bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Head and Neck Characteristics as Risk Factors For and Protective Factors Against Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Military and Sporting Populations: A Systematic Review
Authors: Cooney Nicholas J. , Sowman Paul , Schilaty Nathan , Bates Nathaniel , Hewett Timothy E. , Doyle Tim L. A.
Published: May 2022

Background

Investigators have proposed that various physical head and neck characteristics, such as neck strength and head and neck size, are associated with protection from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI/concussion).

Objectives

To systematically review the literature and investigate potential relationships between physical head and neck characteristics and mTBI risk in athletic and military populations.

Methods

A comprehensive search of seven databases was conducted: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Potential studies were systematically screened and reviewed. Studies on military and athletic cohorts were included if they assessed the relationship between physical head-neck characteristics and mTBI risk or proxy risk measures such as head impact kinematics.

Results

The systematic search yielded a total of 11,723 original records. From these, 22 studies met our inclusion criteria (10 longitudinal, 12 cross-sectional). Relevant to our PECO (Population, Exposure, Comparator, and Outcomes) question, exposures included mTBI incidence and head impact kinematics (acceleration, velocity, displacement) for impacts during sport play and training and in controlled laboratory conditions. Outcome characteristics included head and neck size (circumference, mass, length, ratios between these measures), neck strength and endurance, and rate of force development of neck muscles.

Discussion

We found mixed evidence for head and neck characteristics acting as risk factors for and protective factors against mTBI and increased susceptibility to head impacts. Head-neck strength and size variables were at times associated with protection against mTBI incidence and reduced impact kinematics (14/22 studies found one or more head-neck variable to be associated with protection); however, some studies did not find these relationships (8/22 studies found no significant associations or relationships). Interestingly, two studies found stronger and larger athletes were more at risk of sustaining high impacts during sport. Strength and size metrics may have some predictive power, but impact mitigation seems to be influenced by many other variables, such as behaviour, sex, and impact anticipation. A meta-analysis could not be performed due to heterogeneity in study design and reporting.

Conclusion

There is mixed evidence in the literature for the protective capacity of head and neck characteristics. We suggest field-based mTBI research in the future should include more dynamic anthropometric metrics, such as neck stiffness and response to perturbation. In addition, laboratory-based mTBI studies should aim to standardise design and reporting to help further uncover these complicated relationships.
Assessing Exposure to Unconventional Oil and Gas Development: Strengths, Challenges, and Implications for Epidemiologic Research
Authors: Deziel Nicole C. , Clark Cassandra J. , Casey Joan A. , Bell Michelle L. , Plata Desiree L. , Saiers James E.
Published: May 2022

Purpose of Review

Epidemiologic studies have observed elevated health risks in populations living near unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD). In this narrative review, we discuss strengths and limitations of UOG exposure assessment approaches used in or available for epidemiologic studies, emphasizing studies of children’s health outcomes.

Recent Findings

Exposure assessment challenges include (1) numerous potential stressors with distinct spatiotemporal patterns, (2) critical exposure windows that cover long periods and occur in the past, and (3) limited existing monitoring data coupled with the resource-intensiveness of collecting new exposure measurements to capture spatiotemporal variation. All epidemiologic studies used proximity-based models for exposure assessment as opposed to surveys, biomonitoring, or environmental measurements. Nearly all studies used aggregate (rather than pathway-specific) models, which are useful surrogates for the complex mix of potential hazards.

Simple and less-specific exposure assessment approaches have benefits in terms of scalability, interpretability, and relevance to specific policy initiatives such as set-back distances. More detailed and specific models and metrics, including dispersion methods and stressor-specific models, could reduce exposure misclassification, illuminate underlying exposure pathways, and inform emission control and exposure mitigation strategies. While less practical in a large population, collection of multi-media environmental and biological exposure measurements would be feasible in cohort subsets. Such assessments are well-suited to provide insights into the presence and magnitude of exposures to UOG-related stressors in relation to spatial surrogates and to better elucidate the plausibility of observed effects in both children and adults.
An iterative topic model filtering framework for short and noisy user-generated data: analyzing conspiracy theories on twitter
Authors: Kant Gillian , Wiebelt Levin , Weisser Christoph , Kis-Katos Krisztina , Luber Mattias , Säfken Benjamin
Published: May 2022

