bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immunoglobulin superfamily 9 (IGSF9) is trans-activated by p53, inhibits breast cancer metastasis via FAK
Authors: Li Yaohua , Deng Yiran , Zhao Yannan , Zhang Wei , Zhang Si , Zhang Li , Wang Biyun , Xu Yingying , Chen She
Published: September 2022

Metastasis of breast cancer represents the major reason for its poor prognosis, leading to high mortality. In breast cancer, a tumor suppressor gene TP53 is commonly mutated. TP53 mutation leads to an altered expression of various genes, an event that is associated with aggressive tumor and is a strong independent marker for survival. In this study, we identified a novel p53 target gene, immunoglobulin superfamily 9 (IGSF9). IGSF9 is generally down-regulated in breast cancer tissues. Loss of IGSF9 is associated with frequent metastasis and poor prognosis of breast cancer patients. Wild-type p53, but not R175H mutant, trans-activates the transcription of IGSF9 via binding to its promoter (−137 to −131 bp), inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), consequently the inhibition of breast cancer cells migration and invasion. IGSF9 interacts with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and inhibits FAK/AKT signaling activity. PND1186, FAK inhibitor, inhibits breast cancer metastasis induced by IGSF9 knockdown in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, IGSF9 is trans-activated by p53 and inhibits breast cancer metastasis by modulating FAK/AKT signaling pathway. IGSF9 could serve as a prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target for breast cancer.
Acute sleep loss increases CNS health biomarkers and compromises the ability to stay awake in a sex-and weight-specific manner
Authors: van Egmond Lieve T. , Bukhari Shervin , Benedet Andrea Lessa , Ashton Nicholas J. , Meth Elisa M. S. , Boukas Alexander , Engström Joachim , Ilemosoglou Maria , Blennow Kaj , Zetterberg Henrik , Benedict Christian
Published: September 2022

Night shift work impairs vigilance performance, reduces the ability to stay awake, and compromises brain health. To investigate if the magnitude of these adverse night shift work effects differs between sexes and weight groups, 47 men and women with either normal weight or obesity participated in one night of sleep and one night of total sleep loss. During the night of sleep loss, participants’ subjective sleepiness, vigilance performance, and ability to stay awake during 2-min quiet wake with eyes closed were repeatedly assessed. In addition, blood was collected in the morning after sleep loss and sleep to measure central nervous system (CNS) health biomarkers. Our analysis showed that women were sleepier during the night of sleep loss (P < 0.05) and spent more time in microsleep during quiet wake testing (P < 0.05). Finally, higher blood levels of neurofilament light chain, a biomarker of axonal damage, were found among women in the morning after sleep loss (P < 0.002). Compared with normal-weight subjects, those with obesity were more prone to fall asleep during quiet wake (P < 0.05) and exhibited higher blood levels of the CNS health biomarker pTau181 following sleep loss (P = 0.001). Finally, no differences in vigilance performance were noted between the sex and weight groups. Our findings suggest that the ability to stay awake during and the CNS health biomarker response to night shift work may differ between sexes and weight groups. Follow-up studies must confirm our findings under more long-term night shift work conditions.
Social defeat drives hyperexcitation of the piriform cortex to induce learning and memory impairment but not mood-related disorders in mice
Authors: Wang Hanjie , Li Fang , Zheng Xuefeng , Meng Lianghui , Chen Meiying , Hui Yuqing , Li Yifei , Xie Keman , Zhang Jifeng , Guo Guoqing
Published: September 2022

Clinical studies have shown that social defeat is an important cause of mood-related disorders, accompanied by learning and memory impairment in humans. The mechanism of mood-related disorders has been widely studied. However, the specific neural network involved in learning and memory impairment caused by social defeat remains unclear. In this study, behavioral test results showed that the mice induced both learning and memory impairments and mood-related disorders after exposure to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). c-Fos immunofluorescence and fiber photometry recording confirmed that CaMKIIα expressing neurons of the piriform cortex (PC) were selectively activated by exposure to CSDS. Next, chemogenetics and optogenetics were performed to activate PC CaMKIIα expressing neurons, which showed learning and memory impairment but not mood-related disorders. Furthermore, chemogenetic inhibition of PC CaMKIIα expressing neurons significantly alleviated learning and memory impairment induced by exposure to CSDS but did not relieve mood-related disorders. Therefore, our data suggest that the overactivation of PC CaMKIIα expressing neurons mediates CSDS-induced learning and memory impairment, but not mood-related disorders, and provides a potential therapeutic target for learning and memory impairment induced by social defeat.
Maternal diabetes and childhood cancer risks in offspring: two population-based studies
Authors: Huang Xiwen , Hansen Johnni , Lee Pei-Chen , Wu Chia-Kai , Federman Noah , Arah Onyebuchi A. , Li Chung-Yi , Olsen Jorn , Ritz Beate , Heck Julia E.
Published: September 2022

Background

The effect of maternal diabetes on childhood cancer has not been widely studied.

Methods

We examined this in two population-based studies in Denmark (N = 6420 cancer cases, 160,484 controls) and Taiwan (N = 2160 cancer cases, 2,076,877 non-cases) using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard regression adjusted for birth year, child’s sex, maternal age and birth order.

