bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ID2SBVR: A Method for Extracting Business Vocabulary and Rules from an Informal Document
Authors: Tangkawarow Irene , Sarno Riyanarto , Siahaan Daniel
Published: October 2022

Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Rules (SBVR) is a standard that is applied in describing business knowledge in the form of controlled natural language. Business process designers develop SBVR from formal documents and later translate it into business process models. In many immature companies, these documents are often unavailable and could hinder resource efficiency efforts. This study introduced a novel approach called informal document to SBVR (ID2SBVR). This approach is used to extract operational rules of SBVR from informal documents. ID2SBVR mines fact type candidates using word patterns or extracting triplets (actor, action, and object) from sentences. A candidate fact type can be a complex, compound, or complex-compound sentence. ID2SBVR extracts fact types from candidate fact types and transforms them into a set of SBVR operational rules. The experimental results show that our approach can be used to generate the operational rules of SBVR from informal documents with an accuracy of 0.91. Moreover, ID2SBVR can also be used to extract fact types with an accuracy of 0.96. The unstructured data is successfully converted into semi-structured data for use in pre-processing. ID2SBVR allows the designer to automatically generate business process models from informal documents.
Ontology-Based Personalized Job Recommendation Framework for Migrants and Refugees
Authors: Ntioudis Dimos , Masa Panagiota , Karakostas Anastasios , Meditskos Georgios , Vrochidis Stefanos , Kompatsiaris Ioannis
Published: October 2022

Participation in the labor market is seen as the most important factor favoring long-term integration of migrants and refugees into society. This paper describes the job recommendation framework of the Integration of Migrants MatchER SErvice (IMMERSE). The proposed framework acts as a matching tool that enables the contexts of individual migrants and refugees, including their expectations, languages, educational background, previous job experience and skills, to be captured in the ontology and facilitate their matching with the job opportunities available in their host country. Profile information and job listings are processed in real time in the back-end, and matches are revealed in the front-end. Moreover, the matching tool considers the activity of the users on the platform to provide recommendations based on the similarity among existing jobs that they already showed interest in and new jobs posted on the platform. Finally, the framework takes into account the location of the users to rank the results and only shows the most relevant location-based recommendations.
A Novel Technique to Accurately Measure Mouth Opening Using 3D Electromagnetic Articulography
Authors: Marinelli Franco , Lezcano Maria Florencia , Alarcón Josefa , Navarro Pablo , Fuentes Ramón
Published: October 2022

The mouth opening is an important indication of the functionality of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Mouth opening is usually evaluated by asking the patient to open their mouth as wide as possible and measuring the distance between the edges of the frontal incisors with a ruler or caliper. With the advancement of technology, new techniques have been proposed to record mandibular movement. The aim of this work is to present a novel technique based on 3D electromagnetic articulography and data postprocessing to analyze the mouth opening considering distances, trajectories, and angles. A maxilla-mandible phantom was used to simulate the mouth opening movement and fixed position mouth opening. This was recorded using the AG501 3D EMA (Carstens Medizinelektronik GmbH, Bovenden, Germany). The collected data was processed using Matlab (Mathworks, Natick, MA, USA). Fix and mobile mouth opening of 1, 2, 3 and 4 cm were simulated. It was possible to evaluate the mandibular opening through the vertical distance, the Euclidean distance, the trajectory, and the opening angle. All these values were calculated and the results were consistent with expectations. The trajectory was the highest value obtained while the vertical distance was the lowest. The angle increased as the mouth opening increased. This new technique opens up new possibilities in future research since oral opening can be analyzed using multiple variables without the need to use different devices or depending on the researcher’s experience. This will make it possible to establish which parameter presents significant differences between groups of patients or between patients who have undergone some treatment.
Deep Learning-Based Water-Fat Separation from Dual-Echo Chemical Shift-Encoded Imaging
Authors: Wu Yan , Alley Marcus , Li Zhitao , Datta Keshav , Wen Zhifei , Sandino Christopher , Syed Ali , Ren Hongyi , Xing Lei , Lustig Michael , Pauly John , Vasanawala Shreyas
Published: October 2022

Conventional water–fat separation approaches suffer long computational times and are prone to water/fat swaps. To solve these problems, we propose a deep learning-based dual-echo water–fat separation method. With IRB approval, raw data from 68 pediatric clinically indicated dual echo scans were analyzed, corresponding to 19382 contrast-enhanced images. A densely connected hierarchical convolutional network was constructed, in which dual-echo images and corresponding echo times were used as input and water/fat images obtained using the projected power method were regarded as references. Models were trained and tested using knee images with 8-fold cross validation and validated on out-of-distribution data from the ankle, foot, and arm. Using the proposed method, the average computational time for a volumetric dataset with ~400 slices was reduced from 10 min to under one minute. High fidelity was achieved (correlation coefficient of 0.9969, l1 error of 0.0381, SSIM of 0.9740, pSNR of 58.6876) and water/fat swaps were mitigated. I is of particular interest that metal artifacts were substantially reduced, even when the training set contained no images with metallic implants. Using the models trained with only contrast-enhanced images, water/fat images were predicted from non-contrast-enhanced images with high fidelity. The proposed water–fat separation method has been demonstrated to be fast, robust, and has the added capability to compensate for metal artifacts.
Plasticity in Compensatory Growth to Artificial Defoliation and Light Availability in Four Neotropical Understory and Forest Edge Herb Species
Authors: Sun Jennifer W. C. , Sharifi M. Rasoul , Rundel Philip W.
Published: October 2022

