bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Age-related deficits in dip-listening evident for isolated sentences but not for spoken stories
Authors: Irsik Vanessa C. , Johnsrude Ingrid S. , Herrmann Björn 
Published: April 2022

AbstractFluctuating background sounds facilitate speech intelligibility by providing speech ‘glimpses’ (masking release). Older adults benefit less from glimpses, but masking release is typically investigated using isolated sentences. Recent work indicates that using engaging, continuous speech materials (e.g., spoken stories) may qualitatively alter speech-in-noise listening. Moreover, neural sensitivity to different amplitude envelope profiles (ramped, damped) changes with age, but whether this affects speech listening is unknown. In three online experiments, we investigate how masking release in younger and older adults differs for masked sentences and stories, and how speech intelligibility varies with masker amplitude profile. Intelligibility was generally greater for damped than ramped maskers. Masking release was reduced in older relative to younger adults for disconnected sentences, and stories with a randomized sentence order. Critically, when listening to stories with an engaging and coherent narrative, older adults demonstrated equal or greater masking release compared to younger adults. Older adults thus appear to benefit from ‘glimpses’ as much as, or more than, younger adults when the speech they are listening to follows a coherent topical thread. Our results highlight the importance of cognitive and motivational factors for speech understanding, and suggest that previous work may have underestimated speech-listening abilities in older adults.
Genetic diversity for agromorphological traits, phytochemical profile, and antioxidant activity in Moroccan sorghum ecotypes
Authors: Bouargalne Youssef , Ben Mrid Reda , Bouchmaa Najat , Zouaoui Zakia , Benmrid Bouchra , Kchikich Anass , El Omari Redouane , Kabach Imad , Mohamed Nhiri 
Published: April 2022

AbstractSorghum, the fifth most important cereal crop, is a well-adapted cereal to arid/semi-arid regions. Sorghum is known for multiple end-uses as food, feed, fuel, forage, and as source of bioactive compounds that could be used for medical applications. Although the great improvement in the process of sorghum breeding, the average yield of this crop is still very low. Therefore, exploring the genetic diversity in sorghum accessions is a critical step for improving this crop. The main objective of the current work was to study the genetic variation existing in a Moroccan sorghum collection. Indeed, 10 sorghum ecotypes were characterized based on agromorphological descriptors. Both quantitative (25) and qualitative (7) traits revealed variability (p < 0.05) among the studied ecotypes. At the seedling stage, most of the ecotypes showed good to high vigor (70%). However, as the sorghum plants grow, the difference between genotypes become more apparent, especially at the generative phase. For instance, three different panicle shapes have been observed, erect (50%), semi-bent (30%), and bent (20%) with different degree of compactness (20% for loose, semi-compact, and compact panicles, and 30% for semi-loose panicles). In another part of this study, the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activities of the sorghum ecotypes have been determined. The results showed variable total phenolic contents, and total flavonoid contents ranging from 125.86 ± 1.36 to 314.91 ± 3.60 mg GAE/g dw and 114.0 ± 13.2 to 138.5 ± 10.8 (mg catechin equivalent/100 g, dw) respectively, with a differential antioxidant activities as well. These results indicate that for any crop breeding program, it is preferable to take into consideration both morphological and biochemical traits for a better selection of high yielding varieties with high added value compounds. Therefore, the implication of these results in the context of sorghum breeding activities could be a resourceful option for farmers.
Integrated bioinformatic analysis of gene expression profiling data to identify combinatorial biomarkers in inflammatory skin disease
Authors: Bang Heejin , Kim Ja Eun , Lee Hyun Su , Park Sang Man , Park Dong-Joon , Lee Eun Jung 
Published: April 2022