Results

Gestational diabetes in Denmark [odds ratio (OR) = 0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.71–1.35] or type II and gestational diabetes in Taiwan (type II: hazard ratio (HR) = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.63–1.05; gestational diabetes: HR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.92–1.22) were not associated with cancer (all types combined). In Denmark, maternal type I diabetes was associated with the risk of glioma (OR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.04–5.22), while in Taiwan, the risks of glioma (HR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.01–2.50) were elevated among children whose mothers had gestational diabetes. There was a twofold increased risk for hepatoblastoma with maternal type II diabetes (HR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.02–4.00).

Conclusions

Our results suggest that maternal diabetes is an important risk factor for certain types of childhood cancers, emphasising the need for effective interventions targeting maternal diabetes to prevent serious health effects in offspring.
Shallow WGS of individual CTCs identifies actionable targets for informing treatment decisions in metastatic breast cancer
Authors: Fernandez-Garcia Daniel , Nteliopoulos Georgios , Hastings Robert K. , Rushton Amelia , Page Karen , Allsopp Rebecca C. , Ambasager Bana , Gleason Kelly , Guttery David S. , Ali Simak , Charles Coombes R. , Shaw Jacqueline A.
Published: September 2022

Background

We report copy-number profiling by low-pass WGS (LP-WGS) in individual circulating tumour cells (CTCs) for guiding treatment in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), comparing CTC results with mutations detected in circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in the same blood samples.

Methods

Across 10 patients with MBC who were progressing at the time of blood sampling and that had >20 CTCs detected by CellSearch®, 63 single cells (50 CTCs and 13 WBCs) and 16 cell pools (8 CTC pools and 8 WBC pools) were recovered from peripheral blood by CellSearch®/DEPArray™ and sequenced with Ampli1 LowPass technology (Menarini Silicon Biosystems). Copy-number aberrations were identified using the MSBiosuite software platform, and results were compared with mutations detected in matched plasma cfDNA analysed by targeted next-generation sequencing using the Oncomine™ Breast cfDNA Assay (Thermo Fisher).

Results

LP-WGS data demonstrated copy-number gains/losses in individual CTCs in regions including FGFR1, JAK2 and CDK6 in five patients, ERBB2 amplification in two HER2-negative patients and BRCA loss in two patients. Seven of eight matched plasmas also had mutations in ctDNA in PIK3CA, TP53, ESR1 and KRAS genes with mutant allele frequencies (MAF) ranging from 0.05 to 33.11%. Combining results from paired CTCs and ctDNA, clinically actionable targets were identified in all ten patients.

Conclusion

This combined analysis of CTCs and ctDNA may offer a new approach for monitoring of disease progression and to direct therapy in patients with advanced MBC, at a time when they are coming towards the end of other treatment options.
ZNF276 promotes the malignant phenotype of breast carcinoma by activating the CYP1B1-mediated Wnt/β-catenin pathway
Authors: Lei Ting , Zhang Wenwu , He Yongyin , Wei Shi , Song Xiaoyu , Zhu Yi , Luo Guoqing , Kuang Zhenzhan , Li Guanjie , Zhou Quan , Sun Zhaohui , Xiao Bin , Li Linhai
Published: September 2022

Zinc finger proteins (ZNFs) have been demonstrated to participate extensively in breast cancer progression by functioning as transcription factors, but there are still a variety of ZNFs whose biological mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we show that zinc finger protein 276 (ZNF276) is highly expressed in breast cancer tissues and cell lines. Higher level of ZNF276 correlated with poor prognosis. Gain-of and loss-of function suggested that ZNF276 is essential for the proliferation, migration and invasion of breast cancer cells in vitro and metastasis in vivo. RNA-sequencing and CUT&Tag assay revealed that ZNF276 controlled a variety of growth and metastasis-related genes expression. ZNF276 transcriptionally promoted the expression of CYP1B1 by directly binds to the promoter region of the CYP1B1 through its C2H2 domain. ZNF276 facilitated the translocation of β-catenin from cytoplasm to nucleus through CYP1B1, leading to the upregulation of cyclin D1 and c-Myc, and the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Knockdown of CYP1B1 significantly blocked the ZNF276-mediated effects on cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Lastly, ZNF276 interacted with MAGEB2 which enhanced the binding of ZNF276 at the CYP1B1 promoter, promoted CYP1B1 expression and Wnt signaling activation. Collectively, these findings highlight the oncogenic role of ZNF276 on breast cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. Targeting ZNF276/MAGEB2 axis may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy for breast cancer patients.
Triple ionization and fragmentation of benzene trimers following ultrafast intermolecular Coulombic decay
Authors: Zhou Jiaqi , Yu Xitao , Luo Sizuo , Xue Xiaorui , Jia Shaokui , Zhang Xinyu , Zhao Yongtao , Hao Xintai , He Lanhai , Wang Chuncheng , Ding Dajun , Ren Xueguang
Published: September 2022

Intermolecular interactions involving aromatic rings are ubiquitous in biochemistry and they govern the properties of many organic materials. Nevertheless, our understanding of the structures and dynamics of aromatic clusters remains incomplete, in particular for systems beyond the dimers, despite their high presence in many macromolecular systems such as DNA and proteins. Here, we study the fragmentation dynamics of benzene trimer that represents a prototype of higher-order aromatic clusters. The trimers are initially ionized by electron-collision with the creation of a deep-lying carbon 2s−1 state or one outer-valence and one inner-valence vacancies at two separate molecules. The system can thus relax via ultrafast intermolecular decay mechanisms, leading to the formation of C$${}_{6}{{{{{{{{{\rm{H}}}}}}}}}_{6}}^{+}\cdot$$

