bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Congenital muscular dystrophy-associated inflammatory chemokines provide axes for effective recruitment of therapeutic adult stem cell into muscles
Authors: Alexeev Vitali , Olavarria Jacquelyn , Bonaldo Paolo , Merlini Luciano , Igoucheva Olga
Published: September 2020

Background: Congenital muscular dystrophies (CMD) are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of neuromuscular disorders characterized by muscle weakness. The two most prevalent forms of CMD, collagen VI-related myopathies (COL6RM) and laminin a2 deficient CMD type 1A (MDC1A), are both caused by deficiency or dysfunction of extracellular matrix proteins. Previously, we showed that an intramuscular transplantation of human adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) into the muscle of the Col6a1-/- mice results in efficient stem cell engraftment, migration, long-term survival, and continuous production of the collagen VI protein, suggesting the feasibility of the systemic cellular therapy for COL6RM. In order for this therapeutic approach to work however, stem cells must be efficiently targeted to the entire body musculature. Thus, the main goal of this study is to test whether muscle homing of systemically transplanted ADSC can be enhanced by employing muscle-specific chemotactic signals originating from CMD-affected muscle tissue. Methods: Proteomic screens of chemotactic molecules were conducted in the skeletal muscles of COL6RM- and MDC1A-affected patients and CMD mouse models to define the inflammatory and immune activities, thus, providing potential markers of disease activity or treatment effect. Also using a pre-clinical animal model, recapitulating mild Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy (UCMD), the therapeutic relevance of identified chemotactic pathways was investigated in vivo, providing a basis for future clinical investigations.Results: Comprehensive proteomic screens evaluating relevant human and mouse skeletal muscle biopsies offered chemotactic axes to enhance directional migration of systemically transplanted cells into CMD-affected muscles, including CCL5-CCR1/3/5, CCL2-CCR2, CXCL1/2-CXCR1,2 and CXCL7-CXCR2. Also, the specific populations of ADSC selected with an affinity for the chemokines being released by damaged muscle showed efficient migration to injured site and presented their therapeutic effect.Conclusions: Collectively, identified molecules provided insight into the mechanisms governing directional migration and intra-muscular trafficking of systemically infused stem cells, thus, permitting broad and effective application of the therapeutic adult stem cells for CMD treatment.
iDPGK: Characterization and Identification of Lysine Phosphoglycerylation Sites Based on Sequence-Based Features
Authors: Huang Kai-Yao , Hung Fang-Yu , Kao Hui-Ju , Lau Hui-Hsuan , Weng Shun-Long
Published: September 2020

Background:Protein phosphoglycerylation, the addition of a 1,3-bisphosphoglyceric acid (1,3-BPG) to a lysine residue of a protein and thus to form a 3-phosphoglyceryl-lysine (pgK), is a reversible and non-enzymatic post-translational modification (PTM) and plays a regulatory role in glucose metabolism and glycolytic process. As the number of experimentally verified phosphoglycerylated sites has increased significantly, statistical or machine learning methods are imperative for investigating the characteristics of phosphoglycerylation sites. Currently, research into phosphoglycerylation is very limited, and only a few resources are available for the computational identification of phosphoglycerylation sites. Result: We present a bioinformatics investigation of phosphoglycerylation sites based on sequence-based features. The TwoSampleLogo analysis reveals that the regions surrounding the phosphoglycerylation sites contain a high relatively of positively charged amino acids, especially in the upstream flanking region. Additionally, the non-polar and aliphatic amino acids are more abundant surrounding phosphoglycerylated lysine following the results of PTM-Logo, which may play a functional role in discriminating between phosphoglycerylation and non- phosphoglycerylation sites. Many types of features were adopted to build the prediction model on the training dataset, including amino acid composition, amino acid pair composition, positional weighted matrix and position-specific scoring matrix. Further, to improve the predictive power, numerous top features ranked by F-score were considered as the final combination for classification, and thus the predictive models were trained using DT, RF and SVM classifiers. Evaluation by five-fold cross-validation showed that the selected features was most effective in discriminating between phosphoglycerylated and non- phosphoglycerylated sites.Conclusion: The SVM model trained with the selected sequence-based features performed well, with a sensitivity of 77.5%, a specificity of 73.6%, an accuracy of 74.9%, and a Matthews Correlation Coefficient value of 0.49. Furthermore, the model also consistently provides the effective performance in independent testing set, yielding sensitivity of 75.7% and specificity of 64.9%. Finally, the model has been implemented as a web-based system, namely iDPGK, which is now freely available at http://mer.hc.mmh.org.tw/iDPGK/.
Host-adaptation of Rare Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotype CHN4 in Coypus (Myocastor coypus) in China
Authors: Yu Fuchang , Cao Yangwenna , Wang Haiyan , Liu Qiang , Zhao Aiyun , Qi Meng , Zhang Longxian
Published: September 2020

