bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Mechanically Reprogrammable Pancharatnam-Berry Metasurface
Authors: Xu Quan , Su Xiaoqiang , Zhang Xueqian , Dong Lijuan , Liu Lifeng , He Jiajun , Wen Lohong , Liu Yuzhu , Huang Yucong , Shi Yunlong , Wang Qiu , Kang Ming , Alu Andrea , Zhang Shuang , Han Jiaguang , Zhang Weili
Published: April 2021

Metasurfaces have enabled the realization of several optical functionalities over an ultrathin platform, fostering the exciting field of flat optics. Traditional metasurfaces are achieved by arranging a layout of static meta-atoms to imprint a desired operation to the impinging wavefront, but their functionality cannot be altered. Reconfigurability and programmability of metasurfaces are the next important step to broaden their impact, adding customized on-demand functionality in which each meta-atom can be individually reprogrammed. However, programmable metasurfaces to date can only reconfigure 2 or 4 phase levels per meta-atom at best, hindering the overall functionality performance. Here, we demonstrate a mechanical metasurface platform with controllable rotation at the meta-atom level, which can implement continuous Pancharatnam-Berry phase control of circularly polarized waves. As the proof-of-concept experiments, we demonstrate metalensing, focused vortex beam generation, and holographic imaging in the same metasurface template, exhibiting versatility and superior performance. Such dynamic control of electromagnetic waves using a single, low-cost metasurface paves an avenue towards practical applications, driving the field of reprogrammable intelligent metasurfaces for a variety of applications.
A Novel User Grouping Algorithm for Downlink NOMA
Authors: Jeshvaghani Navideh Ghafouri , Movahhedinia Naser , Khayyambashi Mohammad Reza
Published: April 2021

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is one of the promising radio access techniques for resource allocation improvement in the 5th generation of cellular networks. Compared to orthogonal multiple access techniques (OMA), NOMA offers extra benefits, including greater spectrum efficiency which is provided through multiplexing users in the transmission power domain while using the same spectrum resources non-orthogonally. Even though NOMA uses Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) to repeal the interference among users, user grouping has shown to have a substantial impact on its performance. This prformance improvement can appear in different parameters such as system capacity, rate, or the power consumption. In this paper, we propose a novel user grouping scheme for sum-rate maximization which increases the sum-rate up to 25 percent in comparison with two authenticated recent works. In addition to being matrix-based and having a polynomial time complexity, the proposed method is also able to cope with users experiencing different channel gains and powers in different sub-bands.
Incidence and Risk Factors for Bilateral Nephrolithiasis: A Large Case-retrospective Study
Authors: Yang Xiong , Li Zhi , Qi Shiyong , Xie Linguo , Shi Qiduo , Liu Chunyu
Published: April 2021

To determine the incidence and risk factors of bilateral kidney stones. Utilized the retrospective analysis method on demographic characteristics and clinical data of patients with renal stones in the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University. Grouped patients into unilateral and bilateral renal stones according to preoperative imaging and ultrasound examination. Univariate and multivariate analysis methods were used to evaluate the factors that may cause bilateral stones. The study included 7587 patients with kidney stones in total, of whom 4983 had unilateral kidney stones (including 2719 left stones and 2264 right stones), and 2604 had bilateral kidney stones (34.3%). By comparing the unilateral stones group with the bilateral stones group, the univariate analysis demonstrated that weight, body mass index (BMI), history of nephrolithiasis, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, gout, and the maximal stone diameter had statistical significance. Binary logistic regression multivariate analysis demonstrated that BMI, history of nephrolithiasis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, gout, and the maximal stone diameter were independent risk factors for bilateral urinary stones. This study shows that 34.3% of patients with kidney stones were diagnosed as having bilateral kidney stones; BMI and the maximal stone diameter are positively correlated with the incidence of bilateral kidney stones; Patients with a history of nephrolithiasis, diabetes, hypertension, and gout have a significantly higher risk of having bilateral kidney stones.
Full-Length Transcriptome Sequencing and EST-SSR marker development of tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium Thunb.)
Authors: Sun Mingwei , Zhao Yilian , Shao Xiaobin , Ge Jintao , Tang Xueyan , Zhu Pengbo , Wang Jiangying , Zhao Tongli
Published: April 2021

It is well known that transcriptional diversity plays important roles in plant biological regulation. But for the difficulty in full-length transcripts obtainment, the available tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium Thunb) transcriptome characterization are still not complete. To improve the integrity of tiger lily transcriptome information, (SMRT PacBio single-molecule long-read sequencing technology) was employed to accomplish the whole transcriptome profiling. A total of 815,624 CCS (Circular Consensus Sequence) reads with mean length of 1,295 bp were obtained. Based on these transcripts, 61,744 reads were full-length reads containing both the 5’ primer, 3’ primer and the poly (A) tail and 3,319 EST-derived SSRs were developed from 2968 unigenes. With the obtained informative reference transcriptome,768 transcription factors and 6,852 long non-coding RNAs were identified, providing a comprehensive framework of the transcriptional regulation network. Of all the annotated transcripts, 15,608 were distributed into 25 various Clusters of euKaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG), and 10,706 unigenes were categorized into 52 functional groups which were divided into three categories. These results would provide a comprehensive set of reference transcripts and further improve our understanding of the tiger lily transcriptomes.
Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes inhibit Aβ1-42 induced microglia polarization by TLR2/MYD88/NF-κB pathway
Authors: Yin Zhenyu , Guo Mengtian , Wang Dong , Han Zhaoli , Hu Tianpeng , Wang Yan , Xiong Xiangyang , Ge Xintong , Wang Lu , Zhang Shishuang , Li Dai , Zuo Yan , Zhao Jing , Yu Jinwen , Li Wenzhu , Chen Fanglian , Lei Ping
Published: April 2021

