julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
The Sariçiçek howardite fall in Turkey: Source crater of HED meteorites on Vesta and impact risk of Vestoids
2019-03-17

Abstract The Sariçiçek howardite meteorite shower consisting of 343 documented stones occurred on September 2, 2015 in Turkey and is the first documented howardite fall. Cosmogenic isotopes show that Sariçiçek experienced a complex cosmic‐ray exposure history, exposed during ~12–14 Ma in a regolith near the surface of a parent asteroid, and that an ~1 m sized meteoroid was launched by an impact 22 ± 2 Ma ago to Earth (as did one‐third of all HED meteorites). SIMS dating of zircon and baddeleyite yielded 4550.4 ± 2.5 Ma and 4553 ± 8.8 Ma crystallization ages for the basaltic magma clasts. The apatite U‐Pb age of 4525 ± 17 Ma, K‐Ar age of ~3.9 Ga, and the U,Th‐He ages of 1.8 ± 0.7 and 2.6 ± 0.3 Ga are interpreted to represent thermal metamorphic and impact‐related resetting ages, respectively. Petrographic; geochemical; and O‐, Cr‐, and Ti‐isotopic studies confirm that Sariçiçek belongs to the normal clan of HED meteorites. Petrographic observations and analysis of organic material indicate a small portion of carbonaceous chondrite material in the Sariçiçek regolith and organic contamination of the meteorite after a few days on soil. Video observations of the fall show an atmospheric entry at 17.3 ± 0.8 km s −1 from NW ; fragmentations at 37, 33, 31, and 27 km altitude; and provide a pre‐atmospheric orbit that is the first dynamical link between the normal HED meteorite clan and the inner Main Belt. Spectral data indicate the similarity of Sariçiçek with the Vesta asteroid family (V‐class) spectra, a group of asteroids stretching to delivery resonances, which includes (4) Vesta. Dynamical modeling of meteoroid delivery to Earth shows that the complete disruption of a ~1 km sized Vesta family asteroid or a ~10 km sized impact crater on Vesta is required to provide sufficient meteoroids ≤4 m in size to account for the influx of meteorites from this HED clan. The 16.7 km diameter Antionia impact crater on Vesta was formed on terrain of the same age as given by the 4 He retention age of Sariçiçek. Lunar scaling for crater production to crater counts of its ejecta blanket show it was formed ~22 Ma ago.
Combining heterogeneous data sources for neuroimaging based diagnosis: re-weighting and selecting what is important
2019-03-17

Combining neuroimaging and clinical information for diagnosis, as for example behavioral tasks and genetics characteristics, is potentially beneficial but presents challenges in terms of finding the best data representation for the different sources of information. Their simple combination usually does not provide an improvement if compared with using the best source alone. In this paper, we proposed a framework based on a recent multiple kernel learning algorithm called EasyMKL and we investigated the benefits of this approach for diagnosing two different mental health diseases. The well known Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset tackling the Alzheimer Disease (AD) patients versus healthy controls classification task, and a second dataset tackling the task of classifying an heterogeneous group of depressed patients versus healthy controls. We used EasyMKL to combine a huge amount of basic kernels alongside a feature selection methodology, pursuing an optimal and sparse solution to facilitate interpretability. Our results show that the proposed approach, called EasyMKLFS, outperforms baselines (e.g. SVM and SimpleMKL), state-of-the-art random forests (RF) and feature selection (FS) methods.
Signaling pathways involved in vascular smooth muscle cell calcification during hyperphosphatemia
2019-03-18

Medial vascular calcification has emerged as a putative key factor contributing to the excessive cardiovascular mortality of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hyperphosphatemia is considered a decisive determinant of vascular calcification in CKD. A critical role in initiation and progression of vascular calcification during elevated phosphate conditions is attributed to vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), which are able to change their phenotype into osteo-/chondroblasts-like cells. These transdifferentiated VSMCs actively promote calcification in the medial layer of the arteries by producing a local pro-calcifying environment as well as nidus sites for precipitation of calcium and phosphate and growth of calcium phosphate crystals. Elevated extracellular phosphate induces osteo-/chondrogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs through complex intracellular signaling pathways, which are still incompletely understood. The present review addresses critical intracellular pathways controlling osteo-/chondrogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs and, thus, vascular calcification during hyperphosphatemia. Elucidating these pathways holds a significant promise to open novel therapeutic opportunities counteracting the progression of vascular calcification in CKD.
Pyrite formation from FeS and H 2 S is mediated through microbial redox activity
2019-03-18