Conspiracy theories have seen a rise in popularity in recent years. Spreading quickly through social media, their disruptive effect can lead to a biased public view on policy decisions and events. We present a novel approach for LDA-pre-processing called Iterative Filtering to study such phenomena based on Twitter data. In combination with Hashtag Pooling as an additional pre-processing step, we are able to achieve a coherent framing of the discussion and topics of interest, despite of the inherent noisiness and sparseness of Twitter data. Our novel approach enables researchers to gain detailed insights into discourses of interest on Twitter, allowing them to identify tweets iteratively that are related to an investigated topic of interest. As an application, we study the dynamics of conspiracy-related topics on US Twitter during the last four months of 2020, which were dominated by the US-Presidential Elections and Covid-19. We monitor the public discourse in the USA with geo-spatial Twitter data to identify conspiracy-related contents by estimating Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) Topic Models. We find that in this period, usual conspiracy-related topics played a marginal role in comparison with dominating topics, such as the US-Presidential Elections or the general discussions about Covid-19. The main conspiracy theories in this period were the ones linked to “Election Fraud” and the “Covid-19-hoax.” Conspiracy-related keywords tended to appear together with Trump-related words and words related to his presidential campaign.
Vacuum-Formed 3D Printed Electronics: Fabrication of Thin, Rigid and Free-Form Interactive Surfaces
Authors: Hong Freddie , Tendera Luca , Myant Connor , Boyle David
Published: May 2022

Vacuum-forming is a common manufacturing technique for constructing thin plastic shell products by pressing heated plastic sheets onto a mold using atmospheric pressure. Vacuum-forming is ubiquitous in packaging and casing products in the industry, spanning fast moving consumer goods to connected devices. Integrating advanced functionality, which may include sensing, computation and communication, within thin structures is desirable for various next-generation interactive devices. Hybrid additive manufacturing techniques like thermoforming are becoming popular for prototyping freeform surfaces owing to their design flexibility, speed and cost-effectiveness. This paper presents a new hybrid method for constructing thin, rigid and free-form interconnected surfaces via fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing and vacuum-forming that builds on recent advances in thermoforming circuits. 3D printing the sheet material allows for the embedding of conductive traces within thin layers of the substrate, which can be vacuum-formed but remain conductive and insulated. This is an unexplored fabrication technique within the context of designing and manufacturing connected things. In addition to explaining the method, this paper characterizes the behavior of vacuum-formed 3D printed sheets, analyses the electrical performance of printed traces after vacuum-forming, and showcases a range of sample artefacts constructed using the technique. In addition, the paper describes a new design interface for designing conformal interconnects that allows designers to draw conductive patterns in 3D and export pre-distorted sheet models ready to be printed.
Assessment of wind and photovoltaic power potential in China
Authors: Wang Yang , Chao Qingchen , Zhao Lin , Chang Rui
Published: May 2022

Decarbonization of the energy system is the key to China’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. However, the potential of wind and photovoltaic (PV) to power China remains unclear, hindering the holistic layout of the renewable energy development plan. Here, we used the wind and PV power generation potential assessment system based on the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) method to investigate the wind and PV power generation potential in China. Firstly, the high spatial-temporal resolution climate data and the mainstream wind turbines and PV modules, were used to assess the theoretical wind and PV power generation. Then, the technical, policy and economic (i.e., theoretical power generation) constraints for wind and PV energy development were comprehensively considered to evaluate the wind and solar PV power generation potential of China in 2020. The results showed that, under the current technological level, the wind and PV installed capacity potential of China is about 56.55 billion kW, which is approximately 9 times of those required under the carbon neutral scenario. The wind and PV power generation potential of China is about 95.84 PWh, which is approximately 13 times the electricity demand of China in 2020. The rich areas of wind power generation are mainly distributed in the western, northern, and coastal provinces of China. While the rich areas of PV power generation are mainly distributed in western and northern China. Besides, the degree of tapping wind and PV potential in China is not high, and the installed capacity of most provinces in China accounted for no more than 1% of the capacity potential, especially in the wind and PV potential-rich areas.
A History of Discriminated Buraku Communities in Japan
Authors: Nobuaki Teraki , Midori Kurokawa
Published: May 2022

At the heart of modern Japan there remains an intractable and divisive social problem with its roots in pre-history, namely the ongoing social discrimination against the Dowa communities, otherwise known as Buraku. Their marginalization and isolation within society, as a whole, remains a veiled yet contested issue. Buraku studies, once largely ignored within Japan's academia and by scholarly publishers, have developed considerably in the first decades of the twenty-first century, as the extensive bibliographies of both Japanese and English sources provided here clearly demonstrates.

The authors of the present study, published in Japanese in 2016 and translated here by the Oxford scholar Ian Neary, have been able to incorporate this most recent data. Because of its importance as the first Buraku history based on this new research, a wider readership was always the authors' principal focus. Yet, it also provides a valuable source book for further study by those wishing to develop their knowledge about the subject from an informed base. This history of the Buraku communities and their antecedents is the first such study to be published in English.
Effect of chemical reaction on mixing transition and turbulent statistics of cylindrical Richtmyer–Meshkov instability
Authors: Yan Zheng , Fu Yaowei , Wang Lifeng , Yu Changping , Li Xinliang
Published: May 2022