Background

In recent years, more and more research evidence indicates that the causes of various neurodegeneration diseases are related to neuroinflammation in the brain, Aβ1–42 may be a key factor in the development of neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, it is urgent to find an effective and targeted alleviation of neuroinflammation caused by Aβ1–42.
Methods

Our study found that exogenous administration of Aβ1–42 has a very obvious polarizing effect on microglia in the brain compared with the PBS-treated group. After the intervention of Aβ1–42, we obtained the mesenchymal stem cells derived exosome by ultracentrifugation. Microglia were treated with MSC-Exo in vivo and in vitro.
Results

The MSC-Exo were found have the effect of inhibiting microglial polarization in vivo and in vitro experiments. It was further found that its target gene was TLR2 on the surface of microglial cells to inhibit the expression of the downstream protein MYD88/NF-κB and inhibit the microglia polarization and the development of neuroinflammation.
Conclusion

MSC-Exo can significantly inhibited the Aβ1–42 induced microglia polarization by TLR2/MYD88/NF-κb pathway.
Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals activated status of peripheral blood monocytes in tissue homeostasis
Authors: Lu Jiarui , Luo Junpan , Guo Junbing , Zeng Jie , Zhang Xiaolei
Published: April 2021

Osteoclasts are giant multinucleated cells responsible for bone resorption, derived from myeloid cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage. Peripheral blood monocytes have increased osteoclast differentiation potential, but only a small proportion of monocytes can differentiate into osteoclasts. The characteristics of osteoclast precursors remain unknown. The aim of this study is to explore the heterogeneity of human blood monocytes from healthy donors by use of single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and infer the osteoclastogenic potential of the newly identified subsets with the bioinformatics approach analysis. In this study, magnetic cell separator was used to collect CD14+ monocytes from human peripheral blood, and scRNA-seq was applied as an unbiased analysis strategy to identify and analyze human blood monocyte subtypes at the single-cell resolution. Bioinformatics analysis was subsequently performed based on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of each cluster. Six monocyte clusters of human blood were identified, which were named of, “Initial MONO”, “Antigen presenting MONO”, “Inflamed MONO”, “Bacteriolytic MONO”, “Non-classical MONO”, and “Antivirus MONO”. Each cluster exhibited unique transcriptional profile and distinct pathway enrichments, revealing the steady-state activation of monocytes. These data provided new opportunities and insight to explore unique populations of monocytes and their different potential, and further conducive to the development of more effective anti-bone resorptive therapy.
Suppression of TRPM7 by carvacrol protects against injured spinal cord by inhibiting blood-spinal cord barrier disruption
Authors: Park Chan Sol , Lee Jee Youn , Choi Hae Young , Ju Bong Gun , Yune Tae Young
Published: April 2021

When the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) is disrupted after a spinal cord injury (SCI), several pathophysiological cascades occur, including inflammation and apoptotic cell death of neurons and oligodendrocytes, resulting in permanent neurological deficits. Transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) is involved in the pathological processes in many neuronal diseases, including traumatic brain injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, parkinsonism dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore, carvacrol (CAR), a TRPM7 inhibitor, is known to protect against SCI by reducing oxidative stress and inhibiting the endothelial nitric oxide synthase pathway. However, the functions of TRPM7 in the regulation of BSCB homeostasis after SCI have not been examined. Here, we demonstrated that TRPM7, a calcium-mediated non-selective divalent cation channel, plays a critical role after SCI in rat. Rats were contused at T9 and given CAR (50 mg/kg) via intraperitoneally immediately and 12 hours after SCI, and then given the same dose once a day for 7 days. TRPM7 was found to be up-regulated after SCI in both in vitro and in vivo studies, and it was expressed in blood vessels alongside neurons and oligodendrocytes. Additionally, CAR treatment suppressed BSCB disruption by inhibiting the loss of TJ proteins and preserved TJ integrity. CAR also reduced apoptotic cell death and improved functional recovery after SCI by preventing BSCB disruption caused by blood infiltration and inflammatory responses. Based on these findings, we propose that blocking the TRPM7 channel can inhibit the destruction of the BSCB and it is a potential target in therapeutic drug development for use in SCI.
Bioinformatics analysis of potential common molecular pathogenesis assumed by intracranial aneurysm, aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection
Authors: Zhao Chao , Cui Xinchun , Liu Guodong , Li Jianlong , Liu Jinxing , Shang Junliang , Wang Shuai , Shi Ronghua , Wu Aihong
Published: April 2021