Defoliation from falling branches is a major factor in the survival of understory herbs in tropical rainforests. Experimental studies of defoliation under three levels of light environment compared responses to partial and total defoliation in four species of tropical rainforest understory herbs. We predicted that elevated levels of light availability would help compensate for damage to through compensatory growth in both understory and forest edge species and that forest edge species would more effectively compensate under high light conditions than shade-tolerant species from the forest understory All species showed a high tolerance to defoliation under high and intermediate light conditions. Under low-light conditions survival differed dramatically with minimal mortality in forest-edge species compared to high mortality in completely defoliated understory species. Defoliation, and light × defoliation interactions, impacted multiple growth traits in understory species. In contrast, forest-edge species showed no effect of defoliation except on total biomass, and only one light × defoliation interaction was observed. Our results indicate that differences in biomass allocation, leaf ecophysiology, and other growth parameters between forest understory and edge species may be structuring post-damage response in understory and forest edge herbs.
Distribution of the Order Lampriformes in the Mediterranean Sea with Notes on Their Biology, Morphology, and Taxonomy
Authors: Albano Marco , D’Iglio Claudio , Spanò Nunziacarla , Fernandes Jorge Manuel de Oliveira , Savoca Serena , Capillo Gioele
Published: October 2022

Lampriformes are circumglobally distributed and contain several families of strictly marine bony fishes that have a peculiar morphology. Lampriformes systematics is affected by limitations in biometric, meristic, and molecular data; for this reason, it underwent several rearrangements in the past. This review aimed to describe the biological and ecological characteristics of the order Lampriformes, summarizing the current taxonomy of the group. The main aim was to clarify what is known about the distribution of the order Lampriformes in the Mediterranean Sea, collecting all the scarce and fragmented reports and notes on their occurrence. Knowledge scarcity is due to their solitary nature, in addition to their low to absent economic value. Despite this, the order Lampriformes represents a taxon of high biological and ecological importance. The high depth range of distribution characterizes their lifestyle. In the Mediterranean Sea, four families are present—Lampridae, Lophotidae, Regalecidae, and Trachipteridae—with the following species respectively, Lampris guttatus (Brünnich, 1788), Lophotus lacepede (Giorna, 1809), Regalecus glesne (Ascanius, 1772), Trachipterus arcticus (Brünnich, 1788), T. trachypterus (Gmelin, 1789), and Zu cristatus (Bonelli, 1819). Data deficiencies affect information on this taxon; the present review, which collected all the reports of the Mediterranean Sea, creates a baseline for depicting the biogeography of these rare and important species.
Cmcrf1, a Putative Zn2Cys6 Fungal Transcription Factor, Is Involved in Conidiation, Carotenoid Production, and Fruiting Body Development in Cordyceps militaris
Authors: He Ronglin , Zhang Lin , Lan Jinling , Mei Shengjie , Li Yu
Published: October 2022

Cordyceps militaris is a high-value medicinal and edible fungus that produces many bioactive compounds, including carotenoid, and thus, improving the carotenoid productivity of C. militaris will increase its commercial value. However, little is known about the genetic regulatory mechanism of carotenoid biosynthesis in C. militaris. To further understanding the regulatory mechanism of carotenoid biosynthesis, we performed a large-scale screen of T-DNA insertional mutant library and identified a defective mutant, denoted T111, whose colonies did not change color from white to yellow upon exposure to light. Mutation analysis confirmed that a single T-DNA insertion occurred in the gene encoding a 695-amino-acid putative fungal-specific transcription factor with a predicted Zn2Cys6 binuclear cluster DNA-binding domain found uniquely in fungi. Targeted deletion of this gene, denoted C. militaris carotenogenesis regulatory factor 1 (Cmcrf1), generated the ΔCmcrf1 mutant that exhibited drastically reduced carotenoid biosynthesis and failed to generate fruiting bodies. In addition, the ΔCmcrf1 mutant showed significantly increased conidiation and increased hypersensitivity to cell-wall-perturbing agents compared with the wild-type strain. However, the Cmcrf1 gene did not have an impact on the mycelia growth of C. militaris. These results show that Cmcrf1 is involved in carotenoid biosynthesis and is required for conidiation and fruiting body formation in C. militaris.
The Effect of Positive Charge Distribution on the Cryoprotective Activity of Dehydrins
Authors: Smith Margaret A. , Graether Steffen P.
Published: October 2022

