bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conduction System Pacing for Post Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Patients: Comparison With Right Ventricular Pacing
Authors: Niu Hong-Xia , Liu Xi , Gu Min , Chen Xuhua , Cai Chi , Cai Minsi , Zhang Shu , Hua Wei
Published: December 2021

Introduction: For patients who develop atrioventricular block (AVB) following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), right ventricular pacing (RVP) may be associated with adverse outcomes. We assessed the feasibility of conduction system pacing (CSP) in patients who developed AVB following TAVR and compared the procedural and clinical outcomes with RVP.

Methods: Consecutive patients who developed AVB following TAVR were prospectively enrolled, and were implanted with RVP or CSP. Procedural and clinical outcomes were compared among different pacing modalities.

Results: A total of 60 patients were enrolled, including 10 who were implanted with His bundle pacing (HBP), 20 with left bundle branch pacing (LBBP), and 30 with RVP. The HBP group had significantly lower implant success rate, higher capture threshold, and lower R-wave amplitude than the LBBP and RVP groups (p < 0.01, respectively). The RVP group had a significantly longer paced QRS duration (153.5 ± 6.8 ms, p < 0.01) than the other two groups (HBP: 121.8 ± 8.6 ms; LBBP: 120.2 ± 10.6 ms). During a mean follow-up of 15.0 ± 9.1 months, the LBBP group had significantly higher left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (54.9 ± 6.7% vs. 48.9 ± 9.1%, p < 0.05) and shorter left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) (49.7 ± 5.6 mm vs. 55.0 ± 7.7 mm, p < 0.05) than the RVP group. While the HBP group showed trends of higher LVEF (p = 0.016) and shorter LVEDD (p = 0.017) than the RVP group. Four patients in the RVP group died—three deaths were due to progressive heart failure and one was due to non-cardiac reasons. One death in the LBBP group was due to the non-cardiac reasons.

Conclusions: CSP achieved shorter paced QRS duration and better cardiac structure and function in post-TAVR patients than RVP. LBBP had a higher implant success rate and better pacing parameters than HBP.
Clinical Characteristics for the Improvement of Cushing's Syndrome Complicated With Cardiomyopathy After Treatment With a Literature Review
Authors: Miao Sisi , Lu Lin , Li Ling , Wang Yining , Lu Zhaolin , Zhu Huijuan , Wang Linjie , Duan Lian , Xing Xiaoping , Yao Yong , Feng Ming , Wang Renzhi
Published: December 2021

Background: Endogenous Cushing's syndrome (CS), also called hypercortisolism, leads to a significant increase in mortality due to excessive cortisol production, which is mainly due to cardiovascular disease. CS complicated with cardiomyopathies, which is a rare and severe condition, has rarely been reported in the literature.

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of CS complicated with cardiomyopathies, we retrospectively reviewed the clinical manifestations, laboratory results, cardiac imaging results and prognosis to further understand the diagnosis, treatment, and management of these cases.

Methods: The clinical data of patients diagnosed with CS complicated with cardiomyopathies obtained from discharge sheets from Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 1986 to August 2021 were collected. Case reports of CS complicated with cardiomyopathies were retrieved from PubMed. In addition, Cushing's disease (CD) patients without cardiomyopathies were collected as controls to compare the clinical features.

Results: A total of 19 cases of CS complicated with cardiomyopathies and cases of CD without cardiomyopathies (n = 242) were collected. The causes of CS included pituitary adenoma (n = 8, 42.11%), adrenal adenoma (n = 7, 36.84%), ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) tumor (n = 2, 10.53%) and unclear causes (n = 2, 10.53%) in the CS complicated with cardiomyopathies group. The types of cardiomyopathies were dilated cardiomyopathies (n = 15, 78.94%) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies (n = 4, 21.05%). The serum sodium concentration was significantly higher [145.50 (140.50–148.00) mmol/L vs. 141.00 (140.00–143.00) mmol/L], while the serum potassium concentration was significantly lower [2.70 (2.40–3.60) mmol/L] vs. 3.90 (3.50–4.20 mmol/L)] in the CS complicated with cardiomyopathies group compared to the CD patients without cardiomyopathies. There were no significant differences between the CS complicated with cardiomyopathies group and the CD patients without cardiomyopathies in the serum cortisol concentration and 24-h urine free cortisol, but a significant difference in the adrenocorticotropic hormone level [109.00 (91.78–170.30) pg/ml vs. 68.60 (47.85–110.00) pg/ml]. Twelve/16 (75.0%) patients showed significant improvement or even a complete healing of the heart structure and function after remission of hypercortisolemia after treatment with CS.