Direct numerical simulations of a three-dimensional cylindrical Richtmyer–Meshkov instability with and without chemical reactions are carried out to explore the chemical reaction effects on the statistical characteristics of transition and turbulent mixing. We adopt 9-species and 19-reaction models of non-premixed hydrogen and oxygen separated by a multimode perturbed cylindrical interface. A new definition of mixing width suitable for a chemical reaction is introduced, and we investigate the spatio-temporal evolution of typical flow parameters within the mixing regions. After reshock with a fuller mixing of fuels and oxygen, the chemical reaction becomes sufficiently apparent at affecting the evolution of the flow fields. Because of the generation of a combustion wave within the combustion regions and propagation, the growth of the mixing width with a chemical reaction is accelerated, especially around the outer radius with large temperature gradient profiles. However, the viscous dissipation rate in the early stage of the chemical reaction is greater because of heat release, which results in weakened turbulent mixing within the mixing regions. We confirm that small-scale structures begin to develop after reshock and then decay over time. During the developing process, helicity also begins to develop, in addition to kinetic energy, viscous dissipation rate, enstrophy, etc. In the present numerical simulations with cylindrical geometry, the fluctuating flow fields evolve from quasi-two-dimensional perturbations, and the generations of helicity can capture this transition process. The weakened fluctuations during shock compression can be explained as the inverse energy cascade, and the chemical reaction can promote this inverse energy cascade process.
The impact of clinical risk conditions on influenza and pneumonia diagnoses in England: a nationally representative retrospective cohort study, 2010–2019
Authors: Pokutnaya Darya , Loiacono Matthew M. , Booth Helen , Williams Rachael , Ma Christopher , Parker James , Bricout Hélène , Farrow Susan , Nealon Joshua
Published: May 2022

The impact of influenza and pneumonia on individuals in clinical risk groups in England has not previously been well characterized. Using nationally representative linked databases (Clinical Practice Research Database (CPRD), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and Office for National Statistics (ONS)), we conducted a retrospective cohort study among adults (≥ 18 years) during the 2010/2011–2019/2020 influenza seasons to estimate the incidence of influenza- and pneumonia-diagnosed medical events (general practitioner (GP) diagnoses, hospitalisations and deaths), stratified by age and risk conditions. The study population included a seasonal average of 7.2 million individuals; approximately 32% had ≥1 risk condition, 42% of whom received seasonal influenza vaccines. Medical event incidence rates increased with age, with ~1% of adults aged ≥75 years hospitalized for influenza/pneumonia annually. Among individuals with vs. without risk conditions, GP diagnoses occurred 2–5-fold more frequently and hospitalisations were 7–10-fold more common. Among those with obesity, respiratory, kidney or cardiovascular disorders, hospitalisation were 5–40-fold more common than in individuals with no risk conditions. Though these findings likely underestimate the full burden of influenza, they emphasize the concentration of disease burden in specific age and risk groups and support existing recommendations for influenza vaccination.
Association of water intake and hydration status with risk of kidney stone formation based on NHANES 2009–2012 cycles
Authors: Wang Jie-Sian , Chiang Hsiu-Yin , Chen Hung-Lin , Flores Martha , Navas-Acien Ana , Kuo Chin-Chi
Published: May 2022

Objective:

Evaluating the association of water intake and hydration status with nephrolithiasis risk at the population level.

Design:

It is a cross-sectional study in which daily total plain water intake and total fluid intake were estimated together with blood osmolality, urine creatinine, urine osmolality, urine flow rate (UFR), free water clearance (FWC) and urine/blood osmolality ratio (Uosm:Bosm). The associations of fluid intake and hydration markers with nephrolithiasis were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression.

Setting:

General US population.

Participants:

A total of 8195 adults aged 20 years or older from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2009–2012 cycles.

Results:

The population medians (interquartile ranges, IQR) for daily total plain water intake and total fluid intake were 807 (336–1481) and 2761 (2107–3577) ml/d, respectively. The adjusted OR (95 % CI) of nephrolithiasis for each IQR increase in total plain water intake and total fluid intake were 0·92 (95 % CI 0·79, 1·06) and 0·84 (95 % CI 0·72, 0·97), respectively. The corresponding OR of nephrolithiasis for UFR, blood osmolality, Uosm:Bosm and urine creatinine were 0·87 (95 % CI 0·76, 0·99), 1·18 (95 % CI 1·06, 1·32), 1·38 (95 % CI 1·17, 1·63) and 1·27 (95 % CI 1·11, 1·45), respectively. A linear protective relationship of fluid intake, UFR and FWC with nephrolithiasis risk was observed. Similarly, positive dose–response associations of nephrolithiasis risk with markers of insufficient hydration were identified. Encouraging a daily water intake of >2500 ml/d and maintaining a urine output of 2 l/d was associated with a lower prevalence of nephrolithiasis.

