bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High prevalence of iodine deficiency among vegan compared to vegetarian and omnivore children in the Czech Republic: cross sectional study
Authors: Světnička Martin , Heniková Marina , Selinger Eliška , Ouřadová Anna , Potočková Jana , Kuhn Tilman , Gojda Jan , El-Lababidi Eva
Published: February 2023

Background: Vegetarian (VG) and vegan (VN) diets are becoming increasingly popular among children. These restrictive types of diet remain a concern as they may impair growth and development, although up-to-date epidemiological studies are lacking. Iodine, an essential micronutrient, is of specific concern due to its important role in thyroid gland physiology.
Methods: We collected clinical, anthropometric, and blood/urine parameters of iodine status as well as thyroid function among children following VG (n = 91), VN (n = 75), and omnivores (OM, n = 52), aged 5.4 (± 4.3) years.
Results: We found no significant differences in levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (fT3), or thyroglobulin (TG) between the groups. Thyroxine (fT4) levels were higher in OM compared to VN (15.00 ± 1.73 vs. 16.17 ± 1.82 pmol/L, p < 0.001). There were strong differences in anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (AhTGc) between groups (OM: 2.54 ± 8.31 vs. VG: 16.24 ± 44.46 vs. VN: 13.93 ± 9.16 UI/L, p < 0.001). Iodine concentration in spot urine (UIC) was highest in OM (195.31 ± 105.28 vs VG: 177.27 ± 155.13 vs. VN: 162.94 ± 163.39 µg/L, p < 0.001). The lowest (5.99 µg/L) but also the highest (991.80 µg/L) levels were measured in VN. 31 VN and 31 VG children met the criteria for iodine deficiency (i.e., UIC < 100 µg/L). Children with regular iodine supplementation had higher UIC (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: We observed a higher prevalence of iodine deficiency in VN and VG group than in OM, with possible impact on thyroidal health (i.e., positivity of antibodies). Further research and new guidelines for iodine supplementation among VG and VN children are therefore warranted.
The earliest fungal plant pathogen ?
Authors: Strullu-Derrien Christine , Goral Tomasz , Spencer Alan , Kenrick Paul , Gaya Ester , Hawksworth David
Published: February 2023

Nowadays Fungi are recognized as integral to well-functioning ecosystems, and their broader impact on earth systems is widely acknowledged. Remarkable early fossil evidence from the Rhynie chert (Scotland, UK) shows that Fungi were already diverse in terrestrial ecosystems over 407-million-years-ago, yet evidence for the occurrence of Dikarya (the subkingdom of Fungi that includes the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota) in this fossilised geothermal site is scant.
Here we used high resolution white light microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy to re-examine historic petrographic thin sections of exceptionally well-preserved fossils from the Rhynie chert site. 3D visualizations obtained by confocal laser scanning microscopy were created from the image stacks; this method proved effective for plant tissues and associated fungal remains.
We document a new fungus, Potteromyces asteroxylicola that we attribute to Ascomycota incertae sedis (Dikarya). This fungus colonized the aerial axes and leaf-like appendages of the plant Asteroxylon mackiei (Lycopsida). The fungus is represented by a stroma-like structure and by conidiophores originating in tufts from beneath the cuticle. We show that these caused a reaction in the plant that gave rise to dome-shaped surface projections. This suite of features in the fungus together with the plant reaction tissues provides the earliest unequivocal fossil evidence of a plant pathogenic fungus.
The newly described fungus belongs to an extinct lineage that could serve as a minimum node age calibration point for the Ascomycota as a whole or perhaps for the Dikarya crown group. This also might apply to Paleopyrenomycites devonicus, and to the hymenial layer bearing polysporus asci that was attributed to Prototaxites taiti, both previously documented in the Rhynie chert. Our finding also supports an affiliation to Ascomycota rather than to Basidiomycota for the origin of fungal plant pathogenicity.
Physics Guided Heat Source for Quantitative Prediction of the Laser Track Measurements of IN718 in 2022 NIST AM Benchmark Test
Authors: Amin Abdullah , Li Yangfan , Lu Ye , Xie Xiaoyu , Mojumder Satyajit , Gan Zhengtao , Wagner Gregory , Liu Wing Kam
Published: February 2023

Challenge 3 of the 2022 NIST additive manufacturing benchmark (AM-Bench) experiments asked modelers to submit predictions for solid cooling rate, liquid cooling rate, time above melt, and melt pool geometry for single and multiple track laser powder bed fusion process using moving lasers. An in-house developed Additive Manufacturing Computational Fluid Dynamics code (AM-CFD) combined with a cylindrical heat source was implemented to accurately predict these experiments. Heuristic heat source calibration was proposed relating volumetric energy density (ψ) based on experiments available in the literature. The parameters of the heat source of the computational model were initially calibrated based on a Higher Order Proper Generalized Decomposition- (HOPGD) based surrogate model. The prediction using the calibrated heat source agreed quantitatively with NIST measurements for different process conditions. A scaling law based on keyhole formation was also utilized in calibrating the parameters of the cylindrical heat source and predicting the challenge experiments. In addition, an improvement on the heat source model was proposed to relate the Volumetric Energy Density (VEDσ) to the melt pool aspect ratio. The model showed further improvement in the prediction of the experimental measurements for the melt pool including cases at higher VEDσ. Overall, it was concluded that the appropriate selection of parameterization scheme along with the heat source model was crucial in the accurate prediction of melt pool geometry and thermal measurements while bypassing the expensive computational simulations that consider increased physics equations.
Cannabidiol Inhibits Neuroinflammatory Responses and Circuit-Associated Synaptic Loss Following Damage to a Songbird Vocal Pre-motor Cortical-Like Region
Authors: Tripson Mark , Litwa Karen , Soderstrom Ken
Published: February 2023