Conclusions: CS complicated with cardiomyopathies is a very rare clinical entity, in which cortisol plays an important role and it can be greatly improved after remission of hypercortisolemia.
Experimental Investigation of Progressive Failure Processes Using 3D Acoustic Emission Tomography
Authors: Cheng Yan , Hagan Paul , Mitra Rudrajit , Wang Shuren , Yang Hong-Wei
Published: December 2021

In this paper, the potential of 3D acoustic emission (AE) tomography technique in demonstrating fracture development and delineating stress conditions was examined. Brazilian tests and uniaxial compression tests were monitored by 3D AE tomography. AE counts, AE source locations and 3D tomographic images of locally varying velocity distributions were analyzed along with stress and strain measurements. Experimental results revealed two distinct failure processes between Brazilian tests and uniaxial compression tests indicated by differences in AE counts, source locations and the temporal variation of velocity. Furthermore, the development of micro-cracks showed by the results correlated well with theoretical analysis and experimental observations. Additionally, stress patterns, failure modes and final failure planes were indicated by AE locations and velocity tomography. Three-dimensional velocity tomographic images indicated the anisotropy of samples caused by stresses as well. These results confirm the usefulness of AE tomography as a method to monitor stress induced failure and the potential of AE tomography for delineating stress conditions and predicting rock failure.
Changing Impacts of Tropical Cyclones on East and Southeast Asian Inland Regions in the Past and a Globally Warmed Future Climate
Authors: Chen Jilong , Tam Chi-Yung , Cheung Kevin , Wang Ziqian , Murakami Hiroyuki , Lau Ngar-Cheung , Garner Stephen T. , Xiao Ziniu , Choy Chun-Wing , Wang Peng
Published: December 2021

The impacts of the western North Pacific (WNP) tropical cyclone (TC) on East and Southeast Asian inland regions are analyzed. Here, based on a stringent TC selecting criterion, robust increase of TC-related inland impacts between 1979 and 2016 over East and Southeast Asian regions have been detected. The storms sustained for 2–9 h longer and penetrated 30–190 km further inland, as revealed from different best track datasets. The most significant increase of the TC inland impacts occurred over Hanoi and South China. The physical mechanism that affects TC-related inland impacts is shortly discussed. First, the increasing TC inland impacts just occur in the WNP region, but it is not a global effect. Second, besides the significant WNP warming effects on the enhanced TC landfall intensity and TC inland impacts, it is suggested that the weakening of the upper-level Asian Pacific teleconnection pattern since 1970s may also play an important role, which may reduce the climatic 200 hPa anti-cyclonic wind flows over the Asian region, weakening the wind shear near the Philippine Sea, and may eventually intensify the TC intensity when the TCs across the basin. Moreover, the TC inland impacts in the warming future are projected based on a high-resolution (20 km) global model according to the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario. By the end of the 21st century, TC mean landfall intensity will increase by 2 m/s (6%). The stronger storms will sustain 4.9 h (56%) longer and penetrate 92.4 km (50%) farther inland, thereby almost doubling the destructive power delivered to Asian inland regions. More inland locations will therefore be exposed to severe storm–related hazards in the future due to warmer climate. Long-term planning to enhance disaster preparedness and resilience in these regions is called for.
Neolithic Rice Cultivation and Consequent Landscape Changes at the Baodun Site, Southwestern China
Authors: Zhang Jianping , Lv Ying , Yu Lupeng , Tang Miao , Huang Ming , Shao Konglan , Huan Xiujia , Wen Changhui , Dong Yajie , Jiang Ming , He Kunyu , Yan Xue , Ye Maolin , Wu Naiqin , Lu Houyuan
Published: December 2021

Identifying when agricultural expansion has occurred and how it altered the landscape is critical for understanding human social survival strategies as well as current ecological diversity. In the present study, phytolith records of three profiles from the Baodun site area were dated to the period from 7,500 to 2,500 aBP by optically stimulated luminescence and 14C dating, providing the first evidence that the Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) progenitor was distributed in the Chengdu Plain as early as 7,500 aBP. The percentage of rice bulliform with ≥9 scales and the concentration of rice phytoliths sharply increased by approximately 4,200 aBP, suggesting that rice cultivation occupied a dominant position in survival strategy no later than approximately 4,200 aBP, which might be driven by climate deterioration in eastern China. The results further showed that the proportion of Bambusoideae phytoliths increased synchronously with the increase in the proportion of rice phytoliths, suggesting that the vegetation structure near the site was changed intentionally as a consequence of increasing rice agricultural activity since 4,200 aBP. The present study contributes to a deeper understanding of the distribution of wild rice and rice farming throughout the Baodun culture in the Chengdu Plain, and it also provides a glimpse of how humans intentionally changed the vegetation landscape on a local scale.
Classroom Assessment as Co-Regulated Learning: A Systematic Review
Authors: Andrade Heidi L. , Brookhart Susan M. , Yu Elie ChingYen
Published: December 2021

Current conceptions of assessment describe interactive, reciprocal processes of co-regulation of learning from multiple sources, including students, their teachers and peers, and technological tools. In this systematic review, we examine the research literature for support for the view of classroom assessment as a mechanism of the co-regulation of learning and motivation. Using an expanded framework of self-regulated learning to categorize 94 studies, we observe that there is support for most but not all elements of the framework but little research that represents the reciprocal nature of co-regulation. We highlight studies that enable students and teachers to use assessment to scaffold co-regulation. Concluding that the contemporary perspective on assessment as the co-regulation of learning is a useful development, we consider future directions for research that can address the limitations of the collection reviewed.
Research Hot Spots and Trends on Melatonin From 2000 to 2019
Authors: Meng Yan , Tao Zhengbo , Zhou Siming , Da Wacili , Tao Lin
Published: December 2021