6

H

6

+

⋅
C$${}_{6}{{{{{{{{{\rm{H}}}}}}}}}_{6}}^{+}\cdot$$

6

H

6

+

⋅
C$${}_{6}{{{{{{{{{\rm{H}}}}}}}}}_{6}}^{+}$$

6

H

6

+

trications and followed by a concerted three-body Coulomb explosion. Triple-coincidence ion momentum spectroscopy, accompanied by ab-initio calculations and further supported by strong-field laser experiments, allows us to elucidate the details on the fragmentation dynamics of benzene trimers.
Functional genomics uncovers the transcription factor BNC2 as required for myofibroblastic activation in fibrosis
Authors: Bobowski-Gerard Marie , Boulet Clémence , Zummo Francesco P. , Dubois-Chevalier Julie , Gheeraert Céline , Bou Saleh Mohamed , Strub Jean-Marc , Farce Amaury , Ploton Maheul , Guille Loïc , Vandel Jimmy , Bongiovanni Antonino , Very Ninon , Woitrain Eloïse , Deprince Audrey , Lalloyer Fanny , Bauge Eric , Ferri Lise , Ntandja-Wandji Line-Carolle , Cotte Alexia K. , Grangette Corinne , Vallez Emmanuelle , Cianférani Sarah , Raverdy Violeta , Caiazzo Robert , Gnemmi Viviane , Leteurtre Emmanuelle , Pourcet Benoit , Paumelle Réjane , Ravnskjaer Kim , Lassailly Guillaume , Haas Joel T. , Mathurin Philippe , Pattou François , Dubuquoy Laurent , Staels Bart , Lefebvre Philippe , Eeckhoute Jérôme
Published: September 2022

Tissue injury triggers activation of mesenchymal lineage cells into wound-repairing myofibroblasts, whose unrestrained activity leads to fibrosis. Although this process is largely controlled at the transcriptional level, whether the main transcription factors involved have all been identified has remained elusive. Here, we report multi-omics analyses unraveling Basonuclin 2 (BNC2) as a myofibroblast identity transcription factor. Using liver fibrosis as a model for in-depth investigations, we first show that BNC2 expression is induced in both mouse and human fibrotic livers from different etiologies and decreases upon human liver fibrosis regression. Importantly, we found that BNC2 transcriptional induction is a specific feature of myofibroblastic activation in fibrotic tissues. Mechanistically, BNC2 expression and activities allow to integrate pro-fibrotic stimuli, including TGFβ and Hippo/YAP1 signaling, towards induction of matrisome genes such as those encoding type I collagen. As a consequence, Bnc2 deficiency blunts collagen deposition in livers of mice fed a fibrogenic diet. Additionally, our work establishes BNC2 as potentially druggable since we identified the thalidomide derivative CC-885 as a BNC2 inhibitor. Altogether, we propose that BNC2 is a transcription factor involved in canonical pathways driving myofibroblastic activation in fibrosis.
A multi-state dynamic process confers mechano-adaptation to a biological nanomachine
Authors: Wadhwa Navish , Sassi Alberto , Berg Howard C. , Tu Yuhai
Published: September 2022

Adaptation is a defining feature of living systems. The bacterial flagellar motor adapts to changes in the external mechanical load by adding or removing torque-generating (stator) units. But the molecular mechanism behind this mechano-adaptation remains unclear. Here, we combine single motor eletrorotation experiments and theoretical modeling to show that mechano-adaptation of the flagellar motor is enabled by multiple mechanosensitive internal states. Dwell time statistics from experiments suggest the existence of at least two bound states with a high and a low unbinding rate, respectively. A first-passage-time analysis of a four-state model quantitatively explains the experimental data and determines the transition rates among all four states. The torque generated by bound stator units controls their effective unbinding rate by modulating the transition between the bound states, possibly via a catch bond mechanism. Similar force-mediated feedback enabled by multiple internal states may apply to adaptation in other macromolecular complexes.
Genome-scale RNA interference profiling of Trypanosoma brucei cell cycle progression defects
Authors: Marques Catarina A. , Ridgway Melanie , Tinti Michele , Cassidy Andrew , Horn David
Published: September 2022

Trypanosomatids, which include major pathogens of humans and livestock, are flagellated protozoa for which cell cycle controls and the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. Here, we describe a genome-wide RNA-interference library screen for cell cycle defects inTrypanosoma brucei. We induced massive parallel knockdown, sorted the perturbed population using high-throughput flow cytometry, deep-sequenced RNAi-targets from each stage and digitally reconstructed cell cycle profiles at a genomic scale; also enabling data visualisation using an online tool (https://tryp-cycle.pages.dev/). Analysis of several hundred genes that impact cell cycle progression reveals >100 flagellar component knockdowns linked to genome endoreduplication, evidence for metabolic control of the G1-S transition, surface antigen regulatory mRNA-binding protein knockdowns linked to G2M accumulation, and a putative nucleoredoxin required for both mitochondrial genome segregation and for mitosis. The outputs provide comprehensive functional genomic evidence for the known and novel machineries, pathways and regulators that coordinate trypanosome cell cycle progression.
Self-supervised image quality assessment for X-ray tomographic images of Li-ion battery
Authors: Zhang Kai , Nguyen Tuan-Tu , Su Zeliang , Demortière Arnaud
Published: September 2022

