bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of body mass index on response to neo-adjuvant therapy in HER2-positive breast cancer: an exploratory analysis of the NeoALTTO trial
Authors: Di Cosimo Serena , Porcu Luca , Agbor-tarh Dominique , Cinieri Saverio , Franzoi Maria Alice , De Santis Maria Carmen , Saura Cristina , Huober Jens , Fumagalli Debora , Izquierdo Miguel , Piccart Martine , Daidone Maria Grazia , de Azambuja Evandro
Published: October 2020

Background

Obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer (BC) development, recurrence, and death. In view of this, we aimed to investigate the clinical value of obesity in BC patients treated with anti-HER2 therapies in the NeoALTTO trial, which randomized 455 patients to neo-adjuvant lapatinib, trastuzumab, or their combination plus paclitaxel.

Methods

Patients were classified according to their basal body mass index (BMI) into underweight (< 18.5 kg/m2), normal (≥ 18.5; < 25 kg/m2), overweight (≥ 25; < 30 kg/m2), and obese (≥ 30 kg/m2) WHO categories. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using BMI as a categorical variable. Pathological complete response (pCR) and event-free survival (EFS) were the NeoALTTO primary and secondary outcomes, respectively.

Results

Among 454 patients analyzed, 14 (3%), 220 (48%), 137 (30%), and 83 (18%) were classified as underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese, respectively; 231 (51%) and 223 (49%) had hormone receptor (HR)-positive and HR-negative primary tumors; 160 (35%) achieved pCR. In the overall patient population, no association was found between BMI groups and pCR, as we reported pCR rates of 57.1%, 35%, 30.7%, and 39.8% in underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese cases, respectively. In contrast, in HR-positive tumors, overweight or obesity was generally associated with decreased likelihood of achieving a pCR independently of other clinical variables, including planned surgery, nodal status, and tumor size (odds ratio [OR] = 0.55, 95%CI 0.30–1.01, as compared to normal or underweight; p = 0.053); notably, no differential effect of BMI with respect to pCR was observed in HR-negative cases (odds ratio [OR] = 1.30, 95%CI 0.76–2.23, as compared to normal or underweight; p = 0.331), resulting in a statistically significant interaction between BMI and HR status (p = 0.036). There was no association between BMI and EFS neither in the overall nor in the HR-positive population, but this analysis was under-powered.

Conclusions

NeoALTTO patients overweight or obese at baseline and with HR-positive primary BC appeared less likely to achieve pCR after neo-adjuvant anti-HER2 therapies. This finding paves the way to future research in targeting the interplay between HER2/HR signaling and metabolism.
DjinniChip: evaluation of a novel molecular rapid diagnostic device for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in trachoma-endemic areas
Authors: Derrick Tamsyn R. , Sandetskaya Natalia , Pickering Harry , Kölsch Andreas , Ramadhani Athumani , Mafuru Elias , Massae Patrick , Malisa Aiweda , Mtuy Tara , Burton Matthew J. , Holland Martin J. , Kuhlmeier Dirk
Published: October 2020

Background

The clinical signs of active trachoma are often present in the absence of ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection, particularly following mass drug administration. Treatment decisions following impact surveys and in post-control surveillance for communities are currently based on the prevalence of clinical signs, which may result in further unnecessary distribution of mass antibiotic treatment and the increased spread of macrolide resistance alleles in ‘off-target’ bacterial species. We therefore developed a simple, fast, low cost diagnostic assay (DjinniChip) for diagnosis of ocular C. trachomatis for use by trachoma control programmes.

Methods

The study was conducted in the UK, Germany and Tanzania. For clinical testing in Tanzania, specimens from a sample of 350 children between the ages of 7 to 15 years, which were part of a longitudinal cohort that began in February 2012 were selected. Two ocular swabs were taken from the right eye. The second swab was collected dry, kept cool in the field and archived at – 80 °C before sample lysis for DjinniChip detection and parallel nucleic acid purification and detection/quantification by qPCR assay.

Results

DjinniChip was able to reliably detect > 10 copies of C. trachomatis per test and correctly identified 7/10 Quality Control for Molecular Diagnostics C. trachomatis panel samples, failing to detect 3 positive samples with genome equivalent amounts ≤ 10 copies. DjinniChip performed well across a range of typical trachoma field conditions and when used by lay personnel using a series of mock samples. In the laboratory in Tanzania, using clinical samples the sensitivity and specificity of DjinniChip for C. trachomatis was 66% (95% CI 51–78) and 94.8 (95% CI 91–97%) with an overall accuracy of 90.1 (95% CI 86.4–93).

