bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Metabolomic and transcriptomic changes in mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek) sprouts under salinity stress
Authors: Lim Insu , Kang Minseo , Kim Byeong Cheol , Ha Jungmin
Published: October 2022

Mungbean (Vigna radiata) sprouts are consumed globally as a healthy food with high nutritional values, having antioxidant and anticancer capacity. Under mild salinity stress, plants accumulate more secondary metabolites to alleviate oxidative stress. In this study, metabolomic and transcriptomic changes in mungbean sprouts were identified using a reference cultivar, sunhwa, to understand the regulatory mechanisms of secondary metabolites in response to salinity stress. Under salinity conditions, the contents of phenylpropanoid-derived metabolites, including catechin, chlorogenic acid, isovitexin,p-coumaric acid, syringic acid, ferulic acid, and vitexin, significantly increased. Through RNA sequencing, 728 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and 20 DEGs were detected in phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthetic pathways. Among them, 11 DEGs encoding key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of the secondary metabolites that increased after NaCl treatment were significantly upregulated, including dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (log2FC 1.46), caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase (1.38), chalcone synthase (1.15), and chalcone isomerase (1.19). Transcription factor families, such asMYB,WRKY, andbHLH, were also identified as upregulated DEGs, which play a crucial role in stress responses in plants. Furthermore, this study showed that mild salinity stress can increase the contents of phenylpropanoids and flavonoids in mungbean sprouts through transcriptional regulation of the key enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathways. Overall, these findings will provide valuable information for molecular breeders and scientists interested in improving the nutritional quality of sprout vegetables.
Responses of soil bacterial communities to precipitation change in the semi-arid alpine grassland of Northern Tibet
Authors: Li Xueqin , Yan Yan , Lu Xuyang , Fu Lijiao , Liu Yanling
Published: October 2022

A change in precipitation can profoundly change the structure of soil microbial communities, especially in arid and semi-arid areas which are limited by moisture conditions. Therefore, it is crucial to explore how soil bacterial community composition and diversity will respond to variation in precipitation. Here we conducted a precipitation control experiment to simulate precipitation change by reducing and increasing rainfall by 25%, 50%, and 75% in the alpine grasslands of northern Tibet. The composition, diversity, and species interaction network of soil microbial community were studied by high-throughput sequencing, and the relationship between microbial community species and soil environmental factors was analyzed. Our results showed that Proteobacteria (45%–52%) andActinobacteria(37%–45%) were the dominant bacteria in the soil. The alpha diversity index based on Shannon, Chao1, and Simpson indices revealed that precipitation change had no significant effect on richness and evenness of soil microbial communities. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) showed that a clear separation of soil microbial communities between D2(-50%),D3(-75%) and W2(+50%), W3(+75%) treatments. The microbial interaction network indicated that the water-increasing treatment group had closer connections, andProteobacteriaandActinomyceteswere the core species. Furthermore, there was a stronger positive correlation between species in the water-reducing treatment group, the contribution ofProteobacteriadecreased significantly, the role of connecting hub decreased, andActinomycetesbecame the most important core microbial species. In addition, soil water content (SWC) and available phosphorus (AP) were closely related to the variations in soil microbial compositions. The findings of this study provide a theoretical basis for the driving mechanism of global climate change on soil microbial community and grassland ecosystem in alpine grassland.
Forest fire monitoring via uncrewed aerial vehicle image processing based on a modified machine learning algorithm
Authors: Zheng Shaoxiong , Gao Peng , Zou Xiangjun , Wang Weixing
Published: October 2022

Forests are indispensable links in the ecological chain and important ecosystems in nature. The destruction of forests seriously influences the ecological environment of the Earth. Forest protection plays an important role in human sustainable development, and the most important aspect of forest protection is preventing forest fires. Fire affects the structure and dynamics of forests and also climate and geochemical cycles. Using various technologies to monitor the occurrence of forest fires, quickly finding the source of forest fires, and conducting early intervention are of great significance to reducing the damage caused by forest fires. An improved forest fire risk identification algorithm is established based on a deep learning algorithm to accurately identify forest fire risk in a complex natural environment. First, image enhancement and morphological preprocessing are performed on a forest fire risk image. Second, the suspected forest fire area is segmented. The color segmentation results are compared using the HAF and MCC methods, and the suspected forest fire area features are extracted. Finally, the forest fire risk image recognition processing is conducted. A forest fire risk dataset is constructed to compare different classification methods to predict the occurrence of forest fire risk to improve the backpropagation (BP) neural network forest fire identification algorithm. An improved machine learning algorithm is used to evaluate the classification accuracy. The results reveal that the algorithm changes the learning rate between 0.1 and 0.8, consistent with the cross-index verification of the 10x sampling algorithm. In the combined improved BP neural network and support vector machine (SVM) classifier, forest fire risk is recognized based on feature extraction and the BP network. In total, 1,450 images are used as the training set. The experimental results reveal that in image preprocessing, image enhancement technology using the frequency and spatial domain methods can enhance the useful information of the image and improve its clarity. In the image segmentation stage, MCC is used to evaluate the segmentationresults. The accuracy of this algorithm is high compared with other algorithms, up to 92.73%. Therefore, the improved forest fire risk identification algorithm can accurately identify forest fire risk in the natural environment and contribute to forest protection.
Transcriptome analysis of sugarcane reveals differential switching of major defense signaling pathways in response to Sporisorium scitamineum isolates with varying virulent attributes
Authors: Agisha V.N. , Ashwin N.M.R. , Vinodhini R.T. , Nalayeni Kumaravel , Ramesh Sundar Amalraj , Malathi Palaniyandi , Viswanathan Rasappa
Published: October 2022

