bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Clinicopathological Characteristics of Alpha-Fetoprotein-Producing Adenocarcinoma of the Gastrointestinal Tract—A Single-Center Retrospective Study
Authors: Kong Xiang-Xing , Li Xin-Lin , Tian Yu , Ye Qian-Cheng , Xu Xiao-Ming , Liu Yue , Yang Qi , Zhang Li-Na , Mei Yan-Xia , Wen Ji-Hang , Xiao Qian , Li Jing-Song , Ding Ke-Feng , Li Jun
Published: April 2021

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing adenocarcinoma from the gastrointestinal tract (APA-GI) is a rare type of highly malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. It may originate from any site along the GI tract with similar clinicopathological characteristics. As limited research had ever described the characteristics of APA-GI, the present article intends to systemically investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of APA-GI from a single center's retrospective study to deepen the understanding of the disease. A total of 177 patients pathologically diagnosed with APA-GI between 2010 and 2017 at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, were included. Also, clinical data of 419 gastric cancers and 609 colorectal cancers from The Cancer Genome Atlas database were also extracted. Clinical information of patients from Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, was collected, and a median follow-up of 14.5 months was performed to investigate clinical characteristics of APA-GI. For the pathological characteristics of APA-GI, hematoxylin–eosin sections were reviewed, and immunohistochemistry of AFP was performed. The results showed that the primary tumor could develop through the whole GI tract, including the esophagus (0.6%), stomach (83.1%), duodenum (1.1%), ileum (0.6%), appendix (0.6%), colon (5.1%), and rectum (7.9%). Hepatoid adenocarcinoma is the main pathological feature of APA-GI. AFP expression level in tumor tissue was not strictly associated with serum AFP or hepatoid differentiation. The prognosis of APA-GI was worse than that of common adenocarcinoma of the GI tract and liver metastasis, and high AFP levels suggest poor prognosis in patients with APA-GI. Therefore, the present study was the first research to systemically explore the clinicopathological characteristics of APA-GI. APA-GI occurs through the whole GI tract with a significantly worse prognosis than common adenocarcinoma of GI. APA-GI should be regarded as one kind of disease for its similar clinicopathological characteristics within patients.
Identification of Differentially Expressed Human Endogenous Retrovirus Families in Human Leukemia and Lymphoma Cell Lines and Stem Cells
Authors: Engel Kristina , Wieland Lisa , Krüger Anna , Volkmer Ines , Cynis Holger , Emmer Alexander , Staege Martin S.
Published: April 2021

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are becoming more and more relevant in cancer research and might be potential targets. The oncogenic potential of human ERVs (HERVs) has been recognized and includes immunosuppression, cell fusion, antigenicity of viral proteins, and regulation of neighboring genes. To decipher the role of HERVs in human cancers, we used a bioinformatics approach and analyzed RNA sequencing data from the LL-100 panel, covering 22 entities of hematopoietic neoplasias including T cell, B cell and myeloid malignancies. We compared HERV expression in this panel with hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and normal blood cells. RNA sequencing data were mapped against a comprehensive synthetic viral metagenome with 116 HERV sequences from 14 different HERV families. Of these, 13 HERV families and elements were differently expressed in malignant hematopoietic cells and stem cells. We found transcriptional upregulation of HERVE family in acute megakaryocytic and erythroid leukemia and of HERVFc family in multiple myeloma/plasma cell leukemia (PCL). The HERVFc member HERVFc-1 was found transcriptionally active in the multiple myeloma cell line OPM-2 and also in the Hodgkin lymphoma cell line L-428. The expression of HERVFc-1 in L-428 cells was validated by qRT-PCR. We also confirm transcriptional downregulation of ERV3 in acute megakaryocytic and erythroid leukemia, and HERVK in acute monocytic and myelocytic leukemia and a depression of HERVF in all malignant entities. Most of the higher expressed HERV families could be detected in stem cells including HERVK (HML-2), HERV-like, HERVV, HERVT, ERV9, HERVW, HERVF, HERVMER, ERV3, HERVH and HERVPABLB.
18F-Trifluoromethylated D-Cysteine as a Promising New PET Tracer for Glioma Imaging: Comparative Analysis With MRI and Histopathology in Orthotopic C6 Models
Authors: Ma Hui , Zhao Jing , Liu Shaoyu , Xie Dingxiang , Zhang Zhanwen , Nie Dahong , Wen Fuhua , Yang Zhiyun , Tang Ganghua
Published: April 2021