Background: Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a zoonotic gastrointestinal pathogen and can infect both humans and animals. Coypus (Myocastor coypus) are semi-aquatic rodents, in which few E. bieneusi infections have been reported and the distribution of genotypes and zoonotic potential remains unknown.Methods: A total of 308 fresh fecal samples were collected from seven coypu farms in China to determine the infection rate and the distribution of genotypes of E. bieneusi from coypus using nested-PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene.Results: E. bieneusi was detected with an infection rate of 41.2% (n = 127). Four genotypes were identified, including three known genotypes: CHN4 (n = 111), EbpC (n = 8) and EbpA (n = 7) and a novel genotype named CNCP1 (n = 1). Conclusions: The rare genotype CHN4 was the most common one in the present study, and the transmission dynamics of E. bieneusi in coypus were different from other rodents. This is the first report of E. bieneusi infections in coypus in China. Our study reveals that E. bieneusi in coypus may be potential infection source to humans.
Maxillary and mandibular dental arch forms in a Jordanian population with normal occlusion
Authors: Aljayousi Mohammed , Al-Khateeb Suzan Nadeem , Badran Serene , Alhaija Elham SJ Abu
Published: September 2020

BackgroundEthnic background had been claimed to affect arch form. The purpose of this study was to describe the maxillary and mandibular arch forms in Jordanian population and to develop a classification of these forms which could be used to construct orthodontic archwires accordingly.MethodsThe sample comprised the study casts of five hundred and twenty subjects (231 males and 289 females with mean age 15.4 ± 1.02 years). All subjects had permanent dentition with normal occlusion. A mathematical method associated with a polynomial function of 6th degree was used to evaluate the dental arch forms. The resulting arch forms were organized into 5 groups for both the maxilla and the mandible utilizing computer software with special code designed for this study. Each group was subdivided into 3 subgroups: small, medium, and large sizes.ResultsCatenary arch form was found in 47% and 41.2% (P˂0.01) in maxilla and mandible, respectively. Form 2 (between half ellipse and U-shaped arch form) was found in 27.7% and 26.7%. Medium size arch form was found in 55.4% in the maxilla and 65.6% in the mandible.ConclusionsCatenary arch form was the most common arch form, followed by wide elliptical form. The other forms; tudor arch, tapered equilateral and quadroangular forms were less frequent. With respect to size, the medium size was the most common one in the studied sample.
The Effect of the Underlying Malignancy on Short- and Medium-Term Survival of Critically Ill Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit : A Retrospective Analysis Based on Propensity Score Matching
Authors: Yuan Zhennan , Wang Haijun , Gao Yong , Qu Shining , Huang Chulin , Wang Hao , Zhang Hao , Yang Quanhui , Xing Xuezhong
Published: September 2020

Background Advances in oncology led to a substantial increase in the number of patients requiring admission to the ICU. It is significant to confirm which cancer critical patients can benefit from the ICU care service like noncancer patients. Methods An observational retrospective cohort study using intensive care unit (ICU) admissions of Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA, USA between 2001 and 2012 was conducted. Propensity score matching was used to reduce the imbalance between two matched cohorts. ICU patients with cancer were compared with those without cancer in terms of patients’ characteristics and survival. Results There were 38,508 adult patients admitted to ICUs during the period. The median age was 65 years (IQR, 52-77) and 8,308 (21.8%) had an underlying malignancy diagnosis. The noncancer group had a significant survive advantage at the point of 28-day, 90-day, 365-day and 1095-day after ICU admission compared with cancer group (P < 0.001 for all) after PSM. Subgroup analysis showed that the diagnosis of malignancy didn’t decrease 28-day and 90-day survive when patients’ age ≥65-year, patients in surgical intensive care unit or cardiac surgery recovery unit or traumatic surgical intensive care unit, elective admission, patients with renal replacement therapy or vasopressor support (P > 0.05 for all). Conclusions Malignancy is a common diagnosis among ICU patients. Patients without cancer have a survive advantage compared with patients with cancer in the short- and medium-term. However, in selected groups, cancer critical patients can benefit from the ICU care service like noncancer patients in the short-term.
Root Morphology and Secretion of two subtropical tree species to NH4+-N and NO3–-N Deposition
Authors: Zhang Rui , Wang Yi , Zhou Zhichun
Published: September 2020