Sugarcane smut caused by the basidiomycetous fungus Sporisorium scitamineum is one of the most devastating diseases that affect sugarcane production, globally. At present, the most practical and effective management strategy for the disease is the cultivation of resistant cultivars. In this connection, a detailed understanding of the host’s defense mechanism in response to smut isolates with varying degrees of virulence at the molecular level would facilitate the development of reliable and durable smut-resistant sugarcane varieties. Hence, in this study, a comparative whole transcriptome analysis was performed employing Illumina RNA-seq in the smut susceptible cultivar Co 97009 inoculated with two distinct S. scitamineum isolates, Ss97009 (high-virulent) and SsV89101 (low-virulent) during the early phases of infection (2 dpi and 5 dpi) and at the phase of sporogenesis (whip emergence) (60 dpi). Though the differential gene expression profiling identified significant transcriptional changes during the early phase of infection in response to both the isolates, the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were more abundant at 60 dpi during interaction with the high virulent isolate Ss97009, as compared to the low virulent isolate SsV89101. Functional analysis of these DEGs revealed that a majority of them were associated with hormone signaling and the synthesis of defense-related metabolites, suggesting a complex network of defense mechanisms is being operated in response to specific isolates of the smut pathogen. For instance, up-regulation of hormone-related genes, transcription factors, and flavonoid biosynthesis pathway genes was observed in response to both the isolates in the early phase of interaction. In comparison to early phases of infection, only a few pathogenesis-related proteins were up-regulated at 60 dpi in response to Ss97009, which might have rendered the host susceptible to infection. Strikingly, few other carbohydrate metabolism-associated genes like invertases were up-regulated in Ss97009 inoculated plants during the whip emergence stage, representing a shift from sucrose storage to smut symptoms. Altogether, this study established the major switching of defense signaling pathways in response to S. scitamineum isolates with different virulence attributes and provided novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of sugarcane-smut interaction.
Genetic variability and genotype by environment interaction of two major cassava processed products in multi-environments
Authors: Aghogho Cynthia Idhigu , Eleblu Saviour J. Y. , Bakare Moshood A. , Kayondo Ismail Siraj , Asante Isaac , Parkes Elizabeth Y. , Kulakow Peter , Offei Samuel Kwame , Rabbi Ismail
Published: October 2022

Conversion of cassava (Manihot esculenta) roots to processed products such as gari and fufu before consumption is a common practice worldwide by cassava end-user for detoxification, prolonged shelf life or profitability. Fresh root and processed product yield are supposed to be equivalent for each genotype, however, that is not the case. Developing genotypes with high product conversion rate is an important breeding goal in cassava as it drives the adoption rates of new varieties. The objective of this study was to quantify the contribution of genetic and genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) patterns on cassava root conversion rate to gari and fufu. Sixty-seven advanced breeding genotypes from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) were evaluated across eight environments in Nigeria. Root conversion rate means across trials ranges from 14.72 to 22.76% for gari% and 16.96–24.24% for fufu%. Heritability estimates range from 0.17 to 0.74 for trial bases and 0.71 overall environment for gari% and 0.03–0.65 for trial bases and 0.72 overall environment for fufu% which implies that genetic improvement can be made on these traits. Root conversion rate for both gari and fufu% showed a negative but insignificant correlation with fresh root yield and significant positive correlation to Dry Matter content. For all fitted models, environment and interaction had explained more of the phenotypic variation observed among genotypes for both product conversion rates showing the presence of a strong GEI. Wrickle ecovalence (Wi) stability analysis and Geometric Adaptability index (GAI) identified G40 (TMS14F1285P0006) as part of top 5 genotypes for gari% but no overlapping genotype was identified by both stability analysis for fufu%. This genotypic performance across environments suggests that it is possible to have genotype with dual-purpose for high gari and fufu conversion rate.
Effects of various Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains on hairy root induction and analyses of primary and secondary metabolites in Ocimum basilicum
Authors: Sathasivam Ramaraj , Choi Minsol , Radhakrishnan Ramalingam , Kwon Haejin , Yoon Jiwon , Yang So Hwi , Kim Jae Kwang , Chung Yong Suk , Park Sang Un
Published: October 2022

