bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed the Common and Divergent Responses of Maize Seedling Leaves to Cold and Heat Stresses
Authors: Li Yongsheng , Wang Xingrong , Li Yue , Zhang Yanjun , Gou Zuowang , Qi Xusheng , Zhang Jinlin
Published: August 2020

Temperature stresses (TS), including cold and heat stress, adversely affect the growth, development, and yield of maize (Zea mays L.). To clarify the molecular mechanisms of the tolerance of maize seedling leaves to TS, we applied transcriptomic sequencing of an inbred maize line, B73, with seedlings exposed to various temperature conditions, including normal temperature (NT, 25 °C), cold (4, 10, and 16 °C), and heat (37, 42, and 48 °C) stresses. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in different comparison between the NT sample and each temperature-stressed sample, with 5358, 5485, 5312, 1095, 2006, and 4760 DEGs responding to TS of 4, 10, 16, 37, 42, and 48 °C, respectively. For cold and heat stresses, 189 DEGs enriched in the hydrogen peroxidase metabolic process, cellular modified amino acid metabolic process, and sulfur compound metabolic process were common. The DEGs encoding calcium signaling and reactive oxygen species scavenging enzymes demonstrated similar expression characterizations, whereas the DEGs encoding transcription factors, such as ERF, ARF, and HSF, hormone signaling, and heat shock proteins, displayed divergent expression models, implying both common and divergent responses to cold and heat stresses in maize seedling leaves. Co-expression network analysis showed that functional DEGs associated with the core regulators in response to cold and heat stresses were significantly correlated with TS, indicating their vital roles in cold and heat adaptation, respectively. Our investigation focused on the response to gradient TS, and the results presented a relatively comprehensive category of genes involved in differential TS responses. These will contribute a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of maize seedling leaf responses to TS and provide valuable genetic resources for breeding TS tolerant varieties of maize.
Wheel Load and Wheel Pass Frequency as Indicators for Soil Compaction Risk: A Four-Year Analysis of Traffic Intensity at Field Scale
Authors: Augustin Katja , Kuhwald Michael , Brunotte Joachim , Duttmann Rainer
Published: August 2020

Avoiding soil compaction is one of the objectives to ensure sustainable agriculture. Subsoil compaction in particular can be irreversible. Frequent passages by (increasingly heavy) agricultural machinery are one trigger for compaction. The aim of this work is to map and analyze the extent of traffic intensity over four years. The analysis is made for complete seasons and individual operations. The traffic intensity is distinguished into areas with more than five wheel passes, more than 5 Mg and 3 Mg wheel load. From 2014 to 2018, 63 work processes on a field were recorded and the wheel load and wheel passes were modeled spatially with FiTraM. Between 82% (winter wheat) and 100% (sugar beet) of the total infield area is trafficked during a season. The sugar beet season has the highest intensities. High intensities of more than five wheel passes and more than 5 Mg wheel load occur mainly during harvests in the headland. At wheel load ≥3 Mg, soil tillage also stresses the headland. In summary, no work process stays below one of the upper thresholds set. Based on the results, the importance of a soil-conserving management becomes obvious in order to secure the soil for agriculture in a sustainable way.
Offshore Mysteries, Narrative Infrastructure: Oil, Noir, and the World-Ocean
Authors: Pitt Scott Harry
Published: August 2020

Situated within debates of world literature, petrocultures, and the blue humanities, this article provides a methodological approach to interpreting genre, energy forms, and world-literature. This relies on Dominic Boyer’s concept of ‘energopolitics’ (adapted from Foucault’s biopolitics), which considers the codependence of political power, electricity, fuel and energy infrastructure. Echoing Fredric Jameson (1981) and Patricia Yaeger (2011), the article argues that looking for a text’s ‘energopolitical unconscious’ is a means of discerning the way energopolitics and energy are encoded in world-literary plot, form, and genre. Then, it turns to a comparative reading of two novels, Carlos Fuentes’s The Hydra Head (1978) and Ian Rankin’s Black & Blue (1997), to argue that such novels provide an understanding of relationships between world-literary genre, forms of energy, and the world-oceanic regime of the offshore. The offshore is a juridical-spatial regime that circumvents nation-state regulation through extraterritorial ownership practices. It is a political and infrastructural power over the oceanic flows of capital and energy, to produce a spatial environment that exceeds the juridical boundaries of nation-states. Thus, if the world-ocean is the space upon which fossil capital depends for its realisation, the offshore is the legal form of fossil capital in the world-ocean. Finally, the article argues that noir mysteries are the genre of the offshore, as it is a genre particularly capable of indexing its social tensions. Noir’s settings and atmospheres are intimately connected with petromodernity’s infrastructure: hotels, highways, flickering streetlights and eerie hinterlands, ports and warehouses; the mystery is an excellent formal device, providing both narratorial motivation and a code for traversing imagined territories and detecting their secrets. At the same time, noir’s generic investment in investigations of legality and power—its ‘legal grammar’—makes it a useful stage through which to pursue questions of sovereignty, ocean-space, territory, and juridical forms.
Physicians’ Perspectives on COVID-19: An International Survey
Authors: Dima Alina , Balaban Daniel Vasile , Jurcut Ciprian , Berza Ioana , Jurcut Ruxandra , Jinga Mariana
Published: August 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has put a tremendous pressure over health care systems worldwide. Physicians were faced to fight this novel, emerging disease, without evidence-based recommendations. Our aim was to investigate physicians’ point of view regarding the new coronavirus disease. We designed an on-line survey with 30 questions to assess physicians’ perception of personal impact as well as epidemiology, clinical features, management, and outcome in COVID-19. A total of 194 physicians from 43 countries, of which 42.3% were male, 45.4% had more than 5 years’ experience and 10.8% were heads of department/professors, filled-out the questionnaire. Although 47.4% of the physicians were currently treating patients, over 80% thought that they might get in contact with COVID-19 patients. A total of 36.6% physicians thought that they are not and 30.9% were not sure if they were being protected by the ongoing procedures. A total of 21.1% of the doctors felt that they are avoided by the persons with whom they usually interact in daily life and 24.7% were isolated from the household members they usually live with. A total of 72.7% of physicians considered that COVID-19-free patients are currently neglected. The results of the current survey raise awareness about the impact of COVID-19 on physicians’ practice.
Psychosocial Determinants of Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Japanese Adolescents: A School-Based Study in Japan
Authors: Sato Yoshiko , Miyanaga Masamitsu , Wang Da-Hong
Published: August 2020