Image perception plays a fundamental role in the tomography-based approaches for microstructure characterization and has a deep impact on all subsequent stages of image processing, such as segmentation and 3D analysis. The enhancement of image perception, however, frequently involves observer-dependence, which reflects user-to-user dispersion and uncertainties in the calculated parameters. This work presents an objective quantitative method, which uses convolutional neural networks (CNN) for the quality assessment of the X-ray tomographic images. With only dozens of annotations, our method allows to evaluate directly and precisely the quality of tomographic images. Different metrics were employed to evaluate the correlation between our predicted scores and subjective human annotations. The evaluation results demonstrate that our method can be a direct tool to guide the enhancement process in order to produce reliable segmentation results. The processing of the tomographic image can thus evolve into a robust observer-independent procedure and advance towards the development of an efficient self-supervised approach.
Evolution of electronic and magnetic properties of Sr2IrO4 under strain
Authors: Pärschke Ekaterina M. , Chen Wei-Chih , Ray Rajyavardhan , Chen Cheng-Chien
Published: September 2022

Motivated by properties-controlling potential of the strain, we investigate strain dependence of structure, electronic, and magnetic properties of Sr2IrO4 using complementary theoretical tools: ab-initio calculations, analytical approaches (rigid octahedra picture, Slater-Koster integrals), and extended $$t-{{{\mathcal{J}}}}$$

t
−
J

model. We find that strain affects both Ir-Ir distance and Ir-O-Ir angle, and the rigid octahedra picture is not relevant. Second, we find fundamentally different behavior for compressive and tensile strain. One remarkable feature is the formation of two subsets of bond- and orbital-dependent carriers, a compass-like model, under compression. This originates from the strain-induced renormalization of the Ir-O-Ir superexchange and O on-site energy. We also show that under compressive (tensile) strain, Fermi surface becomes highly dispersive (relatively flat). Already at a tensile strain of 1.5%, we observe spectral weight redistribution, with the low-energy band acquiring almost purely singlet character. These results can be directly compared with future experiments.
Terahertz lattice and charge dynamics in ferroelectric semiconductor SnxPb1−xTe
Authors: Okamura Y. , Handa H. , Yoshimi R. , Tsukazaki A. , Takahashi K. S. , Kawasaki M. , Tokura Y. , Takahashi Y.
Published: September 2022

The symmetry breaking induced by the ferroelectric transition often triggers the emergence of topological electronic states such as Weyl fermions in polar metals/semimetals. Such strong coupling between the lattice deformation and electronic states is therefore essentially important for the control of versatile topological phases. Here, we study the terahertz lattice and charge dynamics in ferroelectric semiconductor SnxPb1-xTe thin films hosting versatile topological phases by means of the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. With lowering the temperature, the resonant frequency of transverse optical (TO) phonon shows the significant softening and upturn. This temperature anomaly of lattice dynamics directly indicates the displacive-type ferroelectric transition. The resulting phase diagram suggests the enhancement of ferroelectricity in the films possibly due to compressive strain compared with the bulk crystals. The low-energy TO phonon induces the large DC and terahertz dielectric constant even in metallic state. Furthermore, we find that the Born effective charge of phonon mode is enhanced at around the compositions showing the band gap closing associated with the topological transition.
Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series
Authors: Mull Christopher G. , Pacoureau Nathan , Pardo Sebastián A. , Ruiz Luz Saldaña , García-Rodríguez Emiliano , Finucci Brittany , Haack Max , Harry Alastair , Judah Aaron B. , VanderWright Wade , Yin Jamie S. , Kindsvater Holly K. , Dulvy Nicholas K.
Published: September 2022

A curated database of shark and ray biological data is increasingly necessary both to support fisheries management and conservation efforts, and to test the generality of hypotheses of vertebrate macroecology and macroevolution. Sharks and rays are one of the most charismatic, evolutionary distinct, and threatened lineages of vertebrates, comprising around 1,250 species. To accelerate shark and ray conservation and science, we developed Sharkipedia as a curated open-source database and research initiative to make all published biological traits and population trends accessible to everyone. Sharkipedia hosts information on 58 life history traits from 274 sources, for 170 species, from 39 families, and 12 orders related to length (n = 9 traits), age (8), growth (12), reproduction (19), demography (5), and allometric relationships (5), as well as 871 population time-series from 202 species. Sharkipedia relies on the backbone taxonomy of the IUCN Red List and the bibliography of Shark-References. Sharkipedia has profound potential to support the rapidly growing data demands of fisheries management, international trade regulation as well as anchoring vertebrate macroecology and macroevolution.
A global dataset of microbial community in ticks from metagenome study
Authors: Liu Mei-Chen , Zhang Jing-Tao , Chen Jin-Jin , Zhu Ying , Fu Bo-Kang , Hu Zhen-Yu , Fang Li-Qun , Zhang Xiao-Ai , Liu Wei
Published: September 2022