The non-euphorigenic phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) has been used successfully to treat childhood-onset epilepsies. These conditions are associated with developmental delays that often include vocal learning. Zebra finch song, like language, is a complex behavior learned during a sensitive period of development. Song quality is maintained through continuous sensorimotor refinement involving circuits that control learning and production. Within the vocal motor circuit, HVC is a cortical-like region that when partially lesioned temporarily disrupts song structure. We previously found CBD (10 mg/kg/day) improves post-lesion vocal recovery. The present studies were done to understand mechanisms underlying CBD vocal protection. We found CBD-improved vocal recovery is accompanied by reduced expression of inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress markers. These effects were associated with regionally-reduced expression of the microglia marker TMEM119. As microglia are key regulators of synaptic reorganization, we measured synapse densities, finding significant lesion-induced circuit-wide decreases that were largely reversed by CBD. Synaptic protection was accompanied by NRF2 activation and BDNF/ARC/ARG3.1/MSK1 expression implicating mechanisms important to song circuit node mitigation of oxidative stress and promotion of synaptic homeostasis. Our findings indicate CBD improves post-lesion recovery of a complex learned behavior through an array of neuroprotective processes consistent with modulation of multiple cell signaling systems.
Octopus arm ‘slap’ in situ: A syntactic analysis of a complex motor action
Authors: Alupay Jean , Mather Jennifer , Iskarous Khalil
Published: February 2023

An octopus, Abdopus sp., can use rotation and translation of its hydrostatic arms, and combine these kinematic behaviors serially and in parallel, on different arms, to ‘slap’ at fish in the wild. Different motor programs may be used in multiple arms producing complex actions. The movements analyzed in this work show how complex the movements of the octopus, in situ, can be, furthering knowledge of this animal’s behavior, as well as furthering understanding of the structure of animal motor control. Stiffening of the flexible muscular hydrostatic arms was found to be important to both primitives of translation and rotation. By combining these kinematic primitives, the octopus is able to maintain flexibility while controlling only a few factors, or degrees of freedom, a concept we term ‘flexible rigidity’. The slapping action of the octopus of interest, Abdopus sp., therefore, gives support for Flash and Hochner’s embodied organization view of motor behavior, as well as their idea that motor primitives can combine syntactically to form a complex action. Our results suggest that the octopus’s ability to use sensory feedback from the position of a moving fish target, along with the feed-forward motor primitives, allows for the building of complex actions at dynamic equilibrium with the environment. Overall, these findings lead to a more realistic view of how a complex behavior allows an animal to coordinate with its environment.
Unsupervised machine learning and image recognition model application in English part-of-speech feature learning Under the open platform environment
Authors: Yang Liu
Published: February 2023

The traditional English part-of-speech analysis model fails to meet people’s actual needs due to the fact that the accuracy and other parameters are not up to standard. Facing large-scale English text data, quickly and accurately obtaining the key information needed and improv-ing the efficiency and accuracy of clustering have always been the focus of attention. However, the inherent characteristics of English text make it impossible to accurately calculate the traditional feature weight calculation method, and it’s part of speech is difficult to recognize. Moreover, in order to obtain a structure closer to the real data, this paper fuses the norm graph and the k-nearest neighbor graph, proposes a new composition framework, and combines it with two common propagation algorithms to complete the classification task. In addition, in order to obtain the improvement effect of the algorithm, the algorithm is tested on the English text classification corpus data set of the natural language processing open platform, and a control experiment is set to analyze the model performance. Finally, this article combines mathematical statistics to process data and draw corresponding charts.
Research on campus network security protection system framework based on cloud data and intrusion detection algorithm
Authors: Shaorong Wang , Guiling Long
Published: February 2023