Conclusions

DjinniChip performance is extremely promising, particularly its ability to detect low concentrations of C. trachomatis and its usability in field conditions. The DjinniChip requires further development to reduce inhibition and advance toward a closed system. DjinniChip results did not vary between local laboratory results and typical trachoma field settings, illustrating its potential for use in low-resource areas to prevent unnecessary rounds of MDA and to monitor for C. trachomatis recrudescence.
Performance of Ag-ELISA in the diagnosis of Taenia solium cysticercosis in naturally infected pigs in Tanzania
Authors: Kabululu Mwemezi L. , Johansen Maria V. , Mlangwa James E. D. , Mkupasi Ernatus M. , Braae Uffe C. , Trevisan Chiara , Colston Angela , Cordel Claudia , Lightowlers Marshall W. , Ngowi Helena A.
Published: October 2020

Background

Taenia solium is a zoonotic parasite responsible for neurocysticercosis—a major cause of late-onset acquired epilepsy in humans. Lack of affordable, specific and sensitive diagnostic tools hampers control of the parasite. This study assessed the performance of an antigen detection enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Ag-ELISA) in the diagnosis of viable T. solium cysticercosis in naturally infected slaughter-age pigs in an endemic area in Tanzania.

Methods

A total of 350 pigs were bled before they were slaughtered and their carcases examined. Serum was analyzed for circulating antigens by using a monoclonal antibody-based B158/B60 Ag-ELISA. Each carcase was examined for the presence of Taenia hydatigena cysticerci and half carcase musculature together with the whole brain, head muscles, tongue, heart and diaphragm were sliced with fine cuts (< 0.5 cm) to reveal and enumerate T. solium cysticerci. Half carcase dissection can detect at least 84% of infected pigs. Prevalence and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated in Stata 12. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and likelihood ratios were determined.

Results

Twenty–nine pigs (8.3%, 95% CI: 5.6–11.7%) had viable T. solium cysticerci while 11 pigs had T. hydatigena cysticerci (3.1%, 95% CI: 1.6–5.5%). No co-infection was observed. Sixty-eight pigs (19.4%, 95% CI: 15.4–20%) tested positive on Ag-ELISA; of these, 24 had T. solium cysticerci and 7 had T. hydatigena cysticerci. Sensitivity and specificity were determined to be 82.7% and 86.3%, respectively. Positive and negative predictive values were 35.2% and 98.2%, respectively. Likelihood ratios for positive and negative Ag-ELISA test results were 6.0 and 0.2, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between the titre of circulating antigens and intensity of T. solium cysticerci (r(348) = 0.63, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

The Ag-ELISA test characteristics reported in this study indicate that the test is more reliable in ruling out T. solium cysticercosis in pigs, than in confirming it. Hence, a negative result will almost certainly indicate that a pig has no infection, but a positive result should always be interpreted with caution. Estimates of T. solium prevalence based on Ag-ELISA results should, therefore, be adjusted for test performance characteristics and occurrence of T. hydatigena.
Chromatin accessibility dynamics of Chlamydia-infected epithelial cells
Authors: Hayward Regan J. , Marsh James W. , Humphrys Michael S. , Huston Wilhelmina M. , Myers Garry S. A.
Published: October 2020

Chlamydia are Gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens responsible for a broad spectrum of human and animal diseases. In humans,Chlamydia trachomatisis the most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide and is the causative agent of trachoma (infectious blindness) in disadvantaged populations. Over the course of its developmental cycle,Chlamydiaextensively remodels its intracellular niche and parasitises the host cell for nutrients, with substantial resulting changes to the host cell transcriptome and proteome. However, little information is available on the impact of chlamydial infection on the host cell epigenome and global gene regulation. Regions of open eukaryotic chromatin correspond to nucleosome-depleted regions, which in turn are associated with regulatory functions and transcription factor binding. We applied formaldehyde-assisted isolation of regulatory elements enrichment followed by sequencing (FAIRE-Seq) to generate temporal chromatin maps ofC. trachomatis-infected human epithelial cells in vitro over the chlamydial developmental cycle. We detected both conserved and distinct temporal changes to genome-wide chromatin accessibility associated withC. trachomatisinfection. The observed differentially accessible chromatin regions include temporally-enriched sets of transcription factors, which may help shape the host cell response to infection. These regions and motifs were linked to genomic features and genes associated with immune responses, re-direction of host cell nutrients, intracellular signalling, cell–cell adhesion, extracellular matrix, metabolism and apoptosis. This work provides another perspective to the complex response to chlamydial infection, and will inform further studies of transcriptional regulation and the epigenome inChlamydia-infected human cells and tissues.
Molecular correlates and therapeutic targets in T cell-inflamed versus non-T cell-inflamed tumors across cancer types
Authors: Bao Riyue , Stapor Daniel , Luke Jason J.
Published: October 2020

Background

The T cell-inflamed tumor microenvironment, characterized by CD8 T cells and type I/II interferon transcripts, is an important cancer immunotherapy biomarker. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) may also dictate response, and some oncogenes (i.e., WNT/β-catenin) are known to mediate immunosuppression.