Dehydrins are intrinsically disordered proteins expressed ubiquitously throughout the plant kingdom in response to desiccation. Dehydrins have been found to have a cryoprotective effect on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in vitro, which is in large part influenced by their hydrodynamic radius rather than the order of the amino acids within the sequence (alternatively, this may be a sequence specific effect). However, it seems that a different mechanism may underpin the cryoprotection that they confer to the cold-labile yeast frataxin homolog-1 (Yfh1). Circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD) was used to assess the degree of helicity of Yfh1 at 1 °C, both alone and in the presence of several dehydrin constructs. Three constructs were compared to the wild type: YSK2-K→R (lysine residues substituted with arginine), YSK2-Neutral (locally neutralized charge), and YSK2-SpaceK (evenly distributed positive charge). The results show that sequence rearrangements and minor substitutions have little impact on the ability of the dehydrin to preserve LDH activity. However, when the positive charge of the dehydrin is locally neutralized or evenly distributed, the dehydrin becomes less efficient at promoting structure in Yfh1 at low temperatures. This suggests that a stabilizing, charge-based interaction occurs between dehydrins and Yfh1. Dehydrins are intrinsically disordered proteins, expressed by certain organisms to improve desiccation tolerance. These proteins are thought to serve many cellular roles, such as the stabilization of membranes, DNA, and proteins. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of dehydrins are not well understood. Here, we examine the importance of positive charges in dehydrin sequences by making substitutions and comparing their effects in the cryoprotection of two different proteins.
PTEN Protein Phosphatase Activity Is Not Required for Tumour Suppression in the Mouse Prostate
Authors: Wise Helen M. , Harris Adam , Kriplani Nisha , Schofield Adam , Caldwell Helen , Arends Mark J. , Overton Ian M. , Leslie Nick R.
Published: October 2022

Loss PTEN function is one of the most common events driving aggressive prostate cancers and biochemically, PTEN is a lipid phosphatase which opposes the activation of the oncogenic PI3K-AKT signalling network. However, PTEN also has additional potential mechanisms of action, including protein phosphatase activity. Using a mutant enzyme, PTEN Y138L, which selectively lacks protein phosphatase activity, we characterised genetically modified mice lacking either the full function of PTEN in the prostate gland or only lacking protein phosphatase activity. The phenotypes of mice carrying a single allele of either wild-type Pten or PtenY138L in the prostate were similar, with common prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and similar gene expression profiles. However, the latter group, lacking PTEN protein phosphatase activity additionally showed lymphocyte infiltration around PIN and an increased immune cell gene expression signature. Prostate adenocarcinoma, elevated proliferation and AKT activation were only frequently observed when PTEN was fully deleted. We also identify a common gene expression signature of PTEN loss conserved in other studies (including Nkx3.1, Tnf and Cd44). We provide further insight into tumour development in the prostate driven by loss of PTEN function and show that PTEN protein phosphatase activity is not required for tumour suppression.
On the Optimal Whole-Body Vibration Protocol for Muscle Strength
Authors: Al Masud Abdullah , Shen Chwan-Li , Chyu Ming-Chien
Published: October 2022

The application of Whole Body Vibration (WBV) has been demonstrated to be effective in improving muscle strength/power by a number of studies, but an optimal training protocol has never been established. This paper presents a review of studies on the effects of WBV on muscles and an analysis of data to identify the optimal protocols for the most beneficial neuromuscular responses in terms of vibration frequency, amplitude, knee flexion angle, body posture (standing, sitting, supine, prone), muscle type (quadriceps, hamstrings), and vibration mode (superoinferior, anteroposterior, rotational). Ninety articles were selected for final review from initially selected 2093 articles using PRISMA guidelines. The findings suggest that the beneficial effects of WBV increase with frequency and amplitude but the optimal frequency and amplitude have not been established. The effect of the knee flexion angle is not clear. The optimal WBV protocol should be determined by considering the adverse effects of WBV on all parts of the human body including that related to head acceleration. WBV in sitting or lying positions may provide a better muscle response than standing. Directions for future research are discussed with regard to establishing the optimal WBV protocol as a safe and effective therapeutic/exercise modality for improving muscle strength and health.
Real-Life Performance of Mepolizumab in T2-High Severe Refractory Asthma with the Overlapping Eosinophilic-Allergic Phenotype
Authors: González-Pérez Ruperto , Poza-Guedes Paloma , Mederos-Luis Elena , Sánchez-Machín Inmaculada
Published: October 2022

Severe asthma (SA) is categorized into multiple overlapping phenotypes and clinical characteristics driven by complex mechanistic inflammatory pathways. Mepolizumab is a human monoclonal antibody effectively targeting interleukin-5 in severe eosinophilic asthma. However, the eligibility of biologics in coincident SA phenotypes is still unclear. We assessed the efficacy and safety of mepolizumab in real-life patients with the overlapping T2-high SA endotype. This was a phase IV, single-centre observational cohort study including patients with severe refractory T2-high asthma in treatment with mepolizumab. After 12 months of treatment with mepolizumab, significant improvements (p < 0.0001) in asthma control and lung function were recorded. Rates of clinically significant annual asthma exacerbation were also decreased by 71.22% after 52-week therapy with mepolizumab (p < 0.001) associated with a reduction in the mean daily dose of oral corticosteroids. Two patients (3.27%) had to discontinue mepolizumab due to musculoskeletal disorders with no severe safety issues reported. The use of mepolizumab as an add-on therapy in routine clinical practice was safely associated with significant clinical and functional in the overlapping eosinophilic-and-allergic SA phenotype. The current data should support clinical and therapeutic decision-making in this T2-high SA endotype.
Biotechnological Interventions in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) for Drought Stress Tolerance: Achievements and Future Prospects
Authors: Krishna Ram , Ansari Waquar Akhter , Soumia P. S. , Yadav Akhilesh , Jaiswal Durgesh Kumar , Kumar Sudhir , Singh Achuit Kumar , Singh Major , Verma Jay Prakash
Published: October 2022