Conclusion:

This study verified the beneficial role of general water intake recommendations in nephrolithiasis prevention in the general US population.
Luminescent concentrators enable highly efficient and broadband photodetection
Authors: Wang Wei , Ho Johnny C.
Published: May 2022

With luminescent concentrators, the high quantum yield luminescence emitted by embedded chromophores, featuring a broad absorption spectrum, can be well-tuned to match the peak response of integrated photodetectors. This integration can substantially enhance the device photoresponse all the way from deep UV to near-IR.
Magnetization transfer imaging alterations and its diagnostic value in antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia
Authors: Lei Du , Suo Xueling , Qin Kun , Pinaya Walter H. L. , Ai Yuan , Li Wenbin , Kuang Weihong , Lui Su , Kemp Graham J. , Sweeney John A. , Gong Qiyong
Published: May 2022

Magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) may provide more sensitivity and mechanistic understanding of neuropathological changes associated with schizophrenia than volumetric MRI. This study aims to identify brain magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) changes in antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia (FES), and to correlate MTR findings with clinical symptom severity. A total of 143 individuals with antipsychotic-naïve FES and 147 healthy controls (HCs) were included and underwent 3.0 T brain MTI between August 2005 and July 2014. Voxelwise analysis was performed to test for MTR differences with family-wise error corrections. Relationships of these differences to symptom severity were assessed using partial correlations. Exploratory analyses using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier were conducted to discriminate FES from HCs using MTR maps. Model performance was examined using a 10-fold stratified cross-validation. Compared with HCs, individuals with FES exhibited higher MTR values in left thalamus, precuneus, cuneus, and paracentral lobule, that were positively correlated with schizophrenia symptom severity [precuneus (r = 0.34,P = 0.0004), cuneus (r = 0.33,P = 0.0006) and paracentral lobule (r = 0.37,P = 0.001)]. Whole-brain MTR maps identified individuals with FES with overall accuracy 75.5% (219 of 290 individuals) based on SVM approach. In antipsychotic-naïve FES, clinically relevant biophysical abnormalities detected by MTI mainly in the left parieto-occipital regions are informative about local brain pathology, and have potential as diagnostic markers.
Patients views on a new surveillance pathway involving allied non-medical staff for people with treated diabetic macular oedema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy
Authors: Prior Lindsay , Lois Noemi ,   on behalf of the EMERALD Study Group, Saad Ahmed , Azuara-Blanco Augusto , Styles Caroline , Bailey Clare , McAuley Danny , Steel David H. , Ghanchi Faruque D. , Menon Geeta , Eleftheriadis Haralabos , Efraimidis Stefanos , Cook Jonathan , Wang Ariel , Sones William , Acharya Nachiketa , Lois Noemi , Waugh Norman , Mistry Hema , Maredza Mandy , Fatum Samia , Sivaprasad Sobha , Aldington Stephen , Scanlon Peter H. , Ivanova Katerina , Aslam Tariq M. , Chong Victor , Jackson Andrew , McNally Christine , Rice Rachael , Prior Lindsay
Published: May 2022

Background/Objective

To explore acceptability by patients and health care professionals of a new surveillance pathway for people with previously treated and stable diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and/or proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

Subject/Methods

Structured discussions in 10 focus groups with patients; two with ophthalmic photographers/graders, and one with ophthalmologists, held across the UK as part of a large diagnostic accuracy study (EMERALD).

Results

The most prominent issues raised by patients concerned (i) expertise of the various professionals within clinic, (ii) quality of interactions with clinic professionals, especially the flow of information from professionals to patients, and (iii) wish to be treated holistically. Ophthalmologists suggested such issues could be best dealt with via a programme of patient education and tended to overlook deeper implications of patient concerns for the organisation of services.

Conclusion

For patients, the clinical service should not only include the identification and treatment of disease but also exchange of information, reassurance, and mitigation of anxiety. Alterations in the standard care pathway need to take account of such concerns and their implications, in addition to any assessments of ‘efficiency’ that may flow from changes in diagnostic technology, or the division of professional labour.
Entanglement generation in a quantum network at distance-independent rate
Authors: Patil Ashlesha , Pant Mihir , Englund Dirk , Towsley Don , Guha Saikat
Published: May 2022

We develop a protocol for entanglement generation in the quantum internet that allows a repeater node to use n-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) projective measurements that can fuse n successfully entangled links, i.e., two-qubit entangled Bell pairs shared across n network edges, incident at that node. Implementing n-fusion, for n ≥ 3, is in principle not much harder than 2-fusions (Bell-basis measurements) in solid-state qubit memories. If we allow even 3-fusions at the nodes, we find—by developing a connection to a modified version of the site-bond percolation problem—that despite lossy (hence probabilistic) link-level entanglement generation, and probabilistic success of the fusion measurements at nodes, one can generate entanglement between end parties Alice and Bob at a rate that stays constant as the distance between them increases. We prove that this powerful network property is not possible to attain with any quantum networking protocol built with Bell measurements and multiplexing alone. We also design a two-party quantum key distribution protocol that converts the entangled states shared between two nodes into a shared secret, at a key generation rate that is independent of the distance between the two parties.
Reversal of the T cell immune system reveals the molecular basis for T cell lineage fate determination in the thymus
Authors: Shinzawa Miho , Moseman E. Ashley , Gossa Selamawit , Mano Yasuko , Bhattacharya Abhisek , Guinter Terry , Alag Amala , Chen Xiongfong , Cam Maggie , McGavern Dorian B. , Erman Batu , Singer Alfred
Published: May 2022

