julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Early Post-operative CT-Angiography Imaging After EC-IC Bypass Surgery in Moyamoya Patients
2021-03-25

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of early post-operative computed tomographic angiography (CTA) after direct extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass surgery in moyamoya patients. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all adult moyamoya patients treated at our center from 2013 to 2019 with a direct EC-IC bypass was performed. Early post-operative CTA (within 24 h after surgery) was compared with conventional digital subtraction angiography (DSA) 6–12 months after surgery. If available, magnetic resonance time-of-flight angiography (MR-TOF) was evaluated 3 months and 6–12 months post-operatively as well. Imaging results were analyzed and compared with CTA, MR-TOF and DSA, whereat DSA was used as the final and definite modality to decide on bypass patency. Results: A total of 103 direct EC-IC bypasses in 63 moyamoya patients were analyzed. All inclusion criteria were met in 32 patients (53 direct bypasses). In 84.9% the bypass appeared definitively, in 5.7% uncertainly and in 9.4% not patent according to early post-operative CTA. MR-TOF suggested definitive bypass patency in 86.8% 3 months after surgery and in 93.5% 6–12 months after surgery. DSA 6–12 months post-operatively showed a patency in 98.1% of all bypasses. The positive predictive value (to correctly detect an occluded bypass) on post-operative CTA was 12.5%, the negative predictive value (to correctly detect a patent bypass) was 100% with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 86.5%. Conclusion: Early post-operative CTA has a high predictive value to confirm the patency of a bypass. On the other hand, a high false positive rate of (according to CTA) occluded bypasses after direct EC-IC bypass surgery can be seen. This must be considered critically when initiating possible therapeutic measures.
The effects of spatial attention on temporal integration measured with the ternus display.
2021-03-25

While a large body of evidence has demonstrated the effects of attention on spatial processes, we know much less about attentional effects on the complementary temporal aspects of visual perception. To narrow this knowledge gap, we examined the effects of endogenous attention-the voluntary component of spatial attention-on temporal integration using the Ternus display. In a typical Ternus display, horizontally aligned discs shift by one position across alternating frames that are separated by a varying interframe interval. This display can induce two different motion percepts: all three discs moving together back and forth (group motion), or the two central discs seeming to remain static and the outer disk jumping across them (element motion). Several studies suggest that element motion reflects temporal integration. Thus, we used the rate of element motion percept to measure temporal integration. Attention was manipulated via the degree of certainty regarding the discs' location (Experiment 1), or with central informative arrows (Experiment 2). The pattern of results was similar in both experiments: The participants reported perceiving element motion more often when attention was allocated in advance to the discs' location. These results suggest that attention prolongs the period of time over which information is integrated. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
The influence of infall on the properties of protoplanetary discs : Statistics of masses, sizes, lifetimes, and fragmentation
2021-03-25

Context. The properties of protoplanetary discs determine the conditions for planet formation. In addition, planets can already form during the early stages of infall. Aims. We constrain physical quantities such as the mass, radius, lifetime, and gravitational stability of protoplanetary discs by studying their evolution from formation to dispersal. Methods. We perform a population synthesis of protoplanetary discs with a total of 50 000 simulations using a 1D vertically integrated viscous evolution code, studying a parameter space of final stellar mass from 0.05 to 5 Msol . Each star-and-disc system is set up shortly after the formation of the protostar and fed by infalling material from the parent molecular cloud core. Initial conditions and infall locations are chosen based on the results from a radiation-hydrodynamic population synthesis of circumstellar discs. We also consider a different infall prescription based on a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) collapse simulation in order to assess the influence of magnetic fields on disc formation. The duration of the infall phase is chosen to produce a stellar mass distribution in agreement with the observationally determined stellar initial mass function. Results. We find that protoplanetary discs are very massive early in their lives. When averaged over the entire stellar population, the discs have masses of ∼0.3 and 0.1 Msol for systems based on hydrodynamic or MHD initial conditions, respectively. In systems characterised by a final stellar mass ∼1 Msol , we find disc masses of ∼0.7 Msol for the “hydro” case and ∼0.2 Msol for the “MHD” case at the end of the infall phase. Furthermore, the inferred total disc lifetimes are long, ≈5–7 Myr on average. This is despite our choice of a high value of 10^-2 for the background viscosity α-parameter. In addition, we find that fragmentation is common in systems that are simulated using hydrodynamic cloud collapse, with more fragments of larger mass formed in more massive systems. In contrast, if disc formation is limited by magnetic fields, fragmentation may be suppressed entirely. Conclusions. Our work draws a picture quite different from the one often assumed in planet formation studies: protoplanetary discs are more massive and live longer. This means that more mass is available for planet formation. Additionally, when fragmentation occurs, it can affect the disc’s evolution by transporting large amounts of mass radially. We suggest that the early phases in the lives of protoplanetary discs should be included in studies of planet formation. Furthermore, the evolution of the central star, including its accretion history, should be taken into account when comparing theoretical predictions of disc lifetimes with observations.
Are complementarity effects of species richness on productivity the strongest in species‐rich communities?
2021-03-26