Tomato production is severely affected by abiotic stresses (drought, flood, heat, and salt) and causes approximately 70% loss in yield depending on severity and duration of the stress. Drought is the most destructive abiotic stress and tomato is very sensitive to the drought stress, as cultivated tomato lack novel gene(s) for drought stress tolerance. Only 20% of agricultural land worldwide is irrigated, and only 14.51% of that is well-irrigated, while the rest is rain fed. This scenario makes drought very frequent, which restricts the genetically predetermined yield. Primarily, drought disturbs tomato plant physiology by altering plant–water relation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Many wild tomato species have drought tolerance gene(s); however, their exploitation is very difficult because of high genetic distance and pre- and post-transcriptional barriers for embryo development. To overcome these issues, biotechnological methods, including transgenic technology and CRISPR-Cas, are used to enhance drought tolerance in tomato. Transgenic technology permitted the exploitation of non-host gene/s. On the other hand, CRISPR-Cas9 technology facilitated the editing of host tomato gene(s) for drought stress tolerance. The present review provides updated information on biotechnological intervention in tomato for drought stress management and sustainable agriculture.
Children’s Mental Health: Discrepancy between Child Self-Reporting and Parental Reporting
Authors: Caqueo-Urízar Alejandra , Urzúa Alfonso , Villalonga-Olives Ester , Atencio-Quevedo Diego , Irarrázaval Matías , Flores Jerome , Ramírez Cristian
Published: October 2022

(1) Background: Discrepancies between children’s self-reports and their parents’ reports on mental health indicators are associated with measurement errors or informant bias. However, they are a valuable tool in understanding the course of child psychopathology. This study aims to determine the level of discrepancies between parents’ perceptions and children’s self-reports in mental health indicators in Northern Chile. (2) Methods: A System of Evaluation of Children and Adolescents self-report (Sistema de Evaluación de Niños y Adolescentes, SENA) was responded to by 408 students between 8 and 13 years old and their parents. (3) Results: Children reported a significantly higher frequency of emotional problems, defiant behavior, and executive functions as compared to their parents’ responses. (4) Conclusions: There is a disjunction between the report of parents and children, which could originate in poor family communication.
Current and Future Trends of Resource Misallocation in the Construction Industry: A Bibliometric Review with Grounded Theory
Authors: Zhang Jingxiao , Dong Fangyu , Ballesteros-Pérez Pablo , Li Hui , Skitmore Martin
Published: October 2022

Resource misallocation (RM) refers to the existence of marginal output inequalities between different industries or companies in an economy. Prior studies of RM have mostly focused on effect analysis, construction industry structure upgrades, and organization management. However, these studies have been fragmented and unrelated. This paper analyzes the status quo, consequences, and emerging trends of RM research at the macroscopic level based on current problems and with the aim of exploring potential solutions. Drawing on grounded theory, a qualitative analysis using text-mining is used to analyze the characteristics of 124 RM-related papers. The results more comprehensively and systematically reveal that current RM research encompasses four major dimensions of sources and concepts, misallocation degree measurement and characterization, focused issues (field), and RM research deficiencies. Methods for measuring RM have also been developed from the simple proportional method to current mainstream methods (e.g., growth rate decomposition and variant substitution). We conclude that, in order for this discipline to thrive and effectively reduce RM, future research into RM should focus on core categories, especially the reform of market-oriented factors, transformation of government functions, construction industrial structure adjustment, and methods of income distribution. This systematic review provides a discipline oversight and uncovers necessary and potential research directions.
Study on Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Basalt Fiber Reactive Powder Concrete
Authors: Liu Mo , Dai Wenting , Zhong Chunling , Yang Xue
Published: October 2022

