bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Steroidal alkaloid biosynthesis is coordinately regulated and differs among tomatoes in the red‐fruited clade
Authors: Dzakovich Michael P. , Francis David M. , Cooperstone Jessica L. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe tomato (Solanum spp.) clade of Solanaceae features a unique assortment of cholesterol‐derived steroidal alkaloids. However, little quantitative data exists reporting the profile and concentration of these alkaloids across diverse fruit germplasm. To address the lack of knowledge regarding the chemical diversity, concentration, and genetic architecture controlling tomato steroidal alkaloids, we quantitatively profiled and genotyped two tomato populations representing diversity in the red‐fruited clade. We grew 107 genetically diverse fresh market, processing, landrace, and wild tomato in multiple environments. Nine steroidal alkaloid groups were quantified using ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The diversity panel and a biparental population segregating for high alpha‐tomatine were genotyped to identify and validate quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with steroidal alkaloids. Landraces and wild material exhibited higher alkaloid concentrations and more chemical diversity. Average total content of steroidal alkaloids, often dominated by lycoperoside F/G/esculeoside A, ranged from 1.9 to 23.3 mg 100 g−1 fresh wt. across accessions. Landrace and wild cherry accessions distinctly clustered based on elevated concentrations of early or late‐pathway steroidal alkaloids. Significant correlations were observed among alkaloids from the early and late parts of the biosynthetic pathway in a species‐dependent manner. A QTL controlling multiple, early steroidal alkaloid pathway intermediates on chromosome 3 was identified by genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) and validated in a backcross population. Overall, tomato steroidal alkaloids are diverse in the red‐fruited clade and their biosynthesis is regulated in a coordinated manner.
Treatment of livestock slaughterhouse wastewater by the electrochemical method using stainless steel and copper electrodes
Authors: Mkilima Timoth 
Published: February 2022

AbstractElectrochemical methods provide one of the most effective approaches for wastewater treatment. However, the performance of these systems is highly dependent on the type of wastewater to be treated and the electrode material used (including some relatively cheap and readily available materials such as stainless‐steel and copper). Unfortunately, the applicability of stainless steel as anode and copper as cathode electrodes materials for the purification of livestock slaughterhouse wastewater has not been captured in the previous studies. This study investigated the potential of combining stainless steel (anode) and copper (cathode) as electrode materials for the purification of livestock wastewater. The influence of contact time (20, 40, and 60 min) on the pollutants’ removal efficiency was also investigated. From the analysis results, it was observed that the contact time and type of pollutant to be removed had a significant influence on the removal efficiency of the electrochemical treatment system. The highest removal efficiency was achieved from the combination of TSS and 60‐min contact time, with 92% removal efficiency. While the lowest removal efficiencies was observed from the combination of phosphates, nickel, aluminum, and ammonia and 10 min contact time; with removal efficiencies of 22.6%, 23.4%, 34.3%, and 34.3%, respectively. However, in terms of general removal efficiency (after 60 min of the contact time), the lowest removal efficiency was observed from ammonia with a removal efficiency of 62.2% . The treatment system also achieved high removal efficiencies for some other parameters such as Turbidity, Color, TSS, COD, BOD, and TOC ranging from 85.5% to 89.2% after 60 min of the contact time.
Educational Performance in Swedish Schools—What Are the Facts?
Authors: Henrekson Magnus , Wennström Johan 
Published: February 2022

AbstractIn the 2000s, Swedish elementary and secondary school students’ scores in international assessments began to fall, which suggests both a long-term and substantial weakening of the Swedish school system. The chapter provides a detailed presentation of what is known about the performance of Swedish students before the first TIMSS assessment in 1995 and the subsequent decline in international tests. It shows that the downward trend in attainment is a result of deteriorating scores across the board, from the highest-performing students to those who obtain the lowest scores. Moreover, the chapter suggests that the decline in knowledge among Swedish students is likely to have strong effects on future economic growth. A rough calculation based on updated cross-country estimates suggests that the Swedish growth rate per capita may fall by 0.4–0.5 percentage points.
The Malaise in the School System
Authors: Henrekson Magnus , Wennström Johan 
Published: February 2022