A few studies in Japan have demonstrated positive attitudes, self-efficacy, social support, and perceived barrier were associated with fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake in adults; however, limited evidence addresses the association of psychosocial factors with F&V intake in adolescents. A cross-sectional study through a questionnaire survey was conducted at junior and senior high schools, and 933 students completed the questionnaire. Data were analyzed by X2 test and Student t-test. The findings demonstrated 2.7% of participants were aware of the current recommendations for vegetable and 2.0% for fruit. Only 4% and 8.1% of participants reported they consumed recommended amount of vegetables and fruits. In comparison with males, females showed higher scores of attitude (p < 0.01), responsibility (p < 0.01), and social support (p < 0.01). The barriers to vegetable intake were “I’m eating enough now”, “not always available when eating away from home”; the barriers to fruit intake were “don’t have a habit of having 100% juice or fruit in the morning”, and “cost too much”. The findings suggest the change of adolescents’ knowledge about what they should eat is needed in boosting F&V consumption. The development of an intervention program for adolescents needs to target socio-environmental factors such as family support, and nutritional education for early healthy habit formation.
Imbalances in the Study of the Relationship between Leisure and Self-Esteem: A Systematic Review
Authors: Codina Nuria , Freire Teresa
Published: August 2020

This systematic review offers a comprehensive examination of the relationship between leisure and self-esteem. The different perspectives were analyzed according to a framework that includes the different approaches for defining and measuring leisure, and a similar one was proposed for self-esteem. Articles indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) up to the end of 2018 were reviewed, specifically those that contained the keywords “leisure”, “self-esteem” or “self esteem” anywhere in the manuscript. Articles that did not present the qualitative or quantitative instruments needed to evaluate leisure or self-esteem were excluded. A total of 49 articles included the final quantitative synthesis. The overall findings showed that the prevailing methodology was objective (external). As regards content, the following combinations predominated: the behavioral approach to leisure with the unidimensional approach to self-esteem and the experiential approach to leisure with the unidimensional approach to self-esteem. Less studies were observed with the combination of mixed approaches and more comprehensive analyses: the behavioral-experiential combined with the multidimensional. To conclude, this study shows there is a demand for further empirical studies that explore the relationships between leisure and self-esteem. It also identified which approaches are most desirable to expand our understanding of the relationships between leisure and self-esteem.
How Czech Adolescents Perceive Active Commuting to School: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Vorlíček Michal , Baďura Petr , Mitáš Josef , Kolarčik Peter , Rubín Lukáš , Vašíčková Jana , Salonna Ferdinand
Published: August 2020

To achieve a healthy lifestyle, adolescents must be physically active and meet physical activity (PA) guidelines. One of the most natural ways of increasing the amount of PA is active commuting (AC) to school. Recent reviews suggest that peer norms have the potential to shape PA during adolescence in particular. Thus, our primary aim was to investigate whether Czech adolescents misperceive their peers’ AC behaviors and attitudes towards AC. Our dataset comprised cross-sectional data on 1586 adolescents aged 11–15 years. Basic descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and correlation analyses were used to analyze the data. Regarding traveling to school, 68% of the Czech adolescents in this study are daily active commuters (walking, cycling, or riding a scooter or skateboard). Less than half of the respondents believed that most of their classmates were commuting to school actively almost daily. The students who believed that most of their classmates commuted to school actively had significantly higher chances of being regular active commuters themselves. The results showed that most of the Czech adolescents misperceived the AC norms of their peers. Thus, there could be potential in using a social norms approach aimed at increasing the level of AC in Czech adolescents through targeted interventions.
Management of Primary Dysmenorrhea among University Students in the South of Spain and Family Influence
Authors: Parra-Fernández María Laura , Onieva-Zafra María Dolores , Abreu-Sánchez Ana , Ramos-Pichardo Juan Diego , Iglesias-López María Teresa , Fernández-Martínez Elia
Published: August 2020