The hairy root (HR) culture system is an excellent alternative strategy to the whole plant system for producing valuable compounds. However, selection of suitable Agrobacterium strain for the successful induction of HR is an essential step for enhanced production of beneficial secondary metabolites. In this study, we examined the transformation efficiency of various A. rhizogenes strains (ATCC 13333, ATCC 15834, A4, R1000, R1200, and R1601) for transgenic HRs induction in Ocimum basilicum. Among the tested strains, the R1601 was found to be one of the most promising strain for mass production of HR in terms of transformation efficiency (94%) and the number and length of HR (8.4 ± 0.52 and 1.68 ± 0.14 cm). The HR induced by the same strain exhibited highest levels of rosmarinic acid level (62.05 ± 4.94 µg/g DW) and total phenolic content (62.3 ± 4.95 µg/g DW). A total of 55 metabolites were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). The PCA and PLS-DA plot of the identified metabolites showed that HR induced by A4 and ATCC 15834 displayed variation in primary and secondary metabolite contents. Analysis of the metabolic pathway identified a total of 56 pathways, among which 35 were found to be impacted. A heat map and hierarchical clustering analysis indicated that HR induced by different Agrobacterium strains exhibited differential metabolites profiles. In conclusion, Agrobacterium strains R1601 is one of the best and most promising strains for inducing mass HR production and enhanced levels of secondary metabolites in O. basilicum.
Utilization of the halophytic shrubs Atriplex nummularia Lindl and Rhagodia preissii Moq as crops in salt-affected semi-arid regions: How temperature, salinity, seed weight and size affect seed germination
Authors: Christiansen Aslak H. C. , Norman Hayley C. , Andreasen Christian
Published: October 2022

The perennial halophytic shrubs Atriplex nummularia and Rhagodia preissii are native to Australia and can be planted on saline land to produce sheep and cattle feed during the autumn. However, an impediment to the adoption of the species on saline land has been the challenges in achieving successful establishment by direct seeding due to a lack of knowledge of the optimal conditions for germination. Therefore, the optimal germination requirements in relation to temperature, salinity level and seed size was assessed for each species to ascertain the optimal conditions for successful establishment by direct seeding on saline land. Seeds of both species showed optimal germination temperature at 10°C. Atriplex nummularia seeds were more tolerant to temperatures above or below 10°C than R. preissii. The germination percentage of A. nummularia was unchanged at 0–200 mM NaCl2. The germination percentage of Rhagodia preissii declined when the NaCl2 content exceeded 50 mM. There was no correlation between seed size, germination and emergence for any of the species. Based on the study, we suggest that sowing operations are performed during the cold winter months in subtropical areas or autumn and spring in temperate areas, to improve the successful establishment of these shrubs by direct seeding.
Identification of QTL and candidate genes associated with biomass yield and Feed Quality in response to water deficit in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) using linkage mapping and RNA-Seq
Authors: Jiang Xueqian , Yu Andong , Zhang Fan , Yang Tianhui , Wang Chuan , Gao Ting , Yang Qingchuan , Yu Long-Xi , Wang Zhen , Kang Junmei
Published: October 2022

Biomass yield and Feed Quality are the most important traits in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), which directly affect its economic value. Drought stress is one of the main limiting factors affecting alfalfa production worldwide. However, the genetic and especially the molecular mechanisms for drought tolerance in alfalfa are poorly understood. In this study, linkage mapping was performed in an F1 population by combining 12 phenotypic data (biomass yield, plant height, and 10 Feed Quality-related traits). A total of 48 significant QTLs were identified on the high-density genetic linkage maps that were constructed in our previous study. Among them, nine main QTLs, which explained more than 10% phenotypic variance, were detected for biomass yield (one), plant height (one), CP (two), ASH (one), P (two), K(one), and Mg (one). A total of 31 candidate genes were identified in the nine main QTL intervals based on the RNA-seq analysis under the drought condition. Blast-P was further performed to screen candidate genes controlling drought tolerance, and 22 functional protein candidates were finally identified. The results of the present study will be useful for improving drought tolerance of alfalfa varieties by marker-assisted selection (MAS), and provide promising candidates for further gene cloning and mechanism study.
Cochlear-implant Mandarin tone recognition with a disyllabic word corpus
Authors: Wang Xiaoya , Mo Yefei , Kong Fanhui , Guo Weiyan , Zhou Huali , Zheng Nengheng , Schnupp Jan W. H. , Zheng Yiqing , Meng Qinglin
Published: October 2022