The continuous progress of society has created conditions for the widespread use of information technology. People rely more and more on information technology and the Internet. People can use the Internet to retrieve relevant information to meet their work needs, but the widespread use of the Internet is also accompanied by network security issues. The existence of network security problems will affect people's work to varying degrees. Network security management departments use intrusion detection technology and set firewalls to improve the security of people's personal information on the Internet, prevent viruses and some criminals from stealing people's important information through the Internet, causing adverse effects on the Internet environment. In the daily management of the school, the extensive use of the campus network can not only facilitate students' daily study and life, but also improve the efficiency of school management. Ensuring the network security of campus network is an important work to ensure the campus management and students' study and life. The four parts of network security work include setting firewall, encrypting cloud data, using intrusion detection technology, and recovering data. Intrusion detection technology is extremely important for the development of network security work, which can help people actively find vulnerabilities in networks and systems, identify possible behaviors that may invade systems and networks, and give early warning or automatically close intrusion channels. There are various types of cloud data, so cloud database plays an extremely important role in the development of various fields. This paper uses intrusion detection algorithms to design the campus network security protection system, which provides security for the use of the campus network.
Brain Tumor Type Identification from MR Images using Texture Features and Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Dewan Jaya , Thepade Sudeep , Deshmukh Pradnya , Deshmukh Sharvari , Katpale Pooja , Gandole Kartik
Published: February 2023

The detection of brain tumors using Magnetic Resonance Images(MRI) is difficult for contemporary medical imaging research. Basically, a brain tumor is an expansion of aberrant brain cells that expand erratically and seemingly uncontrolled. Meningioma, Glioma, and Pituitary are the three kinds of tumors that are most frequently seen. Early identification is essential for the successful treatment of brain tumors. With the development of medical imaging, doctors now employ a variety of imaging methods, such as fMRI, EEG, etc., to diagnose brain tumors. These imaging methods can help clinicians establish a precise diagnosis and create a treatment strategy by providing details on the location, size, and shape of brain tumors. Feature extraction and classification are two steps in the categorization of brain tumors. Two traditional manual feature extraction methods were frequently utilized in certain earlier research to extract details like the intensity and texture of images of brain tumors. This work employs the 'GLCM(Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix)' approach for feature extraction. The generated feature set is provided to machine learning(ML) algorithms, including 'K-Nearest Neighbours(KNN), Support Vector Machine(SVM), Decision Tree(DT), Naive Bayes(NB), Logistic Regression(LR), Naive Bayes(NB), and Random Forest(RF)'. According to experimental results, random forest yields a maximum accuracy of 91.04%. The proposed methodology helps to classify the different brain tumor classes like glioma, meningioma, pituitary, or else no tumor.
Simple Preparation of bagasse pith cellulose nanofibers and precise controlling their morphology
Authors: Zhou Yan , Qiao Yu , Guan Qingqing , Zhou Huajing , He Liang
Published: February 2023

As one of the main by-products of the sugar industry, bagasse is widely used in pulp and paper industry because of its rich cellulose and a small amount of lignin. However, in addition to fiber cells, bagasse also contains about 30% soft, short pulp. And high silicon content in sugarcane pith will cause difficulty in black liquor recovery. Therefore, in the process of pulping and papermaking, pulp is often removed first. Obviously, this measure violates the principle of making full use of biomass resources. Under the premise of ensuring the efficient use of resources, the study of new technologies that are more environmentally friendly is an important measure to achieve the efficient use of sugarcane pulp waste. It is also highly consistent with the National Development and Reform Commission’s “14th Five-Year Plan” circular economy development plan on the “high-value utilization of agricultural and forestry biomass resources.” Based on this, this paper mainly studied the preparation of nanocellulose by low-temperature ethanol-oxygen-alkali technology of sugarcane pulp, and flexibly regulated the morphology of nanocellulose by changing the ratio of alcohol to water. The semi-liquefaction process behavior was analyzed from solid-liquid ratio, alkali pre-extraction and alcohol-water ratio. The physicochemical properties of nanocellulose and residue were analyzed by SEM, XRD and FTIR to capture the process of cellulose depolymerization. The results show that when the solid-liquid ratio is 1:8 and the alkali concentration is 60 g/L, the semi-liquefaction process of ethanol-oxygen-alkali system and the alkali pre-extraction effect are the best. The results of FTIR spectroscopy showed that with the increase of ethanol concentration, the structure of semi-liquefied solid was effectively destroyed, resulting in the degradation of lignin macromolecules and the significant increase of cellulose content. XRD analysis showed that the highest crystallinity of semi-liquefied solid was 68.75%. In addition, with the increase of ethanol concentration, the structure of the fibers gradually formed a uniformly distributed block structure. After the ultrasonic pretreatment process, the irregular aggregate fibers and block fibers were subjected to strong impact force to form granular fibers. After alkali extraction pretreatment, cellulose completed the transformation from irregular and large aggregates to small and uniformly distributed granular nanocellulose. In this paper, for the first time, the morphology of nanocellulose into flower-like, rod-like, spherical and ultrafine particles was simply and controllable regulated by ethanol-mediated method. By capturing the fibers with different morphologies in the process of cellulose depolymerization, the mechanism of preparing nanofibers from bagasse pith cellulose was inferred to achieve precise regulation of the morphology of cellulose nanofibers.
TRIM21 mediates the synergistic effect of Olaparib and Sorafenib by degrading BRCA1 through ubiquitination in TNBC
Authors: Xin Hong , Huang Ning , Sun Xiaolin , Tong Li , Li Peng , Dong Xinyi , Zhang Xuemei , Duan Jifeng , Sheng Xia
Published: February 2023