This study is intended to find possible pathogenesis-related genetic overlap and common molecular mechanisms of intracranial aneurysm, abdominal aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection. Three mRNA microarray datasets,GSE75436 of intracranial aneurysms, GSE7084 of abdominal aortic aneurysm and GSE52093 of aortic dissection were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus and detected in silico . DEGs of these three datasets screened through GEO2R, respectively . The overlapping genes were found by Venny mapping. Subsequently, Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomespathway enrichment analysiswere performed using the DAVID database and protein-protein interaction network analyses were conducted by STRING and Cytoscape webpage tool to illustrate the molecular mechanisms in their pathogenesis and progression.This study identified 178 DEGs, including SMTN, MYH11, TAGLN, ACTG2, CNN1, MYLK, LMOD1, MYL9,VCL and ACTC1 in the the most significant module. Except for those confirmed biological processes, mesenchyme migration and platelet aggregation are common biological processes shared by genes in the most significant module and the hub genes. Focal adhesionssignaling pathway is highlighted in this analysis. The present study identified possible pathogenesis-related genetic overlap and common molecular mechanisms of intracranial aneurysm, abdominal aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection, which may contribute to their diagnosis, treatment and prognostic prediction with a systematic view.
ACO:lossless quality score compression based on adaptive coding order
Authors: Yi Niu , Mingming Ma , Fu Li , Xianming Liu , Guangming Shi
Published: April 2021

Background: With the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing technology, the cost of whole genome sequencing drops rapidly, which leads to an exponential growth of genome data. Although the compression of DNA bases has achieved signiﬁcant improvement in recent years, the compression of quality score is still challenging.Results: In this paper, by reinvestigating the inherent correlations between the quality score and the sequencing process, we propose a novel lossless quality score compressor based on adaptive coding order (ACO). The main objective of ACO is to traverse the quality score adaptively in the most correlative trajectory according to the sequencing process. By cooperating with the adaptive arithmetic coding and context modeling, ACO achieves the state-of-the-art quality score compression performances with moderate complexity.Conclusions: The competence enables ACO to serve as a candidate tool for quality score compression, ACO has been employed by AVS(Audio Video coding Standard Workgroup of China) and is freely available at https://github.com/Yoniming/code.
The Potentials of Calotropis procera against Filarial Elephantiasis: An in- silico approach
Authors: Mohan Aswin , Shaji Shanitha , P Sunitha , Naisam Shahanas , Sreeku Nidhin
Published: April 2021

Lymphatic filariasis is one of the major diseases that belong to the category of neglected tropical illness. Filarial nematodes are the cause of the disease and are transmitted to humans via blood-feeding arthropod vectors. Drugs such as Albendazole, Ivermectin and diethylcarbamazine are administered either individually or in combination to overcome the progress of the lymphatic filariasis. However, these drugs have some disadvantages like temporary hair loss, dizziness, nausea etc. The filarial parasites have multifunctional proteins including the Glutathione-s-transferase (GST) enzyme which plays a major role in detoxification of endogenous electrophilic compounds. This study aims at the identification of a natural molecule that has the potential to bind with the GST enzyme and thus interrupt the detoxification process within the filarial parasite, Brugia malayi. A medicinal plant Calotropis procera, owing to its anthelmintic properties was searched for the presence of potential phytocompounds. The phytocompounds were docked against the homology modeled GST enzyme using the MOE software. The results were screened and analyzed based on the Lipinski rule of 5. N-octanoate was the phytocompound obtained based on molecular docking, subjected to molecular dynamics. These results require further in vitro and in vivo validation to consider n-octanoate as a potential drug candidate for lymphatic filariasis treatment.
The Role of SST in Explaining the Economic Growth of Indian Ocean Countries
Authors: Park Gil H. , Kim Da-Yeong , Kug Jong-Seong
Published: April 2021

Although the concern for the socio-economic effect of climate change has recently increased, its effect on sectoral GDP growth has rarely been researched especially regarding the transcontinental, mid-range area that consists mostly of developing countries like the Indian Ocean countries. Since this area shares an overall similar climate condition represented by the highest temperature as well as economic condition where most of them have experienced lagged economic growth amidst the fastest population growth, such effect will become more critical as their economies consist more heavily of climate-vulnerable sectors. Thus, we analyzed it by two level, e.g., aggregate and sectoral GDP levels. Utilizing both empirical orthogonal and regression functions, we found that the anomalies of GDP significantly decrease when local temperature, which shows high positive correlations with the Indian Ocean Sea Surface Temperature (IOSST) index, increases anomalously. In addition, this trend has been getting stronger recently as local and sea surface temperatures have overall risen. Most importantly, the highest sensitivity to climate change was shown in the service sector, as hypothesized in light of previous studies on the low-skilled and non-tradable service areas with higher adaptation deficit to climate change. We call this tested hypothesis “ climate-vulnerable service expansion. ”
Risk Factors for Running Away in Iranian Youth Girls: A Cross- Sectional Study
Authors: Taremian Farhad , Moloodi Reza , Karimian Soudabeh , Farid Habibollah Masoudi , Noroozi Mehdi
Published: April 2021

BackgroundThis study explored the risk factors associated with running away behavior in Iranian youth girls.MethodThis cross-sectional study recruited Ninety-five runaway youth girls, and 135 control group girls. They responded several self-report measures that assess sociodemographic characteristics, family economic status, strength of family, religious identification, life time substance use, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, self-esteem, coping styles, self-esteem, and depression.ResultsGirls who came from low income families, and moderate income families had significantly higher odds to run away than girls belonged to high income families. Girls who had a history of illicit drugs use had higher odds to run away from home. Moreover, low level of family strength, and low level of religious beliefs significantly predicted running away from home.ConclusionFindings suggest that family economic status, substance use, family relationship, and individual low level of religious beliefs appear to be key factors to understanding running away from home among Iranian adolescent girls.
WiImage: Fine-grained Human Imaging from Commodity WiFi
Authors: Zhang Shengkai , Liu Gaoyang , YU Keping , Wan Shaohua
Published: April 2021

Privacy-preserving wireless-based human imaging

technologies attract much attention in academia and industry.