Methods

We performed an integrated multi-omic analysis of human cancer including 11,607 tumors across multiple databases and patients treated with anti-PD1. After adjusting for TMB, we correlated the T cell-inflamed gene expression signature with somatic mutations, transcriptional programs, and relevant proteome for different immune phenotypes, by tumor type and across cancers.

Results

Strong correlations were noted between mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes and non-T cell-inflamed tumors with examples including IDH1 and GNAQ as well as less well-known genes including KDM6A, CD11c, and genes with unknown functions. Conversely, we observe genes associating with the T cell-inflamed phenotype including VHL and PBRM1. Analyzing gene expression patterns, we identify oncogenic mediators of immune exclusion across cancer types (HIF1A and MYC) as well as novel examples in specific tumors such as sonic hedgehog signaling, hormone signaling and transcription factors. Using network analysis, somatic and transcriptomic events were integrated. In contrast to previous reports of individual tumor types such as melanoma, integrative pan-cancer analysis demonstrates that most non-T cell-inflamed tumors are influenced by multiple signaling pathways and that increasing numbers of co-activated pathways leads to more highly non-T cell-inflamed tumors. Validating these analyses, we observe highly consistent inverse relationships between pathway protein levels and the T cell-inflamed gene expression across cancers. Finally, we integrate available databases for drugs that might overcome or augment the identified mechanisms.

Conclusions

These results nominate molecular targets and drugs potentially available for further study and potential immediate translation into clinical trials for patients with cancer.
Effects of dapagliflozin on serum and urinary uric acid levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: a prospective pilot trial
Authors: Yuan Tao , Liu Shixuan , Dong Yingyue , Fu Yong , Tang Yan , Zhao Weigang
Published: October 2020

Background

We aimed to evaluate the effects of short-term therapy with dapagliflozin on serum uric acid (SUA) and urinary uric acid (UUA) levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

In this prospective pilot trial, 8 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were assigned to the treatment group with dapagliflozin 10 mg once daily for one week, and 7 subjects with normal glucose tolerance were recruited into the control group. Data of anthropometric measurements, SUA, 24-h UUA, fractional excretion of UA (FEUA), serum lipid parameters and 3-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were collected in both treatment and control groups; all examinations were repeated after treatment. The area under the curve of glucose (AUCGlu) was calculated to reflect the general glucose levels, while insulin resistance and islet β-cell function were reflected by indexes calculated according to the data obtained from the OGTT.

Results

The weight and serum lipid parameters showed no differences before and after treatment with dapagliflozin for one week. We found SUA levels decreased from 347.75 ± 7.75 μmol/L before treatment to 273.25 ± 43.18 μmol/L after treatment, with a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001) and was accompanied by a significant increase in FEUA from 0.009 to 0.029 (P = 0.035); there was a linear correlation between SUA and FEUA levels. Glucose control, insulin sensitivity and islet β-cell function were improved to a certain extent. We also found a positive correlation between the decrease in glucose levels and the improvement in islet β-cell function.

Conclusions

The SUA-lowering effect of dapagliflozin could be driven by increasing UA excretion within one week of treatment, and a certain degree of improvement in glucose levels and islet β-cell function were observed.

Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT04014192. Registered 12 July 2019, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04014192:term=NCT04014192&draw=2&rank=1. Yes.
Risk factors for sexual dysfunction in Romanian women with type 1 diabetes mellitus and chronic autoimmune thyroiditis: a comparative cross-sectional study
Authors: Gherbon Adriana , Frandes Mirela , Roman Deiana , Anastasiu-Popov Diana , Timar Romulus
Published: October 2020

Background

Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is one of the chronic complications of diabetes as is male sexual dysfunction, but the former is less studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess of the prevalence and risk factors associated with FSD in Romanian women with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT).

Methods

The study sample included 104 Romanian women with both T1DM and CAT, and 101 Romanian matched controls with only T1DM. The presence of FSD was established using two validated tests: The Female Sexual Function Index and the Female Sexual Distress Scale-revised. The presence of depression was assessed using Beck’s Depression Inventory-II.

Results

We found that almost half of the women in the group with T1DM and CAT presented with sexual dysfunction (49 vs. 33.7% in the control group; p = 0.025): 27.9 vs. 8.9 (p < 0.001)—desire, 23.1 vs. 7.9% (p = 0.003)—orgasm, 21.2 vs. 5.9% (p = 0.002)—lubrication, 17.3 vs. 6.9% (p = 0.023)—arousal, 9.6 vs. 1% (p = 0.006)—pain, and 20.2 vs. 9.9% (p = 0.040)—satisfaction problems. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that age was a significant risk factor for FSD, along with DM and body mass index. Coexisting CAT, polyneuropathy, depression, and the use of insulin pumps were significant risk factors for FSD.