Abstract How the relationship between species richness and productivity changes along environmental gradients remains poorly understood. We examined the context dependency of complementarity processes underpinning this relationship (biotic feedbacks, resource partitioning and facilitation) using the framework of Grime's (1973) humped‐back model. We considered several scenarios of variation in competition and facilitation along environmental gradients, either monotonic with the most common or intense facilitation at the most abiotically severe end of gradients or nonlinear with the strongest facilitation at intermediate positions along gradients. How competition shifts to facilitation along environmental gradients is a key for determining where the effect of species richness on productivity occurs. Based on the literature, the original Stress Gradient Hypothesis would likely predict that complementarity effects should be the greatest, or the most important, in the most abiotically stressful environments. Alternatively, both the ‘collapse of facilitation’ and the ‘shift back to competition’ scenarios predict that the highest overall complementary effects on productivity, not biomass, would most likely occur at intermediate positions along environmental stress gradients, but this might vary depending on the source of stress. This latter prediction is consistent with a great deal of literature on natural gradients of productivity and species richness. Synthesis . Our predictions illustrate the importance of better understanding the context dependency of complementarity processes and the key role of facilitation along environmental gradients to better focus conservation efforts where ecosystem functioning is more likely to be negatively affected by species loss, in particular in species‐rich communities.
Creating Transdisciplinary Teaching Spaces. Cooperation of Universities and Non-University Partners to Design Higher Education for Regional Sustainable Transition
2021-03-26

Teaching formats involving non-university partners are increasingly gaining importance to deliver key competencies needed in higher education for sustainable development. Such teaching formats may also create new transdisciplinary spaces that allow different actors to impact regional transition towards sustainable development. Against this background, this article focuses on how universities foster regional transition through teaching, particularly in collaboration with local non-university. Using the interdisciplinary certificate programs on sustainable development offered by the German Universities of Tübingen and Duisburg-Essen as case studies, we analyze the potentials and challenges of teaching programs on sustainable development for promoting regional transition. Leaning on the multi-level-perspective-approach, we have used qualitative interviews to shed light on the design of cooperation between the university and regional partners as well as the creation and integration of transdisciplinary learning spaces. This paper shows that the impact of such teaching formats on the regional transition consists primarily of awareness and network building. One of the most fundamental challenges faced is unequal power relations in terms of access to resources, financing, and doing the course planning. Simultaneously, co-design, mutual understanding, and collective decisions on roles and responsibilities and—especially—empathy and trust are crucial factors for successfully teaching cooperation towards regional sustainability.
Rethinking the Plant Economics Spectrum for Annuals: A Multi-Species Study
2021-03-26

The plant economics spectrum hypothesizes a correlation among resource-use related traits along one single axis, which determines species’ growth rates and their ecological filtering along resource gradients. This concept has been mostly investigated and shown in perennial species, but has rarely been tested in annual species. Annuals evade unfavorable seasons as seeds and thus may underlie different constraints, with consequences for interspecific trait-trait, trait-growth, and trait-environment relations. To test the hypotheses of the plant economics spectrum in annual species, we measured twelve resource-use related leaf and root traits in 30 winter annuals from Israel under controlled conditions. Traits and their coordinations were related to species’ growth rates (for 19 species) and their distribution along a steep rainfall gradient. Contrary to the hypotheses of the plant economics spectrum, in the investigated annuals traits were correlated along two independent axes, one of structural traits and one of carbon gain traits. Consequently, species’ growth rates were related to carbon gain traits, but independent from structural traits. Species’ distribution along the rainfall gradient was unexpectedly neither associated with species’ scores along the axes of carbon gain or structural traits nor with growth rate. Nevertheless, root traits were related with species’ distribution, indicating that they are relevant for species’ filtering along rainfall gradients in winter annuals. Overall, our results showed that the functional constraints hypothesized by the plant economics spectrum do not apply to winter annuals, leading to unexpected trait-growth and trait-rainfall relations. Our study thus cautions to generalize trait-based concepts and findings between life-history strategies. To predict responses to global change, trait-based concepts should be explicitly tested for different species groups.
Variability of Teachers’ Technology Integration in the Classroom: A Matter of Utility!
2021-03-26

