bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Today's Student Is Tomorrow's Leader: Creating Student Relationships through Culturally Responsive Teaching
Authors: Cairo Keba R.
Published: September 2022

Families from all over the world leave their homeland, their lifestyle, their culture, and everything they've ever known to come to the United States of America, also known as the land of opportunity. America is often depicted as a "melting pot" because of the number of families of multiracial, multiethnic, and multicultural backgrounds migrating into one place. These families want to give their children an upper hand, a fighting chance, an advantage in life. Immigrant parents are faced with navigating new laws, systems, and cultural differences, but they consider those sacrifices worth it for the opportunities they bring to their children. However, the children of these immigrant families face their own obstacles as they enter a school system that is insensitive to their migration journey, where they encounter students who ostracize them, and where language barriers or their accents prevent them from being understood. Although the U.S. school system is becoming increasingly diverse and multicultural, the education curriculum has not been updated to reflect and incorporate a culturally responsive and sustaining education.
Representation and Preparation Matters
Authors: Cole LaTisha S.
Published: September 2022

This interview provides insight into the lack of representation for educators of color in schools across America and explicates the importance of having education programs that are designed to develop culturally intelligent educators. The purpose of this piece is to enlighten, empower, and encourage educational entities and communities to address the gap in representation of African American and Latinx educators and educator preparation programs directly and collaboratively—not only to increase representation within the education profession but to create and implement mechanisms that will retain educators of color in the profession over the long term. The principle of ongoing professional learning typically involves educators seeking and receiving training and learning from education experts. LaTisha Cole argues that educators should instead seek authentic learning opportunities from the students and families they serve.
Reflecting on Pedagogy: Today's Student Is Tomorrow's Leader
Authors: Cole LaTisha S.
Published: September 2022

This article is intended as a deconstruction of my (the author's) perspective as a career-changer from comedian and actor to teacher that will deepen teachers' understanding of education beyond the classroom and after the school day. At the time of this article's writing, in my third school year teaching with the New York City Department of Education, it is my opinion that it is growing more and more urgent that we, as educators, do all we can to help shape today's students into responsible leaders to serve tomorrow's communities. During the short period of time we have with our students, we can model the behaviors we wish to see in our communities—not just for us but for future generations.
I Don't Know If the Plane Has Really Landed: Flanbwayan Members on the Challenges, Omissions, and Potential of Culturally Responsive, Sustaining Education in NYC Public Schools
Authors: Martin Kahdeidra Monét
Published: September 2022

This interview centers the voices of four Black women of immigrant origin, all of them members of the Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project, a community-based organization formed 15 years ago in New York City to promote cultural pride and biliteracy in newcomer youth. In this paper, two administrators and two youth participants are in conversation with each other as they reflect on their cross-generational experiences with culturally responsive and sustaining education in schools, share models of welcoming and culturally sustaining school cultures, and offer advice to educators on the types of dispositions and knowledge required to implement this education model with fidelity. They share the particular challenges they experienced as emergent bilingual students in their online learning classes, their concerns for the remainder of the year, and their hopes for the future.
Proposed Teaching Strategies for Black and Latinx Studies in Connecticut
Authors: Eneh Obi
Published: September 2022

In 2020, Connecticut became the first U.S. state to require all public high schools to offer Black and Latinx studies. This monumental decision has raised a fair amount of concern over what constitutes effective and conscionable teaching practices for Black and Latinx studies at the classroom level. In this paper, I propose several teaching strategies, all grounded in critical, dialectical, and responsive theories of pedagogical praxis. I deliberate on the strengths and potential weaknesses of each approach with equal attention, and at the end of each section I offer some examples of how these strategies can be applied in the classroom. I conclude by restating how important Black and Latinx studies are in facilitating the reimagining of educational practice and classroom pedagogies throughout Connecticut.
For KEEPS: Empowering Student Educators' Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Classroom Practices
Authors: Milner Julie M. , Fisher Helena , Melendez Joe , Thomas Teeyana
Published: September 2022

To close the equity gap in our urban students' academic achievement, educators must be well-versed in critical values. KEEPS, an acronym for knowledge, enquiry, empathy, pluralism, and social commitment, is utilized in the Teaching and Learning Department on the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University to empower educators of urban students to implement culturally responsive and sustaining education (CR-SE) practices in their classrooms. The KEEPS values provide student educators with the tools they need to work to the KEEPS claims, which are designed to be universal so that any educator who chooses to embrace them can become more culturally responsive in a manner that values and celebrates their students' cultural identities and backgrounds. The KEEPS framework provides a solid foundation in CR-SE pedagogical practices and assists educators in reflecting on their teaching identities and work in the classroom. When educators integrate and implement the KEEPS framework, it helps them to remove the systemic barriers faced by their struggling learners. The KEEPS claims, which are designed to operationalize the domains of knowledge, enquiry, empathy, pluralism, and social commitment, are universal so that any educator who chooses to embrace them can become more culturally responsive in their own practice.
Western diet-induced shifts in the maternal microbiome are associated with altered microRNA expression in baboon placenta and fetal liver
Authors: Sugino Kameron Y. , Mandala Ashok , Janssen Rachel C. , Gurung Sunam , Trammell MaJoi , Day Michael W. , Brush Richard S. , Papin James F. , Dyer David W. , Agbaga Martin-Paul , Friedman Jacob E. , Castillo-Castrejon Marisol , Jonscher Karen R. , Myers Dean A.
Published: September 2022