The exergonic reaction of FeS with H 2 S to form FeS 2 (pyrite) and H 2 was postulated to have operated as an early form of energy metabolism on primordial Earth. Since the Archean, sedimentary pyrite formation has played a major role in the global iron and sulfur cycles, with direct impact on the redox chemistry of the atmosphere. However, the mechanism of sedimentary pyrite formation is still being debated. We present microbial enrichment cultures which grew with FeS, H 2 S, and CO 2 as their sole substrates to produce FeS 2 and CH 4 . Cultures grew over periods of 3 to 8 mo to cell densities of up to 2 to 9 × 10 6 cells per mL −1 . Transformation of FeS with H 2 S to FeS 2 was followed by 57 Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and showed a clear biological temperature profile with maximum activity at 28 °C and decreasing activities toward 4 °C and 60 °C. CH 4 was formed concomitantly with FeS 2 and exhibited the same temperature dependence. Addition of either penicillin or 2-bromoethanesulfonate inhibited both FeS 2 and CH 4 production, indicating a coupling of overall pyrite formation to methanogenesis. This hypothesis was supported by a 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic analysis, which identified at least one archaeal and five bacterial species. The archaeon was closely related to the hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanospirillum stamsii , while the bacteria were most closely related to sulfate-reducing Deltaproteobacteria, as well as uncultured Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. Our results show that pyrite formation can be mediated at ambient temperature through a microbially catalyzed redox process, which may serve as a model for a postulated primordial iron−sulfur world.
The Digital Tree Drawing Test for Screening of Early Dementia: An Explorative Study Comparing Healthy Controls, Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Patients with Early Dementia of the Alzheimer Type
2019-03-18

The digital tree drawing test (dTDT) is a newly developed screening tool for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. It is performed with a digitizing pen, recording each pen stroke with temporal and spatial precision. It was hypothesized that movement characteristics recorded during the painting process contribute to the identification of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early dementia of the Alzheimer type (eDAT). The study population consisted of 187 participants (67 healthy controls, 64 MCI, and 56 eDAT patients) with a mean age of 68.6±10.6 years. Between-group comparisons of the dTDT-variables were conducted with analysis of variance. The diagnostic power of dTDT variables was analyzed with stepwise logistic regressions and areas under curve (AUC) of receiver operating control curves. Cognitively impaired persons used less colors and line widths and changed them less often than healthy subjects ( p-values ≤0.05). Compared to control, eDAT patients had larger not-painting periods, were slower, and their pictures had less contrast, image size, and complexity ( p-values ≤0.01). Logistic regression models of stepwise selected dTDT variables resulted in an AUC of 0.84 (95% confidence interval (CI) [0.79, 0.90], sensitivity = 0.78, specificity = 0.77) for discriminating healthy subjects from all cognitive impaired, an AUC of 0.77. (95% CI [0.69; 0.85], sensitivity = 0.56, specificity = 0.83) for discriminating healthy controls from MCI patients and an AUC of 0.90 (95% CI [0.84, 0.96], sensitivity = 0.86, specificity = 0.82) for discriminating controls from eDAT patients. The results suggest that digital recording of pen-stroke data during the drawing process can contribute to the screening of cognitive impaired patients.
Influence of Gender, Profession, and Managerial Function on Clinicians’ Perceptions of Patient Safety Culture: A Cross-National Cross-Sectional Study
2019-03-18