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous and aggressive breast cancer with a poor prognosis and a high recurrence rate. Although Olaparib, a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) enzyme inhibitor, was approved for germline BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer, chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment for cancer patients without BRCA mutation. Tripartite motif containing-21 (TRIM21) is one of the TRIM family members that has been implicated in various types of cancer. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic function of TRIM21. It was found that a low TRIM21 expression level was correlated with a poorer overall survival of TNBC patients. TRIM21 depletion promoted the proliferation of TNBC cells in vivo and in vitro, as well as migratory and invasive capabilities in vitro. Importantly, breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) was identified as a ubiquitination substrate of TRIM21. It was confirmed that BRCA1 was upregulated after Olaparib treatment, which could explain the relative resistance of TNBC cells without BRCA1 mutation to Olaparib. Moreover, Sorafenib, a standard treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma, increased the sensitivity of TNBC cells to Olaparib through TRIM21-mediated ubiquitination degradation of BRCA1. Thus, a synergic effect of Olaparib and Sorafenib was found in vitroand in vivo. The combined treatment also aggravated DNA damage, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis of TNBC cells. In summary, the findings verified the synergistic effect of Olaparib and Sorafenib and revealed TRIM21 as a potential target for TNBC therapy.
Surface Grafting of a Zwitterionic Copolymer onto a Cellulose Nanofiber Membrane for Oil/Water Separation
Authors: Son Dongwan , Kim Seungjun , Kim Jinhyeong , Ryu Sujin , Kim Myungwoong , Lee Hoik
Published: February 2023

Numerous oil/water mixtures are produced by industrial processes and residential activity, leading to the need for effective separation technologies for wastewater treatment and environmental remediation. In the present study, we report a cellulose-based nanofiber membrane with exceptional hydrophilicity and oleophobicity that rejects organic solvents and allows the penetration of water, thus avoiding fouling by organic residues, which has been a serious issue for conventional oil/water separation membranes. The cellulose-based nanofiber membrane was fabricated using the electrospinning of cellulose acetate and subsequent deacetylation. The resulting surface hydroxyl groups were utilized to bind with the zwitterionic copolymer poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate-r-glycidyl methacrylate) via a ring-opening reaction with the epoxy groups in the copolymer. The resulting copolymer-grafted cellulose nanofiber membrane allowed the highly selective penetration of the water phase from three different oil/water mixtures. The average filtration efficiency was higher than 98% with outstanding recyclability over at least 20 cycles following decontamination by washing the membrane with water. The proposed material platform expands the potential use of cellulose materials to a wide range of applications, including antifouling, wastewater treatment, oil purification, and the coating of medical devices.
Global Evidence on the Economic Effects of Disease Suppression During COVID-19
Authors: Rothwell Jonathan , Cojocaru Alexandru , Kim Yeon Soo , Sriniva Rajesh
Published: February 2023

Governments around the world attempted to suppress the spread of COVID-19 using restrictions on social and economic activity. This study presents the first global analysis of the welfare impacts of those policies, using Gallup World Poll data from 321,000 randomly selected adults in 117 countries. Using several measures of economic harm, impacted individuals experience a loss in subjective-well-being and are more likely to have low socio-economic status. A one-standard deviation increase in policy stringency predicts a 0.28 standard deviation increase in economic harm, corresponding to a three-percentage point increase in the share of workers experiencing job loss. These results are supported by robustness checks and validation exercises. A decomposition shows that stay-at-home orders and other economic restrictions were strongly associated with economic harm, but other non-pharmaceutical interventions were not. Furthermore, we show that adults with lower socio-economic status were disproportionately harmed in countries with more stringent policies.
Probabilistic Qualitative Localization and Mapping
Authors: Mor Roee , Indelman Vadim
Published: February 2023

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) are essential in numerous robotics applications, such as autonomous navigation. Traditional SLAM approaches infer the metric state of the robot along with a metric mapof the environment. While existing algorithms exhibit good results, they are still sensitive to measurement noise,sensor quality, and data association and are still computationally expensive. Alternatively, some navigation andmapping missions can be achieved using only qualitative geometric information, an approach known as qualitativespatial reasoning (QSR). We contribute a novel probabilistic qualitative localization and mapping approach in thiswork. We infer both the qualitative map and the qualitative state of the camera poses (localization). For the firsttime, we also incorporate qualitative probabilistic constraints between camera poses (motion model), improvingcomputation time and performance. Furthermore, we take advantage of qualitative inference properties to achievevery fast approximated algorithms with good performance. In addition, we show how to propagate probabilisticinformation between nodes in the qualitative map, which improves estimation performance and enables inferenceof unseen map nodes - an important building block for qualitative active planning. We also conduct a study thatshows how well we can estimate unseen nodes. Our method particularly appeals to scenarios with few salientlandmarks and low-quality sensors. We evaluate our approach in simulation and on a real-world dataset and showits superior performance and low complexity compared to the state-of-the-art. Our analysis also indicates goodprospects for using qualitative navigation and planning in real-world scenarios.
Double counting of clients using services in Iran: implications for assessing the reach of harm reduction programs
Authors: Tavakoli Fatemeh , Mcfarland Willi , Ghalekhani Nima , Khezri Mehrdad , Haghdoost Ali Akbar , Gouya Mohammad Mehdi , Mahboobi Marzieh , Hosseionpour Ali Mohammad , Komasi Ali , Ghorbanian Mehdi , Moghadam Nasim Nasiri , Taghipour Maryam , Sharifi Hamid
Published: February 2023