The present study analyses the management of primary dysmenorrhea by university students in the south of Spain. In this cross-sectional observational study, 224 women participated, using an ad hoc self-report questionnaire about menstrual pain and self-care and including sociodemographic and gynecological variables. Some 76.8% of participants consumed analgesics and the majority self-medicated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) without consulting a health professional, with a correlation between pain intensity and the number of pills ingested during menstruation (r = 0.151, p < 0.05). The higher proportion of women who found their analgesia effective were those who took medication after being prescribed by a health care provider (60.8%) compared to those who self-medicated (40%; p < 0.01). Only 43.8% employed non-pharmaceutical methods, most commonly antalgic positions, massages and local heat. These choices were not related to the intensity of menstrual pain nor with the severity of the dysmenorrhea, nor did these most common methods prove to be the most effective. However, a higher percentage of women using non-pharmacological methods was identified in women with family members suffering from dysmenorrhea (73.2%) compared to those without (60%; p = 0.040), which may indicate that the choice of remedies is more related to learning self-care in the family context. This study identifies the need for education on self-care and management of menstrual pain.
Smoking and Mental Illness: Prevalence, Patterns and Correlates of Smoking and Smoking Cessation among Psychiatric Patients
Authors: Asharani P. V. , Ling Seet Vanessa Ai , Abdin Edimansyah , Siva Kumar Fiona Devi , Wang Peizhi , Roystonn Kumarasan , Lee Ying Ying , Cetty Laxman , Teh Wen Lin , Verma Swapna , Mok Yee Ming , Fung Daniel Shuen Sheng , Chong Siow Ann , Subramaniam Mythily
Published: August 2020

This study aims to understand (a) the prevalence and correlates of smoking in a psychiatric population, (b) factors that encourage smoking cessation, and (c) awareness towards cessation programmes. This study captured data (n = 380) through a modified version of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). A descriptive analysis of the data was performed. The prevalence of smoking was 39.5% (n = 150) and 52.3% of the smokers were dependent on nicotine. More than half of the smokers had made at least one attempt to quit in the past 12 months and 56% reported no immediate plans to quit smoking. The awareness towards institutional smoking cessation programmes was fair (44%), with 49.7% of smokers having indicated that they were willing to use the service upon referral. Smokers endorsed that increasing the cost of cigarettes, restricting availability, and increasing knowledge of health harms could encourage smoking cessation. Past smokers reported that self-determination/willpower followed by substitution of smoking with other types of foods and drinks were factors that helped them achieve successful cessation. Given that the readiness to quit and awareness towards cessation programmes are low among the smokers, concerted efforts through educational programmes and policy changes are crucial to achieve successful cessation.
Thermotherapy Plus Neck Stabilization Exercise for Chronic Nonspecific Neck Pain in Elderly: A Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Shin Ho-Jin , Kim Sung-Hyeon , Hahm Suk-Chan , Cho Hwi-Young
Published: August 2020

Neck pain is a serious problem for public health. This study aimed to compare the effects of thermotherapy plus neck stabilization exercise versus neck stabilization exercise alone on pain, neck disability, muscle properties, and alignment of the neck and shoulder in the elderly with chronic nonspecific neck pain. This study is a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Thirty-five individuals with chronic nonspecific neck pain were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 18) or control (n = 17) groups. The intervention group received thermotherapy with a salt-pack for 30 min and performed a neck stabilization exercise for 40 min twice a day for 5 days (10 sessions). The control group performed a neck stabilization exercise at the same time points. Pain intensity, pain pressure threshold (PPT), neck disability index, muscle properties, and alignment of the neck and shoulder were evaluated before and after the intervention. Significant time and group interactions were observed for pain at rest (p < 0.001) and during movement (p < 0.001), and for PPT at the upper-trapezius (p < 0.001), levator-scapula (p = 0.003), and splenius-capitis (p = 0.001). The disability caused by neck pain also significantly changed between groups over time (p = 0.005). In comparison with the control group, the intervention group showed significant improvements in muscle properties for the upper-trapezius (tone, p = 0.021; stiffness, p = 0.017), levator-scapula (stiffness, p = 0.025; elasticity, p = 0.035), and splenius-capitis (stiffness, p = 0.012), and alignment of the neck (p = 0.016) and shoulder (p < 0.001) over time. These results recommend the clinical use of salt pack thermotherapy in addition to neck stabilization exercise as a complementary intervention for chronic nonspecific neck pain control.
Evidence-Based Considerations Exploring Relations between SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Air Pollution: Involvement of PM2.5-Mediated Up-Regulation of the Viral Receptor ACE-2
Authors: Borro Marina , Di Girolamo Paolo , Gentile Giovanna , De Luca Ottavia , Preissner Robert , Marcolongo Adriano , Ferracuti Stefano , Simmaco Maurizio
Published: August 2020

The COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic struck health, social and economic systems worldwide, and represents an open challenge for scientists —coping with the high inter-individual variability of COVID-19, and for policy makers —coping with the responsibility to understand environmental factors affecting its severity across different geographical areas. Air pollution has been warned of as a modifiable factor contributing to differential SARS-CoV-2 spread but the biological mechanisms underlying the phenomenon are still unknown. Air quality and COVID-19 epidemiological data from 110 Italian provinces were studied by correlation analysis, to evaluate the association between particulate matter (PM)2.5 concentrations and incidence, mortality rate and case fatality risk of COVID-19 in the period 20 February–31 March 2020. Bioinformatic analysis of the DNA sequence encoding the SARS-CoV-2 cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) was performed to identify consensus motifs for transcription factors mediating cellular response to pollutant insult. Positive correlations between PM2.5 levels and the incidence (r = 0.67, p < 0.0001), the mortality rate (r = 0.65, p < 0.0001) and the case fatality rate (r = 0.7, p < 0.0001) of COVID-19 were found. The bioinformatic analysis of the ACE-2 gene identified nine putative consensus motifs for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). Our results confirm the supposed link between air pollution and the rate and outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection and support the hypothesis that pollution-induced over-expression of ACE-2 on human airways may favor SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.
Big Data Analysis of Sports and Physical Activities among Korean Adolescents
Authors: Park Sung-Un , Ahn Hyunkyun , Kim Dong-Kyu , So Wi-Young
Published: August 2020

The Korean government (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Ministry of Education) has framed policies and conducted many projects to encourage adolescents to be more physically active. Despite these efforts, the participation rate of physical activity in Korean adolescents keeps decreasing. Thus, the purpose of this study was to analyze the perception of sports and physical activity in Korean adolescents through big data analysis of the last 10 years and to provide research data and statistical direction with regard to sports and physical activity participation in Korean adolescents. For data collection, data from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019 were collected from Naver (NAVER Corp., Seongnam, Korea), Daum (Kakao Corp., Jeju, Korea), and Google (Alphabet Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA), which are the most widely used search engines in Korea, using TEXTOM 4.0 (The Imc Inc., Daegu, Korea), a big data collection and analysis solution. Keywords such as “adolescent + sports + physical activity” were used. TEXTOM 4.0 can generate various collection lists at once using keywords. Collected data were processed through text mining (frequency analysis, term frequency–inverse document frequency analysis) and social network analysis (SNA) (degree centrality, convergence of iterated correlations analysis) by using TEXTOM 4.0 and UCINET 6 social network analysis software (Analytic Technologies Corp., Lexington, KY, USA). A total of 9278 big data (10.36 MB) were analyzed. Frequency analysis of the top 50 terms through text mining showed exercise (872), mind (851), health (824), program (782), and burden (744) in a descending order. Term frequency–inverse document frequency analysis revealed exercise (2108.070), health (1961.843), program (1928.765), mind (1861.837), and burden (1722.687) in a descending order. SNA showed that the terms with the greatest degree of centrality were exercise (0.02857), program (0.02406), mind (0.02079), health (0.02062), and activity (0.01872) in a descending order. Convergence of the iterated correlations analysis indicated five clusters: exercise and health, child to adult, sociocultural development, therapy, and program. However, female gender, sports for all, stress, and wholesome did not have a high enough correlation to form one cluster. Thus, this study provides basic data and statistical direction to increase the rate of physical activity participation in Korean adolescents by drawing significant implications based on terms and clusters through bid data analysis.
Comparison of Illness Concepts and Coping Strategies among Cancer Patients of Turkish and German Origin
Authors: Thein Katja , Erim Yesim , Morawa Eva
Published: August 2020

Background: The aim of this study was to compare illness concepts and coping strategies among native German cancer patients and those with a Turkish migration background. Methods: Guideline-based, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 German (♂: 8, ♀: 3) and 11 Turkish (♂: 2, ♀: 9) cancer patients. The transcripts were evaluated using a qualitative content analysis in accordance with Mayring. Results: We identified eight categories of illness concepts: stressful life events, environmental influences, the will of God, medical factors, fate, trauma, health behaviour, and psychological causes. German patients frequently attributed their illness to environmental influences, persistent stress, or medical factors, whereas Turkish patients blamed persistent stress, the will of God, or trauma. The last two categories are not found among German patients. We classified the coping strategies into 11 main categories: social support, activity, patient competence, fighting spirit/positive thinking, use of health services/alternative healing methods, lifestyle, emotional coping, cognitive coping, religious coping, spiritual coping, and culture-specific methods for patients of Turkish origin. For German patients, activities as well as social support played primary roles in coping. Turkish patients also often used social support. However, in contrast to the German patients, they are less active and use much more religious coping and culture-specific means. In addition, negative emotions occur more often when processing the illness than in the German patients. Conclusion: Common illness representations and coping strategies could be found for Turkish and German patients, but also specific ones for the respective group. It is particularly noticeable that German patients attach more importance to medical factors and try more actively to cope with the illness. For Turkish patients, cultural and religious factors play an important role, which should also be considered in treatment.
Validation of the Women’s Views of Birth Labor Satisfaction Questionnaire (WOMBLSQ4) in the Spanish Population
Authors: Pozo-Cano María Dolores , Martín-Salvador Adelina , Pérez-Morente María Ángeles , Martínez-García Encarnación , Luna del Castillo Juan de Dios , Gázquez-López María , Fernández-Castillo Rafael , García-García Inmaculada
Published: August 2020