AbstractA significant drop in students’ knowledge and skills is not the only problem facing Sweden’s schools. The chapter discusses the emergence of a systemic malaise that includes grade inflation, increasing gender differences in performance, and declining civic mindedness. Moreover, the work environment is marred by rising levels of bullying, unacceptable levels of rule-breaking, truancy, and a high incidence of mental health problems. The chapter also discusses the deterioration of working conditions for teachers and the flight from the teaching profession. Teachers self-report that their professional status is low in society, teacher-training programs do not attract top-level students, roughly half of the students in those programs drop out, and a substantial share of those who graduate leave the profession after a couple of years. The wholesale introduction of NPM methods has robbed teachers of the professional autonomy that used to be a key element of the profession’s attractiveness.
Two Views of Knowledge and Teaching
Authors: Henrekson Magnus , Wennström Johan 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe chapter outlines two conflicting visions of knowledge: the classical view and the postmodern social constructivist view. According to the classical view, the purpose of schooling is to give students the kind of valuable knowledge and skills, including relevant knowledge of the wider culture in which they are expected to spend their lives as adults, that they cannot acquire in any other way. On the other hand, the postmodern social constructivist view rejects the existence of objective knowledge. In the context of schooling, this translates to a preference for student-directed pedagogy, the mixing of subjects, and an emphasis on developing generic critical thinking rather than on acquiring domain-specific knowledge. The chapter argues that the classical view is consistent with both modern scientific research and received wisdom. Moreover, it suggests that the stipulated view of knowledge is the single most important institution for the functioning and development of any school system.
Arithmetic of hyperelliptic curves over local fields
Authors: Dokchitser Tim , Dokchitser Vladimir , Maistret Céline , Morgan Adam 
Published: February 2022

AbstractWe study hyperelliptic curves$$y^2 = f(x)$$y2=f(x)over local fields of odd residue characteristic. We introduce the notion of a “cluster picture” associated to the curve, that describes thep-adic distances between the roots off(x), and show that this elementary combinatorial object encodes the curve’s Galois representation, conductor, whether the curve is semistable, and if so, the special fibre of its minimal regular model, the discriminant of its minimal Weierstrass equation and other invariants.
Pharmacokinetic and subjective assessment of prototype JUUL2 electronic nicotine delivery system in two nicotine concentrations, JUUL system, IQOS, and combustible cigarette
Authors: Goldenson Nicholas I. , Augustson Erik M. , Chen Joey , Shiffman Saul 
Published: February 2022

Abstract

Rationale
Electronic nicotine delivery systems and heated tobacco products are noncombustible alternatives for adult smokers. Evidence suggests sufficient nicotine delivery and satisfying effects are necessary to facilitate switching away from smoking; nicotine delivery varies across electronic nicotine delivery systems within limited nicotine concentrations.

Objectives
To assess the nicotine delivery and subjective effects of prototype JUUL2 System in two nicotine concentrations, currently-marketed US JUUL System (“JUUL”), IQOS-brand heated tobacco product, and combustible cigarettes.

Methods
Adult smokers (N = 40) completed a 5-arm cross-over product-use laboratory confinement study. Nicotine pharmacokinetics and subjective effects were assessed following use of: (1) JUUL2 prototype 18 mg/mL nicotine; (2) JUUL2 prototype 40 mg/mL; (3) JUUL 59 mg/mL; (4) IQOS 18 mg/g; and (5) usual brand combustible cigarette, each evaluated during ad libitum (10 min) and controlled (5 min, 10 standardized puffs) use.