Background: Many people with high-risk sexual or injection behaviors use harm reduction services with different identities and therefore counted more than once in client databases. This practice results in inaccurate statistics on the number of clients served and therefore the effective reach of these services. This study aimed to determine the levels of double counting of clients of harm reduction services, including needle and syringe programs, condom distribution, HIV testing and counseling, and methadone maintenance in five cities in Iran.
Methods: Between September and March 2020, our study included 1,630 clients, 115 staff of harm reduction centers, and 30 experts in the field of harm reduction in five cities in Iran. Clients of harm reduction services were asked about using harm reduction services multiple times at the same center or at different centers in the last year under different identities. Estimates of double counting derived from client responses were validated by panels of center staff and experts in harm reduction.
Results: Synthesizing data from clients, staff, and experts, the final estimates of double counting of clients using harm reduction services were: HIV testing 10% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0-15), needle and syringe programs 17% (95% CI 8.5-20), condom distribution programs 13% (95% CI 3-19), HIV/STI counseling 10% (95% CI 0-16), and methadone maintenance 7% (95% CI 2-10).
Conclusion: Double counting of clients in harm reduction services in Iran is considerable. Data on clients reach by harm reduction services need to be corrected for double counting to improve program planning, client population size estimation, and efficient resource allocation.
Failure analysis and prediction of roof instability in end face under repeated mining using early warning system
Authors: Li Fei , Kong Dezhong , Li Qiang , Shang Yuqi , Cheng Zhanbo , He Liuquan
Published: February 2023

The overlying strata of the lower coal seam is easy to be collapsed causing the roof caving accident at the end face of the mining working face under repeated mining in close-distance coal seams. In order to predict the roof instability of the end face, the mechanical model of the granular arch structure is established in this study to further analyze its main influencing factors. The results show that the mining height of the working face, the advancing speed, the distance of coal seams, the tip-to-face distance, the strength of the surrounding rock and the support setting the load of the support are the main influencing factors on the roof caving of the end face. Subsequently, the prediction model of roof instability in the end face under repeated mining is constructed through the radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) and the above main influencing factors are regarded as input layer indexes. Meanwhile, the roof subsidence, coal wall deformation and support load are determined as the output layer indexes. The predicted results are closer to the results of sample tests. Finally, the early warning system, including monitoring and early warning, data query, emergency management, user management, and system settings, is designed to monitor roof conditions of the end face and timely warn the roof accidents. The field application proves that the system has good practical value, which is of great significance to prevent the end face roof disaster under repeated mining.
Management and outcomes of periviable neonates born at 22 weeks of gestation: a single-center experience in Japan
Authors: Motojima Yukiko , Nishimura Eri , Kabe Kazuhiko , Namba Fumihiko
Published: February 2023

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to present the active management and outcomes of infants born at 22 weeks of gestation.
STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective observational study presented the resuscitation methods, management during hospitalization, and outcomes of 29 infants born at 22 weeks of gestation who were actively resuscitated and admitted to our center during 2013–2020.
RESULTS: The survival rate was 82.8% (24/29). Tracheal intubation was performed in all patients, and surfactant was given for 27 (93.1%). Conventional mechanical ventilation was introduced in 27 (93.1%), and this was changed to high-frequency oscillatory ventilation in more than half by day 4. Surgical treatments of patent ductus arteriosus, necrotizing enterocolitis, and retinopathy of prematurity were required in 4 (13.7%), 3 (10.3%), and 15 (51.7%), respectively. No patient required a tracheostomy or ventriculoperitoneal shunt.
CONCLUSIONS:Among infants born at 22 weeks of gestation, the overall survival rate and survival rate without morbidities were relatively high.
Early LGM environments accelerated the MSA/LSA transition in southern African highlands: the Robberg’s emergence at Melikane (Lesotho)
Authors: Pazan Kyra , Stewart Brian A. , Dewar Genevieve
Published: February 2023