Conclusions

Women with T1DM and CAT are more likely to present with FSD than those without. It is important for patients to address depression, if present, and exercise caution while using insulin pumps. Moreover, DM complications such as polyneuropathy are significant risk factors for FSD; thus, it is crucial to ensure satisfactory glycemic control and optimal DM management.
Potential role of intestinal microflora in disease progression among patients with different stages of Hepatitis B
Authors: Yang Xiu-An , Lv Fengchun , Wang Ran , Chang Yange , Zhao Yiming , Cui Xinyu , Li Haochen , Yang Sixi , Li Suting , Zhao Xuemin , Mo Zhishuo , Yang Fang
Published: October 2020

Background

Increasing evidence demonstrate that the gut microbiota is involved in the pathogenesis of liver diseases, and faecal microbiota transplantation is considered to be a promising new treatment option. However, there are no reports on the intestinal flora of asymptomatic HBV carriers using next-generation sequencing. This study intends to investigate the potential role of the intestinal microflora in predicting the progression of Hepatitis B patients in different non-cancerous stages.

Results

A total of 266 patients with different stages of Hepatitis B and 31 healthy controls were included in this study. Some of the subjects (217 cases) underwent 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Compared with the control group (CK), the α diversity of patients in Group A (HBV carrier) slightly increased, while that of patients in the other three groups decreased. Each group of patients, especially those in Group C (cirrhosis) and Group D (acute-on-chronic liver failure), could be separated from the CK using weighted UniFrac PCoA and ANOSIM. LEfSe revealed that 40 taxa belonging to three phyla had an LDA larger than 4. In addition to the comparison between Group B (chronic Hepatitis B) and Group C, the specific flora and potential taxonomic function were also identified. Different microbial communities were found to be highly correlated with clinical indicators and the Child-Pugh scores. Changes in the microbial community were highly related to the alternations of host metabolism, which in turn, was related to the development of Hepatitis B. Our analysis identified a total of 47 strains with potential biomarker functions at all levels except for the phylum level.

Conclusions

Faecal microbiota transplantation of some potential beneficial bacteria can change with the occurrence of disease, and HBV carriers might be the most suitable donors.
Treating primary immunodeficiencies with defects in NK cells: from stem cell therapy to gene editing
Authors: Eguizabal C. , Herrera L. , Inglés-Ferrándiz M. , Izpisua Belmonte J. C.
Published: October 2020

Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) are rare diseases that are characterized by genetic mutations that damage immunological function, defense, or both. Some of these rare diseases are caused by aberrations in the normal development of natural killer cells (NKs) or affect their lytic synapse. The pathogenesis of these types of diseases as well as the processes underlying target recognition by human NK cells is not well understood. Utilizing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) will aid in the study of human disorders, especially in the PIDs with defects in NK cells for PID disease modeling. This, together with genome editing technology, makes it possible for us to facilitate the discovery of future therapeutics and/or cell therapy treatments for these patients, because, to date, the only curative treatment available in the most severe cases is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Recent progress in gene editing technology using CRISPR/Cas9 has significantly increased our capability to precisely modify target sites in the human genome. Among the many tools available for us to study human PIDs, disease- and patient-specific iPSCs together with gene editing offer unique and exceptional methodologies to gain deeper and more thorough understanding of these diseases as well as develop possible alternative treatment strategies. In this review, we will discuss some immunodeficiency disorders affecting NK cell function, such as classical NK deficiencies (CNKD), functional NK deficiencies (FNKD), and PIDs with involving NK cells as well as strategies to model and correct these diseases for further study and possible avenues for future therapies.
RNA-seq reveals tight junction-relevant erythropoietic fate induced by OCT4 in human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells
Authors: Yu Xiaozhen , Sun Pengpeng , Huang Xingang , Chen Hua , Huang Weiqing , Ruan Yingchun , Jiang Weina , Tan Xiaohua , Liu Zhijing
Published: October 2020

Background

Human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells (hHFMSCs) isolated from hair follicles possess multilineage differentiation potential. OCT4 is a gene critically associated with pluripotency properties. The cell morphology and adhesion of hHFMSCs significantly changed after transduction of OCT4 and two subpopulations emerged, including adherent cells and floating cell. Floating cells cultured in hematopoietic induction medium and stimulated with erythropoetic growth factors could transdifferentiate into mature erythrocytes, whereas adherent cells formed negligible hematopoietic colonies. The aim of this study was to reveal the role of cell morphology and adhesion on erythropoiesis induced by OCT4 in hHFMSCs and to characterize the molecular mechanisms involved.

Methods

Floating cell was separated from adherent cell by centrifugation of the upper medium during cell culture. Cell size was observed through flow cytometry and cell adhesion was tested by disassociation and adhesion assays. RNA sequencing was performed to detect genome-wide transcriptomes and identify differentially expressed genes. GO enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway analysis were performed to analysis the functions and pathways enriched by differentially expressed genes. The expression of tight junction core members was verified by qPCR and Western blot. A regulatory network was constructed to figure out the relationship between cell adhesin, cytoskeleton, pluripotency, and hematopoiesis.