Research on melatonin remains one of the major hot spots in the field of disease treatment, but relevant data are numerous. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the progress of melatonin research through the method of bibliometrics and to predict hot spots and trends in melatonin research. This study retrieved all the studies on melatonin from 2000 to 2019 in the Web of Science and PubMed and analysed the publishing trends in the literature on a bibliometric online analysis platform and CiteSpace software. The research results were also visually analysed to summarize melatonin research hot spots through gCLUTO and pubMR. The study retrieved a total of 20,351 publications, of which the number of US publications ranked first, accounting for 21.46%, with the greatest impact (centrality = 0.31). The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Harvard University had the highest average number of citations at 43.19 and 33.96, respectively. Journal of Pineal Research had the highest average number of citations in 2,993 journals. Professor Reiter made the largest contribution to this area. We further analysed 100 highly cited articles for clinical applications and ongoing related clinical drug trials based on the first hot spot. We systematically analysed melatonin for nearly 20 years while predicting the main research trends in the future, which may provide new directions and ideas for melatonin research. The structure and normal physiological functions of melatonin have been intensively studied in the past few years. And clinical application research and target of melatonin treatment for different diseases and target-based drug design will certainly become the focus of melatonin research.
Improving Voice Outcomes After Thyroid Surgery – Review of Safety Parameters for Using Energy-Based Devices Near the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve
Authors: Wang Jia Joanna , Huang Tzu-Yen , Wu Che-Wei , Lin Yi-Chu , Tseng Hsin-Yi , Liu Cheng-Hsin , Lu I-Cheng , Chang Pi-Ying , Chen Hui-Chun , Chen Hsiu-Ya , Dionigi Gianlorenzo , Chiang Feng-Yu , Wang Ling-Feng
Published: December 2021

Technological advances in thyroid surgery have rapidly increased in recent decades. Specifically, recently developed energy-based devices (EBDs) enable simultaneous dissection and sealing tissue. EBDs have many advantages in thyroid surgery, such as reduced blood loss, lower rate of post-operative hypocalcemia, and shorter operation time. However, the rate of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury during EBD use has shown statistically inconsistent. EBDs generate high temperature that can cause iatrogenic thermal injury to the RLN by direct or indirect thermal spread. This article reviews relevant medical literatures of conventional electrocauteries and different mechanisms of current EBDs, and compares two safety parameters: safe distance and cooling time. In general, conventional electrocautery generates higher temperature and wider thermal spread range, but when applying EBDs near the RLN adequate activation distance and cooling time are still required to avoid inadvertent thermal injury. To improve voice outcomes in the quality-of-life era, surgeons should observe safety parameters and follow the standard procedures when using EBDs near the RLN in thyroid surgery
Operation Strategy of Central Air Conditioning Virtual Power Plant Based on Risk Measurement Method
Authors: Guo Mingxing , Guo Xuxin , Yang Jianlin , Gao Ciwei , Chen Tao
Published: December 2021

Virtual power plant is an integrated technology and operation mode to realize air-conditioning load participating in power system operation, further benefitting low carbon renewable energy applications. However, the principle of multi-system coupling in central air-conditioning poses a challenge to normal load regulation. Besides, the uncertainties of demand-side resources bring risks to the operation of virtual power plant. In this paper, the regulation characteristics of central air conditioning are obtained by experiment, while the potential of central air conditioning is quantified by a thermodynamic model, further resulting in the central air conditioning could be transformed into a virtual unit model. Then the dynamic capacity optimization strategy is formulated based on the risk measurement theory, while the generation task decomposition strategy is also formulated based on the equal increase rate criterion, thus forming a two-tier operation strategy of virtual power plant. Finally, illustrative case study is constructed to quantitatively analyze the power generation capacity and effectiveness of the virtual power plant. The effectiveness and practicability of the proposed strategy is also verified to benefit low carbon energy applications.
Measurement and Thermodynamic Modeling for CO2 Solubility in the N-(2-Hydroxyethyl) Piperazine + Water System
Authors: Li Simeng , Kang Gern Woo , Chen Jian
Published: December 2021

Amine scrubbing is the most important technique for capturing CO2. The cyclic diamine N-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-piperazine (HEPZ), a derivative of piperazine, with good mutual solubility in aqueous solution, a low melting point, and a high boiling point, has the potential to replace PZ as an activator added in the mixed amine system to capture CO2. In this study, the solubility of CO2 in aqueous HEPZ solutions was determined for three HEPZ concentrations and four temperatures. The VLE data for HEPZ-H2O were obtained using a gas–liquid double circulation kettle at pressure 30–100 kPa, and the thermodynamic model for the HEPZ-H2O-CO2 system was built in Aspen Plus based on the electrolytic non-random two-liquid (ENRTL) activity model. The physical parameters for HEPZ and the interaction parameters for ENRTL, along with reaction constants of carbamate reactions, were regressed. Using the thermodynamic model, the CO2 cyclic capacity, speciation with loading, and heat of reaction for the CO2 capture system by the aqueous HEPZ solution are predicted and analyzed.
Identification of a Diverse Core Set Panel of Rice From the East Coast Region of India Using SNP Markers
Authors: Choudhury Debjani Roy , Kumar Ramesh , S Vimala Devi , Singh Kuldeep , Singh N. K. , Singh Rakesh
Published: December 2021