Technology integration in the classroom is seen as a crucial factor to enhance teaching and learning processes. Whether and how technology affects student learning, depends on how teachers integrate technology into their classroom practice. To investigate technology integration, we used an experience sampling method with in-service teachers (N = 18). Over a period of six weeks, we assessed teachers’ technology integration and technology-related motivation. By using a mixed-method approach, we found considerable variability of teacher motivation, frequency, and quality of technology integration across lessons. The variability could be explained by teachers’ technology-related utility beliefs and specific factors within the different instructional contexts. The findings highlight the importance of teachers’ utility and contextual aspects in their technology integration.
Genetic Engineering in Combination with Semi‐Synthesis Leads to a New Route for Gram‐Scale Production of the Immunosuppressive Natural Product Brasilicardin A
2021-03-26

Abstract Brasilicardin A ( 1 ) consists of an unusual anti / syn / anti ‐perhydrophenanthrene skeleton with a carbohydrate side chain and an amino acid moiety. It exhibits potent immunosuppressive activity, yet its mode of action differs from standard drugs that are currently in use. Further pre‐clinical evaluation of this promising, biologically active natural product is hampered by restricted access to the ready material, as its synthesis requires both a low‐yielding fermentation process using a pathogenic organism and an elaborate, multi‐step total synthesis. Our semi‐synthetic approach included a) the heterologous expression of the brasilicardin A gene cluster in different non‐pathogenic bacterial strains producing brasilicardin A aglycone ( 5 ) in excellent yield and b) the chemical transformation of the aglycone 5 into the trifluoroacetic acid salt of brasilicardin A ( 1 a ) via a short and straightforward five‐steps synthetic route. Additionally, we report the first preclinical data for brasilicardin A.
The role of cGMP signalling in auditory processing in health and disease
2021-03-26

cGMP is generated by the cGMP‐forming guanylyl cyclases (GCs), the intracellular nitric oxide (NO)‐sensitive (soluble) guanylyl cyclase (sGC) and transmembrane GC (e.g. GC‐A and GC‐B). In summarizing the particular role of cGMP signalling for hearing, we show that GC generally do not interfere significantly with basic hearing function but rather sustain a healthy state for proper temporal coding, fast discrimination and adjustments during injury. sGC is critical for the integrity of the first synapse in the ascending auditory pathway, the inner hair cell synapse. GC‐A promotes hair cell stability under stressful conditions such as acoustic trauma or ageing. GC‐B plays a role in the development of efferent feed‐back and gain control. Regarding the crucial role hearing has for language development, speech discrimination and cognitive brain functions, differential pharmaceutical targeting of GCs offers therapeutic promise for the restoration of hearing. LINKED ARTICLES This article is part of a themed issue on cGMP Signalling in Cell Growth and Survival. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v179.11/issuetoc
Deletion of BDNF in Pax2 Lineage-Derived Interneuron Precursors in the Hindbrain Hampers the Proportion of Excitation/Inhibition, Learning, and Behavior
2021-03-26

Numerous studies indicate that deficits in the proper integration or migration of specific GABAergic precursor cells from the subpallium to the cortex can lead to severe cognitive dysfunctions and neurodevelopmental pathogenesis linked to intellectual disabilities. A different set of GABAergic precursors cells that express Pax2 migrate to hindbrain regions, targeting, for example auditory or somatosensory brainstem regions. We demonstrate that the absence of BDNF in Pax2-lineage descendants of Bdnf Pax 2 KOs causes severe cognitive disabilities. In Bdnf Pax 2 KOs, a normal number of parvalbumin-positive interneurons ( PV-IN s) was found in the auditory cortex ( AC ) and hippocampal regions, which went hand in hand with reduced PV-labeling in neuropil domains and elevated activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein ( Arc/Arg3.1 ; here: Arc ) levels in pyramidal neurons in these same regions. This immaturity in the inhibitory/excitatory balance of the AC and hippocampus was accompanied by elevated LTP, reduced (sound-induced) LTP/LTD adjustment, impaired learning, elevated anxiety, and deficits in social behavior, overall representing an autistic-like phenotype. Reduced tonic inhibitory strength and elevated spontaneous firing rates in dorsal cochlear nucleus ( DCN ) brainstem neurons in otherwise nearly normal hearing Bdnf Pax 2 KOs suggests that diminished fine-grained auditory-specific brainstem activity has hampered activity-driven integration of inhibitory networks of the AC in functional (hippocampal) circuits. This leads to an inability to scale hippocampal post-synapses during LTP/LTD plasticity. BDNF in Pax2-lineage descendants in lower brain regions should thus be considered as a novel candidate for contributing to the development of brain disorders, including autism.
Genotype-phenotype correlations in SCN8A-related disorders reveal prognostic and therapeutic implications
2021-03-26