Comparing MRI and histopathology, this study aims to comprehensively explore the potential application of 18F-trifluoromethylated D-cysteine (S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS) in evaluating glioma by using orthotopic C6 glioma models. Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats (n = 9) were implanted with C6 glioma cells. Tumor growth was monitored every week by multiparameter MRI [including dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI)], [18F]FDG, S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS, and [18F]FDOPA PET imaging. Repeated scans of the same rat with the two or three [18F]-labeled radiotracers were investigated. Initial regions of interest were manually delineated on T2WI and set on the same level of PET images, and tumor-to-normal brain uptake ratios (TNRs) were calculated to semiquantitatively assess the tracer accumulation in the tumor. The tumor volume in PET and histopathology was calculated. HE and Ki67 immunohistochemical staining were further performed. The correlations between the uptake of S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS and Ki67 were analyzed. Dynamic S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS PET imaging showed tumor uptake rapidly reached a peak, maintained plateau during 10–30 min after injection, then decreased slowly. Compared with [18F]FDG and [18F]FDOPA PET imaging, S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS PET demonstrated the highest TNRs (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the tumor volume measured on S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS PET or HE specimen. Furthermore, our results showed that the uptake of S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS was significantly positively correlated with tumor Ki67, and the poor accumulated S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS was consistent with tumor hemorrhage. There was no significant correlation between the S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS uptakes and the Ktrans values derived from DCE-MRI. In comparison with MRI and histopathology, S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS PET performs well in the diagnosis and evaluation of glioma. S-[18F]CF3-D-CYS PET may serve as a valuable tool in the clinical management of gliomas.
Relapsed Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma: Current Advances
Authors: Tao Kaiyan , Wang Xuefeng , Tian Xin
Published: April 2021

Primary central nervous system lymphoma is an invasive malignant lymphoma confined to the central nervous system. Although patients undergoing first-line treatment can achieve complete response, most of them still relapse within two years. Relapsed lymphoma is derived from occult lymphoma cells, and B cell receptor pathway activation and immune escape are the key mechanisms for the pathogenesis of PCNSL. Most relapses are in the central nervous system, a small number of relapses are isolated systemic relapses, and clinical symptoms occur early and vary. Current treatments for relapse include high-dose methotrexate rechallenge and other regimens of chemotherapy, whole-brain radiation therapy, hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, which have become promising treatments. The overall prognosis of relapsed PCNSL is very poor, although it is affected by many factors. This article summarizes the mechanisms, related factors, clinical features, follow-up, treatment and prognosis of relapsed primary central nervous system lymphoma.
High Level of METTL7B Indicates Poor Prognosis of Patients and Is Related to Immunity in Glioma
Authors: Xiong Yujia , Li Mingxuan , Bai Jiwei , Sheng Yutao , Zhang Yazhuo
Published: April 2021

Glioma is the most common primary intracranial malignant tumor in adults. Although there have been many efforts on potential targeted therapy of glioma, the patient’s prognosis remains dismal. Methyltransferase Like 7B (METTL7B) has been found to affect the development of a variety of tumors. In this study, we collected RNA-seq data of glioma in CGGA and TCGA, analyzed them separately. Then, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, univariate and multivariate Cox analysis, and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) analysis were used to evaluate the effect of METTL7B on prognosis. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) enrichment analyses were used to identify the function or pathway associated with METTL7B. Moreover, the ESTIMATE algorithm, Cibersort algorithm, Spearman correlation analysis, and TIMER database were used to explore the relationship between METTL7B and immunity. Finally, the role of METTL7B was explored in glioma cells. We found that METTL7B is highly expressed in glioma, and high expression of METTL7B in glioma is associated with poor prognosis. In addition, there were significant differences in immune scores and immune cell infiltration between the two groups with different expression levels of METTL7B. Moreover, METTL7B was also correlated with immune checkpoints. Knockdown of METTL7B revealed that METTL7B promoted the progression of glioma cells. The above results indicate that METTL7B affects the prognosis of patients and is related to tumor immunity, speculating that METTL7B may be a new immune-related target for the treatment of glioma.
Radiomics-Based Features for Prediction of Histological Subtypes in Central Lung Cancer
Authors: Li Huanhuan , Gao Long , Ma He , Arefan Dooman , He Jiachuan , Wang Jiaqi , Liu Hu
Published: April 2021

Objectives

To evaluate the effectiveness of radiomic features on classifying histological subtypes of central lung cancer in contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) images.

Materials and Methods

A total of 200 patients with radiologically defined central lung cancer were recruited. All patients underwent dual-phase chest CECT, and the histological subtypes (adenocarcinoma (ADC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC)) were confirmed by histopathological samples. 107 features were used in five machine learning classifiers to perform the predictive analysis among three subtypes. Models were trained and validated in two conditions: using radiomic features alone, and combining clinical features with radiomic features. The performance of the classification models was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

Results

The highest AUCs in classifying ADC vs. SCC, ADC vs. SCLC, and SCC vs. SCLC were 0.879, 0.836, 0.783, respectively by using only radiomic features in a feedforward neural network.

