bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A test of context- and sex-dependent dopaminergic effects on the behavior of a gregarious bird, the common waxbill, Estrilda astrild
Authors: Trigo Sandra , Silva Paulo A. , Cardoso Gonçalo C. , Soares Marta C.
Published: February 2022

The dopaminergic (DAergic) system has well-known influences on behavioral and cognitive functions. Previous work with common waxbills (Estrilda astrild) reported context-specific DAergic effects that could have been due to social environment. Manipulating the dopamine D2-like receptor family (D2R) pathways had opposing effects on behavior depending on whether waxbills were tested alone or in a small cage with a mirror as a social stimulus. As waxbills are highly gregarious, it was hypothesized that being alone or perceiving that they have a companion might explain this context dependence. To test context-dependent DAergic effects, we compared behavioral effects of D2R manipulation in waxbills in the same familiar environment, but either alone or with a familiar, same-sex companion. We found that D2R agonism decreased movement and feeding, similar to previous results when testing waxbills alone. However, contrary to the hypothesis of dependence on social context, we found that the behavioral effects of the D2R agonist were unchanged when waxbills were tested with a companion. The context dependence reported earlier might thus be due to other factors, such as the stress of being in a novel environment (small cage) or with an unfamiliar social stimulus (mirror image). In tests with a companion, we also found a sex-specific social effect of D2R manipulation: D2R blocking tended to decrease aggression in males but to increase it in females. Together with past work, our results suggest that DAergic effects on behavior involve different types of context or sex dependence.
Long-Term Cognitive Impairments of Sports Concussions in College-Aged Athletes: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Redlinger Fanny , Sicard Veronik , Caron Gabriel , Ellemberg Dave
Published: February 2022

Introduction/Purpose

This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the long-term (3+ months) consequences of concussion across cognitive domains (processing speed, memory, attention, and executive functions) and subdomains in young adult athletes (university, professional, or recreational).

Methods

Six databases (EMBASE, PubMed, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and Cochrane List of Registered Trials) were searched for studies that compared cognitive performance between athletes with a history of concussion (HOC) and control athletes who never sustained a brain injury. Thus, the analyses were restricted to the studies investigating sports concussions.

Results

Nineteen studies, including 20 independent experiments with 1514 participants (521 HOC athletes, 1184 controls), were identified. Athletes from the HOC group sustained an average of 2.40 ± 0.99 concussions, with an average of 29.88 ± 19.26 months after injury. Importantly, all HOC athletes were tested at least 3 months after their most recent concussion. The results indicated significant medium-to-large group differences (Hedges’ g = 0.55–1.03; P values < 0.0001) for executive functions subdomains on both standardized clinical tests and screening tools. Specifically, HOC athletes had lower cognitive performance relative to controls in strategy generation/regulation, verbal set-shifting and interference management on standardized clinical tests (Regensburger verbal fluency S words and G/R words), and response inhibition (ImPACT Impulse Control composite) and prospective working memory (Cogstate two-back task) on screening tools. Encoding phase of visual memory (Brief Visuospatial Memory Test) on standardized clinical tests approached significance (Hedges’ g = 0.40; P values = 0.08).

Conclusions

The current findings provide a preliminary guideline to clinicians for the assessment of cognition in HOC athletes and inform future guidelines on common data elements of sport-related concussions.
Vault RNA1–1 riboregulates the autophagic function of p62 by binding to lysine 7 and arginine 21, both of which are critical for p62 oligomerization
Authors: Büscher Magdalena , Horos Rastislav , Huppertz Ina , Haubrich Kevin , Dobrev Nikolay , Baudin Florence , Hennig Janosch , Hentze Matthias W.
Published: February 2022

Cellular processes can be regulated at multiple levels, including transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational mechanisms. We have recently shown that the small, noncoding vault RNA1–1 negatively riboregulates p62 oligomerization in selective autophagy through direct interaction with the autophagic receptor. This function is highly specific for this Pol III transcript, but the determinants of this specificity and a mechanistic explanation of how vault RNA1–1 inhibits p62 oligomerization are lacking. Here, we combine biochemical and functional experiments to answer these questions. We show that the PB1 domain and adjacent linker region of p62 (aa 1–122) are necessary and sufficient for specific vault RNA1–1 binding, and we identify lysine 7 and arginine 21 as key hinges for p62 riboregulation. Chemical structure probing of vault RNA1–1 further reveals a central flexible loop within vault RNA1–1 that is required for the specific interaction with p62. Overall, our data provide molecular insight into how a small RNA riboregulates protein–protein interactions critical to the activation of specific autophagy.
Αναιμία χρονίας νόσου στη ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα
Authors: Νίτα Ελένη
Published: February 2022