Background: Both NH4+ and NO3– are capable of greatly influencing plants’ growth and biomass. However, the belowground responses of subtropical trees to either NH4+ or NO3– deposition remain poorly understood. Here, we discuss how these two forms of N deposition can affect root development, and experimentally analyzed how they could impact nitrogen and phosphorus absorption in two types (broadleaved with a fibrous root system vs. conifer with a tap root system) of subtropical tree species. Results: In a greenhouse in southern China, 1-year-old S. superba and P. massoniana seedlings grown on P-limited and P-normal soil were treated with NaNO3 and NH4Cl solutions of 0, 80, and 200 kg N ha–1 year–1, corresponding to the control, N80, and N200 groups, respectively. Root phenotype characteristics and metabolism ability were measured after 8 months of growth. The results showed that the root morphology and physiology variables differed significantly between the two species under different N and P treatments. Although S. superba had a larger quantity of roots than P. massoniana, both its root growth rate and root absorption were respectively lower and weaker. N addition differentially affected root growth and activity as follows: (1) NO3–-N80 and NH4+-N80 increased root growth and activity of the two species, but NH4+-N80 led to thicker roots in S. superba; (2) NO3–-N200 and NH4+-N200 had inhibitory effects on the roots of P. massoniana, for which NH4+-N200 led to thinner and longer roots and even the death of some roots; and (3) NH4+-N could promote metabolic activity in thicker roots (> 1.5 mm) and the NO3–-N was found to stimulate activity in thinner roots (0.5–1.5 mm) in the fibrous root system having a larger quantity of roots, namely S. superba. By contrast, NO3–-N and NH4+-N had an opposite influence upon functioning in the tap root system with a slender root, namely P. massoniana. Conclusion: We conclude P. massoniana has a much higher root absorption efficiency; however, nitrogen deposition is more beneficial to the root growth of S. superba.
Transcriptome Profiling Revealed Early Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Gene Activation Following Focal Ischemic Stroke in Female Rats – Comparisons with Males
Authors: Rehnström Mimmi , Frederiksen Simona Denise , Edvinsson Lars
Published: September 2020

Background. Women account for 60% of all stroke deaths and are more often permanently disabled than men, despite their higher observed stroke incidence. Considering the clinical population affected by stroke, an obvious drawback is that many pre-clinical and clinical studies only investigate young males. To improve therapeutic translation from bench to bedside, we believe that it is advantageous to include both sexes in experimental models of stroke. The aims of this study were to identify early cerebral vascular responses to ischemic stroke in females, compare the differential gene expression patterns with those seen in males, and identify potential new therapeutic targets.Results. Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) was used to induce stroke in both female and male rats, the middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) were isolated 3 hours post reperfusion and RNA was extracted. Affymetrix whole transcriptome expression profiling was performed on female MCAs to reveal differentially expressed genes. In total, 1076 genes had an increased expression and 879 genes a decreased expression in the occluded MCA as compared to the non-stroke control arteries from female rats. An enrichment of genes related to apoptosis, regulation of transcription, protein autophosphorylation, inflammation, oxidative stress, and tissue repair and recovery were seen in the occluded MCA. The high expression genes chosen for qPCR verification (Adamts4, Olr1, JunB, Fosl1, Serpine1, S1pr3, Ccl2 and Socs3) were all shown to be upregulated in the same manner in both females and males after tMCAO (p < 0.05). When comparing the differentially expressed genes in female MCAs (occluded and non-occluded) with our previous findings in males after tMCAO, a total of 297 genes overlapped (all groups had 32 genes in common).Conclusions. The cascades of processes initiated in the vasculature following reperfusion are complex. Dynamic gene expression alterations were observed in the occluded MCA, and to a less pronounced degree in the non-occluded MCA. Dysregulation of inflammation and blood-brain barrier breakdown are possible pharmacological targets. The sample of genes (<1% of the differentially expressed genes) validated for this microarray did not reveal any sex differences. However, sex differences might be observed for other gene targets.
Construction of A High-Density SNP Genetic Map by Genotyping-By-Sequencing and Location of Seed Quality traits in Flax (Linum usitatisimum L.)
Authors: Zhao Li , Zhao Wei , Wang Limin , Wang Bin , Dang Zhao , Li Wenjuan
Published: September 2020

Background

Oil and five main fatty acid content(especially linolenic acid content (LNA) )are six main quality traits in flax, and also the important target traits in flax breeding. However, the reports on genetic map construction and QTL mapping of linolenic acid content in flax are limited, which results in low accuracy and efficiency of quality breeding in oil flax. Construction the genetic linkage map and location the QTLs to discover the stable genetic QTLs sites related to oil content and fatty acid content, so as to provide targeted targets for breeders and improve breeding efficiency.
Results

In this study, a final integrated map consisting of 2,239 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers on 15 linkage groups (LGs) with an average distance of 0.46 cM between adjacent markers was generated using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technique. A total of 21 quantitative trait loci (QTL)s for the six traits, i.e., palmitic acid content (PAL), stearic acid content (STE), oleic acid content (OLE), linoleic acid content (LIN), linolenic acid content (LNA), and oil content (OIL) in the RIL population under three environments. One QTL cluster harbored two QTLs for LIN and LNA trait, respectively was also identified. Especially, QTL qLIN-Group12-2 for LIN and QTL qLNA-Group12-2 for LNA on chromosome 12 were detected in multi-environments.
Conclusions

A high-density SNP genetic map with total 2239 markers was constructed with GBS technique, The total genetic distance of the SNP map was 1032.90 cM, with the average genetic distance of 0.46 cM per marker. A total of 21 quantitative trait loci (QTL)s for the six traits under three environments were determined. One QTL cluster harbored two QTLs for LIN and LNA trait, respectively was also identified. QTL qLIN-Group12-2 for LIN and QTL qLNA-Group12-2 for LNA on chromosome 12 were detected in multi-environments. These results provide more information for determining the seed quality related candidate genes and contribute to the marker-assisted selection in flax breeding.
Assessing Uptake and Utilization of Modern Contraceptive Method Amongst Young People in Tertiary Institutions of Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)) and Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN)) in Lilongwe: A Cross-sectional Exploratory Study
Authors: Phiri Yewo Kayira , Chimwaza Wanangwa Manda , Chipeta Effie
Published: September 2020