Conclusion

Our study indicates that radiomic features based on the CECT images might be a promising tool for noninvasive prediction of histological subtypes in central lung cancer and the neural network classifier might be well-suited to this task.
Recommendations for Assessment of Environmental Exposures in Longitudinal Life Course Studies Such as the National Children's Study
Authors: Viet Susan Marie , Dellarco Michael , Chen Edith , McDade Thomas , Faustman Elaine , Brachvogel Sean , Smith Marissa , Wright Rosalind
Published: April 2021

An important step toward understanding the relationship between the environment and child health and development is the comprehensive cataloging of external environmental factors that may modify health and development over the life course. Our understanding of the environmental influences on health is growing increasingly complex. Significant key questions exist as to what genes, environment, and life stage mean to defining normal variations and altered developmental trajectories throughout the life course and also across generations. With the rapid advances in genetic technology came large-scale genomic studies to search for the genetic etiology of complex diseases. While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed genetic factors and networks that advance our understanding to some extent, it is increasingly recognized that disease causation is largely non-genetic and reflects interactions between an individual's genetic susceptibility and his or her environment. Thus, the full promise of the human genome project to prevent or treat disease and promote good health arguably depends on a commitment to understanding the interactions between our environment and our genetic makeup and requires a design with prospective environmental data collection that considers critical windows of susceptibility that likely correspond to the expression of specific genes and gene pathways. Unlike the genome, which is static, relevant exposures as well as our response to exposures, change over time. This has fostered the complementary concept of the exposome ideally defined as the measure of all exposures of an individual over a lifetime and how those exposures relate to health. The exposome framework considers multiple external exposures (e.g., chemical, social) and behaviors that may modify exposures (e.g., diet), as well as consequences of environmental exposures indexed via biomarkers of physiological response or measures of behavioral response throughout the lifespan. The exposome concept can be applied in prospective developmental studies such as the National Children's Study (NCS) with the practical understanding that even a partial characterization will bring major advances to health. Lessons learned from the NCS provide an important opportunity to inform future studies that can leverage these evolving paradigms in elucidating the role of environment on health across the life course.
Case Report: Ophthalmologic Evaluation Over a Long Follow-Up Time in a Patient With Wolfram Syndrome Type 2: Slowly Progressive Optic Neuropathy as a Possible Clinical Finding
Authors: Di Iorio Valentina , Mozzillo Enza , Rosanio Francesco Maria , Di Candia Francesca , Genesio Rita , Testa Francesco , Iovino Claudio , Franzese Adriana , Simonelli Francesca
Published: April 2021

Wolfram syndrome (WFS) is a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease whose diagnosis requires diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy (OA). WFS includes a wide spectrum of other possible complications such as diabetes insipidus, sensorineural deafness, urinary tract problems, neurological and psychiatric disorders. Most WFS patients show type 1 syndrome (WFS1) caused by mutations in the WFS1 gene, encoding Wolframin protein, while few patients are affected by WFS type 2 (WFS2) due to a pathogenetic variants in the CISD2 gene encoding an endoplasmic reticulum intermembrane small protein. WFS2 is considered a phenotypic and genotypic variant of WFS, from which differs only for the increased risk of bleeding and presence of peptic ulcers. OA and diabetes are considered cardinal features of WFS. We hereby report the ophthalmologic evaluation in a patient, previously described, with WFS2 after 8 years of follow-up. A 20-year-old white woman was referred to our retinal center for the first time in 2012 following a diagnosis of a novel intragenic exon 2 CISD2 homozygous deletion, for the suspicion of an associated bilateral OA. Fundus examination, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, visual field, visual evoked potentials were performed and confirmed the presence of an optic neuropathy that remained stable over 8 years follow up. A slowly progressive optic neuropathy, rather than OA can characterize patients with WFS2 and CISD2 intragenic deletion.
Inhibition of Caffeine Metabolism by Apiaceous and Rutaceae Families of Plant Products in Humans: In Vivo and In Vitro Studies
Authors: Alehaideb Zeyad , Sheriffdeen Mohamed , Law Francis C. P.
Published: April 2021

Daily consumption of caffeinated beverages is considered safe but serious health consequences do happen in some individuals. The Apiaceous and Rutaceae families of plant (ARFP) products are popular foods and medicines in the world. We previously reported significant amounts of furanocoumarin bioactive such as 8-methoxypsoralen, 5-methoxypsoralen, and isopimpinellin in ARFP products. As both caffeine and furanocoumarin bioactive are metabolized by the same hepatic CYP1A1/2 isozyme in humans, caffeine/ARFP product interactions may occur after co-administration. The objectives of the present study were to study in vivo loss of caffeine metabolizing activity by comparing the pharmacokinetics of caffeine in volunteers before and after pre-treatment with an ARFP extract, study the correlation between the decrease in hepatic CYP1A2 activity and the content of furanocoumarin bioactive in ARFP extracts, characterize CYP1A2 inactivation using in vitro incubations containing 14C-caffeine, a furanocoumarin bioactive, and human liver microsomes (HLMs), and provide a mechanistic explanation for both in vivo and in vitro data using the irreversible inhibition mechanism. The study results showed pre-treatment of volunteers with four ARFP extracts increased the area-under-the-concentration-time-curve (AUC0-inf) ratio of caffeine in the plasma ranging from 1.3 to 4.3-fold compared to the untreated volunteers indicating significant caffeine metabolism inhibition. The increases in AUC0-inf ratio also were linearly related to the effect-based doses of the furanocoumarins in the ARFP extracts, a finding which indicated caffeine metabolism inhibition was related to the content of furanocoumarin bioactive in an ARFP product. In vitro incubation studies also showed individual furanocoumarin bioactive were potent inhibitors of caffeine-N-demethylation; the IC50 for 8-methoxypsoralen 5-methoxypsoralen, and isopimpinellin were 0.09, 0.13, and 0.29 µM, respectively. In addition, CYP1A2 inactivation by individual furanocoumarin bioactive was concentration- and time-dependent involving the irreversible inhibition mechanism. The proposed irreversible inhibition mechanism was investigated further using 14C-labeled 8-methoxypsoralen and HLMs. The formation of 14C-adducts due to 14C-8-MOP-derived radioactivity bound to HLMs confirmed the irreversible inhibition of CYP1A2 activity. Thus, furanocoumarin bioactive metabolism in humans would result in reactive metabolite(s) formation inactivating CYP1A2 isozyme and inhibiting caffeine metabolism. Once the CYP1A2 isozyme was deactivated, the enzymic activity could only be regained by isozyme re-synthesis which took a long time. As a result, a single oral dose of ARFP extract administered to the human volunteers 3.0 h before still was able to inhibit caffeine metabolism.
Dihydrotanshinone Inhibits Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Suppressing the JAK2/STAT3 Pathway
Authors: Hu Xue , Jiao Fangzhou , Zhang Lan , Jiang Yingan
Published: April 2021