They can serve in surveillance, security inspection, and health

monitoring, while preventing the privacy leakage from current

camera-based surveillance system. However, previous solutions

either requires dedicated hardware or costly infrastructure deployment, which hurts their practicality. In this paper, we propose

WiImage, a low-cost, instantly-deployed sensing system that can

capture a fine-grained human image and infer his contour using

ubiquitous WiFi. WiImage is free of pre-training or placing any

marker on a user’s body. WiImage consists of two technical

components. First, a lightweight multipath resolution algorithm

exploit the spatial and temporal correlation of WiFi packets

to address the multipath and extract reflected signals from a

human body. Second, an imaging algorithm infers the contour of

a human from WiFi reflections. We prototype WiImage using offthe-shelf WiFi chips and conduct experiments in several typical

indoor settings. The results show that WiImage can recover

a representative human figure and use it to identify the user

precisely.
A Modification of Cell-Lysis for High-Quality Intact RNA of Bacillus Subtilis Extracted From the Culture Under Different Physiological Stages
Authors: Jaiaue Phetcharat , Srimong Piroonporn , Thitiprasert Sitanan , Tanasupawat Somboon , Cheirsilp Benjamas , Assabumrungrat Suttichai , Thongchul Nuttha
Published: April 2021

High quality RNA products from bacterial cells are required for the molecular study. Sample preparation to acquire the high-quality RNA especially the Gram-positive bacteria like Bacillus sp., the model organism, remains a critical burden toward the integration of full molecular downstream analyses although several methods have been proposed including conventional or kit-based protocols. Those techniques were simply developed using the cell samples at certain growth stages unless some molecular studies require RNA samples gathered under different physiological stages of growth and process conditions. Herein, we developed the simple yet effective cell-lysis technique prior to RNA extraction by modifying the commercial kit-based protocols. Bacillus subtilis TL7-3 was used as the model organism in this study. Lysozyme loading (20 mg/mL) as well as the incubation time (30 min) and temperature (37 °C) was responsible for cell lysis and increased RNA concentration in the samples. Invert mixing rather than centrifugation and vortexing prevented RNA damage during protein precipitation by absolute ethanol. This was confirmed by the RNA Integrity Number (RIN) values greater than 8.0 of all RNA extracted from both vegetative cells and endospores of B. subtilis TL7-3. Additionally, absolute ethanol is preferable to our less-than-1-h protocol for protein precipitation as indicated from the higher ratios of A260/A280 and those of A260/A230 of the RNA products than 2.0 and 2.1, respectively. From the findings mentioned above, we successfully developed the modified RNA extraction protocol applicable for the intact cells of Gram-positive bacteria like Bacillus sp. at varied physiological and morphological stages.
Biomolecular Interaction, Antibacterial and Anticancer Activities of Organometallic Re(I) Complexes with 5-(2-butyl-5-chloro-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-1,3-diaryl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole
Authors: Varma Reena R. , Pandya Juhee G. , Vaidya Foram U. , Pathak Chandramani , Dhaduk Milan P. , Dabhi Ravi A. , Bhatt Bhupesh S. , Patel Mohan N.
Published: April 2021

Organometallic rhenium(I) complexes (I-VI) using substituted 5-(2-butyl-5-chloro-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-1,3-diaryl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole have been synthesized and characterised by spectroscopic method. For evaluation of HOMO-LUMO energy gap, estimation of bond angle, bond length data and Mulliken charge analysis DFT studies were performed. The complexes (I-VI) can be generated by bis-heterocyclic ligand followed by metal chelation. The interactions between synthesised compounds and double stranded DNA (HS DNA) was carried out by viscosity measurements, absorption titration, and gel electrophoresis gives information about modes of binding and the nucleolytic efficiency of compounds. Groove binding was suggested as the most possible mode and the DNA-binding (Kb) constants of the complexes were calculated. Electronic spectra and conductivity measurement confirm the different transition, and non-electrolytic nature of the metal complexes. Thermodynamic parameter ΔG0 value ranging from -7227.0 to -9463.0 J/moleoK. According to the thermodynamic parameter, the main binding force could be judged. In vivo and In vitro cytotoxicity against the eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells gives toxic nature of the synthesised compounds. An antimicrobial study was carried out by estimating MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) against two Gram-positive and three Gram-negative bacteria. All compounds found effective against S. cerevisiae which is confirmed by enhancing ROS production and DNA damage show by gel electrophoresis as compared to untreated yeast cell culture and DMSO.
Antimicrobial Activity of Bacteria Isolated From the Rhizosphere and Phyllosphere of Avena Fatua and Brachiaria Reptans Growing in Heavy-Metal Polluted Environment
Authors: Ali Muskan , Walait Sadia , Haque Muhammad Farhan Ul , Mukhtar Salma
Published: April 2021

