bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
METTL14 is required for exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy and protects against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury
Authors: Wang Lijun , Wang Jiaqi , Yu Pujiao , Feng Jingyi , Xu Gui-e , Zhao Xuan , Wang Tianhui , Lehmann H. Immo , Li Guoping , Sluijter Joost P. G. , Xiao Junjie
Published: November 2022

RNA m6A modification is the most widely distributed RNA methylation and is closely related to various pathophysiological processes. Although the benefit of regular exercise on the heart has been well recognized, the role of RNA m6A in exercise training and exercise-induced physiological cardiac hypertrophy remains largely unknown. Here, we show that endurance exercise training leads to reduced cardiac mRNA m6A levels. METTL14 is downregulated by exercise, both at the level of RNA m6A and at the protein level. In vivo, wild-type METTL14 overexpression, but not MTase inactive mutant METTL14, blocks exercise-induced physiological cardiac hypertrophy. Cardiac-specific METTL14 knockdown attenuates acute ischemia-reperfusion injury as well as cardiac dysfunction in ischemia-reperfusion remodeling. Mechanistically, silencing METTL14 suppresses Phlpp2 mRNA m6A modifications and activates Akt-S473, in turn regulating cardiomyocyte growth and apoptosis. Our data indicates that METTL14 plays an important role in maintaining cardiac homeostasis. METTL14 downregulation represents a promising therapeutic strategy to attenuate cardiac remodeling.
Nicking mechanism underlying the DNA phosphorothioate-sensing antiphage defense by SspE
Authors: Gao Haiyan , Gong Xinqi , Zhou Jinchuan , Zhang Yubing , Duan Jinsong , Wei Yue , Chen Liuqing , Deng Zixin , Wang Jiawei , Chen Shi , Wu Geng , Wang Lianrong
Published: November 2022

DNA phosphorothioate (PT) modification, with a nonbridging phosphate oxygen substituted by sulfur, represents a widespread epigenetic marker in prokaryotes and provides protection against genetic parasites. In the PT-based defense system Ssp, SspABCD confers a single-stranded PT modification of host DNA in the 5′-CPSCA-3′ motif and SspE impedes phage propagation. SspE relies on PT modification in host DNA to exert antiphage activity. Here, structural and biochemical analyses reveal that SspE is preferentially recruited to PT sites mediated by the joint action of its N-terminal domain (NTD) hydrophobic cavity and C-terminal domain (CTD) DNA binding region. PT recognition enlarges the GTP-binding pocket, thereby increasing GTP hydrolysis activity, which subsequently triggers a conformational switch of SspE from a closed to an open state. The closed-to-open transition promotes the dissociation of SspE from self PT-DNA and turns on the DNA nicking nuclease activity of CTD, enabling SspE to accomplish self-nonself discrimination and limit phage predation, even when only a small fraction of modifiable consensus sequences is PT-protected in a bacterial genome.
Comparing research recruitment strategies to prospectively identify patients presenting with breathlessness in primary care
Authors: Doe Gillian , Wathall Simon , Clanchy Jill , Edwards Sarah , Evans Helen , Steiner Michael C. , Evans Rachael A.
Published: November 2022

Two recruitment strategies for research were compared to prospectively identify patients with breathlessness who are awaiting a diagnosis in primary care. The first method utilised searches of the electronic patient record (EPR), the second method involved an electronic template triggered during a consultation. Using an electronic template triggered at the point of consultation increased recruitment to prospective research approximately nine-fold compared with searching for symptom codes and study mailouts.
The African Development Corridors Database: a new tool to assess the impacts of infrastructure investments
Authors: Thorn Jessica P. R. , Bignoli Diego Juffe , Mwangi Ben , Marchant Robert A.
Published: November 2022

The large-scale expansion of built infrastructure is profoundly reshaping the geographies of Africa, generating lock-in patterns of development for future generations. Understanding the impact of these massive investments can allow development opportunities to be maximised and therefore be critical for attaining the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and African Union’s Agenda 2063 aims. However, until now information on the types, scope, and timing of investments, their evolution and spatial-temporal impact was dispersed amongst various agencies. We developed a database of 79 development corridors across Africa, synthesizing data from multiple sources covering 184 projects on railways, wet and dry ports, pipelines, airports, techno-cities, and industrial parks. The georeferenced interlinked tabular and spatial database includes 22 attributes. We expect this database will improve coordination, efficiency, monitoring, oversight, strategic planning, transparency, and risk assessments, among other uses for investment banks, governments, impact assessment practitioners, communities, conservationists, economists, and regional economic bodies.
Primordial initiation, yield and yield component traits of two genotypes of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus spp.) as affected by various rates of lime
Authors: Chukwu Samuel C. , Ibeji Chidiebere A. , Ogbu Chigozie , Oselebe Happiness O. , Okporie Emmanuel O. , Rafii Mohd Y. , Oladosu Yusuff
Published: November 2022