The satisfaction of women with the birth experience has implications for the health and wellness of the women themselves and also of their newborn baby. The objectives of this study were to determine the factor structure of the Women’s Views of Birth Labor Satisfaction Questionnaire (WOMBLSQ4) questionnaire on satisfaction with the attention received during birth delivery in Spanish women and to compare the level of satisfaction of pregnant women during the birth process with that in other studies that validated this instrument. A cross-sectional study using a self-completed questionnaire of 385 Spanish-speaking puerperal women who gave birth in the Public University Hospitals of Granada (Spain) was conducted. An exploratory factor analysis of the WOMBLSQ4 questionnaire was performed to identify the best fit model. Those items that showed commonalities higher than 0.50 were kept in the questionnaire. Using the principal components method, nine factors with eigenvalues greater than one were extracted after merging pain-related factors into a single item. These factors explain 90% of the global variance, indicating the high internal consistency of the full scale. In the model resulting from the WOMBLSQ4 questionnaire, its nine dimensions measure the levels of satisfaction of puerperal women with childbirth care. Average scores somewhat higher than those of the original questionnaire and close to those achieved in the study carried out in Madrid (Spain) were obtained. In clinical practice, this scale may be relevant for measuring the levels of satisfaction during childbirth of Spanish-speaking women.
Energy Intake and Satiety Responses of Eggs for Breakfast in Overweight and Obese Adults—A Crossover Study
Authors: B Keogh Jennifer , M Clifton Peter
Published: August 2020

The type of food eaten for breakfast may determine the amount of food consumed at the next meal. This may be important when considering dietary advice for overweight and obese individuals who are trying to lose weight. The aim of the study was to investigate the energy intake and subjective sensations of hunger using a visual analogue scale (VAS) of a breakfast meal of eggs compared with a breakfast meal of cereal in overweight Australian adults. In a cross-over study, participants attended the University of South Australia’s Clinical Trial Facility on two separate days, one week apart. On each day participants consumed one of two isoenergetic breakfasts (1800 kJ), either eggs and toast or cereal with milk and orange juice. Fifty overweight or obese participants, 44 ± 21 years, 86 ± 14 kg, with a body mass index (BMI) of 31 ± 4 kg/m2 completed both study visits. Energy intake following the egg breakfast was significantly reduced compared with the cereal breakfast (4518 vs. 5283 kJ, p = 0.001). BMI and gender were unrelated to these effects. The sensation of hunger was less after the egg breakfast (p = 0.028 for diet by time interaction) and returned more quickly after the cereal breakfast. There were no effects of gender or age. Energy intake was reduced at an ad libitum lunch meal 4 hours after a breakfast meal containing eggs. The findings suggest that satiety responses of overweight and obese are not different to non-obese participants as our study confirms findings from studies conducted in different populations. Determining which foods may help overweight and obese individuals manage their food intake is important for diet planning.
A Preliminary Investigation of the Relationship between Motivation for Physical Activity and Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Children Aged 8–12 Years: The Role of Autonomous Motivation
Authors: Farmer Erin , Papadopoulos Nicole , Emonson Chloe , Fuelscher Ian , Pesce Caterina , McGillivray Jane , Hyde Christian , Olive Lisa , Rinehart Nicole
Published: August 2020

While motivation for physical activity (PA) and PA participation have been linked, research on the relationship between motivation for PA and mental health outcomes is scant, with studies involving children largely underrepresented. Grounded in self-determination theory, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine whether autonomous motivation versus external motivation (a form of controlled motivation) for PA is associated with fewer emotional and behavioural difficulties and higher levels of PA in children. A sample of 87 children (aged 8–12 years) were recruited from five primary schools in Victoria, Australia. An adapted version of the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ) was used to measure motivation for PA and structured parent-report questions were used to assess moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) levels. Parents also completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to measure children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties. Children’s autonomous motivation was associated with fewer emotional and behavioural difficulties (β = −0.25, p = 0.038) and higher levels of MVPA (β = 0.24, p = 0.014). These results indicate autonomous motivation is associated with improved mental health outcomes and higher levels of PA in children. Thus, PA interventions that promote autonomous motivation may enhance children’s mental health compared to interventions that promote mainly controlled forms of motivation.
Online Newspaper Framing of Non-Communicable Diseases: Comparison of Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao
Authors: Chang Angela , Schulz Peter J. , Wenghin Cheong Angus
Published: August 2020