Objectives In recent years, several instruments for measuring patient safety culture (PSC) have been developed and implemented. Correct interpretation of survey findings is crucial for understanding PSC locally, for comparisons across settings or time, as well as for planning effective interventions. We aimed to evaluate the influence of gender, profession, and managerial function on perceptions of PSC and on the interplay between various dimensions and perceptions of PSC. Methods We used German and Swiss survey data of frontline physicians and nurses (n = 1786). Data analysis was performed for the two samples separately using multivariate analysis of variance, comparisons of adjusted means, and series of multiple regressions. Results Participants’ profession and managerial function had significant direct effect on perceptions of PSC. Although there was no significant direct effect of gender for most of the PSC dimensions, it had an indirect effect on PSC dimensions through statistically significant direct effects on profession and managerial function. We identified similarities and differences across participant groups concerning the impact of various PSC dimensions on Overall Perception of Patient Safety . Staffing and Organizational Learning had positive influence in most groups without managerial function, whereas Teamwork Within Unit , Feedback &amp; Communication About Error , and Communication Openness had no significant effect. For female participants without managerial functions, Management Support for Patient Safety had a significant positive effect. Conclusions Participant characteristics have significant effects on perceptions of PSC and thus should be accounted for in reporting, interpreting, and comparing results from different samples.
Choline Supplementation in Cystic Fibrosis—The Metabolic and Clinical Impact
2019-03-18

Background: Choline is essential for the synthesis of liver phosphatidylcholine (PC), parenchymal maintenance, bile formation, and lipoprotein assembly to secrete triglycerides. In choline deficiency, the liver accretes choline/PC at the expense of lung tissue, thereby impairing pulmonary PC homoeostasis. In cystic fibrosis (CF), exocrine pancreas insufficiency results in impaired cleavage of bile PC and subsequent fecal choline loss. In these patients, the plasma choline concentration is low and correlates with lung function. We therefore investigated the effect of choline supplementation on plasma choline/PC concentration and metabolism, lung function, and liver fat. Methods: 10 adult male CF patients were recruited (11/2014–1/2016), and orally supplemented with 3 × 1 g choline chloride for 84 (84–91) days. Pre-/post-supplementation, patients were spiked with 3.6 mg/kg [methyl-D9]choline chloride to assess choline/PC metabolism. Mass spectrometry, spirometry, and hepatic nuclear resonance spectrometry served for analysis. Results: Supplementation increased plasma choline from 4.8 (4.1–6.2) μmol/L to 10.5 (8.5–15.5) μmol/L at d84 (p &lt; 0.01). Whereas plasma PC concentration remained unchanged, D9-labeled PC was decreased (12.2 [10.5–18.3] μmol/L vs. 17.7 [15.5–22.4] μmol/L, p &lt; 0.01), indicating D9-tracer dilution due to higher choline pools. Supplementation increased Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second percent of predicted (ppFEV1) from 70.0 (50.9–74.8)% to 78.3 (60.1–83.9)% (p &lt; 0.05), and decreased liver fat from 1.58 (0.37–8.82)% to 0.84 (0.56–1.17)% (p &lt; 0.01). Plasma choline returned to baseline concentration within 60 h. Conclusions: Choline supplementation normalized plasma choline concentration and increased choline-containing PC precursor pools in adult CF patients. Improved lung function and decreased liver fat suggest that in CF correcting choline deficiency is clinically important. Choline supplementation of CF patients should be further investigated in randomized, placebo-controlled trials.
Divalent Sialylated Precision Glycooligomers Binding to Polyomaviruses and the Effect of Different Linkers
2019-03-18

Abstract Divalent precision glycooligomers terminating in N ‐acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) or 3′‐sialyllactose (3′‐SL) with varying linkers between scaffold and the glycan portions are synthesized via solid phase synthesis for co‐crystallization studies with the sialic acid‐binding major capsid protein VP1 of human Trichodysplasia spinulosa ‐associated Polyomavirus. High‐resolution crystal structures of complexes demonstrate that the compounds bind to VP1 depending on the favorable combination of carbohydrate ligand and linker. It is found that artificial linkers can replace portions of natural carbohydrate linkers as long as they meet certain requirements such as size or flexibility to optimize contact area between ligand and receptor binding sites. The obtained results will influence the design of future high affinity ligands based on the structures presented here, and they can serve as a blueprint to develop multivalent glycooligomers as inhibitors of viral adhesion.
Visual perception of one’s own body under vestibular stimulation using biometric self-avatars in virtual reality
2019-03-18