T cell specificity and function are linked during development, as MHC-II-specific TCR signals generate CD4 helper T cells and MHC-I-specific TCR signals generate CD8 cytotoxic T cells, but the basis remains uncertain. We now report that switching coreceptor proteins encoded byCd4andCd8gene loci functionally reverses the T cell immune system, generating CD4 cytotoxic and CD8 helper T cells. Such functional reversal reveals that coreceptor proteins promote the helper-lineage fate when encoded byCd4, but promote the cytotoxic-lineage fate when encoded inCd8—regardless of the coreceptor proteins each locus encodes. Thus, T cell lineage fate is determined bycis-regulatory elements in coreceptor gene loci and is not determined by the coreceptor proteins they encode, invalidating coreceptor signal strength as the basis of lineage fate determination. Moreover, we consider that evolution selected the particular coreceptor proteins thatCd4andCd8gene loci encode to avoid generating functionally reversed T cells because they fail to promote protective immunity against environmental pathogens.
Split BiRNN for real-time activity recognition using radar and deep learning
Authors: Werthen-Brabants Lorin , Bhavanasi Geethika , Couckuyt Ivo , Dhaene Tom , Deschrijver Dirk
Published: May 2022

Radar systems can be used to perform human activity recognition in a privacy preserving manner. This can be achieved by using Deep Neural Networks, which are able to effectively process the complex radar data. Often these networks are large and do not scale well when processing a large amount of radar streams at once, for example when monitoring multiple rooms in a hospital. This work presents a framework that splits the processing of data in two parts. First, a forward Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) calculation is performed on an on-premise device (usually close to the radar sensor) which already gives a prediction of what activity is performed, and can be used for time-sensitive use-cases. Next, a part of the calculation and the prediction is sent to a more capable off-premise machine (most likely in the cloud or a data center) where a backward RNN calculation is performed that improves the previous prediction sent by the on-premise device. This enables fast notifications to staff if troublesome activities occur (such as falling) by the on-premise device, while the off-premise device captures activities missed or misclassified by the on-premise device.
The accuracy of geostatistics for regional geomagnetic modeling in an archipelago setting
Authors: Syirojudin Muhamad , Haryono Eko , Ahadi Suaidi
Published: May 2022

Indonesia as an archipelago country relies on a limited number and clustered distributed repeat station networks. This paper explores the use of geostatistical modeling to overcome this data limitation. The model data set consisted of repeat station data from 1985 to 2015 epoch. The geostatistical methods utilized included ordinary kriging (OK), collocated cokriging (CC), and kriging with external drift (KED). The model generated using these geostatistical methods was then compared to spherical cap harmonic analyses (SCHA) and polynomial models. The geostatistical model was shown to perform better, with greater accuracy in declination, inclination, and total intensity, as indicated by the root mean square error (RMSE). We have demonstrated that the geostatistical method is a promising approach in the modeling of regional geomagnetic field, especially in areas with limited and clustered distributed data.
Apigeninidin-rich Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench) extracts suppress A549 cells proliferation and ameliorate toxicity of aflatoxin B1-mediated liver and kidney derangement in rats
Authors: Owumi Solomon E. , Kazeem Abisola I. , Wu Bocheng , Ishokare Lucia O. , Arunsi Uche O. , Oyelere Adegboyega K.
Published: May 2022

Sorghum bicolor plant has a high abundance of 3-deoxyanthocyanins, flavonoids and other polyphenol compounds that have been shown to offer numerous health benefits. Epidemiological studies have linked increased intake of S. bicolor to reduced risk of certain cancer types, including lung adenocarcinoma. S. bicolor extracts have shown beneficial effects in managing hepatorenal injuries. This study investigated the cytotoxic potential of three apigeninidin-rich extracts of S. bicolor (SBE-05, SBE-06 and SBE-07) against selected cancer cell lines and their ameliorative effect on aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-mediated hepatorenal derangements in rats. We observed that, among the three potent extracts, SBE-06 more potently and selectively suppressed the growth of lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) (IC50 = 6.5 μg/mL). SBE-06 suppressed the expression of STAT3 but increased the expression of caspase 3. In addition, SBE-05, SBE-06 and SBE-07 inhibited oxidative and nitrosative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis and preserved the histoarchitectural networks of the liver and kidney of rats treated with AFB1. These in vitro and in vivo studies indicate the potential of these cheap and readily accessible extracts for cancer therapy and as chemo-preventive agents in preventing aflatoxin-related health issues.
The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variants
Authors: Kim Daniel , Keskinocak Pınar , Pekgün Pelin , Yildirim İnci
Published: May 2022