Despite pitch being considered the primary cue for discriminating lexical tones, there are secondary cues such as loudness contour and duration, which may allow some cochlear implant (CI) tone discrimination even with severely degraded pitch cues. To isolate pitch cues from other cues, we developed a new disyllabic word stimulus set (Di) whose primary (pitch) and secondary (loudness) cue varied independently. This Di set consists of 270 disyllabic words, each having a distinct meaning depending on the perceived tone. Thus, listeners who hear the primary pitch cue clearly may hear a different meaning from listeners who struggle with the pitch cue and must rely on the secondary loudness contour. A lexical tone recognition experiment was conducted, which compared Di with a monosyllabic set of natural recordings. Seventeen CI users and eight normal-hearing (NH) listeners took part in the experiment. Results showed that CI users had poorer pitch cues encoding and their tone recognition performance was significantly influenced by the “missing” or “confusing” secondary cues with the Di corpus. The pitch-contour-based tone recognition is still far from satisfactory for CI users compared to NH listeners, even if some appear to integrate multiple cues to achieve high scores. This disyllabic corpus could be used to examine the performance of pitch recognition of CI users and the effectiveness of pitch cue enhancement based Mandarin tone enhancement strategies. The Di corpus is freely available online: https://github.com/BetterCI/DiTone.
Green entrepreneurial orientation, boundary-spanning search and enterprise sustainable performance: The moderating role of environmental dynamism
Authors: Ye Fang , Yang Yi , Xia Haiyan , Shao Yixuan , Gu Xieguo , Shen Jiaqiang
Published: October 2022

As an important strategic decision for enterprise sustainability, the green entrepreneurial orientation can facilitate boundary-spanning search for external knowledge and resources to achieve triadic sustainable economic, environmental, and social performance. Based on organizational search theory and dynamic capability theory, this study introduces environmental dynamism into the model of the relationship between green entrepreneurial orientation, boundary-spanning search and enterprise triadic sustainable performance. By analyzing the questionnaire data from 202 managers of manufacturing SMEs, the study explores the internal and external influences of green entrepreneurial orientation on the enterprise sustainable performance. The results show that: green entrepreneurial orientation has a positive impact on enterprise economic, environmental and social performance; boundary-spanning search plays a fully mediating role between green entrepreneurial orientation and enterprise economic, environmental and social performance; environmental dynamism, as a key external environmental factor, positively regulates the relationship between boundary-spanning search and enterprise economic performance and environmental performance, and negatively regulates the relationship between boundary-spanning search and social performance. This study clearly demonstrates how green entrepreneurial orientation in the environmental era can drive triadic sustainable performance improvement of enterprises. In addition, this study argues that boundary-spanning search is an important tool that enables manufacturing SMEs to achieve a triad of coordinated sustainable development of economic, environmental and social benefits in a dynamic environment.
Directional nature of the product–moment correlation coefficient and some consequences
Authors: Metsämuuronen Jari
Published: October 2022

Product–moment correlation coefficient (PMC) is usually taken as a symmetric measure of the association because it produces an equal estimate irrespective of how two variables in the analysis are declared. However, in case the other variable has or both have non-continuous scales and when the scales of the variables differ from each other, PMC is unambiguously a directional measure directed so that the variable with a wider scale (X) explains the order or response pattern in the variable with a narrower scale (g) and not in the opposite direction or symmetrically. If the scales of the variables differ from each other, PMC is also prone to give a radical underestimation of the association, that is, the estimates are deflated. Both phenomena have obvious consequences when it comes to interpreting and speaking of the results. Empirical evidence shows that the effect of directionality increases by the discrepancy of the number of categories of the variables of interest. In the measurement modelling setting, if the scale of the score variable is four times wider than the scale of the item, the directionality is notable: score explains the order in the item and no other way around nor symmetrically. This is regarded as a positive and logical direction from the test theory viewpoint. However, the estimate of association may be radically deflated, specifically, if the item has an extremely difficult level. Whenever the statistic r2 or R2 is used, as is usual in general scatterplots or when willing to express the explaining power of the variables, this statistic is always a directional measure, and the estimate is an underestimate if the scales differ from each other; this should be kept in mind when interpreting r-squared statistics as well as with the related statistic eta squared within general linear modelling.
Development of the Japanese version of Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale
Authors: Fukasawa Maiko , Miyake Michi , Kikkawa Takahiro , Sueyasu Tamio
Published: October 2022

Background

An important factor in proceeding the efforts to reduce coercion in psychiatry is the attitudes of clinical staff toward its use. We aimed to develop the Japanese version of the Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale (SACS) and clarify its psychometric properties.

Methods

After the translation and back-translation of the SACS, which includes 15 items consisting of three subscales, we conducted an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey of clinical staffs working in 17 wards in two psychiatric hospitals. We administered the second survey to some of the participants to confirm the test-retest reliability. Additionally, we obtained information regarding the 17 wards from the institutions. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Test-retest reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Structural validity was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). For construct validity, the correlation of the SACS score within wards and its association with the actual use of seclusion/restraints were explored using multilevel multivariate linear regression analyses.