Ticks are important vectors of various zoonotic pathogens that can infect animals and humans, and most documented tick-borne pathogens have a strong bias towards microorganisms with strong disease phenotypes. The recent development of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has enabled the study of microbial communities, referred to as microbiome. Herein, we undertake a systematic review of published literature to build a comprehensive global dataset of microbiome determined by NGS in field-collected ticks. The dataset comprised 4418 records from 76 literature involving geo-referenced occurrences for 46 species of ticks and 219 microorganism families, revealing a total of 83 emerging viruses identified from 24 tick species belonging to 6 tick genera since 1980. The viral, bacterial and eukaryotic composition was compared regarding the tick species, their live stage and types of the specimens, or the geographic location. The data can assist the further investigation of ecological, biogeographical and epidemiological features of the tick-borne disease.
Limit cycles and chaos in the hybrid atom-optomechanics system
Authors: Xu Xingran , Krisnanda Tanjung , Liew Timothy C. H.
Published: September 2022

We consider atoms in two different periodic potentials induced by different lasers, one of which is coupled to a mechanical membrane via radiation pressure force. The atoms are intrinsically two-level systems that can absorb or emit photons, but the dynamics of their position and momentum are treated classically. On the other hand, the membrane, the cavity field, and the intrinsic two-level atoms are treated quantum mechanically. We show that the mean excitation of the three systems can be stable, periodically oscillating, or in a chaotic state depending on the strength of the coupling between them. We define regular, limit cycle, and chaotic phases, and present a phase diagram where the three phases can be achieved by manipulating the field-membrane and field-atom coupling strengths. We also computed other observable quantities that can reflect the system’s phase such as position, momentum, and correlation functions. Our proposal offers a new way to generate and tune the limit cycle and chaotic phases in a well-established atom-optomechanics system.
Vascular refilling coefficient is not a good marker of whole-body capillary hydraulic conductivity in hemodialysis patients: insights from a simulation study
Authors: Pstras Leszek , Waniewski Jacek , Lindholm Bengt
Published: September 2022

Refilling of the vascular space through absorption of interstitial fluid by micro vessels is a crucial mechanism for maintaining hemodynamic stability during hemodialysis (HD) and allowing excess fluid to be removed from body tissues. The rate of vascular refilling depends on the imbalance between the Starling forces acting across the capillary walls as well as on their hydraulic conductivity and total surface area. Various approaches have been proposed to assess the vascular refilling process during HD, including the so-called refilling coefficient (Kr) that describes the rate of vascular refilling per changes in plasma oncotic pressure, assuming that other Starling forces and the flow of lymph remain constant during HD. Several studies have shown that Kr decreases exponentially during HD, which was attributed to a dialysis-induced decrease in the whole-body capillary hydraulic conductivity (LpS). Here, we employ a lumped-parameter mathematical model of the cardiovascular system and water and solute transport between the main body fluid compartments to assess the impact of all Starling forces and the flow of lymph on vascular refilling during HD in order to explain the reasons behind the observed intradialytic decrease in Kr. We simulated several HD sessions in a virtual patient with different blood priming procedures, ultrafiltration rates, session durations, and constant or variable levels of LpS. We show that the intradialytic decrease in Kr is not associated with a possible reduction of LpS but results from the inherent assumption that plasma oncotic pressure is the only variable Starling force during HD, whereas in fact other Starling forces, in particular the oncotic pressure of the interstitial fluid, have an important impact on the transcapillary fluid exchange during HD. We conclude that Kr is not a good marker of LpS and should not be used to guide fluid removal during HD or to assess the fluid status of dialysis patients.
Simulation of optical radiation force distribution in interference patterns and necessary conditions for chiral structure formation on dielectrics
Authors: Nakata Yoshiki , Tsubakimoto Koji , Shiraga Hiroyuki , Miyanaga Noriaki , Kosaka Yuki , Yoshida Masataka
Published: September 2022

A chiral structure is formed by the optical radiation force induced by a circularly polarized light that has spin angular momentum; chiral structures are expected to be used for light control devices and molecular chirality discrimination devices. In this paper, we clarify the relationship between the differences in the distributions of the optical radiation force and the possibility of formation of chiral structures. We first simulate the optical radiation force distribution in the case of a Gaussian beam that successfully forms a chiral structure. Given a vector $${\varvec{r}}$$

r

with a centre of the light spot $$\mathrm{O}$$
O
and polar coordinates $$R(\left|{\varvec{r}}\right|, \theta )$$

R
(

r

,
θ
)

, and an optical radiation force vector $${\varvec{F}}$$

F

at $$R$$
R
, the angle $${\theta }^{\mathrm{^{\prime}}}=\mathrm{\angle }({\varvec{r}}, {\varvec{F}})$$

θ

′

=
∠

(

r

,

F

)

and $$\left|{\varvec{F}}\right|$$

F

must be constant with respect to the declination angle $$\theta$$
θ
for a chiral structure to form. These conditions are fulfilled in the case of a 6-beam interference pattern, but not in the case of a 4-beam interference pattern, which is consistent with the result that no chiral structure is formed in the latter case. The equations derived for simulation of optical radiation force distribution can be used for any optical intensity distribution, and will be of great help in the research of any dielectrics deformation.
Investigating the nature of mass distribution surrounding the Galactic supermassive black hole
Authors: Chan Man Ho , Lee Chak Man , Yu Chi Wai
Published: September 2022