During a pandemic, vaccination plays an important role in reducing the infection spread or adverse outcomes such as hospitalizations and deaths. However, a vaccine’s overall public health impact depends not only on its initial efficacy, but also its efficacy against emerging variants and ease and speed of distribution. For example, mutations in SARS-CoV-2 raised concerns about diminishing vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 caused by particular variants. Furthermore, due to supply-chain challenges, the accessibility and distribution of the vaccines have been hindered in many regions, especially in low-income countries, while the second or third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has occurred due to the variants. Hence, we evaluated the interactions between the speed of distribution and efficacy against infection of multiple vaccines when variants emerge by utilizing a Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Deceased model and assessing the level of infection attack rate. Our results show that speed is a key factor to a successful immunization strategy to control the pandemic even when the emerging variants may reduce the efficacy of a vaccine. Understanding the interactions between speed and efficacy and distributing vaccines that are available as quickly as possible are crucial to eradicate the pandemic before new variants spread.
Butyrate administration is not sufficient to improve immune reconstitution in antiretroviral-treated SIV-infected macaques
Authors: Ortiz Alexandra M. , Simpson Jennifer , Langner Charlotte A. , Baker Phillip J. , Aguilar Cynthia , Brooks Kelsie , Flynn Jacob K. , Vinton Carol L. , Rahmberg Andrew R. , Hickman Heather D. , Brenchley Jason M.
Published: May 2022

Defective gastrointestinal barrier function and, in turn, microbial translocation have been identified as significant contributors to persistent inflammation in antiretroviral (ARV)-treated people living with HIV. Metabolic supplementation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), generally produced by the commensal microbiome, may improve these outcomes. Butyrate is a SCFA that is essential for the development and maintenance of intestinal immunity and has a known role in supporting epithelial integrity. Herein we assessed whether supplementation with the dietary supplement sodium butyrate would improve immune reconstitution and reduce inflammation in ARV-treated, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques. We demonstrate that butyrate supplementation does not significantly improve immune reconstitution, with no differences observed in systemic CD4+ T-cell frequencies, T-cell functionality or immune activation, microbial translocation, or transcriptional regulation. Our findings demonstrate that oral administration of sodium butyrate is insufficient to reduce persistent inflammation and microbial translocation in ARV-treated, SIV-infected macaques, suggesting that this therapeutic may not reduce co-morbidities and co-mortalities in treated people living with HIV.
Impact of experimental colitis on mitochondrial bioenergetics in intestinal epithelial cells
Authors: Goudie Luke , Mancini Nicole L. , Shutt Timothy E. , Holloway Graham P. , Mu Chunlong , Wang Arthur , McKay Derek M. , Shearer Jane
Published: May 2022

Intestinal homeostasis is highly dependent on optimal epithelial barrier function and permeability. Intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) regulate these properties acting as cellular gatekeepers by selectively absorbing nutrients and controlling the passage of luminal bacteria. These functions are energy demanding processes that are presumably met through mitochondrial-based processes. Routine methods for examining IEC mitochondrial function remain sparse, hence, our objective is to present standardized methods for quantifying mitochondrial energetics in an immortalized IEC line. Employing the murine IEC4.1 cell line, we present adapted methods and protocols to examine mitochondrial function using two well-known platforms: the Seahorse Extracellular Flux Analyzer and Oxygraph-2 k. To demonstrate the applicability of these protocols and instruments, IEC were treated with and without the murine colitogenic agent, dextran sulfate sodium (DSS, 2% w/v). Profound impairments with DSS treatment were found with both platforms, however, the Oxygraph-2 k allowed greater resolution of affected pathways including short-chain fatty acid metabolism. Mitochondrial functional analysis is a novel tool to explore the relationship between IEC energetics and functional consequences within the contexts of health and disease. The outlined methods offer an introductory starting point for such assessment and provide the investigator with insights into platform-specific capabilities.
Intrusive growth of initials does not affect cambial circumference in Robinia pseudoacacia
Authors: Miodek Adam , Gizińska Aldona , Włoch Wiesław , Kojs Paweł
Published: May 2022

This study aimed to test the hypothesis whether intrusive growth of initial cells is related to the increase in circumference of Robinia pseudoacacia vascular cambium—both qualitatively and quantitatively. The mode of intrusive growth of cambial initial cells was also studied. Samples collected from tree trunks were examined using series of semi-thin transverse sections. Anatomical reconstructions of radial and tangential planes of analysed fragments of cambial tissue were made. Observations and measurements have shown that the intrusive growth of R. pseudoacacia initial cells does not contribute to an increase in tangential dimension of observed tissue fragments where cell rearrangement occurs. Moreover, initially separated tangential walls of cells (between which cambial initial cell elongates intrusively) are transformed into obliquely oriented walls. These results stand in accordance with a statement that only symplastic growth of initials, not intrusive growth, is responsible for the increase in circumference in all woody plants with the continuous cambial cylinder. Moreover, we managed to capture the moment of transition of initial status from one cell to another for the first time. This phenomenon may be explained on the basis of the system of mechanical stresses operating not only in the secondary meristematic tissue but also in a whole plant organism.
Achievement of complete in vitro spermatogenesis in testicular tissues from prepubertal mice exposed to mono- or polychemotherapy
Authors: Delessard Marion , Stalin Laura , Rives-Feraille Aurélie , Moutard Laura , Saulnier Justine , Dumont Ludovic , Rives Nathalie , Rondanino Christine
Published: May 2022