Our results suggest that vestibular stimulation does not directly influence the explicit somatosensory representation of our body. It is possible that in non-brain-damaged, healthy subjects, changes in whole body size perception are principally not mediated by vestibular information. Alternatively, visual feedback and/or memory may dominate multisensory integration and thereby override possibly existing modulations of body perception by vestibular stimulation. The present observations suggest that multisensory integration and not the processing of a single sensory input is the crucial mechanism in generating our body representation in relation to the external world.
STANDARDIZED PROACTIVE ENDOSCOPIC AND SURGICAL INTERVENTIONS FOR MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH BOERHAAVE SYNDROM TO REDUCE MORTALITY: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS
2019-03-18

Boerhaave Syndrome (BS) is a post emetic transmural rupture of the oesophagus. It is a devastating event associated with a high morbidity and mortality rate. Enteric leakage into the thoracic or abdominal cavity causes mediastinitis, sepsis and multisystem organ failure. New strategy combining minimal invasive tools and interdisciplinary therapy was introduced to treat patients with a rupture of the oesophagus following a standard operating procedure.
Character, Rates, and Environmental Significance of Holocene Dust Accumulation in Archaeological Hilltop Ruins in the Southern Levant
2019-03-18

Loess accumulated in the Negev desert during the Pleistocene and primary and secondary loess remains cover large parts of the landscape. Holocene loess deposits are however absent. This could be due low accumulation rates, lack of preservation, and higher erosion rates in comparison to the Pleistocene. This study hypothesized that archaeological ruins preserve Holocene dust. We studied soils developed on archaeological hilltop ruins in the Negev and the Petra region and compared them with local soils, paleosols, geological outcrops, and current dust. Seven statistically modeled grain size end-members were identified and demonstrate that the ruin soils in both regions consist of mixtures of local and remote sediment sources that differ from dust compositions deposited during current storms. This discrepancy is attributed to fixation processes connected with sediment-fixing agents such as vegetation, biocrusts, and/or clast pavements associated with vesicular layers. Average dust accretion rates in the ruins are estimated to be ~0.14 mm/a, suggesting that ~30% of the current dust that can be trapped with dry marble dust collectors has been stored in the ruin soils. Deposition amounts and grain sizes do not significantly correlate with wind intensity. However, precipitation may have contributed to dust accretion. A snowstorm in the Petra region delivered a significantly higher amount of sediment than rain or dry deposition. Snowfall dust had a unique particle size distribution relatively similar to the ruin soils. Wet deposition and snow might catalyze dust deposition and enhance fixation by fostering vegetation and crust formation. More frequent snowfall during the Pleistocene may have been an important mechanism of primary loess deposition in the southern Levant.
Quantitative Proteomics Links the Intermediate Filament Nestin to Resistance to Targeted BRAF Inhibition in Melanoma Cells
2019-03-19

Targeted inhibition of mutated kinases using selective MAP kinase inhibitors in malignant melanoma often results in temporary improvement of clinical symptoms followed by rapid development of resistance. To gain insights in molecular processes that govern resistance, we performed SILAC-based quantitative proteomics profiling of vemurafenib-resistant and -sensitive melanoma cells. Among downregulated proteins in vemurafenib-resistant cell lines we detected multiple proteins involved in cytoskeletal organization and signaling, including the intermediate filament nestin, which was one of the most downregulated proteins. Previous studies showed that nestin is expressed in various types of solid tumors and its abundance correlates with malignant phenotype of transformed cells. However, the role of nestin in cancer cells regarding acquired resistance is still poorly understood. We performed CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the nestin gene (<i>NES</i>) in vemurafenib-sensitive cells and showed that loss of nestin leads to increased cellular proliferation and colony formation upon treatment with BRAF<sup>V600E</sup> and MEK inhibitors. Moreover, nestin depletion led to increased invasiveness and metalloproteinase activity like the phenotype of melanoma cells with acquired resistance to the BRAF inhibitor. Finally, phosphoproteome analysis revealed that nestin depletion influenced signaling through integrin and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways and led to increased focal adhesion kinase abundance and phosphorylation. Taken together, our results reveal that nestin is associated with acquired vemurafenib resistance in melanoma cells.
Morphofunctional Categories and Ontogenetic Origin of Temporal Skull Openings in Amniotes
2019-03-19