Liver cancer is the sixth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death. Most (75–85%) primary liver cancers occurring worldwide are hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The development of resistance and other drug related side effects are the prime reasons for the failure of treatment. Therefore, developing high-efficacy and low-toxicity natural anticancer agents is greatly needed in the treatment of HCC. Dihydrotanshinone (DHTS) is widely used for promoting blood circulation and antitumor. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of DHTS-induced apoptosis of HCC, both in vitro and in vivo. We found that DHTS inhibited the growth of several HCC cells (HCCLM3, SMMC7721, Hep3B and HepG2). DHTS induced the apoptosis of SMMC7721 cells. Immunofluorescence results have showed that DHTS decreased STAT3 nuclear translocation. Moreover, Western blot results have demonstrated that DHTS suppressed the activation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. In addition, xenograft results have showed that DHTS suppressed tumor growth of SMMC7721 cells in vivo by inhibiting the p-STAT3. Thus, we demonstrated that DHTS could inhibit HCC by suppressing the JAK2/STAT3 pathway. DHTS has potential to be a chemotherapeutic agent in HCC and merits further clinical investigation.
MMP24 Contributes to Neuropathic Pain in an FTO-Dependent Manner in the Spinal Cord Neurons
Authors: Ma Longfei , Huang Yangyuxin , Zhang Fengjiang , Gao Dave Schwinn , Sun Na , Ren Jinxuan , Xia Suyun , Li Jia , Peng Xinyi , Yu Lina , Jiang Bao-Chun , Yan Min
Published: April 2021

Nerve injury-induced gene expression change in the spinal cord is critical for neuropathic pain genesis. RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification represents an additional layer of gene regulation. We showed that spinal nerve ligation (SNL) upregulated the expression of matrix metallopeptidase 24 (MMP24) protein, but not Mmp24 mRNA, in the spinal cord neurons. Blocking the SNL-induced upregulation of spinal MMP24 attenuated local neuron sensitization, neuropathic pain development and maintenance. Conversely, mimicking MMP24 increase promoted the spinal ERK activation and produced evoked nociceptive hypersensitivity. Methylated RNA Immunoprecipitation Sequencing (MeRIP-seq) and RNA Immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay indicated the decreased m6A enrichment in the Mmp24 mRNA under neuropathic pain condition. Moreover, fat-mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) was colocalized with MMP24 in spinal neurons and shown increased binding to the Mmp24 mRNA in the spinal cord after SNL. Overexpression or suppression of FTO correlates with promotion or inhibition of MMP24 expression in cultured spinal cord neurons. In conclusion, SNL promoted the m6A eraser FTO binding to the Mmp24 mRNA, which subsequently facilitated the translation of MMP24 in the spinal cord, and ultimately contributed to neuropathic pain genesis.
Extracting Correlations in Earthquake Time Series Using Visibility Graph Analysis
Authors: Kundu Sumanta , Opris Anca , Yukutake Yohei , Hatano Takahiro
Published: April 2021

Recent observation studies have revealed that earthquakes are classified into several different categories. Each category might be characterized by the unique statistical feature in the time series, but the present understanding is still limited due to their non-linear and non-stationary nature. Here we utilize complex network theory to shed new light on the statistical properties of earthquake time series. We investigate two kinds of time series, which are magnitude and inter-event time (IET), for three different categories of earthquakes: regular earthquakes, earthquake swarms, and tectonic tremors. Following the criterion of visibility graph, earthquake time series are mapped into a complex network by considering each seismic event as a node and determining the links. As opposed to the current common belief, it is found that the magnitude time series are not statistically equivalent to random time series. The IET series exhibit correlations similar to fractional Brownian motion for all the categories of earthquakes. Furthermore, we show that the time series of three different categories of earthquakes can be distinguished by the topology of the associated visibility graph. Analysis on the assortativity coefficient also reveals that the swarms are more intermittent than the tremors.
Ultrafast Charge Separation in Bilayer WS2/Graphene Heterostructure Revealed by Time- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy
Authors: Krause Razvan , Chávez-Cervantes Mariana , Aeschlimann Sven , Forti Stiven , Fabbri Filippo , Rossi Antonio , Coletti Camilla , Cacho Cephise , Zhang Yu , Majchrzak Paulina Ewa , Chapman Richard T. , Springate Emma , Gierz Isabella
Published: April 2021