In order to promote the wide application of reactive powder concrete (RPC) in practical engineering. In this paper, RPC was prepared using conventional and economical natural river sand instead of quartz sand and economical and environmentally friendly basalt fiber (BF) instead of steel fiber, and the macroscopic properties of basalt fiber reactive powder concrete (BFRPC) with different fiber content, such as flowability, failure mode, compressive strength and splitting tensile strength were studied, and the strength calculation formula of BFRPC was established based on the mechanical property results. The microscopic morphology and structure of BFRPC were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Image Pro Plus (IPP) image processing software. The results show that BF has a small effect on the compressive strength of RPC, while it has a significant increase on the splitting tensile strength. When BF content is at 2 kg/m3, the 28-day compressive strength reaches 95.2 MPa and splitting tensile strength reaches 7.78 MPa. Compared with the RPC with BF of 0 kg/m3, the BFRPC shows an improvement in its 28-day compressive strength by 25.70% and an increase in its splitting tensile strength by 83.92%. According to the microscopic analysis, reasonable fiber content can optimize the internal microstructure of BFRPC, but excessive BF content will produce agglomeration and overlap, resulting in strength loss. Based on the gray correlation analysis method, it was concluded that the particle area ratio and pore fraction dimension were the most correlated with the mechanical properties of BFRPC. In addition, the feasibility and applicability of the BFRPC strength calculation formula were summarized. This research results of this paper provides a valuable reference for the further research and promotion of BFRPC.
Experimental Study on External Loading Performance of Large Diameter Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe
Authors: Shang Pengran , Wang Hao , Zhang Di , Zheng Wenkui , Qu Fulai , Zhao Shunbo
Published: October 2022

A prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) is created with a complex composition of concrete core, welded steel cylinder, prestressed steel wire, protective mortar and anti-corrosion coating. Due to the economy and complexity of structural prototype tests, the ultimate loading test on PCCP is rarely conducted. In this paper, the three-edge bearing test was carried out on a 3.2 m diameter PCCP with embedded steel cylinder. The strains of concrete core, prestressed steel wire and protective mortar were monitored, and the distribution and width of the concrete cracks were recorded. The test results show that the cracking on the inside concrete at the crown zone occurred before those on the invert zone of the pipe. The prestressed steel wire postponed the tensile stress of out-side concrete at the springing line until subjected to the calculated cracking load (Pc). Due to the moment redistribution caused by the cracking on the inside of the concrete at the crown/invert, the protective mortar at the springing line was cracked at 1.2 Pc and exhibited visible cracking after 1.4 Pc. The prestressed steel wire reached the elastic and strength limit states of 1.4 Pc and 1.6 Pc, respectively. The PCCP designed by the limit state design method can resist the increased external loads after reaching the serviceability limit state. The final failure load of the test pipe is greater than 1.6 Pc, and there is sufficient safety in actual operation. Due to the fact that the damage to the concrete at the crown/invert zone may become a fuse of PCCP failure, the tensile stress of the inside concrete at the crown/invert zone of the PCCP should be accurately verified in the design process.
Developing a Model Based on the Radial Basis Function to Predict the Compressive Strength of Concrete Containing Fly Ash
Authors: Mayet Abdulilah Mohammad , Al-Qahtani Ali Awadh , Qaisi Ramy Mohammed Aiesh , Ahmad Ijaz , Alhashim Hala H. , Eftekhari-Zadeh Ehsan
Published: October 2022

A supplemental pozzolanic material such as fly ash may result in a reduction in the concrete’s adverse environmental effect by reducing the discharge of carbon dioxide throughout the cement production procedure. This pozzolanic material also enhances the mechanical characteristics as well as the durability of concrete material. Considering the boundless passion for utilizing fly ash and conducting extensive research studies, the extent to which this supplement can be added to concrete has a limitation equal to almost one-third of cement material’s weight. In the current study, a model based on the Radial Basis Function (RBF) is developed to estimate the compressive strength of concrete containing various amounts of fly ash at any arbitrary age. Having parameters used as inputs in ANN modeling such as concrete additives and characteristics of fly ash, the output was compressive strength. It was concluded that the estimated results agree well with the experimental measurements with an MSE of 0.0012 for the compressive strength. Simple and practical equations are proposed to present a simple means to determine the compressive strength of fly ash-based concrete.
Molecular Characteristics of Radon Associated Lung Cancer Highlights MET Alterations
Authors: Gamerith Gabriele , Kloppenburg Marcel , Mildner Finn , Amann Arno , Merkelbach-Bruse Sabine , Heydt Carina , Siemanowski Janna , Buettner Reinhard , Fiegl Michael , Manzl Claudia , Pall Georg
Published: October 2022

Effective targeted treatment strategies resulted from molecular profiling of lung cancer with distinct prevalent mutation profiles in smokers and non-smokers. Although Rn is the second most important risk factor, data for Rn-dependent driver events are limited. Therefore, a Rn-exposed cohort of lung cancer patients was screened for oncogenic drivers and their survival and genetic profiles were compared with data of the average regional population. Genetic alterations were analysed in 20 Rn-exposed and 22 histologically matched non-Rn exposed LC patients using targeted Next generation sequencing (NGS) and Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH). Sufficient material and sample quality could be obtained in 14/27 non-exposed versus 17/22 Rn-exposed LC samples. Survival was analysed in comparison to a histologically and stage-matched regional non-exposed lung cancer cohort (n = 51) for hypothesis generating. Median overall survivals were 83.02 months in the Rn-exposed and 38.7 months in the non-exposed lung cancer cohort (p = 0.22). Genetic alterations of both patient cohorts were in high concordance, except for an increase in MET alterations and a decrease in TP53 mutations in the Rn-exposed patients in this small hypothesis generating study.
A Systematic Review to Evaluate Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) for Metastatic Prostate Cancer According to the COnsensus-Based Standard for the Selection of Health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) Methodology
Authors: Ratti Maria Monica , Gandaglia Giorgio , Sisca Elena Silvia , Derevianko Alexandra , Alleva Eugenia , Beyer Katharina , Moss Charlotte , Barletta Francesco , Scuderi Simone , Omar Muhammad Imran , MacLennan Steven , Williamson Paula R. , Zong Jihong , MacLennan Sara J. , Mottet Nicolas , Cornford Philip , Aiyegbusi Olalekan Lee , Van Hemelrijck Mieke , N’Dow James , Briganti Alberto
Published: October 2022