Σκοπός της παρούσας διατριβής ήταν να μελετηθεί το βιοχημικό, αιματολογικό καιορμονολογικό προφίλ ασθενών με ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα και αναιμία χρονίας νόσου καιπιο συγκεκριμένα να καταγραφούν τα δημογραφικά, επιδημιολογικά και ορολογικάχαρακτηριστικά των ασθενών με ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα λαμβάνοντας υπόψη την εμφάνισηή όχι αναιμίας χρονίας νόσου καθώς και το επίπεδο δραστηριότητας των ασθενών.Επιπρόσθετα διερευνήθηκε η σχέση του βιοχημικού, αιματολογικού και ορμονολογικούπροφίλ των ασθενών με ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα και αναιμία χρονίας νόσου με το αντίστοιχοτων ασθενών με ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα χωρίς αναιμία χρονίας νόσου καθώς και τυχόνδιαφορές στο βιοχημικό, αιματολογικό και ορμονολογικό προφίλ βάση ενεργότητας νόσου.Τέλος προσδιορίσθηκαν τα επίπεδα ηπατιδίνης, ερυθροποιητίνης, διαλυτών υποδοχέωντρανσφερίνης και οι δείκτες αναιμίας σε ασθενείς με ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα και αναιμίαχρονίας νόσου καθώς και σε ασθενείς με ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα χωρίς αναιμία χρονίαςνόσου και αναζητήθηκαν συσχετίσεις της ηπατιδίνης με δείκτες αναιμίας, μεταβολισμούσιδήρου, φλεγμονής, ερυθροποίησης και ενεργότητας της νόσου.Τα αποτελέσματα της παρούσας διατριβής κατέδειξαν ότι δεν υπάρχουνσημαντικές διαφορές σε ασθενείς με ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα και αναιμία χρονίας νόσουέναντι σε ασθενών με ρευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα χωρίς αναιμία χρονίας νόσου είτεεναλλακτικά λαμβάνοντας υπόψη την κατηγοριοποίηση των ασθενών με βάση τηνενεργότητητα της νόσου, όσο αφορά τα δημογραφικά, επιδημιολογικά, κλινικά καιορολογικά χαρακτηριστικά. Επιπρόσθετα φαίνεται ότι η υποκείμενη εξεργασία τηςαναιμίας δεν έχει καμία επίδραση έναντι του τυπικού προφίλ βιοχημικών δεικτών, αντίθεταη εικόνα είναι διαφορετική φυσικά όσο αφορά το αιματολογικό και ορμονολογικό προφίλ.Αντίθετα κατηγοριοποίηση με βάση την ενεργότητα της νόσου δεν συνδέεται αντίστοιχα μεσοβαρές διαφορές στο αιματολογικό/ορμονολικό προφίλ των ασθενών. Όσο αφορά τηνηπατιδίνη, επέδειξε σημαντικές συσχετίσεις με δείκτες αναιμίας, μεταβολισμού σιδήρου,φλεγμονής και ερυθροποίησης σε ένα πληθυσμό αναιμικών και μη αναιμικών ασθενών μερευματοειδή αρθρίτιδα. Αποδείχθηκε ότι ο συνδυασμός όλων των μεταβλητών μπορεί νααναχθεί σε μόλις δυο “λανθάνουσες” μεταβλητές (“παράγοντες”) που περιγράφουν την“υγεία του ερυθρού αιμοσφαιρίου” και τις “πρωτεΐνες οξείας φάσης” με την ηπατιδίνη ναπαρουσιάζει υψηλές συντεταγμένες και με τους δύο “παράγοντες”. Παρά ωστόσο τονκομβικό ρόλο της ηπατιδίνης στις συσχετίσεις μεταξύ των μεταβλητών, περίπου 50% τηςδιακύμανσης του συνόλου των δεδομένων παρέμεινε ανεξήγητο.
Σύνθεση αναλόγων φυσικών προϊόντων με αντιφλεγμονώδη δράση. Ανάπτυξη συνθετικής πορείας για την ολική σύνθεση του φυσικού προϊόντος νεορογιολτριόλη
Authors: Χριστόπουλος Ιωάννης
Published: February 2022

Τα φυσικά προϊόντα αποτελούν μια πολύτιμη πηγή βιοδραστικών ενώσεων με εφαρμογές στη βιομηχανία φαρμάκων, τροφίμων και καλλυντικών. Η μελέτη των φυσικών προϊόντων περιλαμβάνει την απομόνωση και τον δομικό χαρακτηρισμό νέων χημικών ενώσεων που προέρχονται από χερσαίους και θαλάσσιους οργανισμούς, την αποτίμηση των βιολογικών ιδιοτήτων τους και την αξιοποίηση τους σε σύγχρονους τομείς εφαρμογής.Το αντικείμενο της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής εντάσσεται στην επιστημονική περιοχή των φυσικών προιόντων θαλάσσιας προέλευσης από το γένος Laurencia και ειδικότερα στο βιοδραστικό μεταβολίτη νεορογιολτριόλη. Ο στόχος της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι η ανάπτυξη μιας ευέλικτης, συγκλίνουσας και εναντιοεκλεκτικής συνθετικής πορείας προς την νεορογιολτριόλη. Οι μελέτες προς την ολική σύνθεση της νεορογιολτριόλης, θα επιτρέψουν την σύνθεση ποικιλίας συναφών αναλόγων και τη λήψη σχέσεων δομής δραστικότητας με στόχο την αναγνώριση των δομικών χαρακτηριστικών που είναι υπεύθυνα για την ισχυρή αντιφλεγμονώδη δράση του φυσικού προϊόντος. Παράλληλα στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής ακολουθήθηκε και μια δεύτερη προσέγγιση και μελετήθηκε η σύνθεση της νεορογιολτριόλης μέσω της τροποποίησης του δομικά συναφούς φυσικού προϊόντος νεορογιολδιόλη, το οποίο απομονώνεται σε σχετικά μεγαλύτερες ποσότητες από το ροδοφύκος Laurencia microcladia. Η ταυτοποίηση και ο χαρακτηρισμός της δομής όλων των ενώσεων που συντέθηκαν στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής, πραγματοποιήθηκε με φασματοσκοπία πυρηνικού μαγνητικού συντονισμού πρωτονίου και άνθρακα NMR (1H NMR και 13C NMR) μιας και δύο διαστάσεων και φασματομετρία μάζας (HRMS).
Διερεύνηση της σχέσης μεταξύ της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης των διευθυντών με τη συλλογική αποτελεσματικότητα των εκπαιδευτικών και την επαγγελματική τους ικανοποίηση
Authors: Τσιγγίλης Νικόλαος , Καραμανέ Ευφημία , Κατσά Μαρία
Published: February 2022