Efficient light harvesting devices need to combine strong absorption in the visible spectral range with efficient ultrafast charge separation. These features commonly occur in novel ultimately thin van der Waals heterostructures with type II band alignment. Recently, ultrafast charge separation was also observed in monolayer WS2/graphene heterostructures with type I band alignment. Here we use time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to show that ultrafast charge separation also occurs at the interface between bilayer WS2 and graphene indicating that the indirect band gap of bilayer WS2 does not affect the charge transfer to the graphene layer. The microscopic insights gained in the present study will turn out to be useful for the design of novel optoelectronic devices.
Driving Waveform Design of Electrowetting Displays Based on a Reset Signal for Suppressing Charge Trapping Effect
Authors: Zhang Taiyuan , Deng Yong
Published: April 2021

Electrowetting display (EWD) device is a new type of reflective optoelectronic equipment with paper-like display performance. Due to the oil backflow phenomenon, it is difficult for pixels to be maintained a stable aperture ratio, so the grayscale of EWDs cannot be stabilized. To reduce the oil backflow in EWDs, a driving waveform composed of a driving signal and a periodic reset signal was proposed in this paper. A direct current (DC) signal was designed as the driving signal for driving pixels. The aperture ratio of pixels was determined by the amplitude of the DC signal. The periodic reset signal was divided into a charge release phase and a driving recovery phase. During the charge release phase, the driving voltage was abruptly dropped to 0 V for a period to release trapped charges. In the driving recovery phase, the driving voltage was rapidly increased from 0 V to a maximum value. To reach the same grayscale of EWDs, the driving waveform was returned to the driving signal at the end of the driving recovery phase. Experimental results showed that the aperture ratio of EWDs was unchanged when the driving waveform was applied. However, the aperture ratio of pixels was gradually decreased with the conventional driving waveform. It was indicated that the charge trapping effect and the oil backflow phenomenon can be effectively inhibited by the proposed driving waveform. Compared with the conventional driving waveform, the speed of oil backflow was reduced by 90.4%. The results demonstrated that the proposed driving waveform is beneficial for the achievement of stable grayscale in EWDs.
Aldosterone Is Positively Associated With Circulating FGF23 Levels in Chronic Kidney Disease Across Four Species, and May Drive FGF23 Secretion Directly
Authors: Radloff Judith , Pagitz Maximilian , Andrukhova Olena , Oberbauer Rainer , Burgener Iwan A. , Erben Reinhold G.
Published: April 2021

Background

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is accompanied by increases in circulating fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) and aldosterone levels. Here, we tested the hypothesis that aldosterone may be one of the driving forces behind increased FGF23 secretion in CKD.

Methods

Using data from a prospective study in humans, a retrospective study in dogs and cats, and an experimental study in 5/6-nephrectomized mice, we analyzed the relationship between circulating FGF23 and serum aldosterone levels in CKD across four species. To assess the effects of acute inhibition of aldosterone signaling on circulating FGF23, we acutely treated mice with established CKD with the mineralocorticoid receptor blocker canrenone (50 mg/kg iv/sc), and measured intact FGF23 before and 24 h as well as 72 h after start of administration of the drug.

Results

We found a tight positive association between circulating intact FGF23 and serum aldosterone in human, canine, and feline CKD patients, as well as in experimental murine CKD (humans: rS = 0.57, p = 0.0368; dogs: rS = 0.66, p = 0.0019; cats: rS = 0.75, p = 0.0003; mice: rS = 0.49, p = 0.0004). Injection of canrenone in mice with established CKD did not lead to changes in FGF23 levels within 24 h, but reduced FGF23 in all mice at 72 h.

Conclusion

Aldosterone may drive enhanced FGF23 secretion in CKD, possibly explaining the tight positive association between circulating intact FGF23 and aldosterone in human, canine, and feline CKD patients as well as in experimental CKD models.
Changes of Cadmium Storage Forms and Isotope Ratios in Rice During Grain Filling
Authors: Wiggenhauser Matthias , Aucour Anne-Marie , Telouk Philippe , Blommaert Hester , Sarret Géraldine
Published: April 2021