Results

The overexpression of OCT4 influenced the morphology and adhesion of hHFMSCs. Transcripts in floating cells and adherent cells are quite different. Data analysis showed that upregulated genes in floating cells were mainly related to pluripotency, germ layer development (including hematopoiesis lineage development), and downregulated genes were mainly related to cell adhesion, cell junctions, and the cytoskeleton. Most molecules of the tight junction (TJ) pathway were downregulated and molecular homeostasis of the TJ was disturbed, as CLDNs were disrupted, and JAMs and TJPs were upregulated. The dynamic expression of cell adhesion-related gene E-cadherin and cytoskeleton-related gene ACTN2 might cause different morphology and adhesion. Finally, a regulatory network centered to OCT4 was constructed, which elucidated that he TJ pathway critically bridges pluripotency and hematopoiesis in a TJP1-dependent way.

Conclusions

Regulations of cell morphology and adhesion via the TJ pathway conducted by OCT4 might modulate hematopoiesis in hHFMSCs, thus developing potential mechanism of erythropoiesis in vitro.
Chemoinformatics-based enumeration of chemical libraries: a tutorial
Authors: Saldívar-González Fernanda I. , Huerta-García C. Sebastian , Medina-Franco José L.
Published: October 2020

Virtual compound libraries are increasingly being used in computer-assisted drug discovery applications and have led to numerous successful cases. This paper aims to examine the fundamental concepts of library design and describe how to enumerate virtual libraries using open source tools. To exemplify the enumeration of chemical libraries, we emphasize the use of pre-validated or reported reactions and accessible chemical reagents. This tutorial shows a step-by-step procedure for anyone interested in designing and building chemical libraries with or without chemoinformatics experience. The aim is to explore various methodologies proposed by synthetic organic chemists and explore affordable chemical space using open-access chemoinformatics tools. As part of the tutorial, we discuss three examples of design: a Diversity-Oriented-Synthesis library based on lactams, a bis-heterocyclic combinatorial library, and a set of target-oriented molecules: isoindolinone based compounds as potential acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. This manuscript also seeks to contribute to the critical task of teaching and learning chemoinformatics.
Structure–activity relationship-based chemical classification of highly imbalanced Tox21 datasets
Authors: Idakwo Gabriel , Thangapandian Sundar , Luttrell Joseph , Li Yan , Wang Nan , Zhou Zhaoxian , Hong Huixiao , Yang Bei , Zhang Chaoyang , Gong Ping
Published: October 2020

The specificity of toxicant-target biomolecule interactions lends to the very imbalanced nature of many toxicity datasets, causing poor performance in Structure–Activity Relationship (SAR)-based chemical classification. Undersampling and oversampling are representative techniques for handling such an imbalance challenge. However, removing inactive chemical compound instances from the majority class using an undersampling technique can result in information loss, whereas increasing active toxicant instances in the minority class by interpolation tends to introduce artificial minority instances that often cross into the majority class space, giving rise to class overlapping and a higher false prediction rate. In this study, in order to improve the prediction accuracy of imbalanced learning, we employed SMOTEENN, a combination of Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) and Edited Nearest Neighbor (ENN) algorithms, to oversample the minority class by creating synthetic samples, followed by cleaning the mislabeled instances. We chose the highly imbalanced Tox21 dataset, which consisted of 12 in vitro bioassays for > 10,000 chemicals that were distributed unevenly between binary classes. With Random Forest (RF) as the base classifier and bagging as the ensemble strategy, we applied four hybrid learning methods, i.e., RF without imbalance handling (RF), RF with Random Undersampling (RUS), RF with SMOTE (SMO), and RF with SMOTEENN (SMN). The performance of the four learning methods was compared using nine evaluation metrics, among which F1 score, Matthews correlation coefficient and Brier score provided a more consistent assessment of the overall performance across the 12 datasets. The Friedman’s aligned ranks test and the subsequent Bergmann-Hommel post hoc test showed that SMN significantly outperformed the other three methods. We also found that a strong negative correlation existed between the prediction accuracy and the imbalance ratio (IR), which is defined as the number of inactive compounds divided by the number of active compounds. SMN became less effective when IR exceeded a certain threshold (e.g., > 28). The ability to separate the few active compounds from the vast amounts of inactive ones is of great importance in computational toxicology. This work demonstrates that the performance of SAR-based, imbalanced chemical toxicity classification can be significantly improved through the use of data rebalancing.
Biohydrogen production by Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus obliquus immobilized cultivated in artificial wastewater under different light quality
Authors: Ruiz-Marin Alejandro , Canedo-López Yunuen , Chávez-Fuentes Paolah
Published: October 2020