Σκοπός της εργασίας ήταν να διερευνηθεί η σχέση μεταξύ της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης των διευθυντών όπως αυτή γίνεται αντιληπτή από τους εκπαιδευτικούς με τη συλλογική αίσθηση αποτελεσματικότητας και την επαγγελματική τους ικανοποίηση.  Στην έρευνα συμμετείχαν 205 εκπαιδευτικοί δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης δημοσίων σχολείων. Οι συμμετέχοντες συμπλήρωσαν το Ερωτηματολόγιο Συναισθηματικής Ικανότητας (Boyatzis et al., 2000), την Κλίμακα Συλλογικής Αποτελεσματικότητας (Tschannen-Moran & Barr, 2004) και το Ερωτηματολόγιο Καταγραφής της Επαγγελματικής Ικανοποίησης Εκπαιδευτικών (Γκόλια, 2014). Η ανάλυση διακύμανσης έδειξε ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί δήλωσαν σχετικά υψηλές τιμές σε όλες τις διαστάσεις των εργαλείων μέτρησης.  Από την εφαρμογή της ανάλυσης κανονικής συσχέτισης (canonical correlation analysis) φάνηκε ότι η συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη των διευθυντών συνδέεται θετικά και στατιστικά σημαντικά τόσο με τη συλλογική αποτελεσματικότητα των εκπαιδευτικών (rc=.633) όσο και με την ικανοποίηση που βιώνουν οι εκπαιδευτικοί από την εργασίας τους (rc=.754), ερμηνεύοντας το 23.3% και 22.1% της μεταβλητότητας των αντίστοιχα. Η διάσταση της συλλογικής αποτελεσματικότητας Πειθαρχία Μαθητών συνδέονταν πιο ισχυρά με τη συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη των διευθυντών απ’ ότι η διάσταση Στρατηγικές Διδασκαλίας.  Επιπλέον, η συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη των διευθυντών φαίνεται να συνδέεται με όλες τις διαστάσεις της επαγγελματικής ικανοποίησης, με την πιο δυνατή σχέση να αφορά την ικανοποίηση από τον διευθυντή και την πιο χαμηλή την ικανοποίηση από τους μαθητές.
Coffee by-products as the source of antioxidants: a systematic review
Authors: Lestari Wahyu , Hasballah Kartini , Listiawan M. Yulianto , Sofia Sofia
Published: February 2022

Background: Solid waste from coffee depulping process threatens the organism in environment as it produces organic pollutants. Evidence suggested that coffee by-product could valorize owing to its potential as antioxidant sources. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate antioxidant activity of coffee by-products obtained from different coffee variants (arabica and robusta) and processing methods.

Methods: The systematic review was conducted as of May 29, 2021 for records published within the last ten years (2011–2021) using seven databases: Embase, Medline, BMJ, Web of Science, Science Direct, Cochrane, and PubMed. Data on type of specimen, processing methods, and antioxidant activities were collected based on PRISMA guidelines.

Results: Our data suggested that aqueous extract was found to be the most common processing method used to obtain the antioxidant from various coffee by-products, followed by methanol and ethanol extract. A variety of antioxidant properties ranging from strong to low activity was found depending on the variety, type of coffee by-products (cascara, pulp, husk, silverskin, and parchment), and processing technique. Fermentation employing proper bacteria was found effective in improving the yield of bioactive compounds resulting in higher antioxidant capacity. Applications in feedstuffs, foods, beverages, and topical formulation are among the potential utilization of coffee by-products.

Conclusion: Coffee by-products contain bioactive compounds possessing antioxidant properties which could be used as additives in foods, beverages, and cosmetics. In particular, their benefits in skin care products require further investigation.
“Frenemies” of innovation: understanding the role of coopetition in service innovation in emerging markets
Authors: Hassan Sohaib S. , Egbetokun Abiodun , Bzhalava Levan
Published: February 2022

Coopetition is considered an important strategy for innovation. However, the literature provides limited evidence on how coopetition relates to innovation in service sector, particularly in emerging markets. Moreover, little is known about the effects of the formal and informal aspects of coopetition on innovation and how absorptive capacity of firm may influence this relationship. Against this background, using the official national innovation surveys of Nigeria (2008 and 2011), this study contributes to the ongoing debate by empirically examining the innovation endeavors of 421 Nigerian SMEs. The study employs logistic regression methods to model and explore the relationships between coopetition and innovation in the sample. The results show that that formal coopetition hinders innovation while informal coopetition supports it and absorptive capacity moderates these relationships. The study provides important insights about the concept of coopetition in emerging markets, especially vis-à-vis their institutional idiosyncrasies. Finally, the study highlights its implications and suggests some avenues for future research.
Epidemiology of COVID-19 infections on routine polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and serology testing in Coastal Kenya
Authors: Nyagwange James , Ndwiga Leonard , Muteru Kelvin , Wamae Kevin , Tuju James , testing team COVID , Kutima Bernadette , Gitonga John N. , Karanja Henry , Mugo Daisy , Kasera Kadondi , Amoth Patrick , Murunga Nickson , Babu Lawrence , Otieno Edward , Githinji George , Nokes D.J. , Tsofa Benjamin , Orindi Benedict , Barasa Edwine , Warimwe George , Agoti Charles N. , Bejon Philip , Ochola-Oyier Lynette Isabella
Published: February 2022

Background: There are limited studies in Africa describing the epidemiology, clinical characteristics and serostatus of individuals tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. We tested routine samples from the Coastal part of Kenya between 17th March 2020 and 30th June 2021.