AbstractSelection of appropriate biomarker to identify inflammatory skin diseases is complicated by the involvement of thousands of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across multiple cell types and organs. This study aimed to identify combinatorial biomarkers in inflammatory skin diseases. From one gene expression microarray profiling dataset, we performed bioinformatic analyses on dataset from lesional skin biopsies of patients with inflammatory skin diseases (atopic dermatitis [AD], contact eczema [KE], lichen planus [Li], psoriasis vulgaris [Pso]) and healthy controls to identify the involved pathways, predict upstream regulators, and potential measurable extracellular biomarkers. Overall, 434, 629, 581, and 738 DEGs were mapped in AD, KE, Li, and Pso, respectively; 238 identified DEGs were shared among four different inflammatory skin diseases. Bioinformatic analysis on four inflammatory skin diseases showed significant activation of pathways with known pathogenic relevance. Common upstream regulators, with upregulated predicted activity, identified were CNR1 and BMP4. We found the following common serum biomarkers: ACR, APOE, ASIP, CRISP1, DKK1, IL12B, IL9, MANF, MDK, NRTN, PCSK5, and VEGFC. Considerable differences of gene expression changes, involved pathways, upstream regulators, and biomarkers were found in different inflammatory skin diseases. Integrated bioinformatic analysis identified 12 potential common biomarkers of inflammatory skin diseases requiring further evaluation.
Implementation of quantum compression on IBM quantum computers
Authors: Pivoluska Matej , Plesch Martin 
Published: April 2022

AbstractAdvances in development of quantum computing processors brought ample opportunities to test the performance of various quantum algorithms with practical implementations. In this paper we report on implementations of quantum compression algorithm that can efficiently compress unknown quantum information. We restricted ourselves to compression of three pure qubits into two qubits, as the complexity of even such a simple implementation is barely within the reach of today’s quantum processors. We implemented the algorithm on IBM quantum processors with two different topological layouts—a fully connected triangle processor and a partially connected line processor. It turns out that the incomplete connectivity of the line processor affects the performance only minimally. On the other hand, it turns out that the transpilation, i.e. compilation of the circuit into gates physically available to the quantum processor, crucially influences the result. We also have seen that the compression followed by immediate decompression is, even for such a simple case, on the edge or even beyond the capabilities of currently available quantum processors.
Gadolinium-based contrast agent accelerates the migration of astrocyte via integrin αvβ3 signaling pathway
Authors: Ariyani Winda , Miyazaki Wataru , Tsushima Yoshito , Koibuchi Noriyuki 
Published: April 2022

AbstractGadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are chemicals injected intravenously during magnetic resonance imaging to enhance the diagnostic yield. Repeated use of GBCAs causes their deposition in the brain. Such deposition may affect various neuronal cells, including astrocytes. In this study, we examined the effect of GBCAs (Omniscan, Magnescope, Magnevist, and Gadovist) on astrocyte migration, which is critical for formation of neurons during development and maintaining brain homeostasis. All GBCAs increased cell migration and adhesion with increased actin remodelling. Knockdown of integrin αvβ3 by RNAi or exposure to integrin αvβ3 inhibitor reduced astrocyte migration. GBCAs increased phosphorylation of downstream factors of αvβ3, such as FAK, ERK1/2, and Akt. The phosphorylation of all these factors were reduced by RNAi or integrin αvβ3 inhibitor. GBCAs also increased the phosphorylation of their downstream factor, Rac1/cdc42, belonging to the RhoGTPases family. Coexposure to the selective RhoGTPases inhibitors, decreased the effects of GBCAs on cell migration. These findings indicate that GBCAs exert their action via integrin αvβ3 to activate the signaling pathway, resulting in increased astrocyte migration. Thus, the findings of the study suggest that it is important to avoid the repeated use of GBCAs to prevent adverse side effects in the brain, particularly during development.
Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG antibodies after the second BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in Japanese kidney transplant recipients
Authors: Hamaya Tomoko , Hatakeyama Shingo , Yoneyama Tohru , Tobisawa Yuki , Kodama Hirotake , Fujita Takeshi , Murakami Reiichi , Fujita Naoki , Okamoto Teppei , Yamamoto Hayato , Yoneyama Takahiro , Hashimoto Yasuhiro , Saitoh Hisao , Narumi Shunji , Tomita Hirofumi , Ohyama Chikara 
Published: April 2022