As non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are now well recognized as the leading cause of mortality among adult populations worldwide, they are also increasingly the focus of media coverage. As such, the objective of this study is to describe the framing of NCDs in the coverage of newspapers, with the understanding that it says something about the society producing it. Automatic content analysis was employed to examine disease topics, risks, and cost consequences, thus providing lay people with a chance of learning the etiology of NCDs and information available for fighting diseases. The result of the computational method identified a total of 152,810 news articles with one of the seven supra-categories of NCDs. The category of metabolic diseases was covered most frequently in the past ten years. Three health risks received ample attention in all 11 newspapers: stress burden, tobacco use, and genetic predispositions. The results evidenced how media framed risk information of illnesses would distort the way in which diseases were selected, interpreted, and the outcome communicated. Future research building on our findings can further examine whether news framing affects the way the readers perceive and prevent NCDs.
COVID-WAREHOUSE: A Data Warehouse of Italian COVID-19, Pollution, and Climate Data
Authors: Agapito Giuseppe , Zucco Chiara , Cannataro Mario
Published: August 2020

The management of the COVID-19 pandemic presents several unprecedented challenges in different fields, from medicine to biology, from public health to social science, that may benefit from computing methods able to integrate the increasing available COVID-19 and related data (e.g., pollution, demographics, climate, etc.). With the aim to face the COVID-19 data collection, harmonization and integration problems, we present the design and development of COVID-WAREHOUSE, a data warehouse that models, integrates and stores the COVID-19 data made available daily by the Italian Protezione Civile Department and several pollution and climate data made available by the Italian Regions. After an automatic ETL (Extraction, Transformation and Loading) step, COVID-19 cases, pollution measures and climate data, are integrated and organized using the Dimensional Fact Model, using two main dimensions: time and geographical location. COVID-WAREHOUSE supports OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) analysis, provides a heatmap visualizer, and allows easy extraction of selected data for further analysis. The proposed tool can be used in the context of Public Health to underline how the pandemic is spreading, with respect to time and geographical location, and to correlate the pandemic to pollution and climate data in a specific region. Moreover, public decision-makers could use the tool to discover combinations of pollution and climate conditions correlated to an increase of the pandemic, and thus, they could act in a consequent manner. Case studies based on data cubes built on data from Lombardia and Puglia regions are discussed. Our preliminary findings indicate that COVID-19 pandemic is significantly spread in regions characterized by high concentration of particulate in the air and the absence of rain and wind, as even stated in other works available in literature.
Study Protocol for an Online Questionnaire Survey on Symptoms/Signs, Protective Measures, Level of Awareness and Perception Regarding COVID-19 Outbreak among Dentists. A Global Survey
Authors: Campus Guglielmo , Diaz-Betancourt Marcela , Cagetti Maria , Carvalho Joana , Carvalho Thiago , Cortés-Martinicorena Javier , Deschner James , Douglas Gail , Giacaman Rodrigo , Machiulskiene Vita , Manton David , Raggio Daniela , Ramos-Gomez Francisco , Sava-Rosianu Ruxandra , Morozova Natalia , Spagnuolo Gianrico , Vukovic Ana , Wolf Thomas ,   on behalf of the COVIDental Collaboration Group
Published: August 2020

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have developed preparedness and prevention checklists for healthcare professionals regarding the containment of COVID-19. The aim of the present protocol is to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak among dentists in different countries where various prevalence of the epidemic has been reported. Several research groups around the world were contacted by the central management team. The online anonymous survey will be conducted on a convenience sample of dentists working both in national health systems and in private or public clinics. In each country/area, a high (~5–20%) proportion of dentists working there will be invited to participate. The questionnaire, developed and standardized previously in Italy, has four domains: (1) personal data; (2) symptoms/signs relative to COVID-19; (3) working conditions and PPE (personal protective equipment) adopted after the infection’s outbreak; (4) knowledge and self-perceived risk of infection. The methodology of this international survey will include translation, pilot testing, and semantic adjustment of the questionnaire. The data will be entered on an Excel spreadsheet and quality checked. Completely anonymous data analyses will be performed by the central management team. This survey will give an insight into the dental profession during COVID-19 pandemic globally.
P38α MAPK Signaling—A Robust Therapeutic Target for Rab5-Mediated Neurodegenerative Disease
Authors: Germann Ursula A. , Alam John J.
Published: August 2020

Multifactorial pathologies, involving one or more aggregated protein(s) and neuroinflammation are common in major neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. This complexity of multiple pathogenic drivers is one potential explanation for the lack of success or, at best, the partial therapeutic effects, respectively, with approaches that have targeted one specific driver, e.g., amyloid-beta, in Alzheimer’s disease. Since the endosome-associated protein Rab5 appears to be a convergence point for many, if not all the most prominent pathogenic drivers, it has emerged as a major therapeutic target for neurodegenerative disease. Further, since the alpha isoform of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38α) is a major regulator of Rab5 activity and its effectors, a biology that is distinct from the classical nuclear targets of p38 signaling, brain-penetrant selective p38α kinase inhibitors provide the opportunity for significant therapeutic advances in neurogenerative disease through normalizing dysregulated Rab5 activity. In this review, we provide a brief summary of the role of Rab5 in the cell and its association with neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis. We then discuss the connection between Rab5 and p38α and summarize the evidence that through modulating Rab5 activity there are therapeutic opportunities in neurodegenerative diseases for p38α kinase inhibitors.
Roles Played by Biomarkers of Kidney Injury in Patients with Upper Urinary Tract Obstruction
Authors: Washino Satoshi , Hosohata Keiko , Miyagawa Tomoaki
Published: August 2020