Melikane, a large sandstone rockshelter in the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains of highland Lesotho, preserves an 80,000 year-old archaeological sequence including two layers (4 & 5) dated to the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), ~ 24 kcal BP. Paleoenvironmental proxies indicate that these layers were associated with increasing aridification and changes in resource distribution. An analysis of > 17,000 lithic artifacts combining attribute and morphometric approaches reveals that these environmental changes occurred alongside the adoption of Later Stone Age (LSA) Robberg bladelet technology at the site (Layer 4), which developed out of an early microlithic industry we classify as “incipient Robberg” (Layer 5). We argue that the accelerated implementation and standardization of bladelet technology in Layer 4 was the consequence of modifying and expanding existing technologies to function in a high-stakes LGM environment. While intrasite continuities and gradual changes in flaking systems at Melikane are inconsistent with the Robberg’s arrival via population replacement or migration (cf. Bousman and Brink, 2018), shared flaking systems with penecontemporary sites also implicate a role for cultural transmission in the Robberg’s development and demand an alternate explanation for its use in nonmarginal environments. We attribute its adoption in southern Africa more broadly to the extraordinary flexibility of bladelet technology and an ongoing cycle of connectivity and isolation throughout the LGM, encouraging the development of new flaking systems and their subsequent coalescence and diffusion.
Modafinil exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects by upregulating adenosine A2A and A2B receptors
Authors: Li Haiyan , Kim Ji Aee , Jo Seong-Eun , Lee Huisu , Kim Kwan-Chang , Choi Shinkyu , Suh Suk Hyo
Published: February 2023

Adenosine receptor (AR) suppresses inflammation and fibrosis by activating cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling. We investigated whether altered AR expression contributes to the development of fibrotic diseases and whether A2A AR and A2B AR upregulation inhibits fibrotic responses. Murine models of fibrotic liver or pulmonary disease were developed by injecting thioacetamide intraperitoneally, by feeding a high-fat diet, or by intratracheal instillation of bleomycin. Modafinil was orally administered to inhibit fibrotic responses. The protein levels of A2A AR, A2B AR, and exchange protein directly activated by cAMP (Epac) were reduced, while collagen and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were elevated in diseased (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) compared to normal HLFs. In liver or lung tissue from murine models of fibrotic diseases, A2A and A2B AR were downregulated, but A1 and A3 AR were not. Epac levels decreased, and levels of collagen, α-SMA, KCa2.3, and KCa3.1 increased compared to the control. Modafinil restored the levels of A2A AR, A2B AR, and Epac, and reduced collagen, α-SMA, KCa2.3, and KCa3.1 in murine models of fibrotic diseases. Transforming growth factor-β reduced the levels of A2A AR, A2B AR, and Epac, and elevated collagen, α-SMA, KCa2.3, and KCa3.1 in normal HLFs; however, these alterations were inhibited by modafinil. Our investigation revealed that downregulation of A2A AR and A2B AR reduced cAMP signaling and induced liver and lung fibrotic diseases while upregulation attenuated fibrotic responses, suggesting that A2A AR and A2B AR-upregulating agents, such as modafinil, may serve as novel therapies for fibrotic diseases.
Spatio temporal variation of urban multi-scale carbon emissions and its influencing factors based on night light data:-A case study of Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration
Authors: LIU Yajing , ZHOU Shuai , ZHANG Ge
Published: February 2023

Background: It is of great significance to formulate differentiated carbon emission reduction policies to clarify spatio-temporal characteristics and driving factors of carbon emissions in different cities and cities at different scales. By fitting nighttime light data of long time series from 2000 to 2020, a carbon emission estimation model of Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration, at city, county, and grid unit levels was built to quickly and accurately estimate carbon emission in the Delta cities above county level. Combining spatial statistics, spatial autocorrelation, emerging spatio-temporal hotspot analysis, and Theil index, this study explored the spatio-temporal differentiation of urban carbon emissions in the Delta , and used a geographical detector, to dig influencing factors of the differentiation.
Results: The results of the study showed that night light data could replace a statistical yearbook in calculating carbon emissions of cities at or above county level. The calculation error was less than 11% in Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration. The three levels of carbon emissions in the Delta increased in a fluctuating manner, and the spatial distribution difference of carbon emissions at municipal and county levels was small. Therefore, a combination of municipal and county scales can be implemented to achieve precise emission reduction at both macro and micro levels. The central and eastern parts of the agglomeration, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, and Huizhou, were a high-value clustering and spatio-temporal hot spots of carbon emissions. Zhaoqing City in the northwestern part of the agglomeration had always been a low-value clustering and spatio-temporal cold spot, because of its population, economy, and geographical location . The carbon emission differences of the Delta cities were mainly caused by carbon emission differences within the cities at municipal level, and the cities faced the challenge of regional differences in the reduction of per capita carbon emissions. As the most influential single factor, spatial interaction between economic development and various factors was the main driving force for the growth of carbon emissions.
Conclusions: Our study provide scientific theory and information support for carbon emission estimation and prediction, differentiated emission reduction measures, and carbon neutrality of cities in Pearl River Delta.
Sarcopenic Obesity is Associated with Sexual Dysfunction in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Demirdağ Filiz , GÜÇER Burcu KIVRAK , KOLBAŞI ESMA NUR
Published: February 2023