In India, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is cultivated under a variety of climatic conditions. Due to the fragility of the coastal ecosystem, rice farming in these areas has lagged behind. Salinity coupled with floods has added to this trend. Hence, to prevent genetic erosion, conserving and characterizing the coastal rice, is the need of the hour. This work accessed the genetic variation and population structure among 2,242 rice accessions originating from India’s east coast comprising Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu, using 36 SNP markers, and have generated a core set (247 accessions) as well as a mini-core set (30 accessions) of rice germplasm. All the 36 SNP loci were biallelic and 72 alleles found with average two alleles per locus. The genetic relatedness of the total collection was inferred using the un-rooted neighbor-joining tree, which grouped all the genotypes (2,242) into three major clusters. Two groups were obtained with a core set and three groups obtained with a mini core set. The mean PIC value of total collection was 0.24, and those of the core collection and mini core collection were 0.27 and 0.32, respectively. The mean heterozygosity and gene diversity of the overall collection were 0.07 and 0.29, respectively, and the core set and mini core set revealed 0.12 and 0.34, 0.20 and 0.40 values, respectively, representing 99% of distinctiveness in the core and mini core sets. Population structure analysis showed maximum population at K = 4 for total collection and core collection. Accessions were distributed according to their population structure confirmed by PCoA and AMOVA analysis. The identified small and diverse core set panel will be useful in allele mining for biotic and abiotic traits and managing the genetic diversity of the coastal rice collection. Validation of the 36-plex SNP assay was done by comparing the genetic diversity parameters across two different rice core collections, i.e., east coast and northeast rice collection. The same set of SNP markers was found very effective in deciphering diversity at different genetic parameters in both the collections; hence, these marker sets can be utilized for core development and diversity analysis studies.
Case Report: Congenital Brain Dysplasia, Developmental Delay and Intellectual Disability in a Patient With a 7q35-7q36.3 Deletion
Authors: Fan Liang-Liang , Sheng Yue , Wang Chen-Yu , Li Ya-Li , Liu Ji-Shi
Published: December 2021

7q terminal deletion syndrome is a rare condition presenting with multiple congenital malformations, including abnormal brain and facial structures, developmental delay, intellectual disability, abnormal limbs, and sacral anomalies. At least 40 OMIM genes located in the 7q34-7q36.3 region act as candidate genes for these phenotypes, of which SHH, EN2, KCNH2, RHEB, HLXB9, EZH2, MNX1 and LIMR1 may be the most important. In this study, we discuss the case of a 2.5-year-old male patient with multiple malformations, congenital brain dysplasia, developmental delay, and intellectual disability. A high-resolution genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism array and real-time polymerase chain reaction were performed to detect genetic lesions. A de novo 9.4 Mb deletion in chromosome region 7q35-7q36.3 (chr7:147,493,985–156,774,460) was found. This chromosome region contains 68 genes, some of which are candidate genes for each phenotype. To the best of our knowledge, this is a rare case report of 7q terminal deletion syndrome in a Chinese patient. Our study identifies a rare phenotype in terms of brain structure abnormalities and cerebellar sulcus widening in patients with deletion in 7q35-7q36.3.
Characterization of Loss-Of-Function KCNJ2 Mutations in Atypical Andersen Tawil Syndrome
Authors: Le Tanno Pauline , Folacci Mathilde , Revilloud Jean , Faivre Laurence , Laurent Gabriel , Pinson Lucile , Amedro Pascal , Millat Gilles , Janin Alexandre , Vivaudou Michel , Roux-Buisson Nathalie , Fauré Julien
Published: December 2021

Andersen-Tawil Syndrome (ATS) is a rare disease defined by the association of cardiac arrhythmias, periodic paralysis and dysmorphic features, and is caused by KCNJ2 loss-of-function mutations. However, when extracardiac symptoms are atypical or absent, the patient can be diagnosed with Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT), a rare arrhythmia at high risk of sudden death, mostly due to RYR2 mutations. The identification of KCNJ2 variants in CPVT suspicion is very rare but important because beta blockers, the cornerstone of CPVT therapy, could be less efficient. We report here the cases of two patients addressed for CPVT-like phenotypes. Genetic investigations led to the identification of p. Arg82Trp and p. Pro186Gln de novo variants in the KCNJ2 gene. Functional studies showed that both variants forms of Kir2.1 monomers act as dominant negative and drastically reduced the activity of the tetrameric channel. We characterize here a new pathogenic variant (p.Pro186Gln) of KCNJ2 gene and highlight the interest of accurate cardiologic evaluation and of attention to extracardiac signs to distinguish CPVT from atypical ATS, and guide therapeutic decisions. We also confirm that the KCNJ2 gene must be investigated during CPVT molecular analysis.
iAIPs: Identifying Anti-Inflammatory Peptides Using Random Forest
Authors: Zhao Dongxu , Teng Zhixia , Li Yanjuan , Chen Dong
Published: December 2021