Rice poses a major source of the toxic contaminant cadmium (Cd) for humans. Here, we elucidated the role of Cd storage forms (i.e., the chemical Cd speciation) on the dynamics of Cd within rice. In a pot trial, we grew rice on a Cd-contaminated soil in upland conditions and sampled roots and shoots parts at flowering and maturity. Cd concentrations, isotope ratios, Cd speciation (X-ray absorption spectroscopy), and micronutrient concentrations were analyzed. During grain filling, Cd and preferentially light Cd isotopes were strongly retained in roots where the Cd storage form did not change (Cd bound to thiols, Cd–S = 100%). In the same period, no net change of Cd mass occurred in roots and shoots, and the shoots became enriched in heavy isotopes (Δ114/110Cdmaturity–flowering = 0.14 ± 0.04‰). These results are consistent with a sequestration of Cd in root vacuoles that includes strong binding of Cd to thiol containing ligands that favor light isotopes, with a small fraction of Cd strongly enriched in heavy isotopes being transferred to shoots during grain filling. The Cd speciation in the shoots changed from predominantly Cd–S (72%) to Cd bound to O ligands (Cd–O, 80%) during grain filling. Cd–O may represent Cd binding to organic acids in vacuoles and/or binding to cell walls in the apoplast. Despite this change of ligands, which was attributed to plant senescence, Cd was largely immobile in the shoots since only 0.77% of Cd in the shoots were transferred into the grains. Thus, both storage forms (Cd–S and Cd–O) contributed to the retention of Cd in the straw. Cd was mainly bound to S in nodes I and grains (Cd–S > 84%), and these organs were strongly enriched in heavy isotopes compared to straw (Δ114/110Cdgrains/nodes–straw = 0.66–0.72‰) and flag leaves (Δ114/110Cdgrains/nodes–flag leaves = 0.49–0.52‰). Hence, xylem to phloem transfer in the node favors heavy isotopes, and the Cd–S form may persist during the transfer of Cd from node to grain. This study highlights the importance of Cd storage forms during its journey to grain and potentially into the food chain.
Minimal Organizational Requirements for the Ascription of Animal Personality to Social Groups
Authors: Japyassú Hilton F. , Neco Lucia C. , Nunes-Neto Nei
Published: April 2021

Recently, psychological phenomena have been expanded to new domains, crisscrossing boundaries of organizational levels, with the emergence of areas such as social personality and ecosystem learning. In this contribution, we analyze the ascription of an individual-based concept (personality) to the social level. Although justified boundary crossings can boost new approaches and applications, the indiscriminate misuse of concepts refrains the growth of scientific areas. The concept of social personality is based mainly on the detection of repeated group differences across a population, in a direct transposition of personality concepts from the individual to the social level. We show that this direct transposition is problematic for avowing the nonsensical ascription of personality even to simple electronic devices. To go beyond a metaphoric use of social personality, we apply the organizational approach to a review of social insect communication networks. Our conceptual analysis shows that socially self-organized systems, such as isolated ant trails and bee’s recruitment groups, are too simple to have social personality. The situation is more nuanced when measuring the collective choice between nest sites or foraging patches: some species show positive and negative feedbacks between two or more self-organized social structures so that these co-dependent structures are inter-related by second-order, social information systems, complying with a formal requirement for having social personality: the social closure of constraints. Other requirements include the decoupling between individual and social dynamics, and the self-regulation of collective decision processes. Social personality results to be sometimes a metaphorical transposition of a psychological concept to a social phenomenon. The application of this organizational approach to cases of learning ecosystems, or evolutionary learning, could help to ground theoretically the ascription of psychological properties to levels of analysis beyond the individual, up to meta-populations or ecological communities.
The Contagion of Donation Behaviors Changes Along With the Abatement of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Intertemporal Survey Experiment
Authors: Li Shuaiqi , Liu Xiaoli , Li Jianbiao
Published: April 2021

We conducted an intertemporal online experiment to examine the contagion of others’ positive and negative donation behaviors. We collected two sets of data during and after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The participants donated to the charitable fund, “Against COVID-19, The China Charity Federation Is on the Move.” We further investigated the mediating effect of social anxiety on the link between the contagion of donation behaviors and the changes in the COVID-19 situation. A total of 1022 participants (Mage = 22.68, 63.01% females) participated in the intertemporal online experiment and were considered in the statistical analyses. Our findings were as follows. First, the donation behaviors of others significantly changed these participants’ initial donation decisions, with increased or decreased donation amounts being associated with a positive or negative donation behavior, respectively. Others’ positive donation behavior was more likely to nudge these participants into changing their initial decisions (31.82%, Mean = 15.177, SD = 1.586) than negative donation behavior (18.28%, Mean = 12.122, SD = 1.908) during the peak of the pandemic. However, such difference disappeared after the peak because the contagion of positive donation behavior significantly decreased along with the abatement of the pandemic. Second, the participants’ social anxiety decreased along with the abatement of the pandemic, and social anxiety completely mediated the relationship between the pandemic abatement and the decrease in the contagion of positive donation behaviors. These findings advance our understanding of the motivations and influence mechanism of individuals’ donation decisions in the current pandemic situation and help make informed policy making decisions.
A Comparison of Penalized Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Markov Chain Monte Carlo Techniques for Estimating Confirmatory Factor Analysis Models With Small Sample Sizes
Authors: Lüdtke Oliver , Ulitzsch Esther , Robitzsch Alexander
Published: April 2021