Background: Even though the prevalence of sexual dysfunction (SD) is reported to be high in older adults in previous studies, it is rarely investigated with appropriate assessment tools which include all aspects of sexual life. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the frequency of SD and the association between SD and body composition abnormalities such as sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity.
Methods: Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People criteria. Obesity was defined using the fat percentile by Zoico methodology. SD was determined by Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX).
Results: Two-hundred and sixty-seven volunteers (64.4% female, mean age 73.63 ± 6.22 years) participated in this study. One-hundred seventy-eight individuals (66.7%) had SD. It was present in 83.1% and 36.8% of the females and males, respectively (p<0.0001). Marital status and SD were significantly associated (p=0.041). There was no association between SD and sarcopenia alone (OR:1.013, 95% CI: 0.559-1.836, p=0.966) or obesity alone (OR:1.049, 95%CI: 0.514-2.144, p=0.895). Sarcopenic obesity was significantly associated with SD (OR: 3.618, 95%CI: 1.182-11.077, p=0.024). This association was still present after the model was adjusted for marital status (OR: 3.356, 95% CI: 1.088-10.355, p=0.035).
Conclusions: SD was present in 66.7% of the older adults. It was associated with sarcopenic obesity, but not with sarcopenia or obesity alone. Further longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the effect of body composition abnormalities on sexual activity in both genders.
Identification of Novel Drug Targets and Immune Response Biomarkers in HCMV-Infected Hosts
Authors: Al-Maliki Lamiaa , Oohayyed Noor Ali , Mohameed Emad Essa , Suleiman Ahmed AbdulJabbar , Shaban Semaa A.
Published: February 2023

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a well known hallmark of increasing morbidity and mortality in humans with acquired impairment in innate and adaptive immunity indicating high seroprevalence rate of 83%. This study aims to identify novel drug targets as disease biomarkers in HCMV-infected hosts. Thereby datasets were collected from NCBI SRA Database and were further analyzed through RNA-seq pipeline to identify differentially expressed genes between HCMV-infected hosts and healthy individuals. Subsequently functional enrichment analysis of highly significant genes was performed through enrichR. RNA-seq analysis identified 1974 differentially expressed genes in HCMV-infected hosts including 678 over-modulated and 1028 down-modulated genes. Nevertheless, present DGE analysis study has reported novel drug targets including 5 protein-coding genes (RRAGD, SPINK1, NAP1L2, PKIG and LXN) and 2 pseudogenes (EEF1A1P38, WFDC21P). Additionally dysregulated genes have been found to be highly enriched in immune system related biological processes mainly Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway and IL-17 signaling pathway indicating positive correlation between dysregulated immune-system mechanisms and HCMV replication. Hence this study has proposed novel therapeutic targets for early detection and treatment of HCMV infection that would positively influence public health. However wet laboratory explorations are required to ensure safety and efficacy of proposed drug targets.
Retrospective study of the epidemiological risk and serological diagnosis of human babesiosis in Asturias, Northwestern Spain
Authors: Montero Estrella , Folgueras María , Rodriguez-Pérez Mercedes , Pérez-ls Laura , Diaz-Arias Javier , Meana Maria , Revuelta Belén , Haapasalo Karita , Collazos Julio , Asensi Víctor , Gonzalez Luis Miguel
Published: February 2023

Background:
Babesiosis is a globally growing tick-borne disease in humans. Severe babesiosis caused by Babesia divergens has been recently reported in patients from Asturias (Northwestern Spain) suggesting an undetected risk of the disease. To analyze this risk, we retrospectively evaluated the seroprevalence of babesiosis in the Asturian population from 2015 through 2017, an intermediate period when severe human babesiosis cases occurred.
Methods:
To detect B. divergens IgG antibodies in 120 serum samples from Asturian patients infected with the tick-transmitted spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) indirect fluorescent assay (IFA) and Western-blot assays were performed. This condition indicated exposure to tick bites
Results:
This retrospective study confirmed a B. divergens seroprevalence rate of 39.2% according to IFA results. B. divergens incidence was 7.14 cases/100,000 population, exceeding previously reported seroprevalence rates. No differences in epidemiology and risk factors were found between patients infected solely with B. burgdorferiand those doubly infected with B. burgdorferi s.l. and B. divergens. Patients with both infections lived in Central Asturias, had a milder clinical course and, according to Western-blot results, developed different humoral responses against B. divergens.
Conclusions:
B. divergens parasites have circulated for several years in Asturias causing unnoticed infections in humans. Epidemiological evidences of babesiosis makes Asturias an emerging risk area for this zoonosis. Silent human babesiosis could also be relevant in other Spanish and European regions affected by babesiosis. Hence, the potential risk of babesiosis on human health in Asturias and other European forest regions needs to be addressed by the sanitary authorities.
Spoilage Detection of Smart Packaged Chicken Meat by ddPCR
Authors: Bayrakal Gülay Merve , Çiftçioğlu Gürhan
Published: February 2023