Maternal consumption of a high-fat, Western-style diet (WD) disrupts the maternal/infant microbiome and contributes to developmental programming of the immune system and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the offspring. Epigenetic changes, including non-coding miRNAs in the fetus and/or placenta may also underlie this risk. We previously showed that obese nonhuman primates fed a WD during pregnancy results in the loss of beneficial maternal gut microbes and dysregulation of cellular metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction in the fetal liver, leading to a perturbed postnatal immune response with accelerated NAFLD in juvenile offspring. Here, we investigated associations between WD-induced maternal metabolic and microbiome changes, in the absence of obesity, and miRNA and gene expression changes in the placenta and fetal liver. After ~8-11 months of WD feeding, dams were similar in body weight but exhibited mild, systemic inflammation (elevated CRP and neutrophil count) and dyslipidemia (increased triglycerides and cholesterol) compared with dams fed a control diet. The maternal gut microbiome was mainly comprised of Lactobacillales and Clostridiales, with significantly decreased alpha diversity (P = 0.0163) in WD-fed dams but no community-wide differences (P = 0.26). At 0.9 gestation, mRNA expression of IL6 and TNF in maternal WD (mWD) exposed placentas trended higher, while increased triglycerides, expression of pro-inflammatory CCR2, and histological evidence for fibrosis were found in mWD-exposed fetal livers. In the mWD-exposed fetus, hepatic expression levels of miR-204-5p and miR-145-3p were significantly downregulated, whereas in mWD-exposed placentas, miR-182-5p and miR-183-5p were significantly decreased. Notably, miR-1285-3p expression in the liver and miR-183-5p in the placenta were significantly associated with inflammation and lipid synthesis pathway genes, respectively. Blautia and Ruminococcus were significantly associated with miR-122-5p in liver, while Coriobacteriaceae and Prevotellaceae were strongly associated with miR-1285-3p in the placenta; both miRNAs are implicated in pathways mediating postnatal growth and obesity. Our findings demonstrate that mWD shifts the maternal microbiome, lipid metabolism, and inflammation prior to obesity and are associated with epigenetic changes in the placenta and fetal liver. These changes may underlie inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis patterns that drive NAFLD and metabolic disease risk in the next generation.
The role of maternal DNA methylation in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes
Authors: Dias Stephanie , Willmer Tarryn , Adam Sumaiya , Pheiffer Carmen
Published: September 2022

Diabetes in pregnancy is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and poses a serious threat to the health of mother and child. Although the pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie the association between maternal diabetes and pregnancy complications have not yet been elucidated, it has been suggested that the frequency and severity of pregnancy complications are linked to the degree of hyperglycemia. Epigenetic mechanisms reflect gene-environment interactions and have emerged as key players in metabolic adaptation to pregnancy and the development of complications. DNA methylation, the best characterized epigenetic mechanism, has been reported to be dysregulated during various pregnancy complications, including pre-eclampsia, hypertension, diabetes, early pregnancy loss and preterm birth. The identification of altered DNA methylation patterns may serve to elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie the different types of maternal diabetes during pregnancy. This review aims to provide a summary of existing knowledge on DNA methylation patterns in pregnancies complicated by pregestational type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Four databases, CINAHL, Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar, were searched for studies on DNA methylation profiling in pregnancies complicated with diabetes. A total of 1985 articles were identified, of which 32 met the inclusion criteria and are included in this review. All studies profiled DNA methylation during GDM or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), while no studies investigated T1DM or T2DM. We highlight the increased methylation of two genes, Hypoxia‐inducible Factor‐3α (HIF3α) and Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor Gamma-coactivator-Alpha (PGC1-α), and the decreased methylation of one gene, Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Alpha (PPARα), in women with GDM compared to pregnant women with normoglycemia that were consistently methylated across diverse populations with varying pregnancy durations, and using different diagnostic criteria, methodologies and biological sources. These findings support the candidacy of these three differentially methylated genes as biomarkers for GDM. Furthermore, these genes may provide insight into the pathways that are epigenetically influenced during maternal diabetes and which should be prioritized and replicated in longitudinal studies and in larger populations to ensure their clinical applicability. Finally, we discuss the challenges and limitations of DNA methylation analysis, and the need for DNA methylation profiling to be conducted in different types of maternal diabetes in pregnancy.
Application of Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Engineered Nanovesicles for Hair Growth: From Mechanisms to Therapeutics
Authors: Gangadaran Prakash , Rajendran Ramya Lakshmi , Kwack Mi Hee , Jeyaraman Madhan , Hong Chae Moon , Sung Young Kwan , Ahn Byeong-Cheol
Published: September 2022