Introduction: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) represent important endpoints in metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa). However, the clinically valid and accurate measurement of health-related quality of life depends on the psychometric properties of the PROMs considered. Objective: To appraise, compare, and summarize the properties of PROMs in mPCa. Evidence acquisition: We performed a review of PROMs used in RCTs, including patients with mPCa, using Medline in September 2021, according to the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) criteria. This systematic review is part of PIONEER (an IMI2 European network of excellence for big data in PCa). Results: The most frequently used PROMs in RCTs of patients with mPCa were the Functional Assessment for Cancer Therapy—Prostate (FACT-P) (n = 18), the Brief Pain Inventory—Short Form (BPI-SF) (n = 8), and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) (n = 6). A total of 283 abstracts were screened and 12 full-text studies were evaluated. A total of two, one, and two studies reported the psychometric proprieties of FACT-P, Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), and BPI-SF, respectively. FACT-P and BPI showed a high content validity, while BPI-SF showed a moderate content validity. FACT-P and BPI showed a high internal consistency (summarized by Cronbach’s α 0.70–0.95). Conclusions: The use of BPI and FACT-P in mPCa patients is supported by their high content validity and internal consistency. Since BPI is focused on pain assessment, we recommend FACT-P, which provides a broader assessment of QoL and wellbeing, for the clinical evaluation of mPCa patients. However, these considerations have been elaborated on in a very limited number of studies. Patient summary: In this paper, we review the psychometric properties of PROMs used with patients with mPCa to find the questionnaires that best assess patients’ QoL, in order to help professionals in their intervention and improve patients’ QoL. We recommend the use of BPI and FACT-P for their high content validity and internal consistency despite the limited number of studies considered.
Microbiota and Extracellular Vesicles in Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 Therapy
Authors: Mishra Surbhi , Amatya Sajeen Bahadur , Salmi Sonja , Koivukangas Vesa , Karihtala Peeter , Reunanen Justus
Published: October 2022

Cancer is a deadly disease worldwide. In light of the requisite of convincing therapeutic methods for cancer, immune checkpoint inhibition methods such as anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy appear promising. Human microbiota have been exhibited to regulate susceptibility to cancer as well as the response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. However, the probable contribution of bacterial extracellular vesicles (bEVs) in cancer pathophysiology and treatment has not been investigated much. bEVs illustrate the ability to cross physiological barriers, assemble around the tumor cells, and likely modify the tumor microenvironment (EVs). This systematic review emphasizes the correlation between cancer-associated extracellular vesicles, particularly bEVs and the efficacy of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. The clinical and pharmacological prospective of bEVs in revamping the contemporary treatments for cancer has been further discussed.
Association between Dysfunction of the Nucleolar Stress Response and Multidrug Resistance in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Authors: Nakagawa Shunsuke , Kawahara Kohichi , Okamoto Yasuhiro , Kodama Yuichi , Nishikawa Takuro , Kawano Yoshifumi , Furukawa Tatsuhiko
Published: October 2022

Approximately 20% of pediatric patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) relapse or are refractory to chemotherapy despite the low frequency of TP53 mutations. The nucleolar stress response is a P53-activating mechanism via MDM2 inhibition by ribosomal protein L11 (RPL11). We analyzed the role of the nucleolar stress response using BCP-ALL cell lines and patient samples by drug sensitivity tests, Western blotting, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. We revealed that the nucleolar stress response works properly in TP53 wild-type human BCP-ALL cell lines. Next, we found that 6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate, daunorubicin, and cytarabine had anti-leukemic effects via the nucleolar stress response within BCP-ALL treatment. Comparing the samples at onset and relapse in children with BCP-ALL, RPL11 mRNA expression decreased at relapse in seven of nine cases. Furthermore, leukemia cells with relapse acquired resistance to these four drugs and suppressed P53 and RPL11 expression. Our findings suggest that the nucleolar stress response is a novel anti-leukemia mechanism in BCP-ALL. As these four drugs are key therapeutics for BCP-ALL treatment, dysfunction of the nucleolar stress response may be related to clinical relapse or refractoriness. Nucleolar stress response may be a target to predict and improve the chemotherapy effect for pediatric BCP-ALL.
Cytoskeletal Protein Palladin in Adult Gliomas Predicts Disease Incidence, Progression, and Prognosis
Authors: Mayer Ori , Bugis Joshua , Kozlova Daria , Leemann Aviv , Mansur Shahar , Peerutin Ilan , Mendelovich Noga , Mazin Meital , Friedmann-Morvinski Dinorah , Shomron Noam
Published: October 2022