With small to modest sample sizes and complex models, maximum likelihood (ML) estimation of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models can show serious estimation problems such as non-convergence or parameter estimates outside the admissible parameter space. In this article, we distinguish different Bayesian estimators that can be used to stabilize the parameter estimates of a CFA: the mode of the joint posterior distribution that is obtained from penalized maximum likelihood (PML) estimation, and the mean (EAP), median (Med), or mode (MAP) of the marginal posterior distribution that are calculated by using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. In two simulation studies, we evaluated the performance of the Bayesian estimators from a frequentist point of view. The results show that the EAP produced more accurate estimates of the latent correlation in many conditions and outperformed the other Bayesian estimators in terms of root mean squared error (RMSE). We also argue that it is often advantageous to choose a parameterization in which the main parameters of interest are bounded, and we suggest the four-parameter beta distribution as a prior distribution for loadings and correlations. Using simulated data, we show that selecting weakly informative four-parameter beta priors can further stabilize parameter estimates, even in cases when the priors were mildly misspecified. Finally, we derive recommendations and propose directions for further research.
Sense of Resistance for a Cursor Moved by User’s Keystrokes
Authors: Kawabe Takahiro , Ujitoko Yusuke , Yokosaka Takumi , Kuroki Scinob
Published: April 2021

Haptic sensation of a material can be modulated by its visual appearance. A technique that utilizes this visual-haptic interaction is called as pseudo-haptic feedback. Conventional studies have investigated pseudo-haptic feedback in situations, wherein a user manipulated a virtual object using a computer mouse, a force-feedback device, etc. The present study investigated whether and how it was possible to offer pseudo-haptic feedback to a user who manipulated a virtual object using keystrokes. Participants moved a cursor toward a destination by pressing a key. While the cursor was moving, the cursor was temporarily slowed down on a square area of the screen. The participants’ task was to report, on a five-point scale, how much resistance they felt to the cursor’s movement. In addition to the basic speed of the cursor, the ratio of the basic speed to the speed within the square area was varied. In Experiment 1, we found that these two factors interacted significantly with each other, but further analysis showed that the cursor speed within the square area was the most important determinant of perceived resistance. In Experiment 2, consistent with the results of the previous experiment, it was found that the cursor movement outside of the square area was not required to generate the sense of resistance. Counterintuitively, in Experiment 3, the sense of resistance was apparent even without user’s keystrokes. We discuss how the sense of resistance for a cursor moved by keystrokes can be triggered visually, but interpreted by the brain as a haptic impression.
Impact of Interactive Learning Environments on Learning and Cognitive Development of Children With Special Educational Needs: A Literature Review
Authors: Ugalde Leire , Santiago-Garabieta Maite , Villarejo-Carballido Beatriz , Puigvert Lídia
Published: April 2021

Children with special educational needs (SEN) achieve lower educational levels than their peers without special needs, leading to a higher risk of social exclusion in the future. Inclusive education aims to promote learning and to benefit the cognitive development of these students, and numerous research studies have indicated that interactive environments benefit inclusion. However, it is necessary to know how these inclusive environments can positively impact the academic improvement and development of these students' cognitive skills. This article provides a review of the scientific literature from Web of Science, SCOPUS, ERIC, and PsychINFO to understand the impact of interactive environments on the academic learning and cognitive skill development of children with SEN. A total of 17 studies were selected. Those studies showed the effectiveness of interactive learning environments in promoting instrumental learning, increasing academic involvement, and improving the cognitive development of children with disabilities. Based on these results, it can be concluded that interaction-based interventions with an inclusive approach nurture the learning and cognitive development of students with SEN.
Collaborative Learning Quality Classification Through Physiological Synchrony Recorded by Wearable Biosensors
Authors: Liu Yang , Wang Tingting , Wang Kun , Zhang Yu
Published: April 2021

Interpersonal physiological synchrony has been consistently found during collaborative tasks. However, few studies have applied synchrony to predict collaborative learning quality in real classroom. To explore the relationship between interpersonal physiological synchrony and collaborative learning activities, this study collected electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) during naturalistic class sessions and compared the physiological synchrony between independent task and group discussion task. The students were recruited from a renowned university in China. Since each student learn differently and not everyone prefers collaborative learning, participants were sorted into collaboration and independent dyads based on their collaborative behaviors before data analysis. The result showed that, during group discussions, high collaboration pairs produced significantly higher synchrony than low collaboration dyads (p= 0.010). Given the equivalent engagement level during independent and collaborative tasks, the difference of physiological synchrony between high and low collaboration dyads was triggered by collaboration quality. Building upon this result, the classification analysis was conducted, indicating that EDA synchrony can identify different levels of collaboration quality (AUC = 0.767 andp= 0.015).
Health Control Beliefs and Attitude Toward Treatment in Psychiatric and Non-Psychiatric Clinical Samples
Authors: Pogany Laszlo , Lazary Judit
Published: April 2021

Although there is accumulating evidence on the potential influencing factors of medication adherence, the knowledge about patients' attitudes and beliefs toward treatment is only partly utilized in adherence-improving strategies. Several internal and external factors determining adherence have been described regarding many chronic somatic diseases but in recent research, insight on psychiatric patients has been exclusively lacking. As a result, there is a scarcity of effective adherence-improving interventions. Identification of any specific differences or similarities between the attitudes toward treatment of psychiatric and non-psychiatric patients would help to support adherent behavior.