Results

We used 261 (67.1%) responses, 35 responses of which were also used to examine test-retest reliability. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (0.761) and ICC (0.738) indicated good reliability. The results of CFA based on the original three-dimensional structure did not indicate a good fit (CFA = 0.830, RMSEA = 0.088). EFA suggested a four-factor structure, two of which were almost consistent with the original two subscales. The correlation of the SACS score within wards was confirmed while a positive association with the actual use of seclusion/restraints was not identified.

Conclusion

While the original three-dimensional structure was not replicated, construct validity was partially confirmed. Reliability of the total scale was good. In Japan, although using the subscales was not recommended, using the total scale of SACS seemed acceptable.
The VTA dopaminergic system as diagnostic and therapeutical target for Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Krashia Paraskevi , Spoleti Elena , D'Amelio Marcello
Published: October 2022

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) occur in nearly all patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Most frequently they appear since the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage preceding clinical AD, and have a prognostic importance. Unfortunately, these symptoms also worsen the daily functioning of patients, increase caregiver stress and accelerate the disease progression from MCI to AD. Apathy and depression are the most common of these NPS, and much attention has been given in recent years to understand the biological mechanisms related to their appearance in AD. Although for many decades these symptoms have been known to be related to abnormalities of the dopaminergic ventral tegmental area (VTA), a direct association between deficits in the VTA and NPS in AD has never been investigated. Fortunately, this scenario is changing since recent studies using preclinical models of AD, and clinical studies in MCI and AD patients demonstrated a number of functional, structural and metabolic alterations affecting the VTA dopaminergic neurons and their mesocorticolimbic targets. These findings appear early, since the MCI stage, and seem to correlate with the appearance of NPS. Here, we provide an overview of the recent evidence directly linking the dopaminergic VTA with NPS in AD and propose a setting in which the precocious identification of dopaminergic deficits can be a helpful biomarker for early diagnosis. In this scenario, treatments of patients with dopaminergic drugs might slow down the disease progression and delay the impairment of daily living activities.
Correlation between PTSD and sleep quality in community-dwelling elderly adults in Hunan province of China
Authors: Cao Jiri , Zhou Yang , Su Man-Man , Chen Wen-Hui
Published: October 2022

Background

To understand the occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the current status of sleep quality among community-dwelling elderly adults in Hunan Province of China, to explore the correlation between the two, and to analyze the trend of sleep disorders in PTSD elderly adults.

Methods

A simple random sample containing 1,173 community-dwelling elderly adults in Hunan Province was established between March and May 2022, and an on-site face-to-face survey was administered using the PTSD Checklist–Civilian Version (PCL-C) with good reliability and validity, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scale, and a self-designed general condition questionnaire.

Results

The incidence of PTSD in the 1,173 participants was 14.3% (168/1,173). The total incidence of sleep disorders was 40.9% (480/1,173); more specifically, the incidence of sleep disorders in participants with no PTSD symptom, in participants with mild-to-moderate PTSD symptoms, and in participants with severe PTSD symptoms was 36.3, 69.8, and 66.7%, respectively. The Spearman's rank correlation analysis showed that the total PTSD score and the scores of each dimension (i.e., re-experiencing symptom cluster, avoidance symptom cluster and hypervigilance symptom cluster) were positively correlated with the total PSQI score and its dimension scores (i.e., sleep quality, time to fall asleep, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, hypnotic medication, and daytime function) (P < 0.05). The correlation coefficients ranged from 0.013 to 0.495. For all PSQI dimensions, the differences across participants with different degrees of PTSD were statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

The overall status of PTSD and sleep quality in community-dwelling elderly adults in Hunan Province was not optimistic. The elderly with PTSD were more prone to sleep disorders, and the more severe the symptoms of PTSD, the poorer the sleep quality was. However, differences were observed in the scores of each dimension of sleep across participants with different degrees of PTSD. Regardless of the degree of PTSD symptoms, the sleep quality of the elderly is severely affected, and the occurrence rate is not unlimited.
Cognitive reappraisal training for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Enav Yael , Hardan Antonio Y. , Gross James J.
Published: October 2022

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience higher stress levels than those of typically developing children. The goal of the current study was to examine whether a mentalization-based intervention would enhance parental cognitive reappraisal, an adaptive form of emotion regulation associated with lower levels of stress. Findings from 27 parents who completed a short training indicated an improvement in cognitive reappraisal. In exploratory analyses, two different types of reappraisal were examined. The intervention-related improvement was found mainly with one type of reappraisal, namely reflective reappraisal that consist of cognitive reappraisal with mentalization characteristics. In light of the evidence indicating that high cognitive reappraisal and high reflective functioning are associated with quality caregiving, findings from the current study suggesting that a brief mentalization-based intervention supports ASD parents' cognitive reappraisal with mentalization characteristics are promising and warrant further investigation.
The conjunctival microbiome before and after azithromycin mass drug administration for trachoma control in a cohort of Tanzanian children
Authors: Pickering Harry , Ramadhani Athumani M. , Massae Patrick , Mafuru Elias , Malisa Aiweda , Mbuya Kelvin , Makupa William , Mtuy Tara , Derrick Tamsyn , Houghton Joanna , Bailey Robin L. , Mabey David C. W. , Burton Matthew J. , Holland Martin J.
Published: October 2022