Background: Modern contraceptive uptake and utilization still remains a significant global health issue among young people. Despite a number of interventions on modern contraceptive services targeting young people in primary and out of schools, evidence on Modern contraceptive use in Malawi tertiary institutions is limited. Hence, an assessment on uptake and utilisation of modern contraceptives among tertiary institutions of Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Kamuzu College of Nursing was carried out in Lilongwe between 2017 and 2019.Methods: A cross sectional exploratory study which used a mixed methods approach to assess uptake and utilisation of modern contraceptive methods among young people in tertiary institutions of LUANAR and KCN in Lilongwe. 8 focus groups were conducted, 6 key informants were interviewed and 220 females and male students were interviewed using self-administered questionnaires from the two institutions which were purposively selected.Results: Modern contraceptives uptake was higher among young people of LUANAR and KCN while utilisation was lower. On comparative basis, utilisation and knowledge of modern contraceptives was higher among students at KCN than LUANAR. Male condoms and emergency contraceptive services were frequently accessed. The type of tertiary institution was statistically significant to utilization of modern contraceptives. The odds of utilizing modern contraceptives was almost 2 times higher for students at KCN than LUANAR students. Barriers to access modern contraceptives were noted and included: provider attitudes, privacy and confidentiality, shortage of some modern contraceptives and long waiting time at the clinics.Conclusion: Access to modern contraceptives among young people in tertiary institutions is influenced by individual, health system related and environmental factors. Tertiary institutions students need information on modern contraceptives to reduce sexual and reproductive health problems. Providing young people with access to modern contraceptives in tertiary institutions can reduce teenage pregnancies, abortions and maternal deaths.
Application of Deep Learning as a Noninvasive Tool to Determine Pathological Diagnosis of Enlarged Cervical Lymph Nodes with PET/CT
Authors: Yang Yuhan , Zheng Bo , Wang Yixi , Ma Xuelei
Published: September 2020

Objective: To construct a deep-learning convolution neural network (DL-CNN) system for pathological diagnosis of cervical lymph nodes by using computed tomography (CT), fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET), and fused PET/CT images.Materials and methods: A total of 1020 cross-sectional images for each imaging modality was obtained from 211 patients (153 patients with lymphomas and 116 patients with metastases) with enlarged cervical lymph nodes from January 2014 to June 2018. All eligible images were distributed randomly into the training, validation, and testing cohorts with ratios of 70%, 15%, and 15%. We applied eight DL-CNN algorithms with pretrained bases from ImageNet dataset on CT, PET, and fused PET/CT imaging datasets to differentiate lymphomatous nodes from metastatic nodes, respectively. Attention heatmaps of PET and fused PET/CT images generated by class activation mapping (CAM) were used in visualization of class specific regions recognized by the prediction model with best performance. Results: The accuracy of eight deep learning algorithms with pretrained base ranged from 0.650 to 0.981 on PET testing cohort, and from 0.738 to 0.981 on fused PET/CT testing cohort. The VGG16 model on PET images and DenseNet121 model on fused PET/CT images had the best diagnostic performance among all eight algorithms with sensitivity and specificity of 1.000 and 0.963. Class-specific discriminative subregions were highlighted by attention maps for clinical review.Conclusion: A DL-CNN system was developed for classifying metastatic and lymphomatous involvement with favorable diagnostic performance on PET and PET/CT images in patients with enlarged cervical lymph nodes. The further clinical practice of this system may improve quality of the following therapeutic interventions and optimize patients’ outcomes.
The Dfam Community Resource of Transposable Element Families, Sequence Models, and Genome Annotations
Authors: Storer Jessica , Hubley Robert , Rosen Jeb , Wheeler Travis , Smit Arian F.A.
Published: September 2020

The 3.0-3.2 releases of Dfam (https://dfam.org) represent an evolution from a proof-of-principle collection of transposable element families in model organisms into a community resource for a broad range of species and for both curated and uncurated datasets. In addition, releases since Dfam 3.0 provide auxiliary consensus sequence models, transposable element protein alignments, and a formalized classification system to support the growing diversity of organisms represented in the resource. The latest release includes 266,740 new de novo generated transposable element families from 336 species contributed by the EBI. This expansion demonstrates the utility of many of Dfam’s new features and provides insight into the long term challenges ahead for improving de novo generated transposable element datasets.
Investigation of Effective Parameters on Cladded Plate Delamination During Pressure Vessels Head Manufacturing by FEM and DOE
Authors: Afshari Mahmoud , Arezodar Alireza Fallahi , Sattarifar Iraj
Published: September 2020