Results
Nicotine delivery was greatest for combustible cigarettes, followed by JUUL2 prototype 40 mg/mL, IQOS, JUUL2 prototype 18 mg/mL, and JUUL 59 mg/mL. Nicotine delivery from JUUL2 prototype 18 mg/mL was significantly greater than JUUL 59 mg/mL after ad libitum use. JUUL products were significantly more satisfying and effective at reducing craving than IQOS. JUUL2 prototype 40 mg/mL was significantly more aversive than other JUUL products.

Conclusions
Prototype JUUL2 and JUUL 59 mg/mL products were rated higher than IQOS on subjective measures associated with switching away from smoking. The JUUL2 prototype 40 mg/mL produced aversive responses and would require modifications to be a viable product for adult smokers. Nicotine delivery and subjective responses to JUUL2 prototype 18 mg/mL suggest a product based on this prototype may facilitate increased switching among adult smokers.
Magnetic resonance imaging findings in pediatric neck infections—a comparison with adult patients
Authors: Nurminen Janne , Heikkinen Jaakko , Happonen Tatu , Velhonoja Jarno , Irjala Heikki , Soukka Tero , Ivaska Lauri , Mattila Kimmo , Hirvonen Jussi 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
Differences in the functioning of the immune system and the anatomical proportions of the neck between children and adults lead to different manifestations of deep neck infections. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may serve as an alternative to computed tomography (CT) as the primary imaging modality.

Objective
To study characteristic MRI findings and the diagnostic accuracy of MRI in pediatric deep neck infections.

Materials and methods
We retrospectively studied a cohort of pediatric patients who underwent a neck 3-tesla MRI study over a five-year period. Inclusion criteria were: 1) emergency MRI findings indicating an infection, 2) infection as the final clinical diagnosis, 3) diagnostic image quality verified by the radiologist reading the study and 4) age under 18 years. Patient record data, including surgery reports, were compared with the MRI findings.

Results
Data of 45 children were included and analysed. Compared to adults, children had a higher incidence of retropharyngeal infection and lymphadenitis, and a lower incidence of peritonsillar/parapharyngeal infection. MRI showed evidence of an abscess in 34 children. Of these 34 patients, 24 underwent surgery, which confirmed an abscess in 21 but no abscess in three patients. In addition, three patients underwent surgery without MRI evidence of abscess, and an abscess was found in one of these cases. The measures of diagnostic accuracy among the children were sensitivity 0.96, specificity 0.77, positive predictive value 0.89, negative predictive value 0.91 and accuracy 0.89. Compared with adults, children had lower C-reactive protein, but a similar proportion of them had an abscess, and abscess size and rate of surgery were similar.

Conclusion
Despite the differences in the infection foci, emergency MRI in children had equal diagnostic accuracy to that in adults.
Non-rigid motion-corrected free-breathing 3D myocardial Dixon LGE imaging in a clinical setting
Authors: Zeilinger Martin Georg , Kunze Karl-Philipp , Munoz Camila , Neji Radhouene , Schmidt Michaela , Croisille Pierre , Heiss Rafael , Wuest Wolfgang , Uder Michael , Botnar René Michael , Treutlein Christoph , Prieto Claudia 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Objectives
To investigate the efficacy of an in-line non-rigid motion-compensated reconstruction (NRC) in an image-navigated high-resolution three-dimensional late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) sequence with Dixon water–fat separation, in a clinical setting.

Methods
Forty-seven consecutive patients were enrolled prospectively and examined with 1.5 T MRI. NRC reconstructions were compared to translational motion-compensated reconstructions (TC) of the same datasets in overall and different sub-category image quality scores, diagnostic confidence, contrast ratios, LGE pattern, and semiautomatic LGE quantification.