Mushrooms are fleshy fungi valued globally for their nutritional and medical benefits. The study was conducted at Ebonyi State University Mushroom Center, Abakaliki, to determine an optimum level of limestone (CaCO3) on the genotypes for maximum growth and yield. The experiment was carried out as a split-plot experiment in a completely randomized design (CRD) with the use of Oyster mushroom variety. The two genotypes (GI and GII) were placed in the whole plot while limestone was placed in the sub-plot which consisted of five rates of CaCO3(Og,5 g, 10 g, 15 g and 20 g). Sawdust and rice husk substrates were used at the ratio of 60:40 and sterilized for six hours at 121 °C using the steam sterilization cylinder. The media bags were off–loaded after one day and allowed to further cool for another day before inoculation. The cultured spawn was used to inoculate the media upon cooling at room temperature. Data were collected on agro-morphological parameters such as primordial initiation, stalk height, stalk diameter, number of branches, number of fruits, number of productive bags, fresh and dry weights, and subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). The result obtained indicated that there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the two genotypes studied in all parameters except the dry weight of the mushroom. Also, the various rates of CaCO3had a significant difference (P < 0.05) in most agro-morphological traits except stalk diameter, number of fruits and fresh weight. However, the interaction of the whole plot (genotype) and sub-plot (lime rates) showed no significant difference (P > 0.05) in all parameters evaluated except the stalk diameter. Genotype I initiated more primordial compared to primordial initiation in genotype II and they differed significantly (p < 0.05) from each other. More so, the result showed that increasing the rate of CaCO3from 0 to 5 g significantly increased the primordial initiation from 17 to 22. However, further increase in lime rates above 5 g significantly reduced the primordial initiation from 22 to 15. It was concluded that the 5 g rate of limestone produced the best primordial initiation. Therefore, genotype I and 5 g of CaCO3were recommended. There was also a strong relationship between the primordial initiation and most growth and yield components traits studied. There was a significant positive correlation between primordial initiation and stalk height (r = 0.799*), stalk diameter (r = 0.692*), number of mushroom branches (r = 0.773*), number of productive bags (r = 0.888*), number of fruits (r = 0.810*), fruit weight (r = 0.918*) and dry weight (r = 0.916*). Ideal conditions that would guarantee more primordial initiation for higher yield were recommended.
Targeted delivery of harmine to xenografted human pancreatic islets promotes robust cell proliferation
Authors: Mishra Swati , Streeter Philip R.
Published: November 2022

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) occurs as a consequence of the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta (β) cells and commonly presents with insulin deficiency and unregulated glycemic control. Despite improvements in the medical management of T1D, life-threatening complications are still common. Beta-cell replication to replace lost cells may be achieved by using small-molecule mitogenic drugs, like harmine. However, the safe and effective delivery of such drugs to beta cells remains a challenge. This work aims to deploy an antibody conjugated nanocarrier platform to achieve cell-specific delivery of candidate therapeutic and imaging agents to pancreatic endocrine cells. We approached this goal by generating core–shell type micellar nanocarriers composed of the tri-block copolymer, Pluronic®F127 (PEO100–PPO65–PEO100). We decorated these nanocarriers with a pancreatic endocrine cell-selective monoclonal antibody (HPi1), with preference for beta cells, to achieve active targeting. The PPO-based hydrophobic core allows encapsulation of various hydrophobic cargoes, whereas the PEO-based hydrophilic shell curbs the protein adhesion, hence prolonging the nanocarriers' systemic circulation time. The nancarriers were loaded with quantum dots (QDots) that allowed nanocarrier detection both in-vitro and in-vivo. In-vitro studies revealed that HPi1 conjugated nanocarriers could target endocrine cells in dispersed islet cell preparations with a high degree of specificity, with beta cells exhibiting a fluorescent quantum dot signal that was approximately five orders of magnitude greater than the signal associated with alpha cells. In vivo endocrine cell targeting studies demonstrated that the HPi1 conjugated nanocarriers could significantly accumulate at the islet xenograft site. For drug delivery studies, the nanocarriers were loaded with harmine. We demonstrated that HPi1 conjugated nanocarriers successfully targeted and delivered harmine to human endocrine cells in a human islet xenograft model. In this model, targeted harmine delivery yielded an ~ 41-fold increase in the number of BrdU positive cells in the human islet xenograft than that observed in untreated control mice. By contrast, non-targeted harmine yielded an ~ 9-fold increase in BrdU positive cells. We conclude that the nanocarrier platform enabled cell-selective targeting of xenografted human pancreatic endocrine cells and the selective delivery of the hydrophobic drug harmine to those cells. Further, the dramatic increase in proliferation with targeted harmine, a likely consequence of achieving higher local drug concentrations, supports the concept that targeted drug delivery may promote more potent biological responses when using harmine and/or other drugs than non-targeting approaches. These results suggest that this targeted drug delivery platform may apply in drug screening, beta cell regenerative therapies, and/or diagnostic imaging in patients with type 1 diabetes.
Chromosomal polymorphisms have no negative effect on reproductive outcomes after IVF/ICSI-ET/FET
Authors: Zhao Jing , Huang Bixia , Hao Jie , Xu Bin , Li Yanping
Published: November 2022