In the past three decades, many stars orbiting about the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the Galactic Centre (Sgr A*) were identified. Their orbital nature can give stringent constraints for the mass of the SMBH. In particular, the star S2 has completed at least one period since our first detection of its position, which can provide rich information to examine the properties of the SMBH, and the astrophysical environment surrounding the SMBH. Here, we report an interesting phenomenon that if a significant amount of dark matter or stellar mass is distributed around the SMBH, the precession speed of the S2 stellar orbit could be ‘slow down’ by at most 27% compared with that without dark matter surrounding the SMBH, assuming the optimal dark matter scenario. We anticipate that future high quality observational data of the S2 stellar orbit or other stellar orbits can help reveal the actual mass distribution near the SMBH and the nature of dark matter.
Aqueous column changes in the episcleral veins after the instillation of ripasudil versus latanoprost: a randomized, double-blind, crossover clinical trial
Authors: Suzuki Marie , Suzuki Yohei , Komori Ryohei , Orii Yusuke , Arimura Shogo , Iwasaki Kentaro , Takamura Yoshihiro , Inatani Masaru
Published: September 2022

To investigate whether the topical administration of ripasudil ophthalmic solution enhances aqueous outflow in the episcleral vein of the human eye. Two-sequence, prospective, randomized, double-blind, crossover trial. Sixteen eyes of 16 healthy participants were recruited in this study. Participants were randomized into one of the two crossover sequences to the instillation of ripasudil or the control drug, latanoprost, followed by a washout period of more than 2 days, and crossed over to the alternative instillation. The aqueous columns in the episcleral veins were recorded using a video capture system connected to a slit-light microscope (hemoglobin video imaging) before and 2 and 8 h after the instillation. Comparisons between ripasudil and latanoprost for the changes of the aqueous column width after the instillation. Two hours after the instillation, the ripasudil group had significantly greater dilation of the aqueous column width than the latanoprost group. Eight hours after the instillation, the ripasudil group had significantly greater dilation of the aqueous column width than the latanoprost group. Hemoglobin video imaging revealed that the topical administration of ripasudil ophthalmic solution enhanced aqueous outflow in the episcleral vein of the human eye.
Single cell RNA sequencing confirms retinal microglia activation associated with early onset retinal degeneration
Authors: Kumari Asha , Ayala-Ramirez Raul , Zenteno Juan Carlos , Huffman Kristyn , Sasik Roman , Ayyagari Radha , Borooah Shyamanga
Published: September 2022

Mutations in the Membrane-type frizzled related protein (Mfrp) gene results in an early-onset retinal degeneration associated with retinitis pigmentosa, microphthalmia, optic disc drusen and foveal schisis. In the current study, a previously characterized mouse model of human retinal degeneration carrying homozygous c.498_499insC mutations in Mfrp (MfrpKI/KI) was used. Patients carrying this mutation have retinal degeneration at an early age. The model demonstrates subretinal deposits and develops early-onset photoreceptor degeneration. We observed large subretinal deposits in MfrpKI/KI mice which were strongly CD68 positive and co-localized with autofluorescent spots. Single cell RNA sequencing of MfrpKI/KI mice retinal microglia showed a significantly higher number of pan-macrophage marker Iba-1 and F4/80 positive cells with increased expression of activation marker (CD68) and lowered microglial homeostatic markers (TMEM119, P2ry13, P2ry13, Siglech) compared with wild type mice confirming microglial activation as observed in retinal immunostaining showing microglia activation in subretinal region. Trajectory analysis identified a small cluster of microglial cells with activation transcriptomic signatures that could represent a subretinal microglia population in MfrpKI/KI mice expressing higher levels of APOE. We validated these findings using immunofluorescence staining of retinal cryosections and found a significantly higher number of subretinal Iba-1/ApoE positive microglia in MfrpKI/KI mice with some subretinal microglia also expressing lowered levels of microglial homeostatic marker TMEM119, confirming microglial origin. In summary, we confirm that MfrpKI/KI mice carrying the c.498_499insC mutation had a significantly higher population of activated microglia in their retina with distinct subsets of subretinal microglia. Further, studies are required to confirm whether the association of increased subretinal microglia in MfrpKI/KI mice are causal in degeneration.
CBCT artefact-burden of zirconia-based as compared to titanium implants for different beam energies: an analytical approach
Authors: Schulze Ralf
Published: September 2022