Roll-Bond cladded plates are widely used in industry. Stainless steels, Ni, Cu and Ti are used as clad usually. In multi-piece head manufacturing, while these plates press to form petals, delamination occurs in some cases. In this paper, the effective parameters on delamination are investigated. Because of more widely used in respective industry, SA 516 GR 70 as base plate and SS 316L as clad are selected. First of common criteria for defining delamination, the strain energy release rate (SERR), as explanatory parameter selected and calculated using finite element technique and VCCT method. Interface is modeled as cohesive zone with tied mesh technique and by validated experimental work. The design of experiment method is response surface methodology (RSM), and effect of input parameters on output parameter, SERR, is obtained. Results indicate that head radius have greatest impact on G and then thickness of the plate, pressing force, number of pressing steps, shear strength and friction coefficient are placed in the next rows. Among these, when the radius of the head and shear strength increase, SERR decrease and the head radius impact is much greater than shear strength. Finally, in order to prevent delamination, some strategies have been proposed.
Huntingtin-interacting Protein 1 Promotes Vpr-induced G2 Arrest and HIV-1 Infection in Macrophages
Authors: Murakami Tomoyuki , Chutiwitoonchai Nopporn , Takei Masami , Aida Yoko
Published: September 2020

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) modulates the host cell cycle. The HIV-1 accessory protein Vpr arrests the cell cycle at G2 phase, which is important for efficient viral replication in dividing CD4+ T cells, because the transcriptional activity of the HIV-1 long terminal repeat is most active in G2 phase. Additionally, Vpr-mediated G2 arrest likely correlates with enhanced HIV-1 infection in monocyte-derived macrophages.Results: Here, we screened small-interfering RNA to reveal candidates that suppress Vpr-induced G2 arrest and identified Huntingtin-interacting protein 1 (HIP1) as both directly interacting with Vpr and required for efficient G2 arrest. Interestingly, HIP1 was not essential for Vpr-induced DNA double-strand breaks, which are required for activation of the DNA-damage checkpoint and G2 arrest. Furthermore, HIP1 knockdown suppressed HIV-1 infection in monocyte-derived macrophages.Conclusions: These results suggest that HIP1 operates in the downstream step(s) of DNA-damage induction to promote Vpr-induced G2 arrest and enhances HIV-1 infection in macrophages.
Clinical Experience in the Treatment of Severe Eosinophilic Asthma With Mepolizumab
Authors: Rodríguez Ana Isabel Enríquez , Valverde Tamara Hermida , Álvarez Pedro Romero , González Francisco Julián López , Blanco Jose Antonio Gullón , Villegas Ana Rosa Expósito , Fernández Maria José Escobar , Urquiza Ana María Beristáin , Fernández Miguel Ángel Alonso , Rodríguez Margarita Gutiérrez , Pozas Gema Castaño De Las , Pérez Jeniifer Jiménez , Mellado Roberto Fernández , Clemente Marta María García , Clara Pere Casán
Published: September 2020

Introduction: Severe eosinophilic asthma is an incapacitating disease requiring the patient to take many drugs, amongst which are oral corticoids (OCS), for its control. Mepolizumab is a monoclonal antibody capable of blocking the binding of Interleukin 5 (IL-5) to the eosinophils, and, in this way reducing the exacerbations, symptoms and need for OCS. Our objective was to evaluate the experience with this drug on patients being treated for severe asthma in real-life conditions. Methods: Retrospective, multicentric study carried out in eight hospitals in the Principality of Asturias, in which the demographic, clinical, analytical, lung function and ACT (Asthma Control Questionnaire) data of the patients with severe eosinophilic asthma being treated with Mepolizumab for three years were collected. Results: Sixty-nine patients (72% women) were included, with a mean age of 56±13 years. The eosinophil blood count before treatment was 856 cels/mm3 (SD 754), decreasing after 6 months to 101 cels/mm3 (SD 98). Annual exacerbations decreased from 4.7 (SD 3.7) to 1.3 (SD 2.5) (p=0.001), while the FEV1% increased from 68% (SD 20) to 76% (SD 21) (<0.001). At the onset 25 patients (36%) were using OCS ( 18 mg/day of prednisone) and after treatment this decreased to 13 (19%) ( 9mg/day of prednisone) ( p=0.000), with complete withdrawal in 12 (48%). The response to Mepolizumab was positive in 56 patients (81%), and no adverse effects were observed. Conclusions: Mepolizumab has demonstrated to be efficacious and safe in real life in the treatment of patients with badly controlled eosinophilic asthma.
Improved Reproducibility of Protein Detection in Neuromelanin-containing Human Substantia Nigra Tissue enriched by Laser Microdissection
Authors: Kösters Steffen , Rettel Mandy , Eggers Britta , Riederer Peter , Gerlach Manfred , Savitski Mikhail , Marcus Katrin , May Caroline
Published: September 2020

Background: Processing of post-mortem human brain tissue samples like Neuromelanin-containing substantia nigra is a challenging task in proteomics research in the context of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, due to the availability of only limited sample amounts. Therefore, a highly efficient lysis and digestion approach is needed to guarantee high reproducibility and a good quantification performance. We conducted a systematic study in order to compare qualitatively and quantitatively six different sample preparation protocols for substantia nigra brain tissue collected by laser microdissection.Results: LC-MS/MS analysis revealed that the combination of formic acid and in-solution digestion with trypsin leads to an enhanced peptide and protein identification as well as a robust and reliable protein quantification with a very good reproducibility.Conclusion: We recommend this protocol for future studies of human substantia nigra tissue as well as NM granules in the context of neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson syndrome.
Audio-Visual Materials in an Integrated Literacy-Mechanical Skills Training Program for Young Unemployed Adults
Authors: Cap Orest , Trosky Odarka S. , Wynes Barbara , Cutts Robin
Published: September 2020