Recently, several anti-inflammatory peptides (AIPs) have been found in the process of the inflammatory response, and these peptides have been used to treat some inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Therefore, identifying AIPs accurately from a given amino acid sequences is critical for the discovery of novel and efficient anti-inflammatory peptide-based therapeutics and the acceleration of their application in therapy. In this paper, a random forest-based model called iAIPs for identifying AIPs is proposed. First, the original samples were encoded with three feature extraction methods, including g-gap dipeptide composition (GDC), dipeptide deviation from the expected mean (DDE), and amino acid composition (AAC). Second, the optimal feature subset is generated by a two-step feature selection method, in which the feature is ranked by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method, and the optimal feature subset is generated by the incremental feature selection strategy. Finally, the optimal feature subset is inputted into the random forest classifier, and the identification model is constructed. Experiment results showed that iAIPs achieved an AUC value of 0.822 on an independent test dataset, which indicated that our proposed model has better performance than the existing methods. Furthermore, the extraction of features for peptide sequences provides the basis for evolutionary analysis. The study of peptide identification is helpful to understand the diversity of species and analyze the evolutionary history of species.
Identification and Validation of a Novel Pyroptosis-Related Gene Signature for Prognosis Prediction in Soft Tissue Sarcoma
Authors: Qi Lin , Xu Ruiling , Wan Lu , Ren Xiaolei , Zhang WenChao , Zhang Keming , Tu Chao , Li Zhihong
Published: December 2021

Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) represents an uncommon and heterogenous group of malignancies, and poses substantial therapeutic challenges. Pyroptosis has been demonstrated to be related with tumor progression and prognosis. Nevertheless, no studies exist that delineated the role of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in STS. In the present study, we comprehensively and systematically analyzed the gene expression profiles of PRGs in STS. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases were utilized to identify differentially expressed PRGs. In total, 34 PRGs were aberrantly expressed between STS and normal tissues. Several PRGs were validated with RT-qPCR. Consensus clustering analysis based on PRGs was conducted to divide STS patients into two clusters, and significant survival difference was observed between two distinct clusters (p = 0.019). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between pyroptosis-related clusters. Based on the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) COX regression analysis, the pyroptosis-related gene signature with five key DEGs was constructed. The high pyroptosis-related risk score group of TCGA cohort was characterized by poorer prognosis (p < 0.001), with immune infiltration and function significantly decreased. For external validation, STS patients from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were grouped according to the same cut-off point. The survival difference between two risk groups of GEO cohort was also significant (p < 0.001). With the combination of clinical characteristics, pyroptosis-related risk score was identified to serve as an independent prognostic factor for STS patients. In conclusion, this study provided a comprehensive overview of PRGs in STS and the potential role in prognosis, which could be an important direction for future studies.
Low-Light Image Enhancement Based on Generative Adversarial Network
Authors: Abirami R. Nandhini , Vincent P. M. Durai Raj
Published: December 2021

Image enhancement is considered to be one of the complex tasks in image processing. When the images are captured under dim light, the quality of the images degrades due to low visibility degenerating the vision-based algorithms’ performance that is built for very good quality images with better visibility. After the emergence of a deep neural network number of methods has been put forward to improve images captured under low light. But, the results shown by existing low-light enhancement methods are not satisfactory because of the lack of effective network structures. A low-light image enhancement technique (LIMET) with a fine-tuned conditional generative adversarial network is presented in this paper. The proposed approach employs two discriminators to acquire a semantic meaning that imposes the obtained results to be realistic and natural. Finally, the proposed approach is evaluated with benchmark datasets. The experimental results highlight that the presented approach attains state-of-the-performance when compared to existing methods. The models’ performance is assessed using Visual Information Fidelitysse, which assesses the generated image’s quality over the degraded input. VIF obtained for different datasets using the proposed approach are 0.709123 for LIME dataset, 0.849982 for DICM dataset, 0.619342 for MEF dataset.
Breeding in the Economically Important Brown Alga Undaria pinnatifida: A Concise Review and Future Prospects
Authors: Shan Tifeng , Pang Shaojun
Published: December 2021

Undaria pinnatifida is the commercially second most important brown alga in the world. Its global annual yield has been more than two million tonnes since 2012. It is extensively cultivated in East Asia, mainly consumed as food but also used as feed for aquacultural animals and raw materials for extraction of chemicals applicable in pharmaceutics and cosmetics. Cultivar breeding, which is conducted on the basis of characteristics of the life history, plays a pivotal role in seaweed farming industry. The common basic life history shared by kelps determines that their cultivar breeding strategies are similar. Cultivar breeding and cultivation methods of U. pinnatifida have usually been learned or directly transferred from those of Saccharina japonica. However, recent studies have revealed certain peculiarity in the life history of U. pinnatifida. In this article, we review the studies relevant to cultivar breeding in this alga, including the peculiar component of the life history, and the genetics, transcriptomics and genomics tools available, as well as the main cultivar breeding methods. Then we discuss the prospects of cultivar breeding based on our understanding of this kelp and what we can learn from the model brown alga and land crops.
Current Perspectives on “Off-The-Shelf” Allogeneic NK and CAR-NK Cell Therapies
Authors: Heipertz Erica L. , Zynda Evan R. , Stav-Noraas Tor Espen , Hungler Andrew D. , Boucher Shayne E. , Kaur Navjot , Vemuri Mohan C.
Published: December 2021