The assessment of the impact of chemotherapies on in vitro spermatogenesis in experimental models is required before considering the application of this fertility restoration strategy to prepubertal boys who received these treatments before testicular tissue cryopreservation. The present work investigated the effects of exposure of prepubertal mice to mono- (vincristine or cyclophosphamide) and polychemotherapy (a combination of vincristine and cyclophosphamide) on the first wave of in vitro spermatogenesis. When testicular tissue exposed to monochemotherapy was preserved, polychemotherapy led to severe alterations of the seminiferous epithelium and increased apoptosis in prepubertal testes prior in vitro maturation, suggesting a potential additive gonadotoxic effect. These alterations were also found in the testicular tissues of polychemotherapy-treated mice after 30 days of organotypic culture and were associated with a reduction in the germ cell/Sertoli cell ratio. The different treatments neither altered the ability of spermatogonia to differentiate in vitro into spermatozoa nor the yield of in vitro spermatogenesis. However, more spermatozoa with morphological abnormalities and fragmented DNA were produced after administration of polychemotherapy. This work therefore shows for the first time the possibility to achieve a complete in vitro spermatogenesis after an in vivo exposure of mice to a mono- or polychemotherapy before meiotic entry.
Phase stability and dense polymorph of the BaCa(CO3)2 barytocalcite carbonate
Authors: Chuliá-Jordán R. , Santamaría-Pérez D. , González-Platas J. , Otero-de-la-Roza A. , Ruiz-Fuertes J. , Popescu C.
Published: May 2022

The double carbonate BaCa(CO3)2 holds potential as host compound for carbon in the Earth’s crust and mantle. Here, we report the crystal structure determination of a high-pressure BaCa(CO3)2 phase characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. This phase, named post-barytocalcite, was obtained at 5.7 GPa and can be described by a monoclinic Pm space group. The barytocalcite to post-baritocalcite phase transition involves a significant discontinuous 1.4% decrease of the unit-cell volume, and the increase of the coordination number of 1/4 and 1/2 of the Ba and Ca atoms, respectively. High-pressure powder X-ray diffraction measurements at room- and high-temperatures using synchrotron radiation and DFT calculations yield the thermal expansion of barytocalcite and, together with single-crystal data, the compressibility and anisotropy of both the low- and high-pressure phases. The calculated enthalpy differences between different BaCa(CO3)2 polymorphs confirm that barytocalcite is the thermodynamically stable phase at ambient conditions and that it undergoes the phase transition to the experimentally observed post-barytocalcite phase. The double carbonate is significantly less stable than a mixture of the CaCO3 and BaCO3 end-members above 10 GPa. The experimental observation of the high-pressure phase up to 15 GPa and 300 ºC suggests that the decomposition into its single carbonate components is kinetically hindered.
Phylogenies from unaligned proteomes using sequence environments of amino acid residues
Authors: Aledo Juan Carlos
Published: May 2022

Alignment-free methods for sequence comparison and phylogeny inference have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. Several algorithms have been implemented in diverse software packages. Despite the great number of existing methods, most of them are based on word statistics. Although they propose different filtering and weighting strategies and explore different metrics, their performance may be limited by the phylogenetic signal preserved in these words. Herein, we present a different approach based on the species-specific amino acid neighborhood preferences. These differential preferences can be assessed in the context of vector spaces. In this way, a distance-based method to build phylogenies has been developed and implemented into an easy-to-use R package. Tests run on real-world datasets show that this method can reconstruct phylogenetic relationships with high accuracy, and often outperforms other alignment-free approaches. Furthermore, we present evidence that the new method can perform reliably on datasets formed by non-orthologous protein sequences, that is, the method not only does not require the identification of orthologous proteins, but also does not require their presence in the analyzed dataset. These results suggest that the neighborhood preference of amino acids conveys a phylogenetic signal that may be of great utility in phylogenomics.
Risk-benefit analysis of emergency vaccine use
Authors: Lewis Gregory , Bonsall Michael
Published: May 2022