Hair loss is one of the most common disorders that affect both male and female patients. Cell-derived nanovesicles (CDVs) are natural extracellular vesicles and engineered nanovesicles that can carry various biologicals materials such as proteins, lipids, mRNA, miRNA, and DNA. These vesicles can communicate with local or distant cells and are capable of delivering endogenous materials and exogenous drugs for regenerative therapies. Recent studies revealed that CDVs can serve as new treatment strategies for hair growth. Herein, we review current knowledge on the role of CDVs in applications to hair growth. The in-depth understanding of the mechanisms by which CDVs enable therapeutic effects for hair growth may accelerate successful clinical translation of these vesicles for treating hair loss.
Identifying oral disease variables associated with pneumonia emergence by application of machine learning to integrated medical and dental big data to inform eHealth approaches
Authors: Shimpi Neel , Glurich Ingrid , Panny Aloksagar , Hegde Harshad , Scannapieco Frank A. , Acharya Amit
Published: September 2022

Background

The objective of this study was to build models that define variables contributing to pneumonia risk by applying supervised Machine Learning (ML) to medical and oral disease data to define key risk variables contributing to pneumonia emergence for any pneumonia/pneumonia subtypes.

Methods

Retrospective medical and dental data were retrieved from the Marshfield Clinic Health System's data warehouse and the integrated electronic medical-dental health records (iEHR). Retrieved data were preprocessed prior to conducting analyses and included matching of cases to controls by (a) race/ethnicity and (b) 1:1 Case: Control ratio. Variables with >30% missing data were excluded from analysis. Datasets were divided into four subsets: (1) All Pneumonia (all cases and controls); (2) community (CAP)/healthcare-associated (HCAP) pneumonias; (3) ventilator-associated (VAP)/hospital-acquired (HAP) pneumonias; and (4) aspiration pneumonia (AP). Performance of five algorithms was compared across the four subsets: Naïve Bayes, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP), and Random Forests. Feature (input variables) selection and 10-fold cross validation was performed on all the datasets. An evaluation set (10%) was extracted from the subsets for further validation. Model performance was evaluated in terms of total accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, F-measure, Mathews-correlation-coefficient, and area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

Results

In total, 6,034 records (cases and controls) met eligibility for inclusion in the main dataset. After feature selection, the variables retained in the subsets were: All Pneumonia (n = 29 variables), CAP-HCAP (n = 26 variables), VAP-HAP (n = 40 variables), and AP (n = 37 variables). Variables retained (n = 22) were common across all four pneumonia subsets. Of these, the number of missing teeth, periodontal status, periodontal pocket depth more than 5 mm, and number of restored teeth contributed to all the subsets and were retained in the model. MLP outperformed other predictive models for All Pneumonia, CAP-HCAP, and AP subsets, while SVM outperformed other models in VAP-HAP subset.

Conclusion

This study validates previously described associations between poor oral health and pneumonia. Benefits of an integrated medical-dental record and care delivery environment for modeling pneumonia risk are highlighted. Based on findings, risk score development could inform referrals and follow-up in integrated healthcare delivery environments and coordinated patient management.
Is the METS-IR Index a Potential New Biomarker for Kidney Stone Development?
Authors: Shen Xudong , Chen Yang , Chen Yan , Liang Hu , Li Guoxiang , Hao Zongyao
Published: September 2022

Objective

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the METS-IR index is associated with kidney stones in American adults.

Method

Participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database from 2007-2018 were selected for logistic regression analysis, subgroup analyses, and the calculation of dose-response curves to assess the association between the METS-IR index and the incidence of kidney stones.

Result

This study enrolled 30,612 adults aged >20 years, 2901 of whom self-reported having had kidney stones in the past. And, after controlling for potential confounders, each unit increase in the METS-IR index was linked with a 1.23 percent rise in kidney stone incidence (OR= 1.0123, 95% CI: 1.0092 - 1.0155), with stratified analysis indicating that this was true in all subgroups. Between all groups, an elevated METS-IR index was related to kidney stone formation, and the dose-response curve revealed a positive non-linear connection between METS-IR index and kidney stone risk, with a threshold effect analysis revealing an inflection point value of 50.8314.

Conclusion

Higher METS-IR index is associated with the occurrence of kidney stones,and while no causative association can be shown, this is cause for concern.
Identifying key mutations of radioresponsive genes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Xu Xin , Wang Yuming , Bai Yongrui , Lu Jun , Guo Yuntao , Wang Xiaohang , Rong Ling , Tang Jianmin , Ma Xiumei , Ma Jun , Zhang Lei
Published: September 2022

Background

Radiotherapy plays an important effect on the standard therapy of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, the efficacy of the therapy is limited and a few patients do not achieve satisfactory treatment results due to the existence of radiation resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the potential predictive biomarkers and treatment targets for ESCC.

Methods

We performed the whole-exome sequencing to determine the germline and somatic mutations in ESCC. Functional enrichment and pathway-based protein-protein interaction analyses were used to ascertain potential regulatory networks. Cell survival and cell death after treatment with radiotherapy were determined by CCK-8 and LDH release assays in ESCC cells. The correlations of NOTCH1 and tumor immune infiltration were also analyzed in ESCC.