Natural killer cells (NK cells) are the first line of the innate immune defense system, primarily located in peripheral circulation and lymphoid tissues. They kill virally infected and malignant cells through a balancing play of inhibitory and stimulatory receptors. In pre-clinical investigational studies, NK cells show promising anti-tumor effects and are used in adoptive transfer of activated and expanded cells, ex-vivo. NK cells express co-stimulatory molecules that are attractive targets for the immunotherapy of cancers. Recent clinical trials are investigating the use of CAR-NK for different cancers to determine the efficiency. Herein, we review NK cell therapy approaches (NK cell preparation from tissue sources, ways of expansion ex-vivo for “off-the-shelf” allogeneic cell-doses for therapies, and how different vector delivery systems are used to engineer NK cells with CARs) for cancer immunotherapy.
Differential Regulation of Human Surfactant Protein A Genes, SFTPA1 and SFTPA2, and Their Corresponding Variants
Authors: Floros Joanna , Tsotakos Nikolaos
Published: December 2021

The human SFTPA1 and SFTPA2 genes encode the surfactant protein A1 (SP-A1) and SP-A2, respectively, and they have been identified with significant genetic and epigenetic variability including sequence, deletion/insertions, and splice variants. The surfactant proteins, SP-A1 and SP-A2, and their corresponding variants play important roles in several processes of innate immunity as well in surfactant-related functions as reviewed elsewhere [1]. The levels of SP-A have been shown to differ among individuals both under baseline conditions and in response to various agents or disease states. Moreover, a number of agents have been shown to differentially regulate SFTPA1 and SFTPA2 transcripts. The focus in this review is on the differential regulation of SFTPA1 and SFTPA2 with primary focus on the role of 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) and flanking sequences on this differential regulation as well molecules that may mediate the differential regulation.
Increased B Cell Selection Stringency In Germinal Centers Can Explain Improved COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacies With Low Dose Prime or Delayed Boost
Authors: Garg Amar K. , Mittal Soumya , Padmanabhan Pranesh , Desikan Rajat , Dixit Narendra M.
Published: December 2021

The efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines appears to depend in complex ways on the vaccine dosage and the interval between the prime and boost doses. Unexpectedly, lower dose prime and longer prime-boost intervals have yielded higher efficacies in clinical trials. To elucidate the origins of these effects, we developed a stochastic simulation model of the germinal center (GC) reaction and predicted the antibody responses elicited by different vaccination protocols. The simulations predicted that a lower dose prime could increase the selection stringency in GCs due to reduced antigen availability, resulting in the selection of GC B cells with higher affinities for the target antigen. The boost could relax this selection stringency and allow the expansion of the higher affinity GC B cells selected, improving the overall response. With a longer dosing interval, the decay in the antigen with time following the prime could further increase the selection stringency, amplifying this effect. The effect remained in our simulations even when new GCs following the boost had to be seeded by memory B cells formed following the prime. These predictions offer a plausible explanation of the observed paradoxical effects of dosage and dosing interval on vaccine efficacy. Tuning the selection stringency in the GCs using prime-boost dosages and dosing intervals as handles may help improve vaccine efficacies.
Advanced Imaging Techniques for Differentiating Pseudoprogression and Tumor Recurrence After Immunotherapy for Glioblastoma
Authors: Li Yan , Ma Yiqi , Wu Zijun , Xie Ruoxi , Zeng Fanxin , Cai Huawei , Lui Su , Song Bin , Chen Lei , Wu Min
Published: December 2021

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant tumor of the central nervous system with poor prognosis. Although the field of immunotherapy in glioma is developing rapidly, glioblastoma is still prone to recurrence under strong immune intervention. The major challenges in the process of immunotherapy are evaluating the curative effect, accurately distinguishing between treatment-related reactions and tumor recurrence, and providing guidance for clinical decision-making. Since the conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is usually difficult to distinguish between pseudoprogression and the true tumor progression, many studies have used various advanced imaging techniques to evaluate treatment-related responses. Meanwhile, criteria for efficacy evaluation of immunotherapy are constantly updated and improved. A standard imaging scheme to evaluate immunotherapeutic response will benefit patients finally. This review mainly summarizes the application status and future trend of several advanced imaging techniques in evaluating the efficacy of GBM immunotherapy.
Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?
Authors: French Lindsay A. , Midway Stephen R. , Evans David H. , Burgess George H.
Published: December 2021