Environmental pollution especially heavy metal contaminated soils adversely affect the microbial communities associated with the rhizosphere and phyllosphere of plants growing in these areas. In the current study, we identified and characterized the rhizospheric and phyllospheric bacterial strains from Avena fatua and Brachiaria reptans with the potential for antimicrobial activity and heavy metal resistance. A total of 18 bacterial strains from the rhizosphere and phyllosphere of A. fatua and 19 bacterial strains from the rhizosphere and phyllosphere of B. reptans were identified based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Bacterial genera, including Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and Enterobacter were dominant in the rhizosphere and phyllosphere of A. fatua and Bacillus, Marinobacter, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, and Kocuria were the dominating bacterial genera from the rhizosphere and phyllosphere of B. reptans. Most of the bacterial strains were resistant to heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Cr) and showed antimicrobial activity against different pathogenic bacterial strains. The whole genome sequence analysis of Pseudomonas putida BR-PH17 was performed by using Illumina sequencing approach. The BR-PH17 genome contained a chromosome with size of 5774330 bp and a plasmid DNA with 80360 bp. In this genome, about 5368 predicted protein coding sequences with 5539 total genes, 22 rRNAs and 75 tRNA genes were identified. Functional analysis of chromosomal and plasmid DNA revealed a variety of enzymes and proteins involved in antibiotic resistance and biodegradation of complex organic pollutants. These results indicated that bacterial strains identified in this study could be utilized for bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated soils and as a novel source of antimicrobial drugs.
Sarcopenic Knee Osteoarthritis: A Risk Factor for Recurrent Falls
Authors: Iijima Hirotaka , Aoyama Tomoki
Published: April 2021

Background: Sarcopenia and knee osteoarthritis (OA) are major risk factors for falls in older adults. The coexistence of these two conditions may exacerbate the risk of falls through the sarcopenia-OA interaction. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that older adults with coexisting sarcopenia and knee OA, defined as “sarcopenic OA,” displayed an increased risk of falls.Methods: Patients in an orthopedics clinic (n = 298, age: 60–90 years, 78.9% women) were divided into 4 groups according to the presence of sarcopenia and radiographic knee OA: isolated sarcopenia, isolated knee OA, sarcopenic knee OA, and control (i.e., non-sarcopenia with non-OA) groups. We used questionnaires to assess fall experience in the prior 12 months. We performed binary and ordinal logistic regression analyses to evaluate the relationship between the 4 groups and falls experience.Results: Of 298 participants, 27 (9.1%) had sarcopenic knee OA. Patients with sarcopenic knee OA had 4.70 times (95% confidence interval: 1.08, 20.5) higher odds of recurrent falls (≥ 2 falls) than those with control after adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index.Conclusions: Patients with sarcopenic knee OA displayed higher frailty. This study provides novel interactive relationship between sarcopenia and knee OA in the context of recurrent falls experience.Trial registration: Not applicable.
H3 relaxin alleviated vascular injury in rats with type 1 diabetes by inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress and inflammation
Authors: Zhang Xiaohui , Yang Kelaier , Chi Jinyu , Chen Wenjia , Ma Xiao , Yin Xinhua
Published: April 2021

Human recombinant relaxin-3 (H3 relaxin ),a small molecule peptide hormone, ameliorated myocardial injury after myocardial infarction or isoprenaline injection by inhibiting apoptosis and fibrosis. However, whether H3 relaxin protects vascular function in rats with type 1 diabetes and its mechanism are unknown. In type 1 diabetes rats model induced by streptozotocin (STZ), rats were subcutaneously injected H3 relaxin (2 µg/kg/d or 0.2 µg/kg/d) for 2 weeks. At 4 or 8 weeks after STZ injection, we detected the expression of fibrosis (type I and III collagen), ERS (endoplasmic reticulum stress) and NLRP3 inflammasome activation in the aortas and inflammation markers in the plasma from rats with diabetes. Compared with the diabetic rats, H3 relaxin treatment exhibited markedly decreased plasma oxidative stress markers (TNF-a and MDA) levels. The protein expression levels of type I and III collagen in the aortas were increased in rats with diabetes, inhibited by H3 relaxin. H3 relaxin treatment inhibited ERS (GRP78 and CHOP) and NLRP3 inflammasome activation in the aortas of diabetic rats. These results suggest that H3 relaxin inhibited fibrosis, ERS and inflammation activation in the aortas of type 1 diabetic rats.
Hydro-Geochemical Characteristics and Quality Evaluations of the Groundwater of an Irrigated Plain Region of Northwestern China
Authors: Yuan Hongying , Yang Shuqing , Wang Bo , Han Tiankai , Ding Xuehua
Published: April 2021