Beam hardening artefacts induced by highly-dense material (e.g. metal) is a common quality issue in maxillofacial Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT-) images. This experimental and analytical study investigated attenuation patterns of two typical dental implant materials: zirconia-ceramic and pure titanium. By application of different x-ray beam energies (60, 70, 80, 90 [kVp]) energy-dependent attenuation of these materials is assessed and the resulting artefact induction in the resulting CBCT-images evaluated. A zirconia (Y-TZP-) implant ($$\varnothing$$
∅
: 4.1 mm) and a pure titanium rod ($$\varnothing$$
∅
: 4.0 mm) were exposed in a commercial CBCT (3D Accuitomo 170). The raw two-dimensional (2D) projection radiographs the CBCT utilizes for three-dimensional reconstruction applied for acquisition of attenuation profiles through the circular central slice of the implant-phantom images. Distances the x-rays traverse through the implant-phantoms at this location were computed. Using this information and the linear attenuation coefficient, transmission and attenuation was computed for each material and beam energy. These data were related to beam hardening artefacts that were assessed in the axial reconstructions of the implants’ CBCT images. Transmission of titanium for all peak kilovoltages (kVp) was higher and approximately 200% that of Y-TZP at 60 kVp versus 530% at 90 kVp. At 4 mm diameter transmission for Y-TZP was only approximately 5 % for all four beam-energies. In agreement with this finding, beam hardening artefacts for Y-TZP could not be reduced using higher energies, whereas for titanium they decreased with increasing energy. For the energy spectrum used in this study (60–90 kVp), beam hardening caused by titanium can be reduced using higher energies while this is not the case for zirconia-ceramic (Y-TZP).
3D microfluidics-assisted modeling of glucose transport in placental malaria
Authors: Mosavati Babak , Oleinikov Andrew , Du E.
Published: September 2022

The human placenta is a critical organ, mediating the exchange of nutrients, oxygen, and waste products between fetus and mother. Placental malaria (PM) resulted fromPlasmodium falciparuminfections causes up to 200 thousand newborn deaths annually, mainly due to low birth weight, as well as 10 thousand mother deaths. In this work, a placenta-on-a-chip model is developed to mimic the nutrient exchange between the fetus and mother under the influence of PM. In this model, trophoblasts cells (facing infected or uninfected blood simulating maternal blood and termed “trophoblast side”) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (facing uninfected blood simulating fetal blood and termed “endothelial” side) are cultured on the opposite sides of an extracellular matrix gel in a compartmental microfluidic system, forming a physiological barrier between the co-flow tubular structure to mimic a simplified maternal–fetal interface in placental villi. The influences of infected erythrocytes (IEs) sequestration through cytoadhesion to chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) expressed on the surface of trophoblast cells, a critical feature of PM, on glucose transfer efficiency across the placental barrier was studied. To create glucose gradients across the barrier, uninfected erythrocyte or IE suspension with a higher glucose concentration was introduced into the “trophoblast side” and a culture medium with lower glucose concentration was introduced into the “endothelial side”. The glucose levels in the endothelial channel in response to CSA-adherent erythrocytes infected with CS2 line of parasites in trophoblast channel under flow conditions was monitored. Uninfected erythrocytes served as a negative control. The results demonstrated that CSA-binding IEs added resistance to the simulated placental barrier for glucose perfusion and decreased the glucose transfer across this barrier. The results of this study can be used for better understanding of PM pathology and development of models useful in studying potential treatment of PM.
Posts on central websites need less originality to be noticed
Authors: Coscia Michele , Vandeweerdt Clara
Published: September 2022

Information has major consequences for democracy and society. It is important to understand what factors favor its diffusion. The impact of the content of a message on its likelihood of going viral is poorly understood. Some studies say originality is important for a message not to be overlooked. Others give more relevance to paratextual elements—network centrality, timing, human cognitive limits. Here we propose that originality and centrality interact in a nontrivial way, which might explain why originality by itself is not a good predictor of success. We collected data from Reddit on users sharing hyperlinks. We estimated the originality of each post title and the centrality of the website hosting the shared link. We show that the interaction effect exists: if users share content from a central website, originality no longer increases the odds of receiving at least one upvote. The same is not true for the odds of becoming one of the top 10% scoring posts. We show that originality is concentrated in the domain network: domains in the core of the network produce more original content. Our results imply that research on online information virality needs to take into account the nontrivial interaction between originality and prominence.
Time to CT scan for patients with acute severe neurological symptoms: a quality assurance study
Authors: Pape Pernille , Jensen Alice Herrlin , Bergdal Ove , Munch Tina Nørgaard , Rudolph Søren Steemann , Rasmussen Lars Simon
Published: September 2022

Emergent brain computed tomography (CT) scan allows for identification of patients presenting with acute severe neurological symptoms in whom medical and surgical interventions may be lifesaving. The aim of this study was to evaluate if time to CT from arrival at the emergency department exceeded 30 min in patients admitted with acute severe neurological symptoms. This was a retrospective register-based quality assurance study. We identified patients admitted to the emergency department with acute severe neurological symptoms between April 1st, 2016 and September 30th, 2020. Data were retrieved from the registry of acute medical team activations. We considered that time to CT from arrival at the emergency department should not exceed 30 min in more than 10% of patients. A total of 559 patients were included. Median time from arrival at the emergency department until CT scan was 24 min (IQR 16–35) in children (< 18 years), 10 min (IQR 7–17) for adults (18–59 years), and 11 min (IQR 7–16) for elders (> 60 years). This time interval exceeded 30 min for 8.2% (95% CI 6.1–10.9) of all included patients, 35.3% of children, 5.9% of adults, and 8.6% of elders. No children died within 30 days. The 30-day mortality was 21.3% (95% CI 16.4–27) in adults, and 43.9% (95% CI 38.2–49.8) in elders. Time from arrival at our emergency department until brain CT scan exceeded 30 min in 8.2% of all included patients but exceeded the defined quality aim in children and could be improved.
Effects of virtual body-representation on motor skill learning
Authors: Shin Yongmin , Lim Jaeseo , Kim Yonggwan , Seo Deog-Gyu , Ihm Jungjoon
Published: September 2022