Results

Our results showed that 344 somatic and 65 germline differentially mutated genes were detected to be radiosensitivity-related loci. The tumor mutational burdens (TMB) or microsatellite instability (MSI) were not significantly correlated with the response to radiotherapy in ESCC patients. Pathway-based protein-protein interaction analyses implied several hub genes with most nodes (such as PIK3CA, NOTCH1, STAT3 and KDR). The in vitro studies showed that the knockdown of NOTCH1 inhibited cell survival and rendered more cell death after the treatment with radiotherapy in ESCC cells, while NOTCH1 overexpression had the opposite effects. Moreover, NOTCH1, frequently up-regulated in ESCC, was negatively correlated with activated B cell and immature dendritic cell in ESCC. High expression of NOTCH1 was accompanied with the low levels of some immunotherapy-related cells, including CD8(+) T cells and NK cells.

Conclusions

These results indicate the differences of the germline mutations and somatic mutations between the radiosensitive and radioresistence groups in ESCC and imply that NOTCH1 plays important roles in regulating the radiosensitivity of ESCC. The findings might provide the biomarkers and potential treatment targets for improving the sensitivity to radiotherapy in ESCC.
Sustainable, integrated control of native vectors: The case of Chagas disease in Central America
Authors: Dorn Patricia L. , Monroy M. Carlota , Stevens Lori
Published: September 2022

Despite successes in reducing transmission, Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) remains the greatest economic burden of any parasitic disease in Latin America afflicting mostly the poor and further contributing to poverty. We review a long-term (2001-2022), integrated Ecohealth approach that addresses sustainable development goals to reduce risk of Chagas transmission by the main native vector in Central America, Triatoma dimidiata, s.l. The basis of the Ecohealth intervention was the identification of the risk factors for house infestation, an understanding of and collaboration with local communities, and genetic and proteomic studies that revealed the epidemiology and mechanisms of the rapid reinfestation seen following insecticide application. We review the development of this approach from a pilot project in two Guatemalan villages, to an expanded initiative across three countries with vastly different ecology, cultures, and municipal organization, and finally development of a multi-institutional, large-scale project to develop a strategy to tackle the remaining hot spots in Central America. This integrated Ecohealth approach resulted in reduced risk of transmission as measured by a sustained decrease in house infestation without further use of insecticides, a reduction in vectors with human blood meals and the Chagas parasite, as well as other health and economic benefits. We discuss lessons learned and how this approach could be applied to other vector-borne diseases.
Prognostic value of myopic disk deformation in myopic choroidal neovascularization: A 6-year follow-up study
Authors: Han Ye Eun , Kim Yoon Jeon , Yang Hyun Seung , Moon Byung Gill , Lee Joo Yong , Kim June-Gone , Yoon Young Hee
Published: September 2022

Purpose

To evaluate the clinical characteristics of myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) according to peripapillary atrophy (PPA) and optic disk tilt and to explore whether those myopic disk deformations are associated with the prognosis of mCNV.

Methods

Patients with subfoveal mCNV who received intravitreal bevacizumab injection and followed for ≥3 years were included. PPA was quantified as area of the ß-zone PPA/disk area ratio (PDR) and optic disk tilt as the tilt ratio (the longest/shortest disk diameter). We compared the clinical characteristics in terms of PDR and tilt ratio and identified the poor prognostic factors using Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard model.

Results

Among 80 eyes of 80 patients, 29 (36.30%) eyes developed macular atrophy during 80.71 ± 34.76 months. PDR and tilt ratio are strongly correlated with each other (P = 0.004). Higher PDR showed significant correlations with longer axial length (P = 0.013), worse baseline and final VA (P = 0.007 and P = 0.047), and thinner subfoveal choroidal thickness (P = 0.039), while higher tilt ratio showed significant correlations only with longer axial length (P = 0.036). High PDR was also an independent risk factor for both macular atrophy (OR = 2.257, P < 0.001) and poor visual outcome (HR = 1.174, P = 0.007), while high disk tilt ratio was not.

Conclusion

Subfoveal mCNV with higher ß-zone PPA area/disk area ratio had worse functional and structural outcomes.
Genome-based analysis of infrequent Salmonella serotypes through the Thai pork production chain
Authors: Eiamsam-ang Thanaporn , Tadee Pakpoom , Pascoe Ben , Patchanee Prapas
Published: September 2022