This article describes how audio-visual materials were selected and used for a group of thirty unemployed young adults, ranging in ages (17-21), attending an integrated literacy-mechanical skills program. This program consisted of an initial two months of class activities followed by approximately seven months in the field and a final two weeks in class. The audio-visual materials which met Vander Meer's (1973) criteria of appropriateness, to reflect the curriculum and to elicit expected and desired behavior in the learner, were selected on the basis of the Von Mondfrans and Houser six step paradigm (1973) to relate to performance-based objectives. The selected materials did not necessarily reflect the very best nor the most recent in the field, rather they represented the best and most recent from those readily available. Evaluation through questionnaires, reports, observations and participant comments indicated that the audio-visual materials used in the program closely related to the three main functions of audio-visual materials in vocational instruction.
AMTEC Board Reports
Authors: Board AMTEC
Published: September 2020

None
Color Microfiche: An Attractive Alternative for Use in Independent Study Systems
Authors: Moore G.A.B.
Published: September 2020

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The Question of Display: Folk Festivals
Authors: Hassell Doris , Young Wanda
Published: September 2020

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In My Opinion: Format - Who Sets the Pace?
Authors: Jeffrey Michael G.
Published: September 2020

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Towards a Definition of Education Technology
Authors: Hlynka Denis
Published: September 2020

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Integration and Interference: Two Visual Literacy Skills
Authors: Wynn Bill
Published: September 2020

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Community Communications: Parent Education Radio Programs
Authors: Young Wanda
Published: September 2020

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" ...like the Arabs..."?
Authors: Hlynka Denis
Published: September 2020

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Fiction: The Movies Come to Gull Point
Authors: Bird Will
Published: September 2020

From Sunrise for Peter, by Will R. Bird.
Teaching Canada for the Nineties
Authors: Anderson Robert M.
Published: September 2020

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Book Reviews
Authors: Lewis Patricia Dolan
Published: September 2020

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Formative Research on Telidon and Education
Authors: Soudack Avi , Karam Bob
Published: September 2020

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Children's Media Workshop A Television Literacy Curriculum for Children
Authors: Baron Lois
Published: September 2020

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Book Reviews
Authors: Reviewers Various
Published: September 2020

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The Use of Communication Satellites for Distance Education: A World Perspective
Authors: Coldevin Gary , Amundsen Cheryl
Published: September 2020

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Providing for Life-long Affiliation with Distance Education Institutions and the Feasibility of Doing so with Personal Communications
Authors: Boyd Gary
Published: September 2020

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Preparing Personnel for School Media and Library Service Positions: Some Observations
Authors: Duncan Marvin E.
Published: September 2020

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Book Reviews
Authors: Wong Angelina T.
Published: September 2020

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Curriculum Resources: More Than the Sum of Books and A-V
Authors: Haycock Ken
Published: September 2020

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Microcomputers in the School Media Center
Authors: Proctor Leonard
Published: September 2020

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Validation Optimisation using Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Dharmapuri R Akshay
Published: September 2020

Integration and validation is the most vital part before releasing products to customers in Intel. The validation team qualifies the release based on multiple stages of validation on hardware and software stack. Bugs are raised after execution of test cases on each platform and so similar bugs arise which are filed by the user. There is a immediate concern on this and hence, many issues are closed as duplicates.The main objective is to find these similar bugs for each bug filed and thereby,debug efforts can be reused.Similar bugs are found by term based search using ElasticSearch ,a text search engine and neural network based search where context is considered.Using elasticsearch,scoring algorithms based on driver  versions and platform hierarchy are applied to rank the similar bugs. LSTM neural networks are also incorporated to predict duplicate bugs by considering context of the sentence and thereby, increasing accuracy.
Inspiration of Technology; Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education
Authors: Onojah Amos , ONOJAH Adenike Aderogba
Published: September 2020

Just like every other virus, there is a recent outbreak of COVID-19 which hampers with the school academic activities. This virus been an influenza, epidemic and airborne disease had affected a lot of lives, affecting national economy as well as shutting down all schools at all levels. Thus, there is a need to introduce technologies which can help students continue with their learning from their different isolation centres. The present study investigated (i) various technologies that can be used for learning from their isolation centres; (ii) influence of these technologies in combating the learning gaps established by COVID-19; and (iii) readiness of students to use these technologies. It was concluded that mobile learning, google classroom, webinar zoom application and web-based authoring system among others can be used to resolve the academic activity crisis established via the pandemic but clustered teaching is apt for those without access to versatile technologies and electricity power supply. Thus, if these technologies are utilized by students and teachers for both the teaching and learning process, there could be tremendous improvement in the academic performance of students as well as job performance of the teachers across all levels of education.
Immunoinformatics Patterns and Characteristic of Epitope-Based Peptide Vaccine candidates against COVID-19
Authors: I. Mustafa Mujahed , H. Abdelmoneim Abdelrahman , M. Makhawi Abdelrafie
Published: September 2020