Groundwater is an important resource of water in arid and semi-arid agricultural regions. In order to study the hydro-geological characteristics and water quality of groundwater in different hydro-geological conditions of plain irrigation areas, 85 groundwater samples were collected for analysis of main chemical ions and evaluation of suitability of irrigation water in Wulate Irrigation Area (WLTIA) and Shenwu Irrigation Area (SWIA). The groundwater was found to be weakly alkaline, Fresh water (47.62%) was dominant in the SWIA and brackish water (65.12%) was dominant in the WLTIA. The hydro-chemical types in the two irrigation areas were observed to be mainly Cl-Na and Cl·SO-Ca·Mg, and the ion content was in the order of Cl− > SO42− > HCO3−, Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+. The ion content in the WLTIA was found to be higher than that in the SWIA. This was determined to be mainly due to good soil permeability and groundwater mobility in SWIA but the difficulties encountered in the groundwater exchange process in the WLTIA, as well as the influencing effects of the water supply from Wuliangsuhai Lake. The groundwater resources in the two irrigation areas were jointly controlled by evaporation crystallization and rock weathering processes. The dissolution of evaporated salt rock, silicate rock, gypsum, dolomite, and calcite was also a driving factor. This study observed that the chemical compositions of the groundwater in the study area were also affected by ion exchanges and human activities. The evaluation results show that the majority of the groundwater resources in the two irrigation areas could not be directly used for irrigation since salt and alkali damages could easily occur. It was found that the potential for salt damage was relatively serious. This study’s comparison results indicated that the quality of groundwater of the SWIA was relatively higher than that of the WLTIA.
A Retrospective Study on Clinical Significance of Imaging And Endobronchial Features In Pulmonary Lymphoma Diagnosed By Bronchoscopy: When Should We Perform Bronchoscopy?
Authors: Wang Shao-Ting
Published: April 2021

Background: Pulmonary lymphoma is rare while the radiographic lesions are nonspecific. The use of bronchoscopy, is controversial, and may be of limited diagnostic value for pulmonary lymphoma diagnosis.Methods: Cases of pulmonary lymphoma diagnosed by bronchoscopy were retrospectively reviewed from January 2010 till December 2020. Clinico-radiological records of these cases were retrieved and bronchoscopy was performed with histopathological evaluation of the biopsy specimens. Results: Of the 41 cases included in our study, 20 were primary pulmonary lymphoma. The majority of subtypes were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(43.9%) and extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma(29.3%), with high percentage of underlying chronic disease. The common Computed Tomography(CT) abnormalities were mass(43.9%), consolidation(24.4%) or ground-glass opacities(24.4%). To evaluate the pulmonary lesions distribution, 41.5% patients had segmental lesions, 29.3% presences of diffuse lesions, 17.1% of local lesions and 12.2% of hilar lesions, with the maximal value of standard uptake value (SUVmax) median value of 9.6. At bronchoscopy, 41.5% lesions were identified as focal solitary mass, 22% were normal, 17.1% were mucosae asperity or edema, 9.8% were diffuse airway submucosal nodules or thickening and 9.8% were bronchiole stenosis, while certain endobronchial patterns may correspond to specific imaging features. Conclusion: The imaging features and endobronchial patterns of pulmonary lymphoma are characteristic. Bronchoscopy is still a useful tool, that is minimally invasive, to diagnose pulmonary lymphoma, while accurate analysis of the clinico-radiological records is essential before such procedure.
The Effects of Cardiometabolic Factors on the Association Between Serum Uric Acid and Chronic Kidney Disease in Chinese Middle-aged and Older Population: a Mediation Analysis
Authors: Xu Lu , Sun Hang , Liu Lili , Zhan Siyan , Wang Shengfeng , Lv Xiaozhen , Song Yongfeng
Published: April 2021

Background: To explore whether dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia or hypertension has mediating effect on the association between serum uric acid (SUA) and the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD).Methods: We conducted a mediation analysis to explore the potential mediating effects of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), blood glucose, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) on the association between SUA and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The data were obtained from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), covering 5 762 individuals. Results: SUA had a negative dose-response total effect on eGFR (β -3.11, 95% CI -3.40 to -2.82, P-value<0.001). The linear regression between SUA and seven potential mediators indicated that blood glucose (β 0.80, 95% CI 0.18 to 1.42, P-value=0.012), TG (β 10.01, 95% CI 8.22 to 11.79, P-value<0.001), TC (β 2.64, 95% CI 1.83 to 3.45, P-value<0.001), HDL-C (β -0.27, 95% CI -0.52 to -0.02, P-value=0.034) and LDL-C (β 1.15, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.80, P-value=0.001) all had significant dose-response association with SUA, but SBP and DBP showed no significant association with SUA. In terms of the association between potential mediators and eGFR, only TG did not have significant linear association with eGFR (β 0.00, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.01, P-value=0.117). The linear regression showed that SUA was directly associated with eGFR (P-value<0.001).Conclusions: This study supported that the association between SUA and the risk of CKD was not mediated by hypertension, hyperglycemia or dyslipidemia.
GSTM1 and GSTT1 Double Null Genotypes Determining Cell Fate and Proliferation as Potential Risk Factors of Relapse in Children With Hematological Malignancies After Stem Cell Transplantation. On Behalf of the Pediatric Disease Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Authors: Mlakar Simona Jurkovic , Satyanarayana Chakradhara Rao Uppugunduri , Nava Tiago , Mlakar Vid , Golay Hadrien , Robin Shannon , Waespe Nicolas , Rezgui Mohamed-Ali , Chalandon Yves , Boelens Jaap Jan , Bredius Robert G.M. , Dalle Jean-Hugues , Peters Christina , Corbacioglu Selim , Bittencourt Henrique , Krajinovic Maja , Ansari Marc
Published: April 2021