The present study aimed to explore whether chromosomal polymorphisms (CPs) have negative effects on reproductive outcomes of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET)/frozen-thawing embryo transfer (FET)? We conducted a retrospective study consisting of 21,867 assisted reproductive technology treatment cycles, among which, fresh embryo transfer cycles accounted for 10,400, and the rest were FET cycles. According to karyotype of CPs, the former was grouped as: group 1 (male carrier, n = 425), group 2 (female carrier, n = 262), and group 3 (couple without CPs, n = 9713). Accordingly, FET cycles were divided into 3 groups: group 4 (male carrier, n = 298), group 5 (female carrier, n = 311), and group 6 (couple without CPs, n = 10,858). The embryo implantation rate (IR), clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), live birth rate (LBR), and early miscarriage rate (EMR) were compared among the groups. In fresh embryo transfer cycles after IVF/ICSI, there were no significant differences in the infertility duration, BMI, basal FSH, no. of oocyte, no. of 2PN, endometrial thickness on trigger day, serum E2, P, and LH level on trigger day (P > 0.05). The female age, no. of 2PN embryo cleavage, top-quality embryo, and no. of embryo transferred were significantly different among groups (P < 0.05). The IR was 38.8%, 36.2%, and 34.0% in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The CPR was 55.1%, 52.3%, and 49.7%, respectively. The LBR was 36.9%, 37.4%, and 36.4%, respectively. The CPR and LBR showed no significant differences among groups. The IR was lower and the EMR was higher in group 3 than those of groups 1 and 2. Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that female age, no. of embryo transferred, EMT, LH, and P on the trigger day were independently factors associated with CPR. Besides, no. of embryo transferred, and EMT on trigger day were associated with LBR, while the CPs was not related with CPR and LBR after IVF/ICSI-ET. In FET cycles, the infertility duration was similar (P > 0.05), but the female age, BMI, no. of embryo transferred were significantly different among groups (P > 0.05). The IR was 24.3%, 23.6% and 22.3% in group 4, 5, and 6, receptivity. The CPR was 31.8%, 30.9%, and 30.0%, the LBR was 23.8%,26.3%, and 23.8%, while the EMR was 12.6%, 13.1%, 14.4%, respectively. The IR, CPR, EMR, and LBR showed no significant differences among groups (P > 0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that female age, infertility duration, and no. of embryo transferred were independently factors affecting CPR and LBR after FET. The CPs were not associated with CPR and LBR after FET. The results suggested that uniparental carrying of CPs have no effects on the reproductive outcomes after IVF/ICSI-ET/FET. However, it is not clear whether both parents carrying CPs would affect pregnancy outcome.
Elemental analysis of contemporary dental materials regarding potential beryllium content
Authors: Burkhardt F. , Pieralli S. , Bergfeldt T. , Wemken G. , Wesemann C. , Stolz D. , Spies B. C.
Published: November 2022

Exposure to beryllium (Be) can lead to lung pathologies, such as chronic beryllium disease (CBD). This occupational illness has been more prevalent among dental technicians compared to the non-exposed population. Although most manufacturers state that dental materials are Be-free, this prevalence raises the question of whether the materials are completely devoid of Be-traces. Thus, the objective of the present study was to analyze the elemental composition, with emphasis on Be, of a wide range of commercially available dental materials frequently used by dental laboratories. Samples of 32 different materials were collected and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The results showed that the Be content was below the limit of quantification in all included samples (< 0.00005 mass-%). Therefore, it can be concluded that possible traces of Be were below clinical relevance in dental materials. Exposure of dental technicians to alternative Be sources should be further evaluated.
Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) assessed by liquid biopsies and PET/CT for prognostication in head and neck cancer patients
Authors: Risør Louise Madeleine , Binderup Tina , Fosbøl Marie Øbro , Andersen Kim Francis , Loft Annika , Friborg Jeppe , Kjaer Andreas
Published: November 2022

Strong prognostic biomarkers are lacking regarding the stratification of treatment and surveillance regimens in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The study aimed to assess the prognostic value of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor in plasma (suPAR) compared to evaluation by uPAR-positron-emission-tomography (PET) in HNSCC patients. Plasma from 19 controls and 49 HNSCC patients referred to curatively intended radiotherapy (2017–2021) was collected pre-treatment and post-treatment (n = 37). Information on uPAR-PET was available from previous evaluation. Patient median suPAR was significantly higher pre- and post-treatment compared to controls (p = 0.013, p = 0.003) and increased significantly during radiotherapy (p = 0.003). Pre-treatment suPAR did not predict survival outcomes. Post-treatment suPAR significantly predicted RFS (HR = 6.67 (95% CI 1.44–30.9) p = 0.015), but not OS (HR = 3.29 (95% CI 0.882–12.3) p = 0.076) in univariate analysis. RFS prediction was maintained for post-treatment suPAR in multivariate analysis, including TNM-stage (HR = 6.62 (95% CI 1.40–31.4) p = 0.017). Pre-treatment uPAR-PET/CT and post-treatment suPAR was available in 24 patients. High uPAR-estimates on both modalities was significantly associated with poor RFS compared to patients with low uPAR-estimates (log-rank, p = 0.008). Patients with discordant uPAR-estimates (one-low/one-high) were at intermediate risk, although non-significant (p = 0.131). In conclusion, pre-treatment suPAR did not predict RFS or OS. Pre-treatment uPAR-PET and post-treatment suPAR predicted RFS.
Degradation kinetics of aromatic VOCs polluted wastewater by functional bacteria at laboratory scale
Authors: Lv Ying , Wang Liangshi , Liu Xingyu , Chen Bowei , Zhang Mingjiang
Published: November 2022