Results
NRC outperformed TC in all image quality scores (p < 0.001 to 0.016; e.g., overall image quality 5/5 points vs. 4/5). Overall image quality was downgraded in only 23% of NRC datasets vs. 53% of TC datasets due to residual respiratory motion. In both reconstructions, LGE was rated as ischemic in 11 patients and non-ischemic in 10 patients, while it was absent in 26 patients. NRC delivered significantly higher LGE-to-myocardium and blood-to-myocardium contrast ratios (median 6.33 vs. 5.96, p < 0.001 and 4.88 vs. 4.66, p < 0.001, respectively). Automatically detected LGE mass was significantly lower in the NRC reconstruction (p < 0.001). Diagnostic confidence was identical in all cases, with high confidence in 89% and probable in 11% datasets for both reconstructions. No case was rated as inconclusive.

Conclusions
The in-line implementation of a non-rigid motion-compensated reconstruction framework improved image quality in image-navigated free-breathing, isotropic high-resolution 3D LGE imaging with undersampled spiral-like Cartesian sampling and Dixon water–fat separation compared to translational motion correction of the same datasets. The sharper depictions of LGE may lead to more accurate measures of LGE mass.

Key Points
• 3D LGE imaging provides high-resolution detection of myocardial scarring.
• Non-rigid motion correction provides better image quality in cardiac MRI.
• Non-rigid motion correction may lead to more accurate measures of LGE mass.
Ocular phenotype and electroretinogram abnormalities in Lafora disease and correlation with disease stage
Authors: Orsini Alessandro , Ferrari Daniele , Riva Antonella , Santangelo Andrea , Macrì Angelo , Freri Elena , Canafoglia Laura , D’Aniello Alfredo , Di Gennaro Giancarlo , Massimetti Gabriele , Minetti Carlo , Zara Federico , Michelucci Roberto , Tumber Anupreet , Vincent Ajoy , Minassian Berge Arakel , Striano Pasquale 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
Lafora disease (LD) is a neurodegenerative disorder featuring action and stimulus-sensitive myoclonus, epilepsy, and cognitive deterioration. Mutations in the EPM2A/EPM2B genes classically prove causative for the disease in most cases. Since full-field electroretinogram (ffERG) may reveal early-stage changes in a wide spectrum of diseases, we aimed to evaluate retinal cones and rods dysfunction in a cohort of Italian LD patients.

Methods
Patients with genetically confirmed LD were recruited and subjected to ffERG analysis following the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) protocol.

Results
Six patients aged between 13 and 26 years (mean 19.5 years) were included. The mean age at disease onset was 12.5 years with a mean disease duration of 7 years. The ffERG analysis revealed a global mild to severe generalized cones dysfunction in all patients. Linear correlation was identified between disease stage and the degree of cones and rods dysfunction, as well as between the type of mutation and the cones and rods dysfunction.

Conclusions
This study brings further evidence of early retinal alterations in LD patients. The cones and rods dysfunction grade is related to disease duration. The ffERG is an important tool to determine the disease stage, allowing to evaluate either natural or treatment-related disease progression in a minimally invasive way.
From words to phrases: neural basis of social event semantic composition
Authors: Yang Huichao , Bi Yanchao 
Published: February 2022

AbstractEvents are typically composed of at least actions and entities. Both actions and entities have been shown to be represented by neural structures respecting domain organizations in the brain, including those of social/animate (face and body; person-directed action) versus inanimate (man-made object or tool; object-directed action) concepts. It is unclear whether the brain combines actions and entities into events in a (relative) domain-specific fashion or via domain-general mechanisms in regions that have been shown to support semantic and syntactic composition. We tested these hypotheses in a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment where two domains of verb-noun event phrases (social-person versus manipulation-artifact, e.g., “hug mother” versus “fold napkin”) and their component words were contrasted. We found a series of brain region supporting social-composition effects more strongly than the manipulation phrase composition—the bilateral inferior occipital gyrus (IOG), inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and anterior temporal lobe (ATL)—which either showed stronger activation strength tested by univariate contrast, stronger content representation tested by representation similarity analysis, or stronger relationship between the neural activation patterns of phrases and synthesis (additive and multiplication) of the neural activity patterns of the word constituents. No regions were observed showing evidence of phrase composition for both domains or stronger effects of manipulation phrases. These findings highlight the roles of the visual cortex and ATL in social event compositions, suggesting a domain-preferring, rather than domain-general, mechanisms of verbal event composition.
The SWI/SNF subunit BRG1 affects alternative splicing by changing RNA binding factor interactions with nascent RNA
Authors: Gañez-Zapater Antoni , Mackowiak Sebastian D. , Guo Yuan , Tarbier Marcel , Jordán-Pla Antonio , Friedländer Marc R. , Visa Neus , Östlund Farrants Ann-Kristin 
Published: February 2022