Salmonella is a prevalent zoonotic foodborne pathogen. Swine and pork are implicated as important sources of salmonellosis in humans. In Chiang Mai and Lamphun Provinces in northern Thailand, there has been a high prevalence of Salmonella persistence for over a decade. Infection is usually with dominant S. enterica serotypes, including serotypes Rissen and 1,4,[5],12:i:-. However, other serotypes also contribute to disease but are less well characterized. The whole genome sequencing data of 43 S. enterica serotypes isolated from pork production chain through 2011–2014, were used to evaluate genetic diversity and ascertain the possible source of Salmonella contamination based on Core Genome Multilocus Sequence Typing (cgMLST) approach. The Salmonella serotypes recovered from farms and slaughterhouses were re-circulating by swine environmental contamination. Conversely, the Salmonella contamination in the retail market represents cross-contamination from multiple sources, including contaminated foodstuffs. Salmonella contamination in the pork production chain has the competency for host cell adhesion, host cell invasion, and intracellular survival, which is enough for the pathogenicity of salmonellosis. In addition, all of these isolates were multi-drug resistant Salmonella, which contained at least 10 antimicrobial resistance genes. This result indicated that these S. enterica serotypes also pose a significant public health risk. Our findings support the need for appropriate surveillance of food-animal products going to market to reduce public exposure to highly pathogenic, multi-drug resistant Salmonella. Acquiring information would motivate all stakeholders to reinforce sanitation standards throughout the pork production chain in order to eradicate Salmonella contamination and reduce the risk of salmonellosis in humans.
Effects of a new speech support application on intensive speech therapy and changes in functional brain connectivity in patients with post-stroke aphasia
Authors: Katsuno Yuta , Ueki Yoshino , Ito Keiichi , Murakami Satona , Aoyama Kiminori , Oishi Naoya , Kan Hirohito , Matsukawa Noriyuki , Nagao Katashi , Tatsumi Hiroshi
Published: September 2022

Aphasia is a language disorder that occurs after a stroke and impairs listening, speaking, reading, writing, and calculation skills. Patients with post-stroke aphasia in Japan are increasing due to population aging and the advancement of medical treatment. Opportunities for adequate speech therapy in chronic stroke are limited due to time constraints. Recent studies have reported that intensive speech therapy for a short period of time or continuous speech therapy using high-tech equipment, including speech applications (apps, can improve aphasia even in the chronic stage. However, its underlying mechanism for improving language function and its effect on other cognitive functions remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether intensive speech therapy using a newly developed speech support app could improve aphasia and other cognitive functions in patients with chronic stroke. Furthermore, we examined whether it can alter the brain network related to language and other cortical areas. Thus, we conducted a prospective, single-comparison study to examine the effects of a new speech support app on language and cognitive functions and used resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) regions of interest (ROI) to ROI analysis to determine changes in the related brain network. Two patients with chronic stroke participated in this study. They used the independent speech therapy system to perform eight sets of 20 randomly presented words/time (taking approximately 20 min), for 8 consecutive weeks. Their language, higher cognitive functions including attention function, and rs-fMRI, were evaluated before and after the rehabilitation intervention using the speech support app. Both patients had improved pronunciation, daily conversational situations, and attention. The rs-fMRI analysis showed increased functional connectivity of brain regions associated with language and attention related areas. Our results show that intensive speech therapy using this speech support app can improve language and attention functions even in the chronic stage of stroke, and may be a useful tool for patients with aphasia. In the future, we will conduct longitudinal studies with larger numbers of patients, which we hope will continue the trends seen in the current study, and provide even stronger evidence for the usefulness of this new speech support app.
Mapping and Validating a Point Neuron Model on Intel's Neuromorphic Hardware Loihi
Authors: Dey Srijanie , Dimitrov Alexander
Published: September 2022

Neuromorphic hardware is based on emulating the natural biological structure of the brain. Since its computational model is similar to standard neural models, it could serve as a computational accelerator for research projects in the field of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, including biomedical applications. However, in order to exploit this new generation of computer chips, we ought to perform rigorous simulation and consequent validation of neuromorphic models against their conventional implementations. In this work, we lay out the numeric groundwork to enable a comparison between neuromorphic and conventional platforms. “Loihi”—Intel's fifth generation neuromorphic chip, which is based on the idea of Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) emulating the activity of neurons in the brain, serves as our neuromorphic platform. The work here focuses on Leaky Integrate and Fire (LIF) models based on neurons in the mouse primary visual cortex and matched to a rich data set of anatomical, physiological and behavioral constraints. Simulations on classical hardware serve as the validation platform for the neuromorphic implementation. We find that Loihi replicates classical simulations very efficiently with high precision. As a by-product, we also investigate Loihi's potential in terms of scalability and performance and find that it scales notably well in terms of run-time performance as the simulated networks become larger.
Deep learning and optical coherence tomography in glaucoma: Bridging the diagnostic gap on structural imaging
Authors: Thompson Atalie C. , Falconi Aurelio , Sappington Rebecca M.
Published: September 2022

Glaucoma is a leading cause of progressive blindness and visual impairment worldwide. Microstructural evidence of glaucomatous damage to the optic nerve head and associated tissues can be visualized using optical coherence tomography (OCT). In recent years, development of novel deep learning (DL) algorithms has led to innovative advances and improvements in automated detection of glaucomatous damage and progression on OCT imaging. DL algorithms have also been trained utilizing OCT data to improve detection of glaucomatous damage on fundus photography, thus improving the potential utility of color photos which can be more easily collected in a wider range of clinical and screening settings. This review highlights ten years of contributions to glaucoma detection through advances in deep learning models trained utilizing OCT structural data and posits future directions for translation of these discoveries into the field of aging and the basic sciences.
High detection rate for disease-causing variants in a cohort of 30 Iranian pediatric steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome cases
Authors: Najafi Maryam , Riedhammer Korbinian M. , Rad Aboulfazl , Torbati Paria Najarzadeh , Berutti Riccardo , Schüle Isabel , Schroda Sophie , Meitinger Thomas , Ćomić Jasmina , Bojd Simin Sadeghi , Baranzehi Tayebeh , Shojaei Azadeh , Azarfar Anoush , Khazaei Mahmood Reza , Köttgen Anna , Backofen Rolf , Karimiani Ehsan Ghayoor , Hoefele Julia , Schmidts Miriam
Published: September 2022