Reaction kinetics in biodegradation process is the basis and key of bioremediation technology, which can be used to predict the interaction between microorganisms and environmental states in the system. In this study, the kinetic model (Monod, Moser, Tessier and Cotonis) and kinetic parameters of aerobic biodegradation of functional bacteria in simulated wastewater polluted by aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were determined by shaking flask experiment. Monod, Moser, Tessier and Contois models were used to fit the experimental data and determine the kinetic parameters based on nonlinear regression analysis. Experimental results demonstrated that the removal rate of aromatic VOCs at 72 h was between 34.78 and 99.75% depending on the initial concentration of aromatic VOCs. The specific growth rate μ and degradation rate q increased with the increase of substrate concentration. The model of Monod, Moser and Tessier could be used to simulate microbial growth and substrate degradation in simulated aromatic VOCs polluted wastewater. Then the model and corresponding kinetic parameters were used to predict the limit concentration of biodegradation and provide theoretical support for the subsequent dynamic simulation and field engineering.
Hearing and vision difficulty and sequential treatment among older adults in India
Authors: Marbaniang Strong P. , Patel Ratna , Kumar Pradeep , Chauhan Shekhar , Srivastava Shobhit
Published: November 2022

Aging not only affect biomarker-related processes, but it also affects the physiological processes of the human body. Of all the physiological processes, hearing and vision are of utmost importance to a human. Therefore, this study examines the prevalence and factors associated with hearing and vision difficulty and their sequential treatment among older adults in India. Utilizing data from Building a Knowledge Base on Population Aging in India, study used two sets of outcome variables; firstly, self-reported hearing and vision difficulty and secondly, treatment-seeking for hearing and vision difficulty. A total of 9541 older adults aged 60+ years from seven major regionally representative states were selected. Descriptive statistics were used to perform preliminary analysis. Additionally, the study employed the Heckprobit selection model. It is a two-equation model. This model is used in order to accommodate the heterogeneity (i.e., shared unobserved factors) among older adults and then address the endogeneity (between hearing and vision loss problems and their treatment-seeking behaviour) for older adults in India, the model offers a two-step analysis and deals with the zero-sample issue. Around 59% and 21% of older adults reported vision and hearing difficulty, respectively. Only 5% of older adults suffering from hearing difficulty reported utilizing hearing aids. Lifestyle factors (smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco) significantly affect hearing and vision difficulty; various chronic diseases were also found to be associated with high levels of hearing and vision difficulty among older adults. Results from Heckprobit model shows that older adults with 11+ years of education had higher probability to use visual [β = 0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.37, 0.70] and hearing aids [β = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.18, 1.02]. The use of hearing and vision aids was lower among poor older adults, older adults from Scheduled Caste, and older adults in rural areas. The study indicates that more than half of older adults face vision difficulty and almost one-fourth face hearing difficulty in rural India, education and lifestyle appear to be the main driver of health-seeking behaviour. Additional attention shall be given to understand the strategies that may advocate a higher use for hearing aids among older adults.
Surface functionalization of graphene nanosheet with poly (l-histidine) and its application in drug delivery: covalent vs non-covalent approaches
Authors: Najafi rad Zahra , Farzad Farzaneh , Razavi Leila
Published: November 2022

Nowadays, nanomaterials are increasingly being used as drug carriers in the treatment of different types of cancers. As a result, these applications make them attractive to researchers dealing with diagnosis and biomarkers discovery of the disease. In this study, the adsorption behavior of gemcitabine (GMC) on graphene nanosheet (GNS), in the presence and absence of Poly (L-histidine) (PLH) polymer is discussed using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The MD results revealed an increase in the efficiency and targeting of the drug when the polymer is covalently attached to the graphene substrate. In addition, the metadynamics simulation to investigate the effects of PLH on the adsorption capacity of the GNS, and explore the adsorption/desorption process of GMC on pristine and PLH- grafted GNS is performed. The metadynamics calculations showed that the amount of free energy of the drug in acidic conditions is higher (− 281.26 kJ/mol) than the free energy in neutral conditions (− 346.24 kJ/mol). Consequently, the PLH polymer may not only help drug adsorption but can also help in drug desorption in lower pH environments. Based on these findings, it can be said that covalent polymer bonding not only can help in the formation of a targeted drug delivery system but also can increase the adsorption capacity of the substrate.
Low-resolution description of the conformational space for intrinsically disordered proteins
Authors: Förster Daniel , Idier Jérôme , Liberti Leo , Mucherino Antonio , Lin Jung-Hsin , Malliavin Thérèse E.
Published: November 2022