Vaccination as defined by the WHO is “the administration of agent-specific, but safe, antigenic components that in vaccinated individuals can induce protective immunity against the corresponding infectious agent”. Regardless of their debated history, the standard vaccine approaches have been unsuccessful in providing vaccines for numerous infectious organisms. In the recent three decades, an enormous amount of immunological data was retrieved from clinical studies  due to the advancement in human genome sequencing. These data are being deposited in databases and numerous scientific literature. The development of several bioinformatics tools to analyze this rapidly increasing immunological databank has given rise to the field of immunoinformatics. This approach allows the selection of immunogenic residues from the pathogen genomes. The ideal residues could be industrialized as vaccine candidates to provide protective immune responses in the hosts. This methodology will significantly decrease the time and cost needed for the vaccine development.  This review focus on  published articles that proposed as vaccine candidates through immunoinformatics analysis. The reviewed  Published immunoinformatics studies provided vaccine peptide candidates against SARS-COV-2, which is based on functional and non functional immunogenic proteins like open reading frame , spike protein, envelope protein and membranous protein .All of which  are designed by unique strategies like reverse vaccinology . Spike protein was the most common used target with different suggeststed B and T cell peptides  due to the difference in methodology between the findings.
Design and Implementation of Coupled Line Bandpass Filter at C-Band
Authors: M Abhinaya , B Bhavika , Dashora Harsh , Kumar Jitendra
Published: September 2020

A Radio frequency filters having applications that demand high performance and intends to contribute in system’s size and cost must be achieved by a different approach. That might be in using an advanced material, planar technology or dielectric resonators, as filter involves in many fields like wireless receivers, transmitters and in multiple locations inside an RF system to shed noise. This paper primarily demonstrates how bandpass filter exhibits itself differently when realized using lumped elements or microstrip transmission line to acquire minimum losses when transmitting high frequency signals over long or short distances in planar technology. And explains in detail to design and simulate microstrip coupled line bandpass filter.
Epidemic of Fear: Cause and Effect
Authors: Ali Md Quadir , Verma Manish Kumar
Published: September 2020

This review attempts to focus on the Epidemic of fear and its causes and effects on the people during the pandemic situation. Primarily the aim was to understand the psychological concept of the origination of fear due to epidemic or pandemic situations. Several theories and researches helped in explaining the underlying roots of the epidemics of fear and the behavioral changes in a person due to this. Through previous researches, a better understanding of the ways to prevent the fear of spreading among us is presented in this paper. Several types of researches and articles were studied that acted as the pillars of this paper reflect on the causes of the epidemic of fear.
An Explication of Pandemic Public Health Emergency, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Authors: Pant Neha , Upadhyay A. K.
Published: September 2020

In December 2019 a series of acute atypical respiratory disease occurred in Wuhan, China. The first clusters of cases were identified in association with the South China Seafood Market. In subsequent investigations it was found to be a novel coronavirus. It is suggested to have zoonotic origin. On December 31st 2019, China notified the outbreak to the World Health Organization. During the New Year, the massive migration of Chinese fuelled the epidemic. Cases in other provinces of China and other countries (South Korea, Thailand and Japan in quick succession) were reported in people who were returning from Wuhan. On 11 February, on the basis of existing rules on taxonomy the virus was names as SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the family of coronaviruses. It is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) virus. It has a single linear RNA segment. On the same day WHO announced the new name for the disease i.e. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say it is primarily spread directly due to close contact between people through small droplets produced during coughing, sneezing or talking within a range of about 1-3 meters. It may even transmit through indirect contact via fomites. While there are concerns it may spread by feces, this risk is believed to be low. Soon, the number of cases started increasing exponentially and on March 12, 2020 WHO announced COVID-19 a pandemic. COVID-19 has been impacting a large number of people worldwide, being reported in approximately 200 countries and territories. It was identified that Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) act as a functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2. The pathophysiology of COVID-19 follows sex differences, age differences, race differences in as well as underlying disease conditions i.e. comorbidities aggravated the severity of this disease.  The most common symptoms being reported are fever, dry cough or chest tightness, and dyspnoea. It is now widely recognized that respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 are extremely heterogeneous, ranging from minimal symptoms to significant hypoxia with ARDS. Diagnosis is done with the help of history, clinical signs and serological testing. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) is considered the standard method of testing. Several have been tested in clinical trials but none of them have been proven to be a definite therapy yet. The evolution of the current outbreak has seen extraordinary measures put in place to control transmission, including the ‘shut-down’ and ‘quarantine’. Researchers are trying to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 but at present, no vaccine is available. One should strictly follow all the preventive measures as directed by WHO and CDC and along with this, one should boost up its natural immunity to lessen the chances of getting infection.
COVID-19 Pandemics: Effects and Prevention
Authors: Aborode Abdullahi , Winner Kubeyinje , Ayomide Oni Ebenezer
Published: September 2020

