts increase throughput by up to 35%, reduce CPU consumption by as much as 30%, and achieve up to 37% lower latency when interrupts are coalesced.
Clock Gene Bmal1 Disruption in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Worsens Carotid Atherosclerotic Lesions
Authors: Lin Changpo , Xu Lirong , Tang Xiao , Li Xiaobo , Lu Chao , Cheng Qianyun , Jiang Junhao , Shen Yang , Yan Dong , Qian Ruizhe , Fu Weiguo , Guo Daqiao 
Published: March 2022

Background:
Clock system disruptions are associated with cardiovascular diseases. We previously demonstrated Bmal1 (brain muscle aryl nuclear translocase like-1) expression is significantly attenuated in plaque-derived vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). However, the influence of Bmal1 disruption in VSMCs and its molecular targets are still unclear. Here, we aim to define how Bmal1 disruption in VSMCs influences the atherosclerosis lesions.

Methods:

The relationship among Bmal1, neurological symptoms, and plaque stability was investigated. VSMC Bmal1
−/−
and VSMC Bmal1
+/+
mice were generated and injected with adeno associated virus encoding mutant proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 to induce atherosclerosis. Carotid artery ligation and cuff placement were performed in these mice to confirm the role of Bmal1 in atherosclerosis progression. The relevant molecular mechanisms were then explored.

Results:

Bmal1 expression in the carotid plague was significantly lower in symptomatic patients as well as in unstable plaques. Moreover, Bmal1 reduction is an independent risk factor for neurological symptoms and plaque instability. Besides, VSMC Bmal1
−/−
mice exhibit aggravated atherosclerotic lesions. Further study demonstrated that Bmal1 downregulation in VSMCs increased VSMC migration, monocyte transmigration, reactive oxygen species levels, and VSMCs apoptosis. As for the mechanism, we revealed that Bmal1 suppresses VSMCs migration by inhibiting RAC1 activity in 2 ways: by activating the transcription of RhoGDIα and by interacting with RAC1. Besides, Bmal1 was shown to preserve antioxidant function in VSMCs by activating Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) and Bcl-2 transcription.

Conclusions:
Bmal1 disruption in VSMCs worsens atherosclerosis by promoting VSMC migration and monocyte transmigration and impairing antioxidant function. Therefore, Bmal1 may be a potential therapeutic target and biomarker of atherosclerosis in the future.
Bi-GRU Relation Extraction Model Based on Keywords
Attention
Authors: Zhang Yuanyuan , Chen Yu , Yu Shengkang , Gu Xiaoqin , Song Mengqiong , Peng Yu , Chen Jianxia , Liu Qi 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Relational extraction plays an important role in the field of natural language processing to predict semantic relationships between entities in a sentence. Currently, most models have typically utilized the natural language processing tools to capture high-level features with an attention mechanism to mitigate the adverse effects of noise in sentences for the prediction results. However, in the task of relational classification, these attention mechanisms do not take full advantage of the semantic information of some keywords which have information on relational expressions in the sentences. Therefore, we propose a novel relation extraction model based on the attention mechanism with keywords, named Relation Extraction Based on Keywords Attention (REKA). In particular, the proposed model makes use of bi-directional GRU (Bi-GRU) to reduce computation, obtain the representation of sentences, and extracts prior knowledge of entity pair without any NLP tools. Besides the calculation of the entity-pair similarity, Keywords attention in the REKA model also utilizes a linear-chain conditional random field (CRF) combining entity-pair features, similarity features between entity-pair features, and its hidden vectors, to obtain the attention weight resulting from the marginal distribution of each word. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach can utilize keywords incorporating relational expression semantics in sentences without the assistance of any high-level features and achieve better performance than traditional methods.
Adaptive Learning Neural Network Method for Solving Time–Fractional Diffusion Equations
Authors: Shiri Babak , Kong Hua , Wu Guo-Cheng , Luo Cheng 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
A neural network method for solving fractional diffusion equations is presented in this letter. An adaptive gradient descent method is proposed to minimize energy functions. Due to the memory effects of the fractional calculus, the gradient of energy function becomes much more complicated, and we suggest a simplified method. Numerical examples with one-layer and two-layer neurons show the effectiveness of the method.
Improved Outcomes in Treating Acute Biliary Disorders With a Shift-Based Acute Care Surgery Model
Authors: McGill Michelle , Dhanasekara Chathurika S. , Caballero Beatrice , Chung Caroline , Alhaj-Saleh Adel , Santos Ariel , Ronaghan Catherine , Dissanaike Sharmila , Richmond Robyn 
Published: March 2022

Background As Acute Care Surgery and shift-based models increase in popularity, there is evidence of better outcomes for many types of emergency general surgery patients. We explored the difference in outcomes for patients with acute biliary disorders, treated by either Acute Care Surgery (ACS) model or traditional call model (TRAD) during the same period. Methods Retrospective review of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute biliary disease 2017-2018. Demographics, clinical presentation, operative details, and outcomes were compared. Results Demographics, clinical presentation, and complication rates were similar between groups. Time from surgical consult to operating room (Δ = −15.34 hours [−24.57, −6.12], P = .001), length of stay (Δ = −1.4 days [−2.45, −.35], P = .009), and total charges were significantly decreased in ACS group compared to TRAD (Δ$2797.76 [−4883.12, −712.41], P = .009). Conclusions Acute biliary disease can be managed successfully in an ACS shift-based model with reduced overall hospital charges and equivalent outcomes.