Background

Trachoma, caused by ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, is a neglected tropical disease that can lead to blinding pathology. Current trachoma control programmes have successfully used mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin to clear C. trachomatis infection and reduce transmission, alongside promoting facial cleanliness for better personal hygiene and environmental improvement. In areas of low-trachoma endemicity, the relationship between C. trachomatis infection and trachomatous disease weakens, and non-chlamydial bacteria have been associated with disease signs.

Methods

We enrolled a cohort of children aged 6–10 years from three adjacent trachoma endemic villages in Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions, Northern Tanzania. Children were divided into four clinical groups based on the presence or absence of ocular C. trachomatis infection and clinical signs of trachomatous papillary inflammation (TP). To determine the impact of treatment on the ocular microbiome in these clinical groups, we performed V4-16S rRNA sequencing of conjunctival DNA from children 3–9 months pre-MDA (n = 269) and 3 months post-MDA (n = 79).

Results

Chlamydia trachomatis PCR-negative, no TP children had the highest pre-MDA ocular microbiome alpha diversity, which was reduced in C. trachomatis infected children and further decreased in those with TP. Pre-MDA, Haemophilus and Staphylococcus were associated with C. trachomatis infection with and without concurrent TP, while Helicobacter was increased in those with TP in the absence of current C. trachomatis infection. Post-MDA, none of the studied children had ocular C. trachomatis infection or TP. MDA increased ocular microbiome diversity in all clinical groups, the change was of greater magnitude in children with pre-MDA TP. MDA effectively reduced the prevalence of disease causing pathogenic non-chlamydial bacteria, and promoted restoration of a normal, healthy conjunctival microbiome.

Conclusion

We identified Helicobacter as a non-chlamydial bacterium associated with the clinical signs of TP. Further investigation to determine its relevance in other low-endemicity communities is required. MDA was shown to be effective at clearing C. trachomatis infection and other non-chlamydial ocular pathogens, without any detrimental longitudinal effects on the ocular microbiome. These findings suggest that azithromycin MDA may be valuable in trachoma control even in populations where the relationship between clinical signs of trachoma and the prevalence of current ocular C. trachomatis infection has become dissociated.
High prevalence of hypertension among smokers of conventional and e-cigarette: Using the nationally representative community dwelling survey
Authors: Kim Soo Young , Jeong Sung Hoon , Joo Hye Jin , Park Minah , Park Eun-Cheol , Kim Jung Hyun , Lee Junbok , Shin Jaeyong
Published: October 2022

This study aimed to clarify the association between hypertension and conventional cigarette and electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, together or individually. A total of 275,762 participants were included, of which 120,766 were men and 154,996 were women. The data were drawn from the Korea Community Health Survey conducted in 2019. A multiple logistic regression model was used to examine the association between hypertension and types of smoking. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure higher than 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure higher than 90 mmHg. Based on the types of smoking, participants were grouped as dual smokers of conventional and e-cigarettes, e-cigarette only smokers, conventional cigarette only smokers, past-smokers, and non-smokers. Compared to non-smokers, dual smokers presented the highest odds ratio for hypertension in the male [odds ratio (OR): 1.24, confidence interval (CI): 1.10 to 1.39] and female groups (OR: 1.44 CI: 0.96 to 2.15). According to the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test, the two-sided p-value of < 0.001 indicated an overall statistically significant association between types of smoking and hypertension. Use of both cigarette types was statistically significant in the male group, but only the use of conventional cigarettes and past smoking were statistically significant in the female group. Among smokers of the two cigarette types, those who were dual smokers of e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes were the most likely to have the highest prevalence of hypertension.
Predicting death quality from life prior to death among older Chinese in a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Li Jing , Song Liangjun , Peng Xizhe , Hu Zhan
Published: October 2022

Background

The pursuit of a good death is crucial in aging societies. This retrospective cohort study investigated the relation between life prior to death and quality of death among older Chinese.

Methods

End-of-life data reported by relatives of participants (aged 54 and over) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) who deceased between January 2011 and June 2019 were utilized. Life prior to death included health condition (morbid or not) and physical functioning (a latent factor with six indicators). Quality of death was assessed by painlessness and consciousness at death. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was employed to examine the factor structure of physical functioning and Structural Equation Modeling to explore associations between life prior to death and death quality based on sex and residence location.