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) are at the center of numerous biological processes, and attract consequently extreme interest in structural biology. Numerous approaches have been developed for generating sets of IDP conformations verifying a given set of experimental measurements. We propose here to perform a systematic enumeration of protein conformations, carried out using the TAiBP approach based on distance geometry. This enumeration was performed on two proteins, Sic1 and pSic1, corresponding to unphosphorylated and phosphorylated states of an IDP. The relative populations of the obtained conformations were then obtained by fitting SAXS curves as well as Ramachandran probability maps, the original finite mixture approach RamaMix being developed for this second task. The similarity between profiles of local gyration radii provides to a certain extent a converged view of the Sic1 and pSic1 conformational space. Profiles and populations are thus proposed for describing IDP conformations. Different variations of the resulting gyration radius between phosphorylated and unphosphorylated states are observed, depending on the set of enumerated conformations as well as on the methods used for obtaining the populations.
Evaluation of anti-rollback systems in manual wheelchairs: muscular activity and upper limb kinematics during propulsion
Authors: Wieczorek Bartosz , Kukla Mateusz , Warguła Łukasz , Giedrowicz Marcin , Rybarczyk Dominik
Published: November 2022

Self-propelling a wheelchair up a hill requires intense muscular effort and introduces the risk of the wheelchair rolling down. The purpose of this paper was to assess the user's muscular activity during ramp climbing. Tests were carried out on a group of 10 subjects who had to propel a wheelchair up a standardized wheelchair ramp. Basic parameters of upper limb kinematics were measured to determine the total push-rim rotation angle. This was 105.91° for a wheelchair with a stiff anti-rollback system, 99.39° for a wheelchair without an anti-rollback system and 98.18° for a wheelchair with a flexible anti-rollback system. The upper limb muscle effort was measured at 55 ± 19% for the wheelchair without an anti-rollback system, 59 ± 19% for the wheelchair with a stiff anti-rollback system and 70 ± 46% for the wheelchair with a flexible anti-rollback system. The conducted research showed an increase in muscle effort while using anti-rollback systems. In the case of push-rim rotation angle, no significant differences in the value of the rotation angle were found.
Development of a multipotent diagnostic tool for chest X-rays by multi-object detection method
Authors: Kang Minji , An Tai Joon , Han Deokjae , Seo Wan , Cho Kangwon , Kim Shinbum , Myong Jun-Pyo , Han Sung Won
Published: November 2022

The computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) for chest X-rays was developed more than 50 years ago. However, there are still unmet needs for its versatile use in our medical fields. We planned this study to develop a multipotent CAD model suitable for general use including in primary care areas. We planned this study to solve the problem by using computed tomography (CT) scan with its one-to-one matched chest X-ray dataset. The data was extracted and preprocessed by pulmonology experts by using the bounding boxes to locate lesions of interest. For detecting multiple lesions, multi-object detection by faster R-CNN and by RetinaNet was adopted and compared. A total of twelve diagnostic labels were defined as the followings: pleural effusion, atelectasis, pulmonary nodule, cardiomegaly, consolidation, emphysema, pneumothorax, chemo-port, bronchial wall thickening, reticular opacity, pleural thickening, and bronchiectasis. The Faster R-CNN model showed higher overall sensitivity than RetinaNet, nevertheless the values of specificity were opposite. Some values such as cardiomegaly and chemo-port showed excellent sensitivity (100.0%, both). Others showed that the unique results such as bronchial wall thickening, reticular opacity, and pleural thickening can be described in the chest area. As far as we know, this is the first study to develop an object detection model for chest X-rays based on chest area defined by CT scans in one-to-one matched manner, preprocessed and conducted by a group of experts in pulmonology. Our model can be a potential tool for detecting the whole chest area with multiple diagnoses from a simple X-ray that is routinely taken in most clinics and hospitals on daily basis.
Head-tracking of freely-behaving pigeons in a motion-capture system reveals the selective use of visual field regions
Authors: Kano Fumihiro , Naik Hemal , Keskin Göksel , Couzin Iain D. , Nagy Máté
Published: November 2022

Using a motion-capture system and custom head-calibration methods, we reconstructed the head-centric view of freely behaving pigeons and examined how they orient their head when presented with various types of attention-getting objects at various relative locations. Pigeons predominantly employed their retinal specializations to view a visual target, namely their foveas projecting laterally (at an azimuth of ± 75°) into the horizon, and their visually-sensitive “red areas” projecting broadly into the lower-frontal visual field. Pigeons used their foveas to view any distant object while they used their red areas to view a nearby object on the ground (< 50 cm). Pigeons “fixated” a visual target with their foveas; the intervals between head-saccades were longer when the visual target was viewed by birds’ foveas compared to when it was viewed by any other region. Furthermore, pigeons showed a weak preference to use their right eye to examine small objects distinctive in detailed features and their left eye to view threat-related or social stimuli. Despite the known difficulty in identifying where a bird is attending, we show that it is possible to estimate the visual attention of freely-behaving birds by tracking the projections of their retinal specializations in their visual field with cutting-edge methods.
Association between ambient air pollution exposure and insomnia among adults in Taipei City
Authors: Tsai Liang-Ju , Yuan Tzu-Hsuen , Shie Ruei-Hao , Chiang Ching-Han , Chan Chang-Chuan
Published: November 2022