The algal biotechnology together with the wastewater treatment can contribute to the production of renewable energies such as bioethanol, biodiesel and biohydrogen and solve many of the challenges currently facing the shortage of fossil fuels and environmental impacts. Hydrogen as the cleanest source of energy is a promising alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Among different technologies for hydrogen production, photosynthetic microorganism, such as microalgae, has a great potential to produce hydrogen, by using only water and sunlight. One of the great opportunities is that microalgae can be cultivated in urban wastewater, which contains sources of carbon and nutrients, helping to reduce the cost of biomass and energy production. Microalgae C. vulgaris and S. obliquus immobilized grown in urban wastewater was proposed for the production of biohydrogen by sulfur deprivation and two light quality prior to anaerobic condition at pH 7.5 and 30 °C and 140 µE/m2/s of light intensity. The results indicate that blue light induces greater algal growth than under Purple light, while the maximum hydrogen production was for cultures under purple light of 128 mL H2/L (productivity 204.8 mL H2/L/day) and 60.4 mL H2/L (productivity 39.18 mL H2/L/day) for S. obliquus and C. vulgaris, respectively. An additional advantage is the high removal of organic carbon by S. obliquus cultures under purple incident light compared to C. vulgaris, being a double benefit; energy production and wastewater treatment.
The secure steganography for hiding images via GAN
Authors: Fu Zhangjie , Wang Fan , Cheng Xu
Published: October 2020

Steganography is one of the important methods in the field of information hiding, which is the technique of hiding secret data within an ordinary file or message in order to avoid the detection of steganalysis models and human eyes. In recent years, many scholars have applied various deep learning networks to the field of steganalysis to improve the accuracy of detection. The rapid improvement of the accuracy of steganalysis models has caused a huge threat to the security of steganography. In addition, another important factor that limits the security of steganography is capacity. The larger the capacity, the worse and more unnatural the visual quality of carrier images after embedded. Therefore, this paper proposes a steganography model—HIGAN, which constructs the encoding network composed of residual blocks to hide the color secret image into another color image of the same size to output a lower distortion and higher visual quality steganographic image. Moreover, it utilizes the adversarial training between the encoder-decoder network and the steganalysis model to improve the ability to resist the detection of steganalysis models based on deep learning. The experimental results show that our proposed model is achievable and effective. Compared with the previous steganography model for hiding color images based on deep learning, the steganography model in this article could achieve steganographic images with higher visual quality and stronger security.
Autochain platform: expert automatic algorithm Blockchain technology for house rental dApp image application model
Authors: Kim Seong-Kyu , Huh Jun-Ho
Published: October 2020

This paper deals with the current Blockchain adopted in the various types of trading markets supporting smart contracts that process text-based transaction information only when exchanging cryptocurrencies. Even though the Blockchain itself is decentralized, services can still be provided through a centralized system in order to provide adequate services to the users. It also allows the Autochain to apply Blockchain technology to existing businesses conducted under the Fourth Industrial Revolution to realize higher productivity or competitiveness and improve profitability to a remarkable extent. The Autochain is adaptable to all Blockchain technologies, companies, or research works around the world to overcome the limitations of the existing Blockchain technology. It creates the Blockchain-platform ecology chain and ecosystem, making our lives more convenient while revolutionizing every industry. In addition, it automates all Blockchain-based systems and offers a base for constructing a system wherein everyone can easily provide, operate, and maintain Blockchain services. This paper discusses a number of Blockchain-related technologies and presents a decentralized Application (dApp) exclusively designed for mobile use, taking house rental service as an example. It also presents the existing Blockchain and the Blockchain database storage method and proposes the dApp based on it.
Effect of vitamin A, calcium and vitamin D fortification and supplementation on nutritional status of women: an overview of systematic reviews
Authors: Rajwar Eti , Parsekar Shradha S. , Venkatesh Bhumika Tumkur , Sharma Zinnia
Published: October 2020

Background

Micronutrient deficiency affects the health and development of vulnerable population such as children and pregnant women. Measures such as fortification of food and supplementation have been implemented to prevent or control deficiencies related to micronutrients.

Objective

To assess the effect of vitamin A, vitamin D, and calcium fortification and supplementation on nutritional status of women in reproductive age group. To assess the toxicities and adverse events related to intervention.

Methodology

Systematic reviews including RCTs on women of reproductive age group provided with vitamin A, vitamin D, and calcium supplementation or fortified food were included, to report all malnutrition-related outcomes due to deficiency of the abovementioned micronutrients. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, EPPI Centre, Campbell Collaboration, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched electronically for English language publications, until 31 March 2018. Hand searching of the articles was done from the Journal of Food Science and Technology. Two independent reviewers selected the systematic reviews, extracted data, and assessed for the quality.

Results

A total of 16 systematic reviews were included in narrative synthesis. Supplementation of vitamin A was reported to result in increased maternal serum retinol concentrations and increased breast milk retinol concentration. It reduced the risk of anemia (Hb < 11 g/dL) and reduced maternal clinical infection. Vitamin D supplementation increased 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels. There was insufficient evidence for the effect on bone mineral density and serum calcium levels. Calcium supplementation did not have any significant effect on body weight, weight gain, and body mass index of the participants.