We recruited 189 participants from four departments of general psychiatry (GEN PSYCH, n = 106), addictology (ADDICT, n = 42) and somatic diseases (NON PSYCH, n = 41). The Patient's Health Belief Questionnaire on Psychiatric Treatment (PHBQPT) was performed to assess the patients' attitude toward drug treatment, perceived health locus of control, and psychological reactance.

The most robust difference of the PHBQT scores occurred between the GEN PSYCH and ADDICT subgroups. ADDICT patients scored significantly higher on the internal and external health locus of control and on the Psychological Reactance subscale as well. While GEN PSYCH subjects provided higher scores on the Positive Aspect of Medication compared to ADDICT persons. Interestingly, the only difference between the GEN PSYCH and NON-PSYCH groups was the more pronounced mistrust in physicians in the case of psychiatric patients.

Our data suggest that mistrust toward medication does not differ in psychiatric and non-psychiatric samples, while the acceptance of the doctor's competency may be stronger in the non-psychiatric sample. The analysis of these factors provides information which could help us better understand this important issue and to develop more efficient interventions for improving adherence.
Coping Strategies in the Spanish Population: The Role in Consequences of COVID-19 on Mental Health
Authors: Molero Jurado María del Mar , Pérez-Fuentes María del Carmen , Fernández-Martínez Elena , Martos Martínez África , Gázquez Linares José Jesús
Published: April 2021

The worldwide health emergency caused by COVID-19 is a new challenge for humanity which individuals respond to in a diversity of ways. The type of coping people use in such a situation could lead to positive or negative consequences to their health. Our objective was to analyze the use of coping strategies in the general population with attention to sociodemographic variables, and to test the capacity of these strategies for mediating in repercussions on mental health. The 1,160 adults who participated in this study answered the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-S) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The data were collected in a CAWI (Computer Aided Web Interviewing). The results suggest that the coping strategies they used the most differed depending on sociodemographic characteristics, such as age, sex and education. Furthermore, two mediation models were estimated for positive and negative coping strategies in the relationship between the presence of COVID-19 near them and mental health. The “negative” coping strategies were found to exert an indirect effect as mediators in the impact that COVID-19 positive cases near them had on their health. The consequences to mental health of the impact of coping with adverse situations should not be underestimated and it is important to design programs to educate the population in coping strategies that promote their health.
Abnormality of Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Major Depressive Disorder: A Study With Whole-Head Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
Authors: Sakakibara Eisuke , Satomura Yoshihiro , Matsuoka Jun , Koike Shinsuke , Okada Naohiro , Sakurada Hanako , Yamagishi Mika , Kawakami Norito , Kasai Kiyoto
Published: April 2021

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a functional neuroimaging modality that has advantages in clinical usage. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have found that the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the default mode network (DMN) is increased, while the RSFC of the cognitive control network (CCN) is reduced in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared with healthy controls. This study tested whether the NIRS-based RSFC measurements can detect the abnormalities in RSFC that have been associated with MDD in previous fMRI studies. We measured 8 min of resting-state brain activity in 34 individuals with MDD and 78 age- and gender-matched healthy controls using a whole-head NIRS system. We applied a previously established partial correlation analysis for estimating RSFCs between the 17 cortical regions. We found that MDD patients had a lower RSFC between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the parietal lobe that comprise the CCN, and a higher RSFC between the right orbitofrontal cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, compared to those in healthy controls. The RSFC strength of the left CCN was negatively correlated with the severity of depressive symptoms and the dose of antipsychotic medication and positively correlated with the level of social functioning. The results of this study suggest that NIRS-based measurements of RSFCs have potential clinical applications.
Research on International Cooperative Governance of the COVID-19
Authors: Lin Xueyu , Yang Hualei , Wu Yuanyang , Zheng Xiaodong , Xie Lin , Shen Zheng , Hu Sen
Published: April 2021

Since the first case of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has quickly spread to all the corners of the world. Amid the global public health threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, active cooperative governance has gradually emerged as the most powerful weapon against its spread. To facilitate international cooperation for pandemic governance, this paper applied the evolutionary game theory to analyze the factors influencing active cooperative governance and, based on the results, proposed a series of recommendations for promoting international cooperation. (1) leveraging the role of international organizations to reduce the cost of realizing the strategy of active cooperative governance, (2) promoting the international exchange of related experiences to lower the cost of active pandemic governance, (3) sustaining productive and daily activities during the pandemic in a classified and hierarchical manner to reduce the economic loss incurred by active pandemic governance, and (4) optimizing the incentive measures of international organizations to facilitate the selection of active cooperative governance. Finally, from the four aspects of resource management of pandemic treatment, supply management of living materials, population flow cooperation management, and governance fund cooperation management, this paper gives the path of international pandemic cooperative governance.