AbstractWe aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence and investigated factors associated with seropositivity after the second SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in kidney transplant (KT) recipients. This retrospective study conducted between June and November 2021 included 106 KT recipients and 127 healthy controls who received the second dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine at least 7 days before the measurement of antibody titers. The antibody titer against the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein was determined. We compared seroprevalence rates (immunoglobulin G [IgG] level of ≥ 0.8 or ≥ 15 U/mL) between the healthy controls and KT recipients and identified factors associated with impaired humoral response. The seroprevalence rate of the healthy controls and KT recipients was 98% and 22%, respectively. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age > 53 years, rituximab use, mycophenolate mofetil use, and KT vintage < 7 years were negatively associated with the rate of anti-SARS-CoV-2 S IgG ≥ 15 U/mL in KT recipients. ABO blood type incompatible KT was not significantly associated with seroprevalence. Humoral response after the second BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine was greatly hindered by immunosuppression therapy in KT recipients. Older age, rituximab use, mycophenolate mofetil use, and KT vintage may play key roles in seroconversion.
Stone toolmaking difficulty and the evolution of hominin technological skills
Authors: Muller Antoine , Shipton Ceri , Clarkson Chris 
Published: April 2022

AbstractStone tools are a manifestation of the complex cognitive and dexterous skills of our hominin ancestors. As such, much research has been devoted to understanding the skill requirements of individual lithic technologies. Yet, comparing skill across different technologies, and thus across the vast timespan of the Palaeolithic, is an elusive goal. We seek to quantify a series of commensurable metrics of knapping skill across four different lithic technologies (discoids, handaxes, Levallois, and prismatic blades). To compare the requisite dexterity, coordination, and care involved in each technology, we analysed video footage and lithic material from a series of replicative knapping experiments to quantify deliberation (strike time), precision (platform area), intricacy (flake size relative to core size), and success (relative blank length). According to these four metrics, discoidal knapping appears to be easiest among the sample. Levallois knapping involved an intricate reduction sequence, but did not require as much motor control as handaxes and especially prismatic blades. Compared with the other Palaeolithic technologies, we conclude that prismatic blade knapping is set apart by being a skill intensive means of producing numerous standardised elongate end-products.
Herding then farming in the Nile Delta
Authors: Zhao Xiaoshuang , Liu Yan , Thomas Ian , Salem Alaa , Wang Yanna , Alassal Said E. , Jiang Feng , Sun Qianli , Chen Jing , Finlayson Brian , Wilson Penelope , Chen Zhongyuan 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe Nile Delta in Egypt represents a valuable location to study the history of human societal development and agricultural advancement. However, the livelihood patterns of the earliest settlers – whether they were farmers or herders – remains poorly understood. Here we use non-pollen palynomorphs and pollen grains from a sediment core taken at Sais, one of the earliest archaeological sites in the west-central Nile Delta, to investigate the livelihood patterns and transition of early settlers there. We find that animal microfossils (dung and hair) occur in substantial quantities from around 7,000 years ago in our high-resolution-dated non-pollen palynomorphs spectrum, while domesticated cereals emerge in the spectrum around 300 years later. We also identify evidence of fire-enhanced land exploitation after this time. We interpret our microfossil evidence to indicate that the earliest settlers in the Nile Delta were herders and that this then developed into a combination of herding and farming.
Arrhythmic sudden death survival prediction using deep learning analysis of scarring in the heart
Authors: Popescu Dan M. , Shade Julie K. , Lai Changxin , Aronis Konstantinos N. , Ouyang David , Moorthy M. Vinayaga , Cook Nancy R. , Lee Daniel C. , Kadish Alan , Albert Christine M. , Wu Katherine C. , Maggioni Mauro , Trayanova Natalia A. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractSudden cardiac death from arrhythmia is a major cause of mortality worldwide. In this study, we developed a novel deep learning (DL) approach that blends neural networks and survival analysis to predict patient-specific survival curves from contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance images and clinical covariates for patients with ischemic heart disease. The DL-predicted survival curves offer accurate predictions at times up to 10 years and allow for estimation of uncertainty in predictions. The performance of this learning architecture was evaluated on multi-center internal validation data and tested on an independent test set, achieving concordance indexes of 0.83 and 0.74 and 10-year integrated Brier scores of 0.12 and 0.14. We demonstrate that our DL approach, with only raw cardiac images as input, outperforms standard survival models constructed using clinical covariates. This technology has the potential to transform clinical decision-making by offering accurate and generalizable predictions of patient-specific survival probabilities of arrhythmic death over time.
How to Use the Index of Productive Syntax to Select Goals and Monitor Progress in Preschool Children
Authors: Roberts Jenny A. , Altenberg Evelyn P. , Ferrugio Hannah R. , Rosenberg Jenna E. 
Published: April 2022

Purpose:
Syntax assessment and treatment is a major focus of speech-language pathologists who work with young children with language needs. The Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn) provides an efficient method for the assessment of syntax of preschool-age children. The purpose of this tutorial is to illustrate how to hand-score an IPSyn from language sample transcripts and use this information to formulate appropriate syntactic goals.