Abstract We report detailed functional analyses and genotype-phenotype correlations in 433 individuals carrying disease-causing variants in SCN8A , encoding the voltage-gated Na + channel Na V 1.6. Five different clinical subgroups could be identified: 1) Benign familial infantile epilepsy (BFIE) (n=17, normal cognition, treatable seizures), 2) intermediate epilepsy (n=36, mild ID, partially pharmacoresponsive), 3) developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE, n=191, severe ID, majority pharmacoresistant), 4) generalized epilepsy (n=21, mild to moderate ID, frequently with absence seizures), and 5) affected individuals without epilepsy (n=25, mild to moderate ID). Groups 1-3 presented with early-onset (median: four months) focal or multifocal seizures and epileptic discharges, whereas the onset of seizures in group 4 was later (median: 39 months) with generalized epileptic discharges. The epilepsy was not classifiable in 143 individuals. We performed functional studies expressing missense variants in ND7/23 neuroblastoma cells and primary neuronal cultures using recombinant tetrodotoxin insensitive human Na V 1.6 channels and whole-cell patch clamping. Two variants causing DEE showed a strong gain-of-function (GOF, hyperpolarising shift of steady-state activation, strongly increased neuronal firing rate), and one variant causing BFIE or intermediate epilepsy showed a mild GOF (defective fast inactivation, less increased firing). In contrast, all three variants causing generalized epilepsy induced a loss-of-function (LOF, reduced current amplitudes, depolarising shift of steady-state activation, reduced neuronal firing). Including previous studies, functional effects were known for 165 individuals. All 133 individuals carrying GOF variants had either focal (76, groups 1-3), or unclassifiable epilepsy (37), whereas 32 with LOF variants had either generalized (14), no (11) or unclassifiable (5) epilepsy; only two had DEE. Computational modeling in the GOF group revealed a significant correlation between the severity of the electrophysiological and clinical phenotypes. GOF variant carriers responded significantly better to sodium channel blockers (SCBs) than to other anti-seizure medications, and the same applied for all individuals of groups 1-3. In conclusion, our data reveal clear genotype-phenotype correlations between age at seizure onset, type of epilepsy and gain- or loss-of-function effects of SCN8A variants. Generalized epilepsy with absence seizures is the main epilepsy phenotype of LOF variant carriers and the extent of the electrophysiological dysfunction of the GOF variants is a main determinant of the severity of the clinical phenotype in focal epilepsies. Our pharmacological data indicate that SCBs present a therapeutic treatment option in early onset SCN8A -related focal epilepsy.
Phase behaviour of a simple fluid confined in a periodic porous material
2021-03-26

Using density functional theory for a simple fluid of hard spheres with a square-well attraction, we study the phase behaviour of the fluid confined in triply periodic porous material, where the pore space is bounded by a bicontinuous minimal surface. We combine our numerical results with the morphometric thermodynamics, an ansatz that expresses thermodynamic quantities as a linear combination of four additive geometrical terms, and analyse the dependency of the transition point between a liquid and a gas on the geometrical properties of the confining space. By demonstrating that the morphometric approach can be employed in order to account for the thermodynamic behaviour of a simple fluid in a complex porous material, we make the first step towards a better understanding of experimental observations that can help to characterise the pore space.
Obtaining a Proportional Allocation by Deleting Items
2021-03-26

Abstract We consider the following control problem on fair allocation of indivisible goods. Given a set I of items and a set of agents, each having strict linear preferences over the items, we ask for a minimum subset of the items whose deletion guarantees the existence of a proportional allocation in the remaining instance; we call this problem Proportionality by Item Deletion (PID) . Our main result is a polynomial-time algorithm that solves PID for three agents. By contrast, we prove that PID is computationally intractable when the number of agents is unbounded, even if the number k of item deletions allowed is small—we show that the problem is <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>W</mml:mi> <mml:mo>[</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> <mml:mo>]</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> -hard with respect to the parameter k . Additionally, we provide some tight lower and upper bounds on the complexity of PID when regarded as a function of | I | and k . Considering the possibilities for approximation, we prove a strong inapproximability result for PID. Finally, we also study a variant of the problem where we are given an allocation <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>π</mml:mi> </mml:math> in advance as part of the input, and our aim is to delete a minimum number of items such that <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>π</mml:mi> </mml:math> is proportional in the remainder; this variant turns out to be <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> -hard for six agents, but polynomial-time solvable for two agents, and we show that it is <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>W</mml:mi> <mml:mo>[</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> <mml:mo>]</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> -hard when parameterized by the number k of
Editorial: Standard and future in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma
2021-03-26

aDepartment of Urology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany bSpecialist Centre for Kidney Cancer, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust cDivision of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK dDepartment of Urology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands eDepartment of Urology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria Correspondence to Jens Bedke, Department of Urology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]