Conclusion

This overview of systematic reviews reiterates the nutritional importance of vitamin A, vitamin D, and calcium supplementation for the reproductive age women. However, there was no empirical evidence available for fortification of food with vitamin A, vitamin D, and calcium and nutritional benefits of the same for reproductive age women, therefore thrusting upon the need of conducting future quality research, i.e., clinical trials and systematic reviews for food fortification.

Systematic review registration

A priori protocol for this overview of systematic reviews was registered in PROSPERO with registration number CRD42018089403.
Global trends of antimicrobial susceptibility to ceftaroline and ceftazidime–avibactam: a surveillance study from the ATLAS program (2012–2016)
Authors: Zhang Hui , Xu Yingchun , Jia Peiyao , Zhu Ying , Zhang Ge , Zhang Jingjia , Duan Simeng , Kang Wei , Wang Tong , Jing Ran , Cheng Jingwei , Liu Yali , Yang Qiwen
Published: October 2020

Background

This study reports the global trends of antimicrobial susceptibility to ceftaroline and ceftazidime–avibactam using data from the Antimicrobial Testing Leadership and Surveillance (ATLAS) program between 2012 and 2016.

Methods

For the 2012–2016 ATLAS program, 205 medical centers located in Africa-Middle East (n = 12), Asia–Pacific (n = 32), Europe (n = 94), Latin America (n = 26), North America (n = 31), and Oceania (n = 10) consecutively collected the clinical isolates. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and in vitro susceptibilities to ceftaroline and ceftazidime–avibactam were assessed using the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2019and European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) 2019 guidelines.

Results

Between 2012 and 2016, 176,345 isolates were collected from around the globe and included in the analysis. Regarding Gram-negative bacteria, ceftazidime–avibactam demonstrated high susceptibility (> 90%) against Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with increased antimicrobial activity observed from the addition of avibactam (4 mg/L) to ceftazidime. Regarding Gram-positive bacteria, ceftaroline showed > 90% susceptibility against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, α-and β-hemolytic Streptococcus. The antimicrobial susceptibilities to ceftaroline and ceftazidime–avibactam were mostly stable from 2012 to 2016, but the susceptibilities to ceftazidime–avibactam to carbapenem-resistant (CR) Klebsiella pneumonia (88.4–81.6%) and to CR-P. aeruginosa (89.6–72.7%) decreased over time. In terms of regional difference, the susceptibilities of methicillin-resistant S. aureus to ceftaroline in Asia and of CR-K. pneumonia to ceftazidime–avibactam in Asia/Africa-Middle East were lower compared with other regions, while the susceptibility of CR-P. aeruginosa to ceftazidime–avibactam in North America was higher.

Conclusion

The addition of avibactam improves the activity of ceftazidime against Enterobacteriaceae and P. aeruginosa. The global antimicrobial susceptibilities to ceftaroline and ceftazidime–avibactam were, in general, stable from 2012 to 2016, but a marked reduction in the susceptibilities of specific species and CR-P. aeruginosa to ceftazidime–avibactam was observed.
Povidone-iodine solution as SARS-CoV-2 prophylaxis for procedures of the upper aerodigestive tract a theoretical framework
Authors: Naqvi Syed H. S. , Citardi Martin J. , Cattano Davide , Ostrosky-Zeichner Luis , Knackstedt Mark I. , Karni Ron J.
Published: October 2020

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns of inadvertent SARS-CoV-2 transmission to healthcare workers during routine procedures of the aerodigestive tract in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. Current efforts to mitigate this risk focus on Personal Protective Equipment, including high-efficiency filtration as well as other measures. Because the reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 shedding is in the nasopharynx and nasal and oral cavities, the application of viricidal agents to these surfaces may reduce virus burden. Numerous studies have confirmed that povidone-iodine inactivates many common respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-1. Povidone-iodine also has good profile for mucosal tolerance. Thus, we propose a prophylactic treatment protocol for the application of topical povidone-iodine to the upper aerodigestive tract.

Conclusion

Such an approach represents a low-cost, low-morbidity measure that may reduce the risks associated with aerosol-generating procedures performed commonly in otorhinolaryngology operating rooms.

Graphical abstract
Effect of high-temperature extracted plant material fume against southern cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus chinensis L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) as a non-chemical novel fumigation technique
Authors: Rohitha Prasantha B. D.
Published: October 2020

Background

Fumes from high-temperature heated plant leaves containing volatile phytochemicals generated from Lantana camara, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Azadirachta indica and Ocimum sanctum were tested for their insecticidal activity against adult southern cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus chinensis L.) and their F1 progeny production/emergence. Volatile phytochemicals containing fume was generated using a flameless dry heat extraction method similar to pyrolysis combustion without air supplement at 180 ± 5 °C. Insect mortalities were assessed up to 72 h after exposure to the different treatments of fumigation by plant-fume and control.