Nowadays, it is important for the food industry and public health that food reaches the consumer from production to consumption without spoiling. Smart packaging technologies are one of the new technologies informing the manufacturer and customer. In order to prevent spoiled food from being consumed, it is necessary to identify the deterioration as quickly as possible. The aim of the study is to determine the applicability of smart packaging technology and usability of Digital Droplet PCR for quick and accurate spoilage detection by evaluating the quantity of genes involved in biogenic amines synthesis that occurs during spoilage. Consumption of spoiled products until products of spoilage biogenic amines, accumulated and are later on detected, may cause a threat to public health. In this study, chicken meats were analyzed on specific days in terms of microbiological, physicochemical, and molecular aspects. The 9th day was determined to be the start of the degradation when the quantity of microorganisms exceeded 108 cfu/g, based on the microbiological data obtained from chicken meats. On the same day according to the ddPCR data, the gene duplication number was found to be over 50–60. Within the light of this information, the upper limit for the detection of degradation of histamine and putrescine-producing gene copy number is interpreted as 50. When the results of the microbiological analyses and ddPCR data were compared, it was shown that ddPCR method when used in combination with the smart labels, can be applicable for quick deterioration detection in smart packaging systems.
Immunoglobulin superfamily 6-mediated immune signature determines prognosis and immune landscape in lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Zheng Qisi , Wang Ting , Jiang Gechen , Ni Jun , Zhang Zhi , Tian Xinyu
Published: February 2023

Purpose
Immunoglobulin superfamily 6 (IGSF6) is a novel member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, and the association of IGSF6 with the prognosis and antitumor immune response in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unknown. Here, we aim to identify the role of IGSF6-mediated immune signature in the prognosis and immune landscape of LUAD.
Methods
IGSF6 expression in pan-cancer and LUAD data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was analyzed by TIMER2.0 and GEPIA2, respectively. Quantitative-real-time-PCR (qRT-PCR), western blot, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining were performed to confirm the results of bioinformatics. The association of IGSF6 expression and promoter methylation levels with major clinical features was analyzed by using UALCAN. Survival curves were used to assess the connection between IGSF6 expression and LUAD prognosis. The enrichment analysis was conducted by running the R software clusterProfiler package. TISIDB and TIMER2.0 were utilized to investigate the correlation between IGSF6 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in LUAD. Human Protein Atlas (HPA) and flow cytometry (FCM) were used to confirm IGSF6 localization in macrophages.
Results
IGSF6 levels were decreased in LUAD, and methylation levels at the IGSF6 promoter in LUAD samples increased compared to that in peritumor samples, implying a potential mechanism that leads to the aberrant expression of IGSF6 in LUAD. Low IGSF6 expression was significantly related to poor survival. In addition, IGSF6 expression was closely associated with gene sets involved in immune cell proliferation and exogenous antigen presentation, and it was positively related to immune infiltrates with antitumor activity, including M1 macrophages, dendritic cells (DCs), and T helper 1 (Th1). Furthermore, the IGSF6 protein was mainly located on the membrane of macrophages in LUAD, which enabled exogenous antigen presentation by macrophages to enhance the antitumor immune response.
Conclusion
IGSF6 is a biomarker of LUAD and IGSF6-mediated immune signature determines the prognosis and immune landscape of LUAD.
An annular carbon allotrope, cumulenic cyclo[10]carbon
Authors: Xu Wei , Sun Luye , Gao Wenze , Kang Faming , Zhao Mali
Published: February 2023

Cyclo[n]carbon allotropes built from sp-hybridized carbon atoms have aroused substantial interests, but until now even their structures (i.e., polyynic or cumulenic) and stabilities (i.e., cyclic or linear) are still under debate. Due to their high reactivity, it is rather difficult to synthesize via solution chemistry, which hampers further characterizations. Recently, an isolated cyclo[18]carbon (C18) molecule was generated on the surface by atom manipulation, which allowed to identify the polyynic structure of C18. More interestingly, for the smaller cyclo[n]carbon, questions arise: is it still stable in cyclic form? If so, what is the structure? Here, we successfully produce a cyclo[10]carbon (C10) via tip-induced dehalogenation and followed by retro-Bergman reaction of a fully chlorinated molecule, C10Cl8, on a bilayer NaCl/Au(111) surface at 4.7 kelvin. Surprisingly, the cumulenic structure of C10 with consecutive double bonds, different from the polyynic structure of C18, is revealed by high-resolution atomic force microscopy, validating the theoretically predicted structure. Our results of tip-induced dehalogenation and retro-Bergman reactions may provide a universal method to synthesize other cyclo[n]carbons on surfaces, opening an avenue for characterizing a series of annular carbon allotropes for the structure and stability.
Social fintechs: how the mission reflects the purpose of banking and social inclusion
Authors: Padula Roberto Sanches , Cecchii Valeria Kabzas
Published: February 2023

The coronavirus pandemic brought the need for social distancing, and digital technology helped minimize problems. Old problems became evident, as the existence of many people outside the traditional financial system. Financial inclusion is essential to enable people to pay their bills, get credit, and make investments. The research question is: can fintechs help in the banking and social inclusion of the most disadvantaged classes? Analyzing the mission statement of fintechs using UN SDGs, we verified that many propose to offer services typically aimed at financial inclusion and on community development, aligned with the discourse or values of the UN SDGs, regardless of whether they seek profit and growth, whether they are social or not-for-profit businesses. The advancement of digital interactions in the financial system is expected to increase. Offering good and cheap services and having strong social responsibility, fintechs can strengthen the purposes of real improvement of society.