Background

Steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) represents a significant renal disease burden in childhood and adolescence. In contrast to steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS), renal outcomes are significantly poorer in SRNS. Over the past decade, extensive genetic heterogeneity has become evident while disease-causing variants are still only identified in 30% of cases in previously reported studies with proportion and type of variants identified differing depending on the age of onset and ethnical background of probands. A genetic diagnosis however can have implications regarding clinical management, including kidney transplantation, extrarenal disease manifestations, and, in some cases, even causal therapy. Genetic diagnostics therefore play an important role for the clinical care of SRNS affected individuals.

Methodology and results

Here, we performed NPHS2 Sanger sequencing and subsequent exome sequencing in 30 consanguineous Iranian families with a child affected by SRNS with a mean age of onset of 16 months. We identified disease-causing variants and one variant of uncertain significance in 22 families (73%), including variants in NPHS1 (30%), followed by NPHS2 (20%), WT1 (7%) as well as in NUP205, COQ6, ARHGDIA, SGPL1, and NPHP1 in single cases. Eight of these variants have not previously been reported as disease-causing, including four NPHS1 variants and one variant in NPHS2, ARHGDIA, SGPL1, and NPHP1 each.

Conclusion

In line with previous studies in non-Iranian subjects, we most frequently identified disease-causing variants in NPHS1 and NPHS2. While Sanger sequencing of NPHS2 can be considered as first diagnostic step in non-congenital cases, the genetic heterogeneity underlying SRNS renders next-generation sequencing based diagnostics as the most efficient genetic screening method. In accordance with the mainly autosomal recessive inheritance pattern, diagnostic yield can be significantly higher in consanguineous than in outbred populations.
Combinatorial treatments of tamoxifen and SM6Met, an extract from Cyclopia subternata Vogel, are superior to either treatment alone in MCF-7 cells
Authors: van Dyk Lorinda , Verhoog Nicolette J. D. , Louw Ann
Published: September 2022

Synergistic drug combinations are not only popular in antibiotic, anti-microbial, immune disease (i.e., AIDS) and viral infection studies, but has also gained traction in the field of cancer research as a multi-targeted approach. It has the potential to lower the doses needed of standard of care (SOC) therapeutic agents, whilst maintaining an effective therapeutic level. Lower dosages could ameliorate the fundamental problems such as drug resistance and metastasis associated with current SOC therapies. In the current study, we show that the combination of SM6Met with (2)-4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OH-Tam, the active metabolite of tamoxifen) produces a strong synergistic effect in terms of inhibiting MCF7 ER-positive (ER+) breast cancer cell proliferation and that a 20 times lower dose of 4-OH-Tam in combination with SM6Met is required to produce the same inhibitory effect on cell proliferation as 4-OH-Tam on its own. Cell cycle analyses of the best combination ratios of SM6Met and 4-OH-Tam also suggests that the combination results in increased accumulation of cells in the S-phase and in the apoptotic phase. Moreover, the best combination ratio (20:1) of SM6Met with 4-OH-Tam displayed greater anti-metastatic potential in terms of inhibiting ER+ breast cancer cell migration, invasion, and colony formation than the SOC therapy alone, suggesting that SM6Met together with 4-OH-Tam could be a viable drug combination for not only delaying resistance and ameliorating the negative side-effects associated with current SOC therapies, like tamoxifen, but could also provide a novel, more affordable therapeutic alternative for treating or preventing ER+ breast cancer metastasis.
Eslicarbazepine acetate is porphyrogenic and should be used with caution in patients with the acute hepatic porphyrias
Authors: Ma Christopher D. , Bonkovsky Herbert L.
Published: September 2022

Eslicarbazepine acetate, a third-generation antiepileptic drug (AED), has shown improved clinical response and safety in comparison to older generation AEDs for patients with partial-onset seizures. It is currently not known whether eslicarbazepine acetate is safe to use in patients with the acute hepatic porphyrias (AHPs) since a few first-generation AEDs, such as phenobarbital and carbamazepine, are known porphyrogenic agents. In this study, we used a recently published in vitro fluorescence-based screening assay to screen for porphyrogenicity in various agents. The assay confirmed that among the tested compounds used, allyl isopropyl acetamide, carbamazepine, eslicarbazepine acetate, and phenobarbital were porphyrogenic. Thus, eslicarbazepine acetate should be avoided if possible in patients with the AHPs, but if initiated, patients should be closely monitored and the drug should be discontinued if a porphyric exacerbation occurs.
Effects of three modes of physical activity on physical fitness and hematological parameters in older people with sarcopenic obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhuang Min , Jin Mengdie , Lu Tijiang , Lu Linqian , Ainsworth Barbara E. , Liu Yu , Chen Nan
Published: September 2022