Results

Freedom from chronic diseases was found to contribute to high-quality deaths (i.e., being painless and conscious) both directly and indirectly by enhancing physical functioning. Men and women diverged toward end-of-life: women were moderately less liable to illnesses and thus less painful at death. Yet, men functioned much better, and more often remained conscious when dying. Location's effect was weaker: although rural residents were more prone to painful deaths than urban dwellers, this urban-rural divide was slightly narrowed by rural settlers' relative health, which also indirectly led to their slight advantage in consciousness at death.

Conclusions

The results suggested that different dimensions of life prior to death predicted quality of death. Additionally, morbidity's effect on functioning and death quality stresses health management's role in improving end-of-life experiences.
Modulation of microbiome diversity and cytokine expression is influenced in a sex-dependent manner during aging
Authors: Webster Sarah E. , Vos Duncan , Rothstein Thomas L. , Holodick Nichol E.
Published: October 2022

The microbiome and immune system have a unique interplay, which influences homeostasis within the organism. Both the microbiome and immune system play important roles in health and diseases of the aged including development of cancer, autoimmune disorders, and susceptibility to infection. Various groups have demonstrated divergent changes in the gut microbiota during aging, yet the compounding factor of biological sex within the context of aging remains incompletely understood, and little is known about the effect of housing location in the composition of gut microbiota in the context of both sex and age. To better understand the roles of sex, aging, and location in influencing the gut microbiome, we obtained normal healthy BALB/cByJ mice from a single source and aged male and female mice in two different geographical locations. The 16S rRNA was analyzed from fecal samples of these mice and cytokine levels were measured from serum. 16S rRNA microbiome analysis indicated that both age and sex play a role in microbiome composition, whereas location plays a lesser role in the diversity present. Interestingly, microbiome changes occurred with alterations in serum expression of several different cytokines including IL-10 and IL-6, which were also both differentially regulated in context to sex and aging. We found both IL-10 and IL-6 play a role in the constitutive expression of pSTAT-3 in CD5+ B-1 cells, which are known to regulate the microbiome. Additionally, significant correlations were found between cytokine expression and significantly abundant microbes. Based on these results, we conclude aging mice undergo sex-associated alterations in the gut microbiome and have a distinct cytokine profile. Further, there is significant interplay between B-1 cells and the microbiome which is influenced by aging in a sex-dependent manner. Together, these results illustrate the complex interrelationship among sex, aging, immunity, housing location, and the gut microbiome.
The cellular landscape of the normal kidney allograft: Main players balancing the alloimmune response
Authors: McDaniels Jennifer M. , Shetty Amol C. , Rousselle Thomas V. , Bardhi Elissa , Maluf Daniel G. , Mas Valeria R.
Published: October 2022

Despite recent advances made in short-term outcomes; minimal improvements have been observed in long-term kidney transplantation outcomes. Due to an imbalance between organ transplant availability and patient waiting list, expanding kidney allograft longevity is a critical need in the field. Prior studies have either focused on early ischemic and immunological conditions affecting kidney allografts (e.g., delayed graft function, acute rejection) or late stage chronic injury when interventions are no longer feasible. However, studies characterizing kidney allografts with normal function by its cellular distribution, cell-cell interactions, and associated molecular pathways are lacking. Herein, we used single nuclei RNA-sequencing to uncover the cellular landscape and transcriptome of the normal kidney allograft. We profiled 40,950 nuclei from seven human kidney biopsies (normal native, N = 3; normal allograft, N = 4); normal allograft protocol biopsies were collected ≥15-months post-transplant. A total of 17 distinct cell clusters were identified with proximal tubules (25.70 and 21.01%), distal tubules (15.22 and 18.20%), and endothelial cells (EC) (4.26 and 9.94%) constituting the major cell populations of normal native and normal allograft kidneys, respectively. A large proportion of cycling cells from normal native kidneys were in G1-phase (43.96%) whereas cells from normal allograft were predominantly in S-phase (32.69%). This result suggests that transcriptional differences between normal native and normal allograft biopsies are dependent on the new host environment, immunosuppression, and injury-affliction. In the normal allograft, EC-specific genes upregulated metabolism, the immune response, and cellular growth, emphasizing their role in maintaining homeostasis during the ongoing alloreactive stress response. Immune cells, including B (2.81%), macrophages (24.96%), monocytes (15.29%), natural killer (NK) (12.83%), neutrophils (8.44%), and T cells (14.41%, were increased in normal allografts despite lack of histological or clinical evidence of acute rejection. Phenotypic characterization of immune cell markers supported lymphocyte activation and proinflammatory cytokines signaling pathways (i.e., IL-15, IL-32). The activation of B, NK, and T cells reveals potential immune cells underlying subclinical inflammation and repair. These single nuclei analyses provide novel insights into kidney and immune cell associated signaling pathways that portray kidney grafts with normal allograft function beyond 2-years post-transplant, revealing a novel perspective in understanding long-term allograft graft survival.
The Generalized Uncertainty Principle and higher dimensions: Linking black holes and elementary particles
Authors: Carr B. J.
Published: October 2022