Brain tumors comprise over 100 types of masses, differing in the following: location; patient age; molecular, histological, and immunohistochemical characteristics; and prognosis and treatment. Glioma tumors originate from neuroglia, cells supporting the brain. Palladin, a structural protein widely expressed in mammalian tissues, has a pivotal role in cytoskeletal dynamics and motility in health and disease. Palladin is linked to the progression of breast, pancreatic, and renal cancers. In the central nervous system, palladin is involved in embryonic development, neuronal maturation, the cell cycle, differentiation, and apoptosis. However, the role of palladin in brain tumors is unknown. In this work, we explored palladin’s role in glioma. We analyzed clinical data, along with bulk and single-cell gene expression. We then validated our results using IHC staining of tumor samples, together with qRT-PCR of glioma cell lines. We determined that wild-type palladin-4 is overexpressed in adult gliomas and is correlated with a decrease in survival. Palladin expression outperformed clinically used prognostic markers and was most prominent in glioblastoma. Finally, we showed that palladin originates from the malignant cell population. Our findings indicate that palladin expression might be linked to adult glioma progression and is associated with prognosis.
3D Printing/Vat Photopolymerization of Photopolymers Activated by Novel Organic Dyes as Photoinitiators
Authors: Sun Ke , Peng Xiaotong , Gan Zengkang , Chen Wei , Li Xiaolin , Gong Tao , Xiao Pu
Published: October 2022

Even though numerous organic dyes which are used as photoinitiators/photocatalysts during photopolymerization have been systematically investigated and collected in previous reviews, further designs of these chromophores and the developments in high-performance photoinitiating systems have emerged in recent years, which play the crucial role in 3D printing/Vat polymerization. Here, in this mini-review, various families of organic dyes that are used as newly synthesized photoinitiators/photocatalysts which were reported in literature during 2021–2022 are specified by their photoinitiation mechanisms, which dominate their performance during photopolymerization, especially in 3D printing. Markedly, visible light-induced polymerization could be employed in circumstances not only upon the irradiation of artificial light sources, e.g., in LEDs, but also in sunlight irradiation. Furthermore, a short overview of the achievements of newly developed mechanisms, e.g., RAFT, photoinitiator-RAFT, and aqueous RAFT using organic chromophores as light-harvesting compounds to induce photopolymerization upon visible light irradiation are also thoroughly discussed. Finally, the reports on the semiconducting nanomaterials that have been used as photoinitiators/photocatalysts during photopolymerization are also introduced as perspectives that are able to expand the scope of 3D printing and materials science due to their various advantages such as high extinction coefficients, broad absorption spectra, and having multiple molecular binding points.
Clean Syngas and Hydrogen Co-Production by Gasification and Chemical Looping Hydrogen Process Using MgO-Doped Fe2O3 as Redox Material
Authors: Bracciale Maria Paola , Damizia Martina , De Filippis Paolo , de Caprariis Benedetta
Published: October 2022

Gasification converts biomass into syngas; however, severe cleaning processes are necessary due to the presence of tars, particulates and contaminants. The aim of this work is to propose a cleaning method system based on tar physical adsorption coupled with the production of pure H2 via a chemical looping process. Three fixed-bed reactors with a double-layer bed (NiO/Al2O3 and Fe-based particles) working in three different steps were used. First, NiO/Al2O3 is used to adsorb tar from syngas (300 °C); then, the adsorbed tar undergoes partial oxidization by NiO/Al2O3 to produce CO and H2 used for iron oxide reduction. In the third step, the reduced iron is oxidized with steam to produce pure H2 and to restore iron oxides. A double-layer fixed-bed reactor was fed alternatively by guaiacol and as tar model compounds, air and water were used. High-thermal-stability particles 60 wt% Fe2O3/40 wt% MgO synthetized by the coprecipitation method were used as Fe-based particles in six cycle tests. The adsorption efficiency of the NiO/Al2O3 bed is 98% and the gas phase formed is able to partially reduce iron, favoring the reduction kinetics. The efficiency of the process related to the H2 production after the first cycle is 35% and the amount of CO is less than 10 ppm.
Thermodynamic and Kinetic Study of Carbon Dioxide Hydrogenation on the Metal-Terminated Tantalum-Carbide (111) Surface: A DFT Calculation
Authors: Sarabadani Tafreshi Saeedeh , Panahi S. Fatemeh. K. S. , Taghizade Narges , Jamaati Maryam , Ranjbar Mahkameh , de Leeuw Nora H.
Published: October 2022