Method:
We describe general methods and tips for facilitating hand-scoring. Two case study transcripts of a late talker at 36 and 48 months are provided. One case study transcript is fully scored in IPSyn with detailed explanations; the second case study is provided as a practice example with an IPSyn answer key. Relevant sample probes are provided to assist in the goal of obtaining a representative set of language structures.

Results:
We show how the IPSyn can be scored, subscale by subscale, and can highlight developmental stages of syntax following Brown's stages of grammatical development. We illustrate how the visual snapshot developmental nature of the instrument makes it ideal for deriving goals.

Conclusion:
The IPSyn is a practical and valuable tool for the assessment of syntax of preschool-age children.
The R136 star cluster dissected with Hubble Space Telescope/STIS
Authors: Brands Sarah A. , de Koter Alex , Bestenlehner Joachim M. , Crowther Paul A. , Sundqvist Jon O. , Puls Joachim , Caballero-Nieves Saida M. , Abdul-Masih Michael , Driessen Florian A. , García Miriam , Geen Sam , Gräfener Götz , Hawcroft Calum , Kaper Lex , Keszthelyi Zsolt , Langer Norbert , Sana Hugues , Schneider Fabian R. N. , Shenar Tomer , Vink Jorick S. 
Published: April 2022

Context. The star cluster R136 inside the Large Magellanic Cloud hosts a rich population of massive stars, including the most massive stars known. The strong stellar winds of these very luminous stars impact their evolution and the surrounding environment. We currently lack detailed knowledge of the wind structure that is needed to quantify this impact.
Aims. Our goal is to observationally constrain the stellar and wind properties of the massive stars in R136, in particular the wind-structure parameters related to wind clumping.
Methods. We simultaneously analyse optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy of 53 O-type and three WNh-stars using the Fastwind model atmosphere code and a genetic algorithm. The models account for optically thick clumps and effects related to porosity and velocity-porosity, as well as a non-void interclump medium.
Results. We obtain stellar parameters, surface abundances, mass-loss rates, terminal velocities, and clumping characteristics and compare them to theoretical predictions and evolutionary models. The clumping properties include the density of the interclump medium and the velocity-porosity of the wind. For the first time, these characteristics are systematically measured for a wide range of effective temperatures and luminosities.
Conclusions. We confirm a cluster age of 1.0–2.5 Myr and derived an initial stellar mass of ≥250 M⊙ for the most massive star in our sample, R136a1. The winds of our sample stars are highly clumped, with an average clumping factor of fcl = 29 ± 15. We find tentative trends in the wind-structure parameters as a function of the mass-loss rate, suggesting that the winds of stars with higher mass-loss rates are less clumped. We compare several theoretical predictions to the observed mass-loss rates and terminal velocities and find that none satisfactorily reproduce both quantities. The prescription of Krtička & Kubát (2018) matches the observed mass-loss rates best.
Oligometastatic disease in biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer: Prevalence on PSMA PET/CT and consecutive metastasis-directed therapy – Experience at a tertiary referral center
Authors: Müller Peter J. , Dietlein Markus , Kobe Carsten , Heidenreich Axel , Drzezga Alexander 
Published: April 2022