Black holes play an important role in linking microphysics with macrophysics, with those of the Planck mass (MP ∼ 10−5 g) featuring in any theory of quantum gravity. In particular, the Compton-Schwarzschild correspondence posits a smooth transition between the Compton wavelength (RC ∝ 1/M) below the Planck mass and the Schwarzschild radius (RS ∝ M) above it. The duality between RC and RS implies a form of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) and suggests that elementary particles may be sub-Planckian black holes. The simplest possibility is that the ADM mass has the form M+βMP2/M for some constant β and this model can be extended to charged and rotating black holes, clearly relevant to elementary particles. Another possibility is that sub-Planckian black holes may arise in loop quantum gravity and this explicitly links black holes and elementary particles. Higher dimensions may modify both proposals. If there are n extra dimensions, all with the same compactification scale, one expects RS ∝ M1/(1+n) below this scale but RC depends on the form of the higher-dimensional wave-function. If it is spherically symmetric, then RC ∝ M−1, so duality is broken and the Planck mass is reduced, allowing the possibility of TeV quantum gravity. If the wave-function is pancaked in the extra dimensions, RC ∝ M−1/(1+n) and so duality is preserved but the Planck mass is unchanged.
Effect of summer cover crops on cabbage yield, weed suppression, and N mineralization in a low input cropping system
Authors: Bilenky Moriah T. , Nair Ajay , McDaniel Marshall D.
Published: October 2022

Summer cover crops (SCCs) provide valuable agroecosystem services to growers using spring and autumn vegetable crop rotations. Choosing the right SCCs to maximize agroecosystem services and fit growers' interests is challenging due to the wide array of SCC functions and one benefit may come at the cost of another (i.e., a tradeoff). In particular, fast-growing grasses may produce greater SCC biomass but may immobilize plant-available N needed by the autumn vegetable crop. We conducted a field study in Ames, Iowa US to compare agroecosystem services – weed suppression, autumn cabbage yield, soil nutrients, and net nitrogen (N) mineralization of eight SCC species over 2 years. Cover crop species were grown for an average of 55 days and included: brown top millet (Panicum ramosum L., BTM), buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench, “Mancan”, BW), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L). Walp., “Iron and Clay”, CP), flax (Linum usitassimum L. “Golden”, GF), mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek, MB), sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea L., SH), sorghum sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench x Sorghum sudanense Piper Staph. “Sorgrow BMR Dwarf”, SS), and Teff grass (Eragrostis tef (Zuccagni) “Selam”, TEF), and a no-SCC control (NCC) treatment. The range of mean cover crop biomass was 0.8 (cowpea) to 7.5 (teff grass) Mg ha−1. There was a strong, negative correlation between SCC biomass and weed biomass (R2 = 0.83). Low biomass producing legumes resulted in greater weed biomass, but 34–58% greater cabbage yield in one of two experimental years. Ion exchange membranes (IEMs) were not able to capture differences in total net N mineralization among SCC treatments however, soil inorganic N was greater under legume SCCs at SCC termination. We show there are tradeoffs when choosing SCCs between weed suppression and net N mineralization and that the environmental conditions, i.e., climate, regulate whether these tradeoffs favor greater vegetable crop yields.
Laparoscopic vs. open anatomical hepatectomy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Wang Jianlei , Ma Delin , Du Gang , An Baokun , Xia Tong , Zhou Tao , Sun Qingmei , Liu Fengyue , Wang Yadong , Sui Deling , Zhai Xiangyu , Jin Bin
Published: October 2022

Background

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a highly malignant and invasive cancer originating from biliary epithelial cells. The current study was designed to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and clinical outcomes of laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Methods

After screening, 95 patients who underwent anatomical hepatectomy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma at our center were enrolled and divided into two groups according to the surgical approach; the baseline characteristics, pathological findings, surgical outcomes, and long-term outcomes were compared. Moreover, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).

Results

There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics or pathological findings between the two groups. Regarding short-term outcomes, the intraoperative blood loss, incision length, and length of postoperative hospital stay were more favorable in the laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy group than the open anatomical hepatectomy group (P < 0.05). The two groups differed significantly in the extent of liver resection, with a lower lymph node dissection rate and lymph node yield in the laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the postoperative complication rate was similar in the two groups (P > 0.05). The median postoperative follow-up times were 10.7 and 13.8 months in the laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy and open anatomical hepatectomy groups, respectively. Regarding the long-term follow-up results, OS and DFS were similar in the two groups (P > 0.05). On multivariate analysis, the independent prognostic factors for OS were CA-199, CEA, HGB, tumor diameter, and T stage, and those for DFS were CA-199 (P < 0.05), and T stage (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is safe and feasible when performed by experienced surgeons. Compared with open anatomical hepatectomy, laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy provides better short-term outcomes and a comparable long-term prognosis.