Partial or complete obstruction of the urinary tract is a common and challenging urological condition caused by a variety of conditions, including ureteral calculi, ureteral pelvic junction obstruction, ureteral stricture, and malignant ureteral obstruction. The condition, which may develop in patients of any age, induces tubular and interstitial injury followed by inflammatory cell infiltration and interstitial fibrosis, eventually impairing renal function. The serum creatinine level is commonly used to evaluate global renal function but is not sensitive to early changes in the glomerular filtration rate and unilateral renal damage. Biomarkers of acute kidney injury are useful for the early detection and monitoring of kidney injury induced by upper urinary tract obstruction. These markers include levels of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), monocyte chemotactic protein-1, kidney injury molecule 1, N-acetyl-b-D-glucosaminidase, and vanin-1 in the urine and serum NGAL and cystatin C concentrations. This review summarizes the pathophysiology of kidney injury caused by upper urinary tract obstruction, the roles played by emerging biomarkers of obstructive nephropathy, the mechanisms involved, and the clinical utility and limitations of the biomarkers.
Physicochemical Evidence that Francisella FupA and FupB Proteins Are Porins
Authors: Siebert Claire , Mercier Corinne , Martin Donald K. , Renesto Patricia , Schaack Beatrice
Published: August 2020

Responsible for tularemia, Francisella tularensis bacteria are highly infectious Gram-negative, category A bioterrorism agents. The molecular mechanisms for their virulence and resistance to antibiotics remain largely unknown. FupA (Fer Utilization Protein), a protein mediating high-affinity transport of ferrous iron across the outer membrane, is associated with both. Recent studies demonstrated that fupA deletion contributed to lower F. tularensis susceptibility towards fluoroquinolones, by increasing the production of outer membrane vesicles. Although the paralogous FupB protein lacks such activity, iron transport capacity and a role in membrane stability were reported for the FupA/B chimera, a protein found in some F. tularensis strains, including the live vaccine strain (LVS). To investigate the mode of action of these proteins, we purified recombinant FupA, FupB and FupA/B proteins expressed in Escherichia coli and incorporated them into mixed lipid bilayers. We examined the porin-forming activity of the FupA/B proteoliposomes using a fluorescent 8-aminonaphthalene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid, disodium salt (ANTS) probe. Using electrophysiology on tethered bilayer lipid membranes, we confirmed that the FupA/B fusion protein exhibits pore-forming activity with large ionic conductance, a property shared with both FupA and FupB. This demonstration opens up new avenues for identifying functional genes, and novel therapeutic strategies against F. tularensis infections.
Induction of Apoptosis by Coptisine in Hep3B Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells through Activation of the ROS-Mediated JNK Signaling Pathway
Authors: Kim So Young , Hwangbo Hyun , Lee Hyesook , Park Cheol , Kim Gi-Young , Moon Sung-Kwon , Yun Seok Joong , Kim Wun-Jae , Cheong Jaehun , Choi Yung Hyun
Published: August 2020

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high mortality rate worldwide, and treatment is very limited due to its high recurrence and low diagnosis rate, and therefore there is an increasing need to develop more effective drugs to treat HCC. Coptisine is one of the isoquinoline alkaloids, and it has various pharmacological effects. However, the evidence for the molecular mechanism of the anticancer efficacy is still insufficient. Therefore, this study investigated the antiproliferative effect of coptisine on human HCC Hep3B cells and identified the action mechanism. Our results showed that coptisine markedly increased DNA damage and apoptotic cell death, which was associated with induction of death receptor proteins. Coptisine also significantly upregulated expression of proapoptotic Bax protein, downregulated expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein, and activated caspase-3, -8, and -9. In addition, coptisine remarkably increased the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and release of cytochrome c into the cytoplasm. However, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, significantly attenuated the apoptosis-inducing effect of coptisine. It is worth noting that coptisine significantly upregulated phosphorylation of ROS-dependent c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), whereas treatment with JNK inhibitor could suppress an apoptosis-related series event. Taken together, our results suggest that coptisine has an anticancer effect in Hep3B cells through ROS-mediated activation of the JNK signaling pathway.
Results from a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) in Mastocytosis Reveal New Gene Polymorphisms Associated with WHO Subgroups
Authors: Nedoszytko Bogusław , Sobalska-Kwapis Marta , Strapagiel Dominik , Lange Magdalena , Górska Aleksandra , Elberink Joanne N. G. Oude , van Doormaal Jasper , Słomka Marcin , Kalinowski Leszek , Gruchała-Niedoszytko Marta , Nowicki Roman J. , Valent Peter , Niedoszytko Marek
Published: August 2020