The rise of phylogenetic systematics (Hennig, 1950) uncovered many natural groups of amniotes with Synapsida-characterized by one temporal opening, and Reptilia (Modesto and Anderson, 2004)-which contains ancestral, typically anapsid groups, without temporal openings, and Diapsida, with two temporal openings and diverse secondary modifications. The ancestrally anapsid parareptiles partly show, with certain ontogenetic, inter-, and intra-specific variation, one opening or marginal excavation in their temporal region (Cisneros et al., 2004; Tsuji and Müller, 2009; MacDougall and Reisz, 2014), although evidence from other characters clearly separates them from Synapsida (Müller, 2004; Tsuji et al., 2012; Brocklehurst et al., 2018). Furthermore, the phylogenetic position of one early “classical” synapsid group (i.e., varanopsids) has become controversial, as it has appeared within Reptilia in some phylogenetic analyses (Ford and Benson, 2018; Laurin and Piñeiro, 2018). Compared to historical classifications (Osborn, 1903; Williston, 1917; Goodrich, 1930), there is a common consensus that temporal openings are only a weak indication for higher taxon interrelationship, although it can be informative on lower taxonomic level (Müller, 2003; Laurin and Piñeiro, 2018; MacDougall et al., 2018). Here, I present a rather morphofunctional categorization of temporal openings, introduce a refined terminology, and provide an ontogenetic explanation on their evolutionary origins.
Patient‐reported outcomes in Friedreich’s ataxia after withdrawal from idebenone
2019-03-19

This study provides no data to suggest that FRDA patients could correctly determine their treatment assignment over a 2-month period. We hope that this study design will help inform future trials so that patients' experiences of symptoms are more reliably measured.
Opposing forces on acoustic duration
2019-03-19

The present paper investigates the influence of opposing lexical forces on speech production using the duration of the stem vowel of regular and irregular verbs as attested in the Buckeye corpus of conversational North-American English. We compared two sets of predictors, reflecting two different approaches to speechproduction, one based on competition between word forms, the other based on principles of discrimination learning. Classical measures in word form competition theories such as word frequency, lexical density, and gang size (types of vocalic alternation) were predictive of stem vowel duration. However, more precise predic-tions were obtained using measures derived from a two-layer network model trained on the Buckeye corpus. Measures representing strong bottom-up support predicted longer vowel durations. Conversely, measures reflecting uncertainty predicted shorter vowel durations, including a measure of the verb’s semantic density. The learning-based model also suggests that it is not a verb’s frequency as such that gives rise to shorter vowel duration, but rather a verb’s collocational diversity. Results are discussed with reference to the Smooth Signal Redundancy Hypothesis and the Paradigmatic Signal Enhancement Hypothesis.
Group Polarization Revisited: A Processing Effort Account
2019-03-19

Research has shown that processes of social comparison as well as persuasive argumentation are involved in group polarization. We propose a processing effort account according to which the role of these processes in determining group polarization is contingent on ability and motivation. The impact of information regarding others’ positions on group polarization should be higher given low (vs. high) ability or motivation. In contrast, the impact of persuasive argumentation should be higher given high (vs. low) ability and motivation. Results in line with these assumptions were obtained in two experiments in which individuals’ ability (Experiment 1) or motivation (Experiment 2), information regarding group average position, and argument persuasiveness were manipulated. Furthermore, consistent findings were also obtained in a third experiment testing the role of motivation in real group discussions. A processing effort account provides a novel perspective for investigating the development of group extremity.