Methods: SARS-CoV-2 infections identified using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and clinical surveillance data at the point of sample collection were used to classify as either symptomatic or asymptomatic. IgG antibodies were measured in sera samples, using a well validated in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: Mombasa accounted for 56.2% of all the 99,694 naso-pharyngeal/oro-pharyngeal swabs tested, and males constituted the majority tested (73.4%). A total of 7737 (7.7%) individuals were SARS-CoV-2 positive by RT-PCR. The majority (i.e., 92.4%) of the RT-PCR positive individuals were asymptomatic. Testing was dominated by mass screening and travellers, and even at health facility level 91.6% of tests were from individuals without symptoms. Out of the 97,124 tests from asymptomatic individuals 7,149 (7%) were positive and of the 2,568 symptomatic individuals 588 (23%) were positive. In total, 2458 serum samples were submitted with paired naso-pharyngeal/oro-pharyngeal samples and 45% of the RT-PCR positive samples and 20% of the RT-PCR negative samples were paired with positive serum samples. Symptomatic individuals had significantly higher antibody levels than asymptomatic individuals and become RT-PCR negative on repeat testing earlier than asymptomatic individuals.

Conclusions: In conclusion, the majority of SARS-CoV-2 infections identified by routine testing in Coastal Kenya were asymptomatic. This reflects the testing practice of health services in Kenya, but also implies that asymptomatic infection is very common in the population. Symptomatic infection may be less common, or it may be that individuals do not present for testing when they have symptoms.
Learning in a Post-Truth World
Authors: Mostagir Mohamed , Siderius James
Published: February 2022

Misinformation has emerged as a major societal challenge in the wake of the 2016 U.S. elections, Brexit, and the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most active areas of inquiry into misinformation examines how the cognitive sophistication of people impacts their ability to fall for misleading content. In this paper, we capture sophistication by studying how misinformation affects the two canonical models of the social learning literature: sophisticated (Bayesian) and naive (DeGroot) learning. We show that sophisticated agents can be more likely to fall for misinformation. Our model helps explain several experimental and empirical facts from cognitive science, psychology, and the social sciences. It also shows that the intuitions developed in a vast social learning literature should be approached with caution when making policy decisions in the presence of misinformation. We conclude by discussing the relationship between misinformation and increased partisanship and provide an example of how our model can inform the actions of policymakers trying to contain the spread of misinformation.

This paper was accepted by Omar Besbes, revenue management and market analytics.
Real-Time Delivery Time Forecasting and Promising in Online Retailing: When Will Your Package Arrive?
Authors: Salari Nooshin , Liu Sheng , Shen Zuo-Jun Max
Published: February 2022

Problem definition: Providing fast and reliable delivery services is key to running a successful online retail business. To achieve a better delivery time guarantee policy, we study how to estimate and promise delivery time for new customer orders in real time. Academic/practical relevance: Delivery time promising is critical to managing customer expectations and improving customer satisfaction. Simply overpromising or underpromising is undesirable because of the negative impacts on short-/long-term sales. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to develop a data-driven framework to predict the distribution of order delivery time and set promised delivery time to customers in a cost-effective way. Methodology: We apply and extend tree-based models to generate distributional forecasts by exploiting the complicated relationship between delivery time and relevant operational predictors. To account for the cost-sensitive decision-making problem structure, we develop a new split rule for quantile regression forests that incorporates an asymmetric loss function in split point selection. We further propose a cost-sensitive decision rule to decide the promised delivery day from the predicted distribution. Results: Our decision rule is proven to be optimal given certain cost structures. Tested on a real-world data set shared from JD.com, our proposed machine learning–based models deliver superior forecasting performance. In addition, we demonstrate that our framework has the potential to provide better promised delivery time in terms of sales, cost, and accuracy as compared with the conventional promised time set by JD.com. Specifically, our simulation results indicate that the proposed delivery time promise policy can improve the sales volume by 6.1% over the current policy. Managerial implications: Through a more accurate estimation of the delivery time distribution, online retailers can strategically set the promised time to maximize customer satisfaction and boost sales. Our data-driven framework reveals the importance of modeling fulfillment operations in delivery time forecasting and integrating the decision-making problem structure with the forecasting model.
Treatment of a chronic skin lesion in the lower limb in Meleda disease
Authors: Nebbioso Giuseppe , Nebbioso Viviana , Petrella Francesco
Published: February 2022

Chronic venous skin lesions heal quickly with compression therapy and wound bed preparation. However, there are conditions in which the tissue repair process is more difficult, such as Meleda disease. Meleda disease is a rare genetic pathology, transmitted with an autosomal recessive gene with a prevalence of 1:100 000; it is also called palmoplantar keratoderma. In this pathology, there is a state of chronic inflammation, an alteration of the extracellular matrix and migration of fibroblasts and keratinocytes, which block the proliferative phase of the tissue repair process. Through targeted interventions and the use of bioactive dressings, it is possible to heal the venous ulcer, although this can take a long time. The authors report their experience in relation to a patient with Meleda disease and venous ulceration of seven years.
Does exudate viscosity affect its rate of absorption into wound dressings?
Authors: Forss Jacqueline Rachel
Published: February 2022