Abstract
Aim The aim of our study was to address the prevalence of oligometastatic recurrent prostate cancer (PCa) on PSMA-PET and the associated practice of metastasis-directed therapy (MDT). Next, we aimed to determine a PSA threshold below which most patients had local and/or oligometastatic recurrence on PSMA-PET.
Methods One hundred and ten consecutive patients with biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP) ± radiation were referred for 68Ga-PSMA-11 or 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT. We correlated the location and number of PSMA-positive lesions against the treatment choice after imaging. Detection rates were stratified by PSA levels at the time of PET/CT. The study design was monocentric retrospective.
Results Thirty-four patients (30.9%) had a PSMA-negative scan, while 17 (15.5%) had local recurrence and 59 (53.6%) had metastatic recurrence on PSMA-PET. ROC analysis revealed a cut-off of ≤3 metastatic lesions on PSMA-PET for the steering of treatment decisions towards MDT rather than solely systemic therapy (AUC: 0.88). Defined as 3 or fewer metastatic lesions, oligometastatic recurrent PCa was found in up to 30% (33/110) of all patients. At PSA levels below 3.5 ng/ml, the rate of PSMA-positive disease that was locally confined or oligometastatic was 76% (45/59), dropping significantly to 29.4% (5/17) above this threshold (p<0.001) as polymetastatic findings became more frequent.
Conclusion The detection of ≤3 oligometastases on PSMA-PET encouraged the consecutive pursuit of MDT instead of systemic therapy alone. PSMA-PET predominantly captured patients at recurrence stages amenable to localized treatment when initiated at PSA levels below 3.5 ng/ml.
Left pulmonary aplasia with multiloculated effusion and pericardial defects in a young adult: a case report
Authors: Dantis Klein , Thippanahalli Ganga Ranganath , Sahu Dibakar 
Published: April 2022

AbstractPulmonary aplasia is a rare developmental lung anomaly with unknown etiology. Multiloculated effusion and pericardial defects are even less common with no cases reported up until now. Here, we report the first case of an unusual presentation of a 25-year-old female with recurrent cough for four months, who was diagnosed with left pulmonary aplasia with multiloculated effusion and partial pericardial defects, and who underwent uniportal thoracoscopic drainage and pleurectomy.
Hohe klinische Wertigkeit der Skelettszintigrafie beim Staging des Mammakarzinoms
Authors: Eilsberger Friederike , Girmond Clara , Boekhoff Jelena , Librizzi Damiano , Luster Markus , Pfestroff Andreas 
Published: April 2022

Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund Die Skelettszintigrafie ist eine sensitive Methode für die Darstellung von Knochenmetastasen. Trotz der festen Etablierung in die klinische Routine gibt es kaum Daten aus größeren homogenen Kollektiven zur Wertigkeit der Skelettszintigrafie im Rahmen des Stagings.
Ziel Ziel unserer Arbeit war die Evaluierung der Real-Life-Performance der Skelettszintigrafie als Staginguntersuchung bei Patientinnen mit der Erstdiagnose eines Mammakarzinoms.
Patienten und Methoden Wir werteten retrospektiv die Daten der im Jahr 2015 in unserer Klinik mittels Skelettszintigrafie untersuchten Patientinnen aus. Zusätzlich wurde über einen Zeitraum von 30 Monaten evaluiert, ob sich im Verlauf diese Ergebnisse bestätigten; hierzu wurden anschließende Untersuchungen ausgewertet.
Ergebnisse 207/258 Patientinnen zeigten in der initialen Skelettszintigrafie keine verdächtigen Befunde, bei 48 zeigte sich ein unklarer Befund, weshalb bei 42 Patientinnen weitere Diagnostik angeschlossen wurde. Im Follow-up wurden bei 4 Patientinnen neue Skelettmetastasen gefunden, diese hatten alle in der Primärdiagnostik Szintigrafiebefunde, die als „unklar“ gewertet wurden. Es ergab sich je nach Wertung des Ereignisses (metastasenverdächtig/metastasenverdächtig und unklar) eine Sensitivität von 37,5%/100%, eine Spezifität von 100%/80%, ein positiv prädiktiver Wert von 100%/15,7% und ein negativ prädiktiver Wert von 98%/100%.
Schlussfolgerung Mittels der Skelettszintigrafie und weiterer Abklärung konnte in 99,2% der vollständig untersuchten Patientinnen ein klinisch aussagekräftiger Befund erhoben werden, welcher sich im Follow-up bestätigte. Dieses Ergebnis zeigt die gute Real-Life-Performance der Skelettszintigrafie als Staginguntersuchung bei Patientinnen mit erstdiagnostiziertem Mammakarzinom.