Animals across taxa have shown behaviors linked to moon phase (or the proxy of lunar illumination), and marine organisms are well-documented to calibrate certain activities with the moon. Few studies have looked at a possible connection between moon phase and shark attacks on humans, and the results have been preliminary or lacking relationships. We used nearly 50 years of shark attack data from across the globe to test for a relationship between shark attacks and moon phase. We examined factors of geography, shark species, and outcome of attack. From 12 relationships that we tested (totaling 120 comparisons), we found 12 significant outcomes, of which five were positive (i.e., more attacks than expected) and seven were negative (i.e., fewer attacks than expected). Specifically, all the instances of more shark attacks than expected occurred at lunar illumination >50%, while all the instances of fewer shark attacks than expected occurred at lunar illumination of <50%. The findings presented here provide global evidence that shark attacks may be related to moon phase, and such information could be useful toward evaluating attack risk and developing recommendations for water-based recreational activities.
Southeastern Tropical Atlantic Changing From Subtropical to Tropical Conditions
Authors: Roch Marisa , Brandt Peter , Schmidtko Sunke , Vaz Velho Filomena , Ostrowski Marek
Published: December 2021

A warming and freshening trend of the mixed layer in the upper southeastern tropical Atlantic Ocean (SETA) is observed by the Argo float array during the time period of 2006–2020. The associated ocean surface density reduction impacts upper-ocean stratification that intensified by more than 30% in the SETA region since 2006. The initial typical subtropical stratification with a surface salinity maximum is shifting to more tropical conditions characterized by warmer and fresher surface waters and a subsurface salinity maximum. During the same period isopycnal surfaces in the upper 200 m are shoaling continuously. Observed wind stress changes reveal that open ocean wind curl-driven upwelling increased, however, partly counteracted by reduced coastal upwelling due to weakened alongshore southerly winds. Weakening southerly winds might be a reason why tropical surface waters spread more southward reaching further into the SETA region. The mixed layer warming and freshening and associated stratification changes might impact the marine ecosystem and pelagic fisheries in the Angolan and northern Namibian upwelling region.
A Deep Learning Model to Recognize and Quantitatively Analyze Cold Seep Substrates and the Dominant Associated Species
Authors: Wang Haining , Fu Xiaoxue , Zhao Chengqian , Luan Zhendong , Li Chaolun
Published: December 2021

Characterizing habitats and species distribution is important to understand the structure and function of cold seep ecosystems. This paper develops a deep learning model for the fast and accurate recognition and classification of substrates and the dominant associated species in cold seeps. Considering the dense distribution of the dominant associated species and small objects caused by overlap in cold seeps, the feature pyramid network (FPN) embed into the faster region-convolutional neural network (R-CNN) was used to detect large-scale changes and small missing objects without increasing the number of calculations. We applied three classifiers (Faster R-CNN + FPN for mussel beds, lobster clusters and biological mixing, CNN for shell debris and exposed authigenic carbonates, and VGG16 for reduced sediments and muddy bottom) to improve the recognition accuracy of substrates. The model’s results were manually verified using images obtained in the Formosa cold seep during a 2016 cruise. The recognition accuracy of the two dominant species, e.g., Gigantidas platifrons and Munidopsidae could be 70.85 and 56.16%, respectively. Seven subcategories of substrates were also classified with a mean accuracy of 74.87%. The developed model is a promising tool for the fast and accurate characterization of substrates and epifauna in cold seeps, which is crucial for large-scale quantitative analyses.
RNA-seq and Analysis of Argyrosomus japonicus Under Different Salinities
Authors: Li Zhujun , Gao Tianxiang , Han Zhiqiang
Published: December 2021

Salinity variation affects the physiological processes of fish. This study analyzed the transcriptome of the gill tissue of Argyrosomus japonicus to determine the significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of A. japonicus under salinity changes. Transcriptome analysis of nine samples yielded 55.873 Gb of clean data, 64,912 transcripts, and 29,567 unigenes, and 83.62% of the transcripts and 81.89% of the unigenes were annotated. Compared with the control group, the high- and low-salt groups showed 1,731 and 695 DEGs, respectively. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis revealed that the DEGs were significantly enriched in transportation, metabolism, and stress response. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment revealed that the DEGs were significantly enriched in some signaling pathways. Several key genes (KRT1, KRT2, ATP1A, LDH, PFN, ACTB_G1, TUBB, GZMB, MHC2, CCL19, EPX, ANXA5, ACBP, EHF, BHMT, COL1A, and RHOA) were related to salinity adaptation. When environmental salinity fluctuated, genes related to stress, immunity, ion transport, and metabolism became more sensitive. These results suggest that the adaptation of A. japonicus under salinity changes is a complex process that involves multiple genes acting together.
A Machine Learning-Based Aging Measure Among Middle-Aged and Older Chinese Adults: The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study
Authors: Cao Xingqi , Yang Guanglai , Jin Xurui , He Liu , Li Xueqin , Zheng Zhoutao , Liu Zuyun , Wu Chenkai
Published: December 2021

Objective: Biological age (BA) has been accepted as a more accurate proxy of aging than chronological age (CA). This study aimed to use machine learning (ML) algorithms to estimate BA in the Chinese population.

Materials and methods: We used data from 9,771 middle-aged and older Chinese adults (≥45 years) in the 2011/2012 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and followed until 2018. We used several ML algorithms (e.g., Gradient Boosting Regressor, Random Forest, CatBoost Regressor, and Support Vector Machine) to develop new measures of biological aging (ML-BAs) based on physiological biomarkers. R-squared value and mean absolute error (MAE) were used to determine the optimal performance of these ML-BAs. We used logistic regression models to examine the associations of the best ML-BA and a conventional aging measure—Klemera and Doubal method-BA (KDM-BA) we previously developed—with physical disability and mortality, respectively.