Objective:

Exudate is a vital component of healing wounds. There are differences between acute and chronic exudate, with the latter seen as highly toxic to the healing environment. Wound exudate assessment is not easy for clinicians. The viscosity of wound fluid/exudate is as important as its quantity. Wound fluid viscosity increases when it contains more protein. As wound dressings exhibit a variety of fluid-handling mechanisms, it is important to understand how they interact with the different exudate types, which may alter the wound/dressing interface. This knowledge will ensure a healing wound environment that is beneficial, not one that leaves harmful exudate on the wound surface. This study aimed to evaluate if the viscosity of exudate affected absorption time in four wound dressing types.

Methods:

This study evaluated the viscosities of two solutions and their effect on the absorption times of four dressing types. The viscosities of the solutions were calculated using Ostwald viscometers, then 2 ml of each of these liquids was applied to each of the four dressing types and repeated 10 times for each dressing, as per British Standards Institution requirements. The parameters for temperature and frequency were applied, and the absorption times recorded. A two-way repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine if exudate viscosity and dressing type, or their interaction, affected the absorption time.

Results:

The results indicated that the viscosity of the solution alone had a significant effect on absorption time (p<0.01), and that the combined effect of dressing type and viscosity also affected absorption (p<0.01). The type of dressing alone was found to have a significant effect on absorption time (p<0.01). When looking at the between-subject effects of the dressings (between the four types) the only non-significant finding was between two dressings—the superabsorbent and the moderate (foam) absorbing dressing (p=0.097). All other dressings had a between-subject effect of (p<0.01).

Conclusion:

A significant difference in absorption times was found in this investigation of dressing types and viscosity of test solutions. The greater the viscosity of the fluid, the longer it took for it to be absorbed into all dressing types tested. This delay was not determined simply by the dressing or by the viscosity of the fluid, but likely to be a combination of the mode of action of the dressing, its pore size and particulate composition of the exudate, all of which require further investigation.
Bid from the International Surgical Wound Complications Advisory Panel
Authors: Sandy-Hodgetts Kylie
Published: February 2022

The International Surgical Wound Complications Advisory Panel sets out its bid for the WUWHS 2026 Congress to be held in Perth, Western Australia.
Pilot study of the diagnostic value of CRP:albumin ratio for osteomyelitis in patients with diabetic foot ulcers
Authors: Ali Eren Mehmet , Güneş Ali Erdal , Ceylan Mehmet Reşat , İncebıyık Hatice , Aydın Mehmet Salih , Dusak Abdurrahim , Sabuncu Tevfik
Published: February 2022

Objective:

Osteomyelitis may complicate diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). As a new inflammation-based prognostic factor, CRP:albumin ratio's significance is not known in osteomyelitis among patients with or without diabetes.

Method:

Patients with type 2 diabetes and DFUs were divided into two groups: group 1 (n=47) comprised patients without osteomyelitis, and group 2 (n=50) comprised patients with osteomyelitis.

Results:

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (88.5±23.0 versus 42.0±22.2), white blood cell count (WBC) (14.7±6.9x103 versus 10.0±4.4x103), C-reactive protein (CRP) level (15.6±9.9 versus 2.4±3.3) and CRP:albumin ratio (6.6±4.9 versus 0.7±1.0) were significantly higher, and albumin level was significantly lower in group 2 compared to group 1 (p<0.001 for all). The presence of osteomyelitis was significantly and positively correlated with ESR (r=0.721; p<0.001), WBC (r=0.380; p<0.001), CRP (r=0.667; p<0.001) and CRP:albumin ratio (r=0.638; p<0.001), and negatively correlated with albumin (r=−0.590; p<0.001). A CRP:albumin ratio of 1.74 or above could predict osteomyelitis with 92.0% sensitivity, 80.9% specificity, and the best area under the curve (AUC) score (AUC=0.957; 95% CI: 0.924–0.991). ESR (odds ratio (OR): 1.071 (1.025–1.119); p=0.02) and CRP:albumin ratio (OR: 2.65 (1.437–4.885); p=0.002) were independent predictors in the final model for stepwise linear regression analyses for the estimation of osteomyelitis.

Conclusion:

CRP:albumin ratio is a cheap and repeatable inflammatory marker and can successfully detect osteomyelitis in patients with DFU.
A large-scale genetic correlation scan between rheumatoid arthritis and human plasma protein
Authors: Luo Pan , Cheng Shiqiang , Zhang Feng , Feng Ruoyang , Xu Ke , Jing Wensen , Xu Peng
Published: February 2022

Aims

The aim of this study was to explore the genetic correlation and causal relationship between blood plasma proteins and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

Based on the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics of RA from European descent and the GWAS summary datasets of 3,622 plasma proteins, we explored the relationship between RA and plasma proteins from three aspects. First, linkage disequilibrium score regression (LD score regression) was applied to detect the genetic correlation between RA and plasma proteins. Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was then used to evaluate the causal association between RA and plasma proteins. Finally, GEO2R was used to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between patients with RA and healthy controls.