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the effects of three modes of physical activity (PA) (aerobic training [AT], resistance training [RT], and aerobic combined with resistance training [MT]) on body composition (body weight [BW], body mass index [BMI] and percentage of body fat [BF%]), muscle mass (skeletal muscle mass [SM], appendicular skeletal muscle mass [ASM] and appendicular skeletal muscle mass index [ASMI]), muscle strength (handgrip strength [HG] and knee extension strength [KES]), physical performance (gait speed [GS]) and hematological parameters (inflammatory markers, insulin-like growth factor 1 [IGF-1] and lipid profiles) in older people with sarcopenic obesity (SO).

Methods: We searched all studies for PA effects in older people with SO from six databases published from January 2010 to November 2021. Two researchers independently screened studies, extracted data according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, and assessed the quality of included studies. Pooled analyses for pre-and post- outcome measures were performed by Review Manager 5.4. We calculated a meta-analysis with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and the standardized mean differences (SMD).

Results: 12 studies were analyzed. There were 614 older people (84.9% female) with SO, aged 58.4 to 88.4 years. Compared with a no-PA control group, AT decreased BW (SMD = −0.64, 95% CI: −1.13 to −0.16, p = 0.009, I2 = 0%) and BMI (SMD = −0.69, 95% CI: −1.18 to −0.21, p = 0.005, I2 = 0%); RT improved BF% (SMD = −0.43, 95% CI: −0.63 to −0.22, p < 0.0001, I2 = 38%), ASMI (SMD = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.24 to 1.21, p = 0.004, I2 = 0%), ASM (SMD = −0.94, 95% CI: −1.46 to −0.42, p = 0.0004), HG (SMD = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.22 to 1.91, p = 0.01, I2 = 90%) and KES (SMD = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.73 to 1.39, p < 0.00001, I2 = 14%); MT improved BMI (SMD = −0.77, 95% CI: −1.26 to −0.28, p = 0.002, I2 = 0%), BF% (SMD = −0.54, 95% CI: −0.83 to −0.25, p = 0.0003, I2 = 0%), ASMI (SMD = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.22 to 1.19, p = 0.005, I2 = 0%) and GS (SMD = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.23 to 1.18, p = 0.004, I2 = 37%). PA increased IGF-1 (SMD = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.11 to 0.66, p = 0.006, I2 = 0%), but had no effect on inflammatory markers and lipid profiles.

Conclusion: PA is an effective treatment to improve body composition, muscle mass, muscle strength, physical performance, and IGF-1 in older people with SO.
A multifaceted comparison between the fruit-abscission and fruit-retention cultivars in ornamental crabapple
Authors: Wang Xue , Wang Yi , Yan Shufang , Sun Xuan , Liu Hongyan , Cheng Beibei , Xu Xingxing , Wei Zunzheng , Zhang Guojun
Published: September 2022

The ornamental crabapple is a multipurpose landscaping tree that bears brilliant fruit throughout the winter. However, whether or not its fruit persists after maturation is specifically correlated to cultivar characteristics. In this work, we screened two different types that display fruit-retention (“Donald Wyman,” “Red Jewel,” and “Sugar Tyme”) and fruit-abscission (“Radiant” and “Flame”) in Northern China across the whole winter using multi-year successional records. Fruit-abscission was determined predominantly by the abscission zone established at the base of the pedicel, regardless of fruit size and pedicel length, according to the results of the comparative research. The primary physiological rationale was the accumulation of hydrolases activity (pectinesterase, cellulase, polygalacturonase, and β-glucosidase). Comparative transcriptomics further identified a number of upregulated DEGs involved in the synthesis pathways of canonical phytohormones, such as ethylene, jasmonic acid, abscisic acid, and cytokinin, as well as 12 transcription factors linked in downstream signaling in fruit-abscission cultivars. Finally, a model incorporating multi-layered modulation was proposed for the fruit abscission of ornamental crabapple. This study will serve as the foundation for the development of fruit-viewing crabapples that have an extended ornamental lifetime.
Plant-endophyte mediated improvement in physiological and bio-protective abilities of marigold (Tagetes patula)
Authors: Naveed Muhammad , Hafeez Sidra , Rafique Munazza , Mumtaz Muhammad Zahid , Subhani Zinayyera , Holatko Jiri , Hammerschmiedt Tereza , Malicek Ondrej , Mustafa Adnan , Kintl Antonin , Brtnicky Martin
Published: September 2022