Ambient air pollution was known to cause central nervous system diseases and depressive symptoms. In this study, we examined the associations between air pollution exposure and the prevalence of insomnia in Taipei City of Taiwan. We applied the health information system of electrical medical records of Taipei City Hospital to collect a total of 5108 study subjects (insomniacs N = 912 and non-insomniacs N = 4196) over 18 years old from the family medicine and internal medicine outpatients of six branches of Taipei City Hospital. These patients were grouped into insomniacs and non-insomniacs following the primary insomnia diagnosis (ICD9:780.52, 780.54, 307.41, 307.42, ICD10: G47.00, G47.01, G47.09, F51.01, F51.09) and the prescription times of anxiolytics and hypnotics. We estimated one-year average concentrations of PM2.5, ozone, and NOx before the first date of insomnia diagnosis and the last date of outpatient visit for insomniacs and non-insomniacs, respectively, by using the data of nearest air quality monitoring stations relative to study subjects’ residential addresses. Logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the independent effects of air pollution concentrations on the risk of insomnia. One-year average PM2.5, ozone, and NOx levels for insomniacs was significantly higher than those of non-insomniacs. After adjusting for confounding factors, increase each 1(μg/m3) in one-year average PM2.5 showed a statistically significant association with insomnia (the odds ratio 1.610, 95% CI [1.562,1.660]). As to multi pollutants, one-year average PM2.5 (1.624, [1.570, 1.681] and ozone (1.198, [1.094, 1.311]) exposure showed a significant association with insomnia. Subgroup analysis revealed that the influence of PM2.5 and ozone on insomnia have significant risks in people with major chronic disease. This study demonstrated a positive association between PM2.5 and ozone exposure and the prevalence of hypnotic-treated insomnia. Especially, the people with major chronic diseases were with obvious effect of PM2.5 and ozone on risk of insomnia.
Exclusive breastfeeding practice and associated factors among mothers of infants age 6 to 12 months in Somali region of Ethiopia
Authors: Shitie Anguach , Tilahun Abebe , Olijira Lemessa
Published: November 2022

In Ethiopia, only 58% of the mothers practice exclusively breast feeding, which is far from recommended; therefore, identifying factors associated with exclusive breast feeding helps to fill this gap. Community-based mixed cross-sectional study was conducted on 532 mothers. Binary logistic regression was performed and Variables with p value ≤ 0.05 in multivariable analysis declared as statistically significant variables. For the qualitative part focused group discussion was performed, and a thematic framework analysis was done. Finally the results were presented with narration. Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was 52%. Husband education (AOR = 2.9; 95% CI 1.6, 5), colostrum feeding (AOR = 2.3; 95% CI 1.3, 3.9), antenatal care (AOR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.1, 4.3.), place of delivery (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.2, 3.6), residence (AOR = 0.3; 95% CI 0.2, 0.6), counseling during postnatal care (AOR = 2; 95% CI 1.2, 3.3) were associated with exclusive breastfeeding. As most discussant explained reason for not exclusive breastfeeding were due to different perceptions such as breast milk not sufficient, giving water decrease infantile colic and fear of food refusal. Prevalence of breastfeeding is low. Husband education, residence, colostrum feeding, antenatal care, institutional delivery, counseling during antenatal and postnatal care were significantly associated variables.
Volatile compounds of Bacillus pseudomycoides induce growth and drought tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
Authors: Paul Gobindo Kumar , Mahmud Shafi , Dutta Amit Kumar , Sarkar Swagotom , Laboni Aysha Akter , Hossain Md. Shamim , Nagata Abir , Karmaker Pranab , Razu Mamudul Hasan , Kazi Taheruzzaman , Uddin Md. Salah , Zaman Shahriar , Islam Md Sayeedul , Khan Mala , Saleh Md. Abu
Published: November 2022

The plant growth-boosting biofilm-forming bacteriaBacillus pseudomycoidesis able to promote growth and drought stress tolerance in wheat by suppressing the MYB gene, which synthesizes Myb protein (TaMpc1-D4) through secreted volatile compounds. In the present study,Triticum aestivumseeds were inoculated with five distinct bacterial strains. The growth, germination rate, root-shoot length, RWC, and chlorophyll content of seedlings were investigated. Furthermore, the levels of soluble sugars, proteins, H2O2, NO, cell death, and antioxidant enzymes (CAT, SOD, POD, and APX) were observed throughout the growth stage. All of the results showed thatB. pseudomycoideshad a substantially higher ability to form biofilm and promote these traits than the other strains. In terms of molecular gene expression,B. pseudomycoidesinoculation strongly expressed the Dreb1 gene by silencing the expression of MYB gene through secreted volatile compounds. For identifying the specific volatile compound that silenced the MYB gene, molecular docking with Myb protein was performed. Out of 45 volatile compounds found, 2,6-ditert-butylcyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione and 3,5-ditert-butylphenol had a binding free energy of − 6.2 and − 6.5, Kcal/mol, respectively, which predicted that these compounds could suppress this protein's expression. In molecular dynamics simulations, the RMSD, SASA, Rg, RMSF, and hydrogen bonding values found assured the docked complexes' binding stability. These findings suggest that these targeted compounds may be suppressing Myb protein expression as well as the expression of Dreb1 and other drought response genes in wheat. More research (field trial) into plant growth and drought stress is needed to support the findings of this study.
Forecasts for the concentration of petroleum gas leakage diffusion under different liquid level heights of a sealing ring of sizeable floating roof tank
Authors: Wei Yonghui , Wu Wenfeng , Yu Hongliang , Lu Jinshu , Huang Mengqing , Guo Min
Published: November 2022