Results

We found that seven kinds of plasma proteins had genetic correlations with RA, such as Soluble Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (sRAGE) (correlation coefficient = 0.2582, p = 0.049), vesicle transport protein USE1 (correlation coefficient = 0.1337, p = 0.018), and spermatogenesis-associated protein 20 (correlation coefficient = 0.3706, p = 0.018). There was a significant causal relationship between sRAGE and RA. By comparing the genes encoding seven plasma proteins, we found that only USE1 was a DEG associated with RA.

Conclusion

Our study identified a set of candidate plasma proteins that showed signals correlated with RA. Since the results of this study need further experimental verification, they should be interpreted with caution. However, we hope that this paper will provide new insights for the discovery of pathogenic genes and RA pathogenesis in the future. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2022;11(2):134–142.
An Efficient and Secure Authentication for Ambient Assisted Living System
Authors: Yi Myung-Kyu , Whangbo Taeg-Keun
Published: February 2022

Although the birthrate is declining, the average life expectancy continues to increase. Therefore, it is more important for elderly people to maintain their independence while staying at home. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) includes the use of devices and methods of ensuring that elderly people can stay safe and age at home rather than at a facility. Assisted living services help people live as independently and safely as possible when they can no longer perform everyday activities on their own. Because the information transmitted in AAL systems is personal, the security and privacy of such data are becoming important issues that must be addressed. Herein, we propose an efficient and secure authentication scheme for an AAL system. Our proposed authentication scheme not only satisfies several important security requirements of such a system but also withstands various types of attacks. Moreover, the proposed authentication scheme achieves lightweight performance by manipulating basic cryptographic operations including bitwise-eXclusive-OR (XOR) and hash functions. We simulated our proposed authentication scheme using Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA), which is a prominent security verification tool. Security and performance analysis show that our proposed scheme is not only robust against several attacks and has a lower computational cost in terms of execution time than those of existing authentication schemes.
Female Objectification in Two Short Stories by Emilia Pardo Bazán
Authors: Walter Susan
Published: February 2022

In two short stories by the canonical author Emilia Pardo Bazán, “Primer amor” and “La argolla” we find a double-voiced discourse, which Elaine Showalter has suggested is very common in women’s fiction (1981: 204). In both of Pardo Bazán’s tales there are small objects that symbolically allude to women’s objectification in the patriarchal society of the time. The dialogue created between these two tales is noteworthy for a number of reasons, including their critical portrayals of romantic relationships, their symbolism, descriptive language and the narrative techniques employed. In this study I posit that both tales critique the objectification of women by the patriarchal society of the time by linking society’s tendency to objectify women with symbolic references to confinement.
Realidad Aumentada y Educación
Authors: Lozano Diaz Antonia
Published: February 2022

Reseña sobre el libro "Realidad aumenta y educación. Innocación en contextos formativos"
Simplified retinal 3D projection rendering method and system
Authors: Xia Ting , Lou Yimin , Hu Juanmei , Wu Fengmin
Published: February 2022

A simplified rendering method and system for retinal 3D projection using view and depth information is proposed and demonstrated. Instead of vertex calculations, image-based techniques, including sub-image shifting, image fusion, and hole filling, combined with the depth information, are used to render the multi-view images in a display space with specific discrete depth coordinates. A set of time–division multiplexing retinal 3D projection systems with dense viewpoints is built. A near-eye display of a 3D scene with complex occlusion relationships is realized using the rendering method and system. The eye box of the retinal projection system is enlarged, and the accommodation response of the eyes is evoked at the same time, which improves the visual experience. Rendering tests are carried out using simple and complex models, which proves the effectiveness of this method. Comparative experiments prove that the proposed retinal projection method can obtain high-performance 3D images comparable to the super multi-view display method while simplifying the rendering process. Additionally, the depth of field of the experimental system can cover most of the vergence accommodation conflict sensitive range of the human eye.
Improved measurement method for the Faraday rotation distribution using beam splitting
Authors: Jiang Zhiyuan , Wu Jian , Chen Ziwei , Wang Zhenyu , Shi Huantong , Li Xingwen
Published: February 2022

In this work, two Faraday channels and one shadow channel are constructed by two non-polarizing beam splitters and one reflector to measure the Faraday rotation distribution. The intensity of the Faraday and shadow images is related to the state of polarization (SOP) of the incident light, thus achieving two-dimensional accurate measurement. The measurement sensitivity is influenced by the settings of two polarization analyzers in the Faraday channels and the parameters of beam splitters, which are explored numerically and verified with experiments. The fluctuation of the probe light is eliminated by using three evaluation indexes. Also, the measurement range and error sources under different experimental settings are discussed.
Definition of an error map for DoFP polarimetric images and its application to retardance calibration
Authors: Le Teurnier Benjamin , Li Ning , Boffety Matthieu , Goudail François
Published: February 2022

With the recent development of division of focal plane (DoFP) polarization sensors, it is possible to perform polarimetric analysis of a scene with a reduced number of acquisitions. One drawback of these sensors is that polarization estimation can be perturbed by the spatial variations of the scene. We thus propose a method to compute a map that indicates where polarization estimation can be trusted in the image. It is based on two criteria: the consistency between the intensity measurements inside a super-pixel and the detection of spatial intensity variations. We design both criteria so that a constant false alarm rate can be set. We demonstrate the benefit of this method to improve the precision of dynamic retardance calibration of DoFP-based full Stokes imaging systems.
Spectral synthesis of multimode lasers to the Fourier limit in integrated Fabry–Perot diamond resonators
Authors: Granados Eduardo , Granados Camilo , Ahmed Rizwan , Chrysalidis Katerina , Fedosseev Valentin N. , Marsh Bruce A. , Wilkins Shane G. , Mildren Richard P. , Spence David J.
Published: February 2022