Endophytic bacteria improve the growth, physiology, and metabolite profile of plants. They are known as potential biocontrol agents of soil-borne diseases. This study evaluated the effects of endophytic bacterial strains on growth, vase life, biochemical attributes, and antioxidant and nematicidal activities of French marigold (Tagetes patula). French marigold seeds were sole and consortium inoculated with three promising endophytic bacterial strains, Burkholderia phytofirmans (PsJN), Enterobacter sp. (MN17), and Bacillus sp. (MN54). The vase life of French marigold was promoted by 66.6% in the individual application of PsJN and 100% in plants treated with consortium compared to the uninoculated control. The shoot and root fresh weights were also increased by 65.9 and 68.7%, with the combined application of all three strains. The total phenolics, flavonoid, and protein contents were higher in consortium treatment with an increase of up to 38.0, 55.9, and 65.9%, respectively, compared to the uninoculated control. Furthermore, combined application of endophytic bacterial strains promoted DPPH radical scavenging, mortality of plant-parasitic nematodes, and ferric reducing antioxidant power activities with increase of up to 278.0, 103.8, and 178.0%, respectively, compared to uninoculated control. An increase in antioxidant activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were observed up to 77.3, 86.0, 91.6, and 102.9%, respectively by combined application of endophytic bacterial strains. So, given the economic importance of floriculture crops, endophytic bacterial isolates studied here have shown a great potential for improving the productivity of cultivated ornamental French marigold.
Modeling the interplay between emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and L2 grit in higher education
Authors: Zheng Shengtao , Heydarnejad Tahereh , Aberash Amhara
Published: September 2022

Teaching in higher education is critical and fraught with potential vicissitudes, which necessitates the presence of efficient professors armed with positive attributes to perform effectively. Although it is generally accepted that emotion regulation (ER) has numerous benefits for language teachers, in particular university professors, little is known about how it interacts with two other important constructs, i.e., self-efficacy and L2 grit. Furthermore, the effect of ER on L2 teacher grit has not been sufficiently investigated. To fill this gap, the current study was to test a structural model of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university professors’ ER, self-efficacy, and L2 grit. The participants were 356 Iranian EFL university professors who completed the Language Teacher Emotion Regulation Inventory (LTERI), the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), and the L2-Teacher Grit Scale (L2TGS). The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that ER and self-efficacy were strong predictors of L2 grit. Moreover, the significant role of self-efficacy on ER was discovered. The implications of this study may foster effective teaching in higher education, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on education.
Family Related Variables’ Influences on Adolescents’ Health Based on Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Database, an AI-Assisted Scoping Review, and Narrative Synthesis
Authors: Huang Yi , Procházková Michaela , Lu Jinjin , Riad Abanoub , Macek Petr
Published: September 2022

Objects

Health Behaviours in School-aged Children (HBSC) is an international survey programme aiming to investigate adolescents’ health behaviours, subjective perception of health status, wellbeing, and the related contextual information. Our scoping review aimed to synthesise the evidence from HBSC about the relationship between family environmental contributors and adolescents’ health-related outcomes.

Methods

We searched previous studies from six electronic databases. Two researchers identified the qualified publications independently by abstract and full-text screening with the assistance of an NLP-based AI instrument, ASReview. Publications were included if they were based on HBSC data and investigated the effects of family environment on adolescents’ health outcomes. Researches addressed family-related factors as mediators or moderators were also included.

Results

A total of 241 articles were included. Family environmental contributors could be mapped into six categories: (1) Demographic backgrounds (N= 177); (2) General family’s psycho-socio functions (N= 44); (3) Parenting behaviours (N= 100); (4) Parental health behaviours (N= 7); (5) Family activities (N= 24); and (6) Siblings (N= 7). Except for 75 papers that assessed family variables as moderators (N= 70) and mediators (N= 7), the others suggested family environment was an independent variable. Only five studies employed the data-driven approach.

Conclusion

Our results suggest most research studies focussed on the influences of family demographic backgrounds on adolescents’ health. The researches related to parental health behaviours and siblings are most inadequate. Besides, we recommend further research studies to focus on the mediator/moderator roles of the family, for exploring the deep mechanism of the family’s impacts. Also, it would be valuable to consider data-driven analysis more in the future, as HBSC has mass variables and data.
The architecture of creditions: Openness and otherness
Authors: Davies Oliver
Published: September 2022

“Creditions” are an important new idea within our contemporary understanding of the human. They potentially represent the unity of both humanistic and scientific ways of modeling the human. As such, “creditions” offer a bridge between current thinking in science and the humanities and the development of a more powerfully integrated interdisciplinary hermeneutic. It is argued in this article that the questions posed by “creditions” (as developed by Rüdiger Seitz and Hans-Ferdinand Angel) cannot be resolved through reduction but rather only through cohesive systematization. In contrast with coherence in conventional science, “credition-centered” thinking finds expression in systemic ways. The complex humanity of the reflective subject resists reduction; and calls to be analyzed in terms of sociality, the identification of “otherness” and interactive engagement. In this context then a thinking which is attuned to complexity and to otherness has an important place in the expression of the social subject as a complex and relational self, in today’s world. These are not however social realities as we find them either in large-scale social schemata, or indeed in the intimacy of the face to face. Rather credition-centered learning falls between these two categories and is best described as “the productive knowledge of community,” where community is generated by productive enhancement and the embrace of otherness over time.