The sealing ring of the external floating roof tank is prone to petroleum gas leakage due to material aging and oil corrosion. Petroleum gas leakage and diffusion easily accumulate above the floating deck. When it is within the explosion limit range, there will be the risk of explosion and fire. To deal with the explosion accident of storage tank caused by the concentration distribution of petroleum gas leakage for the sealing ring, and to study the influence of petroleum gas diffusion and concentration distribution after sealing ring leakage on the control area above the floating deck in the tank farm environment, this paper established numerical models of sealing ring leakage under different liquid level heights for 10 × 104 m3 external floating roof tank. Through numerical calculation, it is found that the diffusion concentration of petroleum gas is related to the wind speed, the range of the control area above the floating deck, and leakage when sealing rings leak at different liquid levels. Through dimensionless analysis, the functional relationship of gas leakage diffusion concentration distribution under different liquid level heights of external floating roof tank sealing rings is verified by numerical calculation results. The results show that the numerical results are consistent with those predicted by the formula.
Identification of Relevant Attributes for Liver Cancer Therapies (IRALCT): a maximum-difference-scaling analysis
Authors: Hensen Bennet , Winkelmann Carolin , Wacker Frank K. , Vogt Bodo , Dewald Cornelia L. A. , Neumann Thomas
Published: November 2022

The Identification of Relevant Attributes for Liver Cancer Therapies (IRALCT) project is intended to provide new insights into the relevant utility attributes regarding therapy choices for malignant primary and secondary liver tumors from the perspective of those who are involved in the decision-making process. It addresses the potential value of taking patients’ expectations and preferences into account during the decision-making and, when possible, adapting therapies according to these preferences. Specifically, it is intended to identify the relevant clinical attributes that influence the patients’, medical laymen’s, and medical professionals’ decisions and compare the three groups’ preferences. We conducted maximum difference (MaxDiff) scaling among 261 participants (75 physicians, 97 patients with hepatic malignancies, and 89 medical laymen) to rank the importance of 14 attributes previously identified through a literature review. We evaluated the MaxDiff data using count analysis and hierarchical Bayes estimation (HB). Physicians, patients, and medical laymen assessed the same 7 attributes as the most important: probability (certainty) of a complete removal of the tumor, probability of reoccurrence of the disease, pathological evidence of tumor removal, possible complications during the medical intervention, welfare after the medical intervention, duration and intensity of the pain, and degree of difficulty of the medical intervention. The cumulative relative importance of these 7 attributes was 88.3%. Our results show that the physicians’, patients’, and medical laymen’s preferences were very similar and stable.

Trial registration DRKS-ID of the study: DRKS00013304, Date of Registration in DRKS: 2017/11/16.
Deep learning-based framework for slide-based histopathological image analysis
Authors: Kosaraju Sai , Park Jeongyeon , Lee Hyun , Yang Jung Wook , Kang Mingon
Published: November 2022

Digital pathology coupled with advanced machine learning (e.g., deep learning) has been changing the paradigm of whole-slide histopathological images (WSIs) analysis. Major applications in digital pathology using machine learning include automatic cancer classification, survival analysis, and subtyping from pathological images. While most pathological image analyses are based on patch-wise processing due to the extremely large size of histopathology images, there are several applications that predict a single clinical outcome or perform pathological diagnosis per slide (e.g., cancer classification, survival analysis). However, current slide-based analyses are task-dependent, and a general framework of slide-based analysis in WSI has been seldom investigated. We propose a novel slide-based histopathology analysis framework that creates a WSI representation map, called HipoMap, that can be applied to any slide-based problems, coupled with convolutional neural networks. HipoMap converts a WSI of various shapes and sizes to structured image-type representation. Our proposed HipoMap outperformed existing methods in intensive experiments with various settings and datasets. HipoMap showed the Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.96±0.026 (5% improved) in the experiments for lung cancer classification, and c-index of 0.787±0.013 (3.5% improved) and coefficient of determination ($$R^2$$

R
2

) of 0.978±0.032 (24% improved) in survival analysis and survival prediction with TCGA lung cancer data respectively, as a general framework of slide-based analysis with a flexible capability. The results showed significant improvement comparing to the current state-of-the-art methods on each task. We further discussed experimental results of HipoMap as pathological viewpoints and verified the performance using publicly available TCGA datasets. A Python package is available at https://pypi.org/project/hipomap, and the package can be easily installed using Python PIP. The open-source codes in Python are available at: https://github.com/datax-lab/HipoMap.
Sensitivity to interaural level and time differences in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Fujihira Haruna , Itoi Chihiro , Furukawa Shigeto , Kato Nobumasa , Kashino Makio
Published: November 2022