The need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and lessen the environmentally harmful effects of CO2 have encouraged investigations into CO2 hydrogenation to produce useful products. Transition metal carbides exhibit a high propensity towards CO2 activation, which makes them promising candidates as suitable catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation. Here, we have employed calculations based on the density-functional theory to investigate the reaction network for CO2 hydrogenation to product molecules on the tantalum-terminated TaC (111) surface, including two routes from either HCOOH* or HOCOH* intermediates. Detailed calculations of the reaction energies and energy barriers along multiple potential catalytic pathways, along with the exploration of all intermediates, have shown that CH4 is the predominant product yielded through a mechanism involving HCOOH, with a total exothermic reaction energy of −4.24 eV, and energy barriers between intermediates ranging from 0.126 eV to 2.224 eV. Other favorable products are CO and CH3OH, which are also produced via the HCOOH pathway, with total overall reaction energies of −2.55 and −2.10 eV, respectively. Our calculated thermodynamic and kinetic mechanisms that have identified these three predominant products of the CO2 hydrogenation catalyzed by the TaC (111) surface explain our experimental findings, in which methane, carbon monoxide, and methanol have been observed as the major reaction products.
Selective C-O Coupling Reaction of N-Methoxy Arylamides and Arylboronic Acids Catalyzed by Copper Salt
Authors: Wang Ying , Xie Huilin , Liu Kunming , Li Jinhui , Liu Jin-Biao
Published: October 2022

Herein, we report a copper-catalyzed C-O cross-coupling of N-methoxy amides and arylboronic acids for the synthesis of aryl-N-methoxy arylimides. The fully selective O-arylation of the N-methoxy amides is found to be greatly prompted by the inexpensive and commercially available CuI. The reaction conditions tolerate a variety of functional groups and promote different reactivities depending on the electronic and steric properties of the distorted substrates.
Intracellular Metabolomics Identifies Efflux Transporter Inhibitors in a Routine Caco-2 Cell Permeability Assay—Biological Implications
Authors: Naseem Afia , Pal Akos , Gowan Sharon , Asad Yasmin , Donovan Adam , Temesszentandrási-Ambrus Csilla , Kis Emese , Gaborik Zsuzsanna , Bhalay Gurdip , Raynaud Florence
Published: October 2022

Caco-2 screens are routinely used in laboratories to measure the permeability of compounds and can identify substrates of efflux transporters. In this study, we hypothesized that efflux transporter inhibition of a compound can be predicted by an intracellular metabolic signature in Caco-2 cells in the assay used to test intestinal permeability. Using selective inhibitors and transporter knock-out (KO) cells and a targeted Liquid Chromatography tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) method, we identified 11 metabolites increased in cells with depleted P-glycoprotein (Pgp) activity. Four metabolites were altered with Breast Cancer Resistance (BCRP) inhibition and nine metabolites were identified in the Multidrug Drug Resistance Protein 2 (MRP2) signature. A scoring system was created that could discriminate among the three transporters and validated with additional inhibitors. Pgp and MRP2 substrates did not score as inhibitors. In contrast, BCRP substrates and inhibitors showed a similar intracellular metabolomic signature. Network analysis of signature metabolites led us to investigate changes of enzymes in one-carbon metabolism (folate and methionine cycles). Our data shows that methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) protein levels increased with Pgp inhibition and Thymidylate synthase (TS) protein levels were reduced with Pgp and MRP2 inhibition. In addition, the methionine cycle is also affected by both Pgp and MRP2 inhibition. In summary, we demonstrated that the routine Caco-2 assay has the potential to identify efflux transporter inhibitors in parallel with substrates in the assays currently used in many DMPK laboratories and that inhibition of efflux transporters has biological consequences.
In Vitro Cell Death Mechanisms Induced by Dicoma anomala Root Extract in Combination with ZnPcS4 Mediated-Photodynamic Therapy in A549 Lung Cancer Cells
Authors: Chota Alexander , George Blassan P. , Abrahamse Heidi
Published: October 2022

Globally, lung cancer has remained the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in men and women. To enhance photodynamic therapeutic effects in vitro, the present study was designed to reduce dose-dependence in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and evaluate the anticancer effects of Dicoma anomala (D. anomala) root extracts (i.e., chloroform (Chl), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and methanol (MeOH)) on A549 lung cancer cells. The most active extract of D. anomala (D.A) was used to establish the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50), which was further used to evaluate the anticancer efficacy of D.A in combination with ZnPcS4-mediated PDT IC50. The study further evaluated cell death mechanisms by cell viability/ cytotoxicity (LIVE/DEADTM assay), flow cytometry (Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-propidium iodide (PI) staining), immunofluorescence (p38, p53, Bax, and caspase 3 expressions), and fluorometric multiplex assay (caspase 8 and 9) 24 h post-treatment with IC50 concentrations of ZnPcS4-mediated PDT and D.A MeOH root extract. Morphological changes were accompanied by a dose-dependent increase in cytotoxicity, decrease in viability, and proliferation in all experimental models. Apoptosis is the highly favored cell death mechanism observed in combination therapy groups. Apoptotic activities were supported by an increase in the number of dead cells in the LIVE/DEADTM assay, and the upregulation of p38, p53, Bax, caspase 3, 8, and 9 apoptotic proteins. In vitro experiments confirmed the cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects of D.A root extracts in monotherapy and in combination with ZnPcS4-mediated PDT. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that D.A could be a promising therapeutic candidate worth exploring in different types of cancer.