Fourier-limited nanosecond pulses featuring narrow spectral bandwidths are required for applications in spectroscopy, sensing, and quantum optics. Here, we demonstrate a direct and simple route for the generation of single-frequency light relying on phonon-resonant Raman interactions within a monolithic diamond resonator. The technique enables the production of nearly Fourier-limited nanosecond optical pulses (15 ns), with an overall spectral bandwidth of down to 180 MHz, which is nearly two orders of magnitude narrower than the pump laser linewidth used (12 GHz). The power conversion efficiency was 47%, yielding a power spectral brightness enhancement of

>

50
×

compared to the pump. Our results pave the way to the integration of pulsed widely tunable, power scalable, narrow linewidth light sources into integrated photonic platforms. Furthermore, the device does not need elaborate mechanical feedback loops for cavity length or frequency stabilization, or any additional optical components.
Measuring the repertoire of age-related behavioral changes in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Overman Katherine E. , Choi Daniel M. , Leung Kawai , Shaevitz Joshua W. , Berman Gordon J.
Published: February 2022

Aging affects almost all aspects of an organism—its morphology, its physiology, its behavior. Isolating which biological mechanisms are regulating these changes, however, has proven difficult, potentially due to our inability to characterize the full repertoire of an animal’s behavior across the lifespan. Using data from fruit flies (D. melanogaster) we measure the full repertoire of behaviors as a function of age. We observe a sexually dimorphic pattern of changes in the behavioral repertoire during aging. Although the stereotypy of the behaviors and the complexity of the repertoire overall remains relatively unchanged, we find evidence that the observed alterations in behavior can be explained by changing the fly’s overall energy budget, suggesting potential connections between metabolism, aging, and behavior.
SiteMotif: A graph-based algorithm for deriving structural motifs in Protein Ligand binding sites
Authors: Sankar Santhosh , Chandra Nagasuma
Published: February 2022

Studying similarities in protein molecules has become a fundamental activity in much of biology and biomedical research, for which methods such as multiple sequence alignments are widely used. Most methods available for such comparisons cater to studying proteins which have clearly recognizable evolutionary relationships but not to proteins that recognize the same or similar ligands but do not share similarities in their sequence or structural folds. In many cases, proteins in the latter class share structural similarities only in their binding sites. While several algorithms are available for comparing binding sites, there are none for deriving structural motifs of the binding sites, independent of the whole proteins. We report the development of SiteMotif, a new algorithm that compares binding sites from multiple proteins and derives sequence-order independent structural site motifs. We have tested the algorithm at multiple levels of complexity and demonstrate its performance in different scenarios. We have benchmarked against 3 current methods available for binding site comparison and demonstrate superior performance of our algorithm. We show that SiteMotif identifies new structural motifs of spatially conserved residues in proteins, even when there is no sequence or fold-level similarity. We expect SiteMotif to be useful for deriving key mechanistic insights into the mode of ligand interaction, predict the ligand type that a protein can bind and improve the sensitivity of functional annotation.
Soft selective sweeps: Addressing new definitions, evaluating competing models, and interpreting empirical outliers
Authors: Johri Parul , Stephan Wolfgang , Jensen Jeffrey D.
Published: February 2022

The ability to accurately identify and quantify genetic signatures associated with soft selective sweeps based on patterns of nucleotide variation has remained controversial. We here provide counter viewpoints to recent publications in PLOS Genetics that have argued not only for the statistical identifiability of soft selective sweeps, but also for their pervasive evolutionary role in both Drosophila and HIV populations. We present evidence that these claims owe to a lack of consideration of competing evolutionary models, unjustified interpretations of empirical outliers, as well as to new definitions of the processes themselves. Our results highlight the dangers of fitting evolutionary models based on hypothesized and episodic processes without properly first considering common processes and, more generally, of the tendency in certain research areas to view pervasive positive selection as a foregone conclusion.
The widespread nature of Pack-TYPE transposons reveals their importance for plant genome evolution
Authors: Gisby Jack S. , Catoni Marco
Published: February 2022

Pack-TYPE transposable elements (TEs) are a group of non-autonomous DNA transposons found in plants. These elements can efficiently capture and shuffle coding DNA across the host genome, accelerating the evolution of genes. Despite their relevance for plant genome plasticity, the detection and study of Pack-TYPE TEs are challenging due to the high similarity these elements have with genes. Here, we produced an automated annotation pipeline designed to study Pack-TYPE elements and used it to successfully annotate and analyse more than 10,000 new Pack-TYPE TEs in the rice and maize genomes. Our analysis indicates that Pack-TYPE TEs are an abundant and heterogeneous group of elements. We found that these elements are associated with all main superfamilies of Class II DNA transposons in plants and likely share a similar mechanism to capture new chromosomal DNA sequences. Furthermore, we report examples of the direct contribution of these TEs to coding genes, suggesting a generalised and extensive role of Pack-TYPE TEs in plant genome evolution.
Fast Evaluation of Viral Emerging Risks (FEVER): A computational tool for biosurveillance, diagnostics, and mutation typing of emerging viral pathogens
Authors: Stromberg Zachary R. , Theiler James , Foley Brian T. , Myers y Gutiérrez Adán , Hollander Attelia , Courtney Samantha J. , Gans Jason , Deshpande Alina , Martinez-Finley Ebany J. , Mitchell Jason , Mukundan Harshini , Yusim Karina , Kubicek-Sutherland Jessica Z.
Published: February 2022