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are reported to exhibit degraded performance in sound localization. This study investigated whether the sensitivity to the interaural level differences (ILDs) and interaural time differences (ITDs), major cues for horizontal sound localization, are affected in ASD. Thresholds for discriminating the ILD and ITD were measured for adults with ASD and age- and IQ-matched controls in a lateralization experiment. Results show that the ASD group exhibited higher ILD and ITD thresholds than the control group. Moreover, there was a significant diversity of ITD sensitivity in the ASD group, and it contained a larger proportion of participants with poor ITD sensitivity than the control group. The current study suggests that deficits in relatively low-level processes in the auditory pathway are implicated in degraded performance of sound localization in individuals with ASD. The results are consistent with the structural abnormalities and great variability in the morphology in the brainstem reported by neuroanatomical studies of ASD.
Subtypes and phylogenetic analysis of Blastocystis sp. isolates from West Ismailia, Egypt
Authors: Ahmed Shahira A. , El-Mahallawy Heba S. , Mohamed Samar Farag , Angelici Maria Cristina , Hasapis Kyriacos , Saber Taisir , Karanis Panagiotis
Published: November 2022

In Egypt, Blastocystis sp. is not yet on the diagnostic list of parasitology reports, and information about its subtypes (STs) is scarce. This study investigated its prevalence and its STs/alleles, performed phylogenetic analysis, and considered the distribution of risk factors associated with Blastocystis sp. infections in West Ismailia, Ismailia governorate. Sociodemographic data, exposure factors, and previous parasitic infection status were recorded for symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Microscopy, polymerase chain reaction, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis for Blastocystis sp. isolated from fecal samples were performed. Eighty Blastocystis sp.-infected individuals (15.3%) were examined. The age of the individuals ranged between 0.60 and 85.0 (mean 17.10 ± 15.70), the male/female ratio was 33/47, and the asymptomatic/symptomatic ratio was 55/25. The findings demonstrate clear evidence of direct contact with animals, poor water quality, and previous parasitic infections. Eleven samples yielded three Blastocystis STs (ST1: allele 4, ST2: alleles 9 and 12, and ST3: allele 34), with ST3 (45.5%) representing the most common subtype. Phylogenetic analysis with a robust bootstrap revealed three distinct clades for isolates of each subtype. This study updates the epidemiological knowledge of the distribution of Blastocystis sp. STs in Egypt and expands the current understanding of the prevalence, risk factor frequencies, and genetic diversity of this protist in the studied area.
Gradient-based parameter optimization method to determine membrane ionic current composition in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes
Authors: Kohjitani Hirohiko , Koda Shigeya , Himeno Yukiko , Makiyama Takeru , Yamamoto Yuta , Yoshinaga Daisuke , Wuriyanghai Yimin , Kashiwa Asami , Toyoda Futoshi , Zhang Yixin , Amano Akira , Noma Akinori , Kimura Takeshi
Published: November 2022

Premature cardiac myocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-CMs) show heterogeneous action potentials (APs), probably due to different expression patterns of membrane ionic currents. We developed a method for determining expression patterns of functional channels in terms of whole-cell ionic conductance (Gx) using individual spontaneous AP configurations. It has been suggested that apparently identical AP configurations can be obtained using different sets of ionic currents in mathematical models of cardiac membrane excitation. If so, the inverse problem of Gx estimation might not be solved. We computationally tested the feasibility of the gradient-based optimization method. For a realistic examination, conventional 'cell-specific models' were prepared by superimposing the model output of AP on each experimental AP recorded by conventional manual adjustment of Gxs of the baseline model. Gxs of 4–6 major ionic currents of the 'cell-specific models' were randomized within a range of ± 5–15% and used as an initial parameter set for the gradient-based automatic Gxs recovery by decreasing the mean square error (MSE) between the target and model output. Plotting all data points of the MSE–Gx relationship during optimization revealed progressive convergence of the randomized population of Gxs to the original value of the cell-specific model with decreasing MSE. The absence of any other local minimum in the global search space was confirmed by mapping the MSE by randomizing Gxs over a range of 0.1–10 times the control. No additional local minimum MSE was obvious in the whole parameter space, in addition to the global minimum of MSE at the default model parameter.
Gender differences in the association between adverse events in childhood or adolescence and the risk of premature mortality
Authors: de Souza Aline Fernanda , Máximo Roberta de Oliveira , de Oliveira Dayane Capra , Ramírez Paula Camila , Luiz Mariane Marques , Delinocente Maicon Luis Bicigo , Santos Jair Licio Ferreira , Steptoe Andrew , de Oliveira Cesar , Alexandre Tiago da Silva
Published: November 2022

To examine, by gender, the relationship between adverse events in childhood or adolescence and the increased risk of early mortality (before 80 years). The study sample included 941 participants of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging who died between 2007 and 2018. Data on socioeconomic status, infectious diseases, and parental stress in childhood or adolescence were collected at baseline (2006). Logistic regression models were adjusted by socioeconomic, behavioral and clinical variables. Having lived with only one parent (OR 3.79; p = 0.01), overprotection from the father (OR 1.12; p = 0.04) and having had an infectious disease in childhood or adolescence (OR 2.05; p = 0.01) were risk factors for mortality before the age of 80 in men. In women, overprotection from the father (OR 1.22; p < 0.01) was the only risk factor for mortality before the age of 80, whereas a low occupation of the head of the family (OR 0.58; p = 0.04) and greater care from the mother in childhood or adolescence (OR 0.86; p = 0.03) were protective factors. Independently of one’s current characteristics, having worse socioeconomic status and health in childhood or adolescence increased the risk of early mortality in men. Parental overprotection increased the risk of early mortality in both sexes, whereas maternal care favored longevity in women.