Emergency vaccine use requires weighing a large number of uncertain risks and possible benefits. In the COVID-19 pandemic, decisions about what evidence is necessary to authorize emergency use have proven controversial, and vary between countries. We construct a simple mathematical model of the risks and benefits of emergency vaccination to an individual, and apply this to the hypothetical scenario of individual decision-making between emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine without safety and efficacy data, versus waiting for efficacy and safety to be established. Even with conservative modelling assumptions and uncertainty distributions for vaccine efficacy (mean expectation = 17%) and serious adverse event risk (mean expectation = 0.3%), high risk individuals (e.g. those who are elderly and have a household contact with COVID-19) are better off using the ’emergency vaccine’ rather than waiting for more information (absolute risk reduction for mortality up to 2%). Very early emergency authorization of vaccines despite very limited data may be the better public health strategy when confronted with a dangerous emerging infectious disease.
Older adults have difficulty decoding emotions from the eyes, whereas easterners have difficulty decoding emotion from the mouth
Authors: Low Anna C. Y. , Oh Vincent Y. S. , Tong Eddie M. W. , Scarf Damian , Ruffman Ted
Published: May 2022

Older adults and Easterners have worse emotion recognition (than young adults and Westerners, respectively), but the question of why remains unanswered. Older adults look less at eyes, whereas Easterners look less at mouths, raising the possibility that compelling older adults to look at eyes, and Easterners to look at mouths, might improve recognition. We did this by comparing emotion recognition in 108 young adults and 109 older adults from New Zealand and Singapore in the (a) eyes on their own (b) mouth on its own or (c) full face. Older adults were worse than young adults on 4/6 emotions with the Eyes Only stimuli, but only 1/6 emotions with the Mouth Only stimuli. In contrast, Easterners were worse than Westerners on 6/6 emotions for Mouth Only and Full Face stimuli, but were equal on all six emotions for Eyes Only stimuli. These results provide a substantial leap forward because they point to the precise difficulty for older adults and Easterners. Older adults have more consistent difficulty identifying individual emotions in the eyes compared to the mouth, likely due to declining brain functioning, whereas Easterners have more consistent difficulty identifying emotions from the mouth than the eyes, likely due to inexperience inferring mouth information.
Associations of intracranial artery length and branch number on non-contrast enhanced MRA with cognitive impairment in individuals with carotid atherosclerosis
Authors: Chen Zhensen , Gould Anders , Geleri Duygu Baylam , Balu Niranjan , Chen Li , Chu Baocheng , Pimentel Kristi , Canton Gador , Hatsukami Thomas S. , Yuan Chun
Published: May 2022

Developing novel risk markers for vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia is important. This study aimed to extract total length, branch number and average tortuosity of intracranial distal arteries (A2, M2, P2 and more distal) from non-contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (NCE-MRA) images, and explore their associations with global cognition. In 29 subjects (aged 40–90 years) with carotid atherosclerotic disease, the 3 intracranial vascular features on two NCE-MRA techniques (i.e. time of flight, TOF and simultaneous non-contrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage, SNAP) were extracted using a custom-developed software named iCafe. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) and phase contrast (PC) cerebral blood flow (CBF) were measured as references. Linear regression was performed to study their associations with global cognition, measured with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Intracranial artery length and number of branches on NCE-MRA, ASL CBF and PC CBF were found to be positively associated with MoCA scores (P < 0.01). The associations remained significant for artery length and number of branches on NCE-MRA after adjusting for clinical covariates and white matter hyperintensity volume. Further adjustment of confounding factors of ASL CBF or PC CBF did not abolish the significant association for artery length and number of branches on TOF. Our findings suggest that intracranial vascular features, including artery length and number of branches, on NCE-MRA may be useful markers of cerebrovascular health and provide added information over conventional brain blood flow measurements in individuals with cognitive impairment.
Cytochrome P450 2E1 predicts liver functional recovery from donation after circulatory death using air-ventilated normothermic machine perfusion
Authors: Shi Ji-Hua , Yang Dong-Jing , Jin Qiang , Cheng Nuo , Shi Yuan-Bin , Bai Yang , Yu Dong-Sheng , Guo Wen-Zhi , Ge Guang-Bo , Zhang Shui-Jun
Published: May 2022

The optimal oxygen concentration is unclear for normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) of livers from donation after circulatory death (DCD). Our purposes were to investigate the effect of air-ventilated NMP on the DCD liver, analyze the underlying mechanism and select the targets to predict liver functional recovery with NMP. NMP was performed using the NMP system with either air ventilation or oxygen ventilation for 2 h in the rat liver following warm ischemia and cold-storage preservation. Proteomics and metabolomics were used to reveal the significant molecular networks. The bioinformation analysis was validated by administering peroxisome proliferator activator receptor-γ (PPARγ) antagonist and agonist via perfusion circuit in the air-ventilated NMP. Results showed that air-ventilated NMP conferred a better functional recovery and a less inflammatory response in the rat DCD liver; integrated proteomics and metabolomics analysis indicated that intrahepatic docosapentaenoic acid downregulation and upregulation of cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) expression and activity were associated with DCD liver functional recovery with air-ventilated NMP; PPARγ antagonist worsened liver function under air-oxygenated NMP whereas PPARγ agonist played the opposite role. In conclusion, air-ventilated NMP confers a better liver function from DCD rats through the DAP-PPARγ-CYP2E1 axis; CYP2E1 activity provides a biomarker of liver functional recovery from DCD.