BackgroundRelapse is the major cause of treatment failure in children with hematological malignancies (HMs) undergoing busulfan (BU)- based allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) isoforms that participate in BU detoxification and protect cells against stress and cell death may be linked to post-HSCT outcomes. This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the genetic association of null variants of Glutathione S-transferases GSTM1 and GSTT1 with relapse incidence in children with HMs undergoing BU- containing allogeneic HSCT and to assess the impact of these variants on BU-induced cytotoxicity on the immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) and tumor THP1 GST-gene edited cell models.MethodsGSTM1- and GSTT1- null alleles were genotyped using germline DNA from whole blood prior to a conditioning BU-based regimen. Association of GSTM1- and GSTT1- null variants with relapse incidence was analyzed using multivariable competing risk analysis. BU-induced cell-death studies were conducted in GSTs- null and non-null LCLs and CRISPR-Cas9 gene-edited THP1 leukemia cell lines. ResultsCarrying GSTM1/GSTT1 double null genotype was found to be an independent risk factor for post-HSCT relapse in 86 children (adjusted HR: 6.52 [95% Cl, 2.76 - 15.42; p= 1.9 x 10-5]). BU induced cell death preferentially in THP1GSTM1(non-null) and LCLsGSTM1(non-null) as shown by decreased viability, increased necrosis and levels of the oxidized form of glutathione compared to null cells, while GSTT1 non-null cells showed increased baseline proliferation. ConclusionThe clinical association suggests that GSTM1/GSTT1 double null genotype could serve as genetic stratification biomarker for the high risk of post-HSCT relapse. Functional studies have indicated that GSTM1 status modulates BU-induced cell death. On the other hand, GSTT1 is proposed to be involved in baseline cell proliferation. Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01257854, Registered February 2008 – retrospectively registered.
Acute and Long-term Outcomes of Cryoballoon Ablation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation. Primary Results of the Spanish Cryoballoon Ablation Registry (RECABA)
Authors: Loma-Osorio Ángel Ferrero , Cózar Rocío , García-Alberola Arcadio , Valles Ermengol , Barrera Alberto , Toquero Jorge , Ormaetxe Jose Miguel , Sánchez Juan Martínez , Ruiz-Granell Ricardo , Amador Pablo Bastos , Rubio Jose Manuel , Martí-Amor Julio , Pascual Patricia , Molina Irene , Martínez-Alday Jesús Daniel
Published: April 2021

Background

Cryoablation is safe and effective for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) in controlled clinical trials, but contemporary real-world usage and outcomes are limited.
Objectives

The Report of the Spanish Cryoballoon Ablation Registry (RECABA) was designed to evaluate acute and 12-month outcomes of cryoballoon ablation for the treatment of AF in Spain.
Methods

Patients from 27 Spanish centers were prospectively enrolled. Patients were treated with cryoballoon ablation and managed according to standard of care protocols at each center. Theprimary endpoint was ≥ 30 sec freedom from AF at 12-mo after a 3-mo blanking period. Secondary endpoints included a description of patient characteristics, cryoablation procedural strategy and safety, and predictors of efficacy.
Results

In total, 1742 patients (71.4% PAF, 68.8% male, mean age 58.02 ± 10.40 years, 76.1% overweight or obese, CHA2DS2-VASc index 1.40 ± 1.28) were enrolled. Patients received 7.2 ± 2.67 cryoapplications. PV potentials could be detected in 61% of the PVs during ablation, with a mean time to block of 52.9 ± 37.02 seconds. Acute PVI was observed in 97% of PVs with 75.8% isolated with the first cryoapplication. Mean procedural time was 113 ± 41 minutes. Acute complications occurred in 4.4% of the cases21. With follow-up in 1628 patients, AF-free survival was 78.5% (PAF: 80.6% vs PersAF 73.3%; p < 0.001). Left atrium enlargement, female sex, non-PAF, and early recurrence were independent predictors of AF recurrence (p < 0.05).
Conclusions

RECABA provides detailed insight into current dosing practices and demonstrates cryoablation is safe and effective in real-world use.
Efficacy and Cost Effectiveness of Universal Preoperative Iron Studies in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty
Authors: Varghese Viju Daniel , Liu David , Ngo Donald , Edwards Suzanne
Published: April 2021

Background

Prevalence of anaemia in patients planned for total hip and knee arthroplasty is about 20%. Optimising preoperative haemoglobin levels by iron supplementation has been shown to decrease transfusion rates, complications and associated morbidity. The need for universal screening with iron studies of all elective arthroplasty patients is not clearly defined at present.
Methods

Retrospective review of 2 sequential cohorts of patients undergoing primary hip or knee arthroplasty by a single surgeon at a single centre between January 2013 and December 2017. The first group of patients underwent pre-operative iron studies only if found to be anaemic, with a haemoglobin below 12g/dL. From January 2015 all patients irrespective of the presence of anaemia were screened with a complete iron profile before surgery. Patients with a confirmed iron deficiency were administered with intravenous iron prior to surgery. The 2 cohorts were compared with regards to blood transfusion rate post-operatively and cost efficiency for universal screening with iron studies.
Results

There was a net decrease in allogenic blood transfusion rate from 4.76–2.92% when universal iron studies were introduced but the difference was not statistically significant. Obtaining universal pre-operative iron studies is cost neutral with the price of allogenic blood transfusion in a similar cohort. We also diagnosed 5 patients with occult malignancies.
Conclusions