AbstractBRG1 and BRM are ATPase core subunits of the human SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complexes mainly associated with transcriptional initiation. They also have a role in alternative splicing, which has been shown for BRM-containing SWI/SNF complexes at a few genes. Here, we have identified a subset of genes which harbour alternative exons that are affected by SWI/SNF ATPases by expressing the ATPases BRG1 and BRM in C33A cells, a BRG1- and BRM-deficient cell line, and analysed the effect on splicing by RNA sequencing. BRG1- and BRM-affected sub-sets of genes favouring both exon inclusion and exon skipping, with only a minor overlap between the ATPase. Some of the changes in alternative splicing induced by BRG1 and BRM expression did not require the ATPase activity. The BRG1-ATPase independent included exons displayed an exon signature of a high GC content. By investigating three genes with exons affected by the BRG-ATPase-deficient variant, we show that these exons accumulated phosphorylated RNA pol II CTD, both serine 2 and serine 5 phosphorylation, without an enrichment of the RNA polymerase II. The ATPases were recruited to the alternative exons, together with both core and signature subunits of SWI/SNF complexes, and promoted the binding of RNA binding factors to chromatin and RNA at the alternative exons. The interaction with the nascent RNP, however, did not reflect the association to chromatin. The hnRNPL, hnRNPU and SAM68 proteins associated with chromatin in cells expressing BRG1 and BRM wild type, but the binding of hnRNPU to the nascent RNP was excluded. This suggests that SWI/SNF can regulate alternative splicing by interacting with splicing-RNA binding factor and influence their binding to the nascent pre-mRNA particle.
The value of remotely sensed vs. field-surveyed habitat structure for predicting bird abundance: a case study in traditional orchards
Authors: Chaparro Laura , Schmieder Klaus , Schurr Frank M. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractUnderstanding environmental effects on the distribution and abundance of species is central to ecology, biogeography and evolutionary biology. This led to the development of species distribution models (SDMs) that relate spatial variation in occurrence and abundance to environmental variables. So far, SDMs rarely considered habitat structure, as a major determinant of bird distributions. While remote sensing increasingly provides high-resolution measures of habitat structure, certain structural variables affecting bird abundance still need to be measured with field surveys. In this study, we compare the value of remotely sensed vs. field-surveyed habitat structure for predicting bird abundance. Specifically, we analysed abundance data for nine bird species of traditional orchards in South-Western Germany. ‘Remote sensing SDMs’ related abundance to structural variables obtained by aerial photogrammetry of individual orchard trees. Alternative ‘field survey SDMs’ related bird abundance to detailed field surveys of the species composition and pruning state of orchard trees. Additionally, both remote sensing and field survey SDMs included climate and land use variables. Accounting for detailed habitat structure improved abundance predictions for seven of nine study species compared to models only incorporating climate and land use. The impact on model performance differed between remotely sensed and field-surveyed variables: the former improved abundance models for most (n = 7) bird species, whereas the latter had more variable impact, decreasing model performance for five species. The remotely sensed variable with strongest effects was overall tree density, which positively affected abundance of seven species. In contrast, multiple field-surveyed variables had similar effect strength, with the overall strongest effect found for pear tree density, to which seven bird species showed a unimodal response. These analyses have conservation implications since they predict expected responses of bird species to ongoing changes in orchard structure. Moreover, they identify structural variables that will be most promising to measure via remote sensing data in the future.