Viral pathogens can rapidly evolve, adapt to novel hosts, and evade human immunity. The early detection of emerging viral pathogens through biosurveillance coupled with rapid and accurate diagnostics are required to mitigate global pandemics. However, RNA viruses can mutate rapidly, hampering biosurveillance and diagnostic efforts. Here, we present a novel computational approach called FEVER (Fast Evaluation of Viral Emerging Risks) to design assays that simultaneously accomplish: 1) broad-coverage biosurveillance of an entire group of viruses, 2) accurate diagnosis of an outbreak strain, and 3) mutation typing to detect variants of public health importance. We demonstrate the application of FEVER to generate assays to simultaneously 1) detect sarbecoviruses for biosurveillance; 2) diagnose infections specifically caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); and 3) perform rapid mutation typing of the D614G SARS-CoV-2 spike variant associated with increased pathogen transmissibility. These FEVER assays had a high in silico recall (predicted positive) up to 99.7% of 525,708 SARS-CoV-2 sequences analyzed and displayed sensitivities and specificities as high as 92.4% and 100% respectively when validated in 100 clinical samples. The D614G SARS-CoV-2 spike mutation PCR test was able to identify the single nucleotide identity at position 23,403 in the viral genome of 96.6% SARS-CoV-2 positive samples without the need for sequencing. This study demonstrates the utility of FEVER to design assays for biosurveillance, diagnostics, and mutation typing to rapidly detect, track, and mitigate future outbreaks and pandemics caused by emerging viruses.
Pediatric Chagas disease in the non-endemic area of Madrid: A fifteen-year review (2004–2018)
Authors: Bravo-Gallego Luz Yadira , Francisco-González Laura , Vázquez-Pérez Álvaro , García-López Hortelano Milagros , López Vélez Rogelio , González-Granado Luis Ignacio , Santos Mar , Epalza Cristina , Jiménez Ana Belén , Cilleruelo María José , Guillén Sara , Fernández Tania , Olabarrieta Iciar , Flores-Chavez María , Ramos Amador José Tomás , González-Tomé María Isabel
Published: February 2022

Background

Chagas disease (CD) has become an emerging global health problem in association with the immigration of individuals from endemic areas (in LatinAmerica) to other countries.Spain is the country in Europe with the highest number of CD cases. Concerning pediatric CD, treatment is not only better tolerated by younger children but also has greater cure possibilities. The aim of this study was to describe clinical and epidemiological aspects of CD in a pediatric population diagnosed of 10 hospitals in the Community of Madrid during the 2004–2018 period, as well as the safety and efficacy of CD treatment on this population.

Methodology/Principal findings

A multicenter, retrospective, descriptive study was conducted. The studied population included all identified children under the age of 18 with a diagnosis of CD. Diagnosis was performed with a positive parasitological test (with subsequent confirmation) or confirmed persistence of positive serology beyond 9 months, for children younger than one year-old, and with two different positive serological tests, for children older than one.

Fifty-one children were included (59% male; 50.9% born in Spain). All mothers were from Latin America. The median age at diagnosis was 0.7 months for those under one year of age, and 11.08 years for those older than one year-old. Only one case presented a symptomatic course (hydrops faetalis, haemodynamic instability at birth, ascites, anaemia). For 94% treatment was completed. Considering patients who received benznidazole (47), AE were recorded in 48,9%. Among the 32 patients older than one year-old treated with benznidazole, 18 (56.25%) had adverse events whereas in the 15 under one year, 5(33,3%) did. Eigtheen (78.2%) of the patients with benznidazole AE were older than one year-old(median age 11.4 years). Of the patients treated with nifurtimox (9), AE were reported in 3 cases (33,3%).

Cure was confirmed in 80% of the children under one year-old vs 4.3% in those older (p<0.001). Loss to follow- up occurred in 35.3% of patients.

Conclusions/Significances

Screening programs of CD since birth allow early diagnosis and treatment, with a significantly higher cure rate in children treated before one year of age, with lower incidence of adverse events. The high proportion of patients lost to follow-up in this vulnerable population is of concern.
Prediction of clinical trial enrollment rates
Authors: Bieganek Cameron , Aliferis Constantin , Ma Sisi
Published: February 2022

Clinical trials represent a critical milestone of translational and clinical sciences. However, poor recruitment to clinical trials has been a long standing problem affecting institutions all over the world. One way to reduce the cost incurred by insufficient enrollment is to minimize initiating trials that are most likely to fall short of their enrollment goal. Hence, the ability to predict which proposed trials will meet enrollment goals prior to the start of the trial is highly beneficial. In the current study, we leveraged a data set extracted fromClinicalTrials.govthat consists of 46,724 U.S. based clinical trials from 1990 to 2020. We constructed 4,636 candidate predictors based on data collected byClinicalTrials.govand external sources for enrollment rate prediction using various state-of-the-art machine learning methods. Taking advantage of a nested time series cross-validation design, our models resulted in good predictive performance that is generalizable to future data and stable over time. Moreover, information content analysis revealed the study design related features to be the most informative feature type regarding enrollment. Compared to the performance of models built with all features, the performance of models built with study design related features is only marginally worse (AUC= 0.78 ± 0.03 vs.AUC= 0.76 ± 0.02). The results presented can form the basis for data-driven decision support systems to assess whether proposed clinical trials would likely meet their enrollment goal.