Mastocytosis is rare disease in which genetic predisposition is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to analyze associations between mastocytosis and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by a genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach. A total of 234 patients were enrolled in our study, including 141 with cutaneous mastocytosis (CM; 78 children and 63 adults) and 93 with systemic mastocytosis (SM, all adults). The control group consisted of 5606 healthy individuals. DNA samples from saliva or blood were genotyped for 551 945 variants using DNA microarrays. The prevalence of certain SNPs was found to vary substantially when comparing patients and healthy controls: rs10838094 of 5OR51Q1 was less frequently detected in CM and SM patients (OR = 0.2071, p = 2.21 × 10−29), rs80138802 in ABCA2 (OR = 5.739, p = 1.98 × 10−28), and rs11845537 in OTX2-AS1 (rs11845537, OR = 6.587, p = 6.16 × 10−17) were more frequently detected in CM in children and adults. Additionally, we found that rs2279343 in CYP2B6 and rs7601511 in RPTN are less prevalent in CM compared to controls. We identified a number of hitherto unknown associations between certain SNPs and CM and/or SM. Whether these associations are clinically relevant concerning diagnosis, prognosis, or prevention remains to be determined in future studies.
Pyrazoline Hybrids as Promising Anticancer Agents: An Up-to-Date Overview
Authors: Matiadis Dimitris , Sagnou Marina
Published: August 2020

Pyrazolines are five-membered heterocycles possessing two adjacent nitrogens. They have attracted significant attention from organic and medicinal chemists due to their potent biological activities and the numerous possibilities for structural diversification. In the last decade, they have been intensively studied as targets for potential anticancer therapeutics, producing a steady yearly rise in the number of published research articles. Many pyrazoline derivatives have shown remarkable cytotoxic activities in the form of heterocyclic or non-heterocyclic based hybrids, such as with coumarins, triazoles, and steroids. The enormous amount of related literature in the last 5 years prompted us to collect all these published data from screening against cancer cell lines, or protein targets like EGFR and structure activity relationship studies. Therefore, in the present review, a comprehensive account of the compounds containing the pyrazoline nucleus will be provided. The chemical groups and the structural modifications responsible for the activity will be highlighted. Moreover, emphasis will be given on recent examples from the literature and on the work of research groups that have played a key role in the development of this field.
Tobacco, but Not Nicotine and Flavor-Less Electronic Cigarettes, Induces ACE2 and Immune Dysregulation
Authors: Lee Abby C. , Chakladar Jaideep , Li Wei Tse , Chen Chengyu , Chang Eric Y. , Wang-Rodriguez Jessica , Ongkeko Weg M.
Published: August 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, overlaps with the ongoing epidemics of cigarette smoking and electronic cigarette (e-cig) vaping. However, there is scarce data relating COVID-19 risks and outcome with cigarette or e-cig use. In this study, we mined three independent RNA expression datasets from smokers and vapers to understand the potential relationship between vaping/smoking and the dysregulation of key genes and pathways related to COVID-19. We found that smoking, but not vaping, upregulates ACE2, the cellular receptor that SARS-CoV-2 requires for infection. Both smoking and use of nicotine and flavor-containing e-cigs led to upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and inflammasome-related genes. Specifically, chemokines including CCL20 and CXCL8 are upregulated in smokers, and CCL5 and CCR1 are upregulated in flavor/nicotine-containing e-cig users. We also found genes implicated in inflammasomes, such as CXCL1, CXCL2, NOD2, and ASC, to be upregulated in smokers and these e-cig users. Vaping flavor and nicotine-less e-cigs, however, did not lead to significant cytokine dysregulation and inflammasome activation. Release of inflammasome products, such as IL-1B, and cytokine storms are hallmarks of COVID-19 infection, especially in severe cases. Therefore, our findings demonstrated that smoking or vaping may critically exacerbate COVID-19-related inflammation or increase susceptibility to COVID-19.
N-Glycoproteins Have a Major Role in MGL Binding to Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines: Associations with Overall Proteome Diversity
Authors: Pirro Martina , Mohammed Yassene , van Vliet Sandra J. , Rombouts Yoann , Sciacca Agnese , de Ru Arnoud H. , Janssen George M. C. , Tjokrodirijo Rayman T. N. , Wuhrer Manfred , van Veelen Peter A. , Hensbergen Paul J.
Published: August 2020

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second-leading cause of cancer death worldwide due in part to a high proportion of patients diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease. For this reason, many efforts have been made towards new approaches for early detection and prognosis. Cancer-associated aberrant glycosylation, especially the Tn and STn antigens, can be detected using the macrophage galactose-type C-type lectin (MGL/CLEC10A/CD301), which has been shown to be a promising tool for CRC prognosis. We had recently identified the major MGL-binding glycoproteins in two high-MGL-binding CRC cells lines, HCT116 and HT29. However, we failed to detect the presence of O-linked Tn and STn glycans on most CRC glycoproteins recognized by MGL. We therefore investigated here the impact of N-linked and O-linked glycans carried by these proteins for the binding to MGL. In addition, we performed quantitative proteomics to study the major differences in proteins involved in glycosylation in these cells. Our results showed that N-glycans have a significant, previously underestimated, importance in MGL binding to CRC cell lines. Finally, we highlighted both common and cell-specific processes associated with a high-MGL-binding phenotype, such as differential levels of enzymes involved in protein glycosylation, and a transcriptional factor (CDX-2) involved in their regulation.