Results: The Gradient Boosting Regression model performed the best, resulting in an ML-BA with an R-squared value of 0.270 and an MAE of 6.519. This ML-BA was significantly associated with disability in basic activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, lower extremity mobility, and upper extremity mobility, and mortality, with odds ratios ranging from 1 to 7% (per 1-year increment in ML-BA, all P < 0.001), independent of CA. These associations were generally comparable to that of KDM-BA.

Conclusion: This study provides a valid ML-based measure of biological aging for middle-aged and older Chinese adults. These findings support the application of ML in geroscience research and may help facilitate preventive and geroprotector intervention studies.
β-Hydroxybutyrate Oxidation in Exercise Is Impaired by Low-Carbohydrate and High-Fat Availability
Authors: Dearlove David J. , Holdsworth David , Kirk Tom , Hodson Leanne , Charidemou Evelina , Kvalheim Eline , Stubbs Brianna , Beevers Andrew , Griffin Julian L. , Evans Rhys , Robertson Jeremy , Clarke Kieran , Cox Pete J.
Published: December 2021

Purpose: In this study, we determined ketone oxidation rates in athletes under metabolic conditions of high and low carbohydrate (CHO) and fat availability.

Methods: Six healthy male athletes completed 1 h of bicycle ergometer exercise at 75% maximal power (WMax) on three occasions. Prior to exercise, participants consumed 573 mg·kg bw−1 of a ketone ester (KE) containing a 13C label. To manipulate CHO availability, athletes undertook glycogen depleting exercise followed by isocaloric high-CHO or very-low-CHO diets. To manipulate fat availability, participants were given a continuous infusion of lipid during two visits. Using stable isotope methodology, β-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) oxidation rates were therefore investigated under the following metabolic conditions: (i) high CHO + normal fat (KE+CHO); (ii) high CHO + high fat KE+CHO+FAT); and (iii) low CHO + high fat (KE+FAT).

Results: Pre-exercise intramuscular glycogen (IMGLY) was approximately halved in the KE+FAT vs. KE+CHO and KE+CHO+FAT conditions (both p < 0.05). Blood free fatty acids (FFA) and intramuscular long-chain acylcarnitines were significantly greater in the KE+FAT vs. other conditions and in the KE+CHO+FAT vs. KE+CHO conditions before exercise. Following ingestion of the 13C labeled KE, blood βHB levels increased to ≈4.5 mM before exercise in all conditions. βHB oxidation was modestly greater in the KE+CHO vs. KE+FAT conditions (mean diff. = 0.09 g·min−1, p = 0.03; d = 0.3), tended to be greater in the KE+CHO+FAT vs. KE+FAT conditions (mean diff. = 0.07 g·min−1; p = 0.1; d = 0.3) and were the same in the KE+CHO vs. KE+CHO+FAT conditions (p < 0.05; d < 0.1). A moderate positive correlation between pre-exercise IMGLY and βHB oxidation rates during exercise was present (p = 0.04; r = 0.5). Post-exercise intramuscular βHB abundance was markedly elevated in the KE+FAT vs. KE+CHO and KE+CHO+FAT conditions (both, p < 0.001; d = 2.3).

Conclusion: βHB oxidation rates during exercise are modestly impaired by low CHO availability, independent of circulating βHB levels.
Influence of Personal Protective Equipment on the Quality of Chest Compressions: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors: Cui Ying , Jiang Siyi
Published: December 2021

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the influence of personal protective equipment (PPE) on quality of chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) showed inconsistent results. Accordingly, a meta-analysis was performed to provide an overview.

Methods: Relevant studies were obtained by search of Medline, Embase, and Cochrane's Library databases. A random-effect model incorporating the potential heterogeneity was used to pool the results.

Results: Six simulation-based RCTs were included. Overall, pooled results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the rate [mean difference (MD): −1.70 time/min, 95% confidence interval (CI): −5.77 to 2.36, P = 0.41, I2 = 80%] or the depth [MD: −1.84 mm, 95% CI: −3.93 to 0.24, P = 0.11, I2 = 73%] of chest compressions performed by medical personnel with and without PPE. Subgroup analyses showed that use of PPE was associated with reduced rate of chest compressions in studies before COVID-19 (MD: −7.02 time/min, 95% CI: −10.46 to −3.57, P < 0.001), but not in studies after COVID-19 (MD: 0.14 time/min, 95% CI: −5.77 to 2.36, P = 0.95). In addition, PPE was not associated with significantly reduced depth of chest compressions in studies before (MD: −3.34 mm, 95% CI: −10.29 to −3.62, P = 0.35) or after (MD: −0.97 mm, 95% CI: −2.62 to 0.68, P = 0.25) COVID-19. No significant difference was found between parallel-group and crossover RCTs (P for subgroup difference both > 0.05).

Conclusions: Evidence from simulation-based RCTs showed that use of PPE was not associated with reduced rate or depth of chest compressions in CPR.