Universal screening with pre-operative iron studies and iron infusion in elective arthroplasty patients may reduce allogenic blood requirements and is cost neutral. An additional benefit is the potential to diagnose asymptomatic malignancies. Further studies are required to show the true benefit of universal pre-operative iron screening.
Biosurfactant Production by Marine Actinomycetes Isolates Streptomyces Althioticus RG3 and Streptomyces Californicus RG8 as a Promising Source of Antimicrobial and Antifouling Effects
Authors: Al-agamy Mohamed , Hamed Moaz M , Alhuzani Mohammad R , Youssif Asmaa M
Published: April 2021

Background: Because of the ability of their bioactive metabolites production, many researchers were attracted to investigate and isolating marine actinomycetes from unique location with a unique environment. Information on antimicrobial activity and antifouling agents by Streptomyces sp. from the Ras Garib area, Gulf of Suez, Egypt is limited. One of the metabolites produced by the actinomycetes was biosurfactant. This paper describes the possibility of marine actinomycetes isolates for the production of biosurfactants, In addition to the possibility of using it as antimicrobial and antifouling agents.Results: Marine actinobacterial isolates RG3 and RG8 had emulsification indexes of 76 and 68%, respectively. The two marine actinobacterial isolates were identified using 16srDNA as Streptomyces althioticus RG3 and Streptomyces californicus RG8, and submitted in the database of genetic information with accession number MW661230 and MW661234, respectively. Biosurfactants were stable at 10% NaCl, in case of Streptomyces althioticus RG3 and stable at 10%–15% NaCl in the case of Streptomyces californicus RG8. A temperature of 35℃ was suitable for the stability of biosurfactants produced by both strains. Both strains produced the most biosurfactant when exposed to alkaline conditions. We characterized the biosurfactants produced by both strains including features such as the chemical composition of the biosurfactants and FTIR analysis. The antimicrobial activity of biosurfactants extract evaluated using a well diffusion method against Vibrio alginolyticus MK170250, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 4027, and Staphylococcus aureus ATTC 25923. Streptomyces althioticus RG3 biosurfactants have been shown to have better antimicrobial activity than Streptomyces californicus RG8, indicating that they may be used in pharmaceutical industries and in the manufacture of antifouling products.Conclusions: Streptomyces althioticus RG3 and Streptomyces californicus RG8, isolated from Ras Garib, Gulf of Suez, Egypt, were able to develop very stable biosurfactants under stress conditions, which could be useful in a variety of industries such as pharmaceuticals and antifouling manufacturing.
Soil microbes increase switchgrass germination but not seedling growth under drought
Authors: Ulbrich Tayler , Bell-Dereske Lukas , Ervin Harry , Hilborn Shanna , Evans Sarah E.
Published: April 2021

Purpose Soil microbial communities can mitigate the negative effects of drought on early-stage plant growth. However, the magnitude of this benefit may depend on both the microbial community’s previous host associations and the plant’s developmental stage.Methods We conducted a greenhouse experiment to investigate how microbial presence (autoclaved bulk vs. live bulk soils) and the microbial community’s association history (bulk soil vs. rhizosphere soil) affect germination and seedling growth during drought, as well as how drought and life-stage alter the assembly of the inoculated communities. Our focal plant was switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), a target bioenergy crop frequently used in native prairie restorations.Results We found that drought reduced growth by 59% and germination by 41% compared to ambient conditions, and that microbial presence altered drought responses. Seeds with microbes (live bulk soil) had 83% greater germination and 72% higher survival than seeds in autoclaved soils, and these effects were similar under both precipitation regimes. In contrast to microbial presence, the inoculated communities’ association history did not affect plant responses. We did find that plant growth-stage altered bacterial community assembly; bulk and rhizosphere bacterial communities were initially similar, and responded similarly to drought, but they diverged at the end of the experiment only with a germinating seed.Conclusion We show that soil microbes can increase germination and mitigate early-stage drought stress but that microbial association history may not strongly affect plant drought responses. Furthermore, interactions between soil community history and germination may be a critical, yet understudied, driver of microbiome assembly.
Long Short Term Memory Networks (LSTM)-Monte-Carlo Simulation of Surface Ionization using Radon
Authors: Muhammed Ahmad , Külahcı Fatih , Salh Hemn , Rashid Pishtiwan Akram Hama
Published: April 2021

Earthquake events are usually associated with the atmospheric processes modification. Some of the important events in seismic periods include the atmospheric electricity/conductivity modification, which is often related to the ion population in the earthquake preparation area vicinity. Radon, together with cosmic radiation is the major ionization sources in the lower troposphere. The ion-pair production rate is estimated as caused by radon in Erzincan, a city along the North Anatolian Fault Zone, Turkey. Long short term memory and Monte Carlo methods are proposed to account for uncertainty in the estimations and also in the radon data to simulate the ion production rate. The advantage of the LSTM model is taken to study radon anomalies during the M=5 Girlevik earthquake, Erzincan. Radon concentration in Erzincan is found to be very high when compared to other regions, and this might relate to the geological settings of the region. Radon concentration is found to increase prior to the 5.0 Girlevik earthquake. According to estimations, 23×109 ion-pairs m-3s-1 were generated during the earthquake. The ion production estimation rate due to radon and its progeny in Erzincan is at the order of 109 ion-pairs m-3s-1. When added to other ionization sources more pronounced conditions could favor ionospheric perturbations. Ionospheric disturbance simulations would be significant in regions with high radon concentration for understanding atmospheric processes.