A new class of corona virus, known as SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has been found to be responsible for occurrence of this disease. As far as the history of human civilization is concerned there are instances of severe outbreaks of diseases caused by a number of viruses. According to the report of the World Health Organization (WHO as of June 5, 2020), the current pandemic of COVID-19 has affected 6,749,371 people, 3,277, 596 recovered and killed 394,527 people in 215 countries throughout the world. Till now there is no report of any clinically approved antiviral drugs or vaccines that are effective against COVID-19. It has rapidly spread around the world, posing enormous health, economic, environmental and social challenges to the entire human population. The coronavirus outbreak is severely disrupting the global economy. Almost all the nations are struggling to slow down the transmission of the disease by testing and treating patients, quarantining suspected persons through contact tracing, restricting large gatherings, maintaining complete or partial lock down etc. This paper describes the effects of COVID-19 on society and global environment, and the possible ways in which the disease can be prevented or controlled.
Mucoadhesive Formulation Designs for Oral Controlled Drug Release at the Colon
Authors: Tran Phuong H.L. , Tran Thao T.D.
Published: September 2020

Mucoadhesive formulations have been demonstrated to result in efficient drug delivery systems with
advantages over existing systems such as increased local retention and sustained drug release via adhesiveness
to mucosal tissues. The controlled release of colon-targeted, orally administered drugs has recently attracted a
number of studies investigating mucoadhesive systems. Consequently, substantial designs, from mucoadhesive
cores to shells of particles, have been studied with promising applications. This review will provide an
overview of specific strategies for developing mucoadhesive systems for colon-targeted oral delivery with controlled
drug release, including mucoadhesive matrices, cross-linked mucoadhesive microparticles, coatings and
mucoadhesive nanoparticles. The understanding of the basic principle of these designs and advanced formulations
throughout will lead to the development of products with efficient drug delivery at the colon for therapies
for different diseases.
Progress of Stimuli-Responsive Nanoscale Metal Organic Frameworks as Controlled Drug Delivery Systems
Authors: Feng Ailing , Wang Yanni , Ding Jinzi , Xu Rong , Li Xiaodong
Published: September 2020

Background:

Development of controlled drug delivery systems can improve the pharmacokinetic
characteristics of drug molecules in the human body, thereby significantly improving the
utilization rate of drugs and reducing toxicity and side effects caused by their high concentrations,
which can occur when delivery is not controlled. Metal organic frameworks are a new class of very
promising crystalline microporous materials, especially when the size is reduced to the nanometer
range. Metal-organic frameworks exhibit large specific surface areas, tunable compositions, and
easy functionalization. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have reported the remarkable
advances in multifunctional nanoscale metal-organic frameworks in drug delivery.

Objective:

To review the latest research involving advances in stimuli-responsive nanoscale metal
organic frameworks as drug delivery systems in controlled-release drugs.

Discussion:

We first introduce the two main strategies associated with nanoscale metal organic
frameworks used in drug loading: direct assembly and post-encapsulation. We next focus on the latest
discoveries of nanoscale metal-organic framework-based stimulus response systems for drug delivery,
including pH, magnetics, light, ion, temperature, and other stimuli, as well as multiple stimulus-
responsive drug delivery systems. Finally, we discuss the challenges and future developmental
directions of nanoscale metal-organic framework-based controlled drug release.
Improved Drug Delivery System for Cancer Treatment by D-Glucose Conjugation with Eugenol From Natural Product
Authors: Razak Mas Amira Idayu Abdul , Hamid Haslinda Abdul , Othman Raja Nor Izawati Raja , Moktar Shaik Alaudeen Mohd , Miskon Azizi
Published: September 2020

Introduction:

Bioconjugations are swiftly progressing and are being applied to solve
several limitations of conventional Drug Delivery Systems (DDS) such as lack of water solubility,
non-specific, and poor bioavailability. The main goals of DDS are to achieve greater drug effectiveness
and minimize toxicity to the healthy tissues.

Objectives and Methods:

In this study, D-glucose was conjugated with eugenol to target the cancer
cells. To identify the implication of the anticancer effect, osteosarcoma (K7M2) cells were cultured
and the anti-proliferative effect was performed using MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-
2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay] test in order to evaluate the viability and toxicity
on cells with various concentrations of eugenol and D-glucose-eugenol conjugate in 24-hour incubation.

Results:

It was found that, the successful confirmation of the conjugation between D-glucose and
eugenol was obtained by 1H NMR spectroscopy. MTT assay showed inhibitory concentration
(IC50 value) of D-glucose-eugenol was at 96.2 μg/ml and the decreased of osteosarcoma cell survival
was 48%.

Conclusion:

These findings strongly indicate that K7M2 cells would be affected by toxicity of Dglucose-
eugenol. Therefore, the present study suggests that D-glucose-eugenol has high potential
to act as an anti-proliferative agent who may promise a new modality or approach as the drug delivery
treatment for cancer or chemotherapeutic agent.