Results

All volatile plant-fume samples contained average of 16.3 ± 1.5% O2 and 5.8 ± 0.5% CO2 in the test jars. The F1 progeny emergence was estimated 30 days after treatment. After 36 h of exposure, L. camara showed the highest toxicity against C. chinensis, followed by O. sanctum, A. indica and C. zeylanicum, with LT50 values of 7.3, 9.4, 14.7 and 20.6 h, respectively. The volatile phytochemical containing plant-fume generated by A. indica and C. zeylanicum produced LT99 values that were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from each other. The F1 adult emergence from treated mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) samples was significantly inhibited by L. camara and A. indica volatile plant-fume compared to C. zeylanicum fume. However, plant-fume generated from all four plants exhibited effective direct toxicity and F1 progeny inhibition of more than 86%.

Conclusion

From the study, it can be concluded that volatile plant-fume treatment was highly lethal to C. chinensis and significantly reduced F1 progeny emergence. Therefore, phytochemicals obtained from thermal extraction technique can be used as an alternative technique to chemical fumigation of stored mungbean.
Mechanism to capture learner’s interaction in VR-based learning environment: design and application
Authors: Pathan Rumana , Rajendran Ramkumar , Murthy Sahana
Published: October 2020

Virtual Reality (VR) is a multi-sensory technology that stimulates learning and has the potential for pedagogical applications. While researchers in VR have demonstrated several applications to support understanding and learning in STEM education, the research regarding which features of VR leverage learning is in its infancy. The existing studies exploring how learners interact with VR are based on human observations or learners’ perceptions. This paper describes a novel mechanism to capture learner’s interaction behavior, in the context of a mobile-based static VR to learn the human circulatory system. The data capturing mechanism is based on screen recordings of VR interaction, which is further annotated manually to form a time-sequenced action series. In a preliminary test conducted with three learners, the interaction data was analyzed based on the time spent in each action in the VR environment, frequently co-occurring actions, and sequence of actions. The test results are described and the implications of using such a mechanism to capture learners’ interaction behavior is discussed. We conclude that capturing data in this manner gives a rich and detailed profile of learners and enables use of various analytics methods to provide personalized and adaptive support to learners.
Gender gaps in the performance of Norwegian biology students: the roles of test anxiety and science confidence
Authors: Cotner Sehoya , Jeno Lucas M. , Walker J. D. , Jørgensen Christian , Vandvik Vigdis
Published: October 2020

Background

Understanding student motivational factors such as test anxiety and science confidence is important for increasing retention in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), especially for underrepresented students, such as women. We investigated motivational metrics in over 400 introductory biology students in Norway, a country lauded for its gender equality. Specifically, we measured test anxiety and science confidence and combined students’ survey responses with their performance in the class.

Results

We found that female students expressed more test anxiety than did their male counterparts, and the anxiety they experienced negatively predicted their performance in class. By contrast, the anxiety male students experienced did not predict their performance. Conversely, men had higher confidence than women, and confidence interacted with gender, so that the difference between its impact on men’s and women’s performance was marginally significant.

Conclusions

Our findings have implications for STEM instructors, in Norway and beyond: specifically, to counter gender-based performance gaps in STEM courses, minimize the effects of test anxiety.
Diagnosing low-/mid-latitude ionospheric currents using platform magnetometers: CryoSat-2 and GRACE-FO
Authors: Park Jaeheung , Stolle Claudia , Yamazaki Yosuke , Rauberg Jan , Michaelis Ingo , Olsen Nils
Published: October 2020

Electric currents flowing in the terrestrial ionosphere have conventionally been diagnosed by low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with science-grade magnetometers and long booms on magnetically clean satellites. In recent years, there are a variety of endeavors to incorporate platform magnetometers, which are initially designed for navigation purposes, to study ionospheric currents. Because of the suboptimal resolution and significant noise of the platform magnetometers, however, most of the studies were confined to high-latitude auroral regions, where magnetic field deflections from ionospheric currents easily exceed 100 nT. This study aims to demonstrate the possibility of diagnosing weak low-/mid-latitude ionospheric currents based on platform magnetometers. We use navigation magnetometer data from two satellites, CryoSat-2 and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO), both of which have been intensively calibrated based on housekeeping data and a high-precision geomagnetic field model. Analyses based on 8 years of CryoSat-2 data as well as ~ 1.5 years of GRACE-FO data reproduce well-known climatology of inter-hemispheric field-aligned currents (IHFACs), as reported by previous satellite missions dedicated to precise magnetic observations. Also, our results show that C-shaped structures appearing in noontime IHFAC distributions conform to the shape of the South Atlantic Anomaly. The F-region dynamo currents are only partially identified in the platform magnetometer data, possibly because the currents are weaker than IHFACs in general and depend significantly on altitude and solar activity. Still, this study evidences noontime F-region dynamo currents at the highest altitude (717 km) ever reported. We expect that further data accumulation from continuously operating missions may reveal the dynamo currents more clearly during the next solar maximum.