Motor learning is often hindered or facilitated by visual information from one’s body and its movement. However, it is unclear whether visual representation of the body itself facilitates motor learning. Thus, we tested the effects of virtual body-representation on motor learning through a virtual reality rotary pursuit task. In the task, visual feedback on participants’ movements was identical, but virtual body-representation differed by dividing the experimental conditions into three conditions: non-avatar, non-hand avatar, and hand-shaped avatar. We measured the differences in the rate of motor learning, body-ownership, and sense of agency in the three conditions. Although there were no differences in body-ownership and sense of agency between the conditions, the hand-shaped avatar condition was significantly superior to the other conditions in the rate of learning. These findings suggest that visually recognizing one’s body shape facilitates motor learning.
Biochemical characterization of a disease-causing human osteoprotegerin variant
Authors: Luo Yin , Li Miaomiao , Xu Ding
Published: September 2022

Recently, a human mutation of OPG was identified to be associated with familial forms of osteoarthritis. This missense mutation (c.1205A =  > T; p.Stop402Leu) occurs on the stop codon of OPG, which results in a 19-residue appendage to the C-terminus (OPG+19). The biochemical consequence of this unusual sequence alteration remains unknown. Here we expressed OPG+19 in 293 cells and the mutant OPG was purified to homogeneity by heparin affinity chromatography and size exclusion chromatography. We found that in sharp contrast to wildtype OPG, which mainly exists in dimeric form, OPG+19 had a strong tendency to form higher-order oligomers. To our surprise, the hyper-oligomerization of OPG+19 had no impact on how it binds cell surface heparan sulfate, how it inhibits RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis and TRAIL-induced chondrocytes apoptosis. Our data suggest that in biological contexts where OPG is known to play a role, OPG+19 functions equivalently as wildtype OPG. The disease-causing mechanism of OPG+19 likely involves an unknown function of OPG in cartilage homeostasis and mineralization. By demonstrating the biochemical nature of this disease-causing OPG mutant, our study will likely help elucidating the biological roles of OPG in cartilage biology.
TRPA1-mediated repellency behavior in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum
Authors: Shimomura Kenji , Ino Soshi , Tamura Kazuya , Terajima Takehito , Tomizawa Motohiro
Published: September 2022

The sensory perception of irritant chemicals results in escape and repellency behavioral patterns in insects. Transient receptor potential channels are cation channels that function as sensor proteins for several types of signals, such as light, sound, temperature, taste, as well as chemical and physical stimuli; among these, the TRPA channel is widely conserved and activated by irritant chemicals. Certain plant-derived essential oils (EOs), produced by secondary metabolism, are mixtures of volatile compounds, which are used as repellents because they contain environmentally sustainable ingredients. Citronellal, which is present in citronella EO from Cymbopogon species, is a potentially viable insect repellent; however, the repellency capability against coleopteran beetles remains limited. We investigated the citronellal-derived repellency behavior for the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, in which TcTRPA1 and odorant receptor co-receptor (Orco) expressions were mediated by RNA interference. Area-preference tests showed dose-dependent repellency behavior for citronellal; additionally, both TcTRPA1 and TcOrco double-strand RNA (dsRNA) micro-injection showed clear TcTRPA1 and TcOrco transcript reductions, and only TcTRPA1 dsRNA treatment significantly impaired repellency behavior. The relative expression level of the TcTRPA1 transcripts, evaluated by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), revealed dominant expression in the antennae, indicating the antennae-expressed TcTRPA1-mediated repellency behavior.
Real-time energy consumption and air pollution emission during the transpacific crossing of a container ship
Authors: Yeh Chin-Ko , Lin Chitsan , Shen Hsueh-Chen , Cheruiyot Nicholas Kiprotich , Nguyen Duy-Hieu , Chang Chi-Chung
Published: September 2022

This study presents the real-time energy consumption of a container ship’s generator engine on two round-trips from the West Coast of the US to the East Asian ports and analyzes the ship’s PM10, PM2.5, NOx, SOx, CO, and HC emissions, shore power usage, and factors affecting energy consumption. The average total energy consumption and air emissions for the two round trips were 1.72 GWh and 42.1 tons, respectively. The transpacific crossing segment had the highest average energy consumption (2848 ± 361 kWh) and pollutant emission rate (78.9 ± 10.0 kg h−1). On the other hand, the West Coast of the US had the least energy consumption due to shore power adoption. Furthermore, switching from heavy fuel oil (HFO) to ultra-low-sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO) greatly reduced the emissions of PM and SOxby > 96% and NOxby 17.0%. However, CO and HC increased by 16.9% and 36.1%, respectively, implying incomplete combustion. In addition, the energy consumption was influenced by the number of reefers and wind. Therefore, this study recommends further research on energy-efficient reefers, generator engine optimization, and shore power adoption to reduce emissions from container ships.
Morphometric assessment of the left inferior phrenic vein in patients with portal hypertension
Authors: Fujii Yoshimi , Koizumi Jun , Sekiguchi Yuka , Ono Shun , Sekiguchi Tatsuya , Hara Takuya , Hashimoto Jun
Published: September 2022

The left inferior phrenic vein (LIPV) is a major drainage vessel of gastric varices and serves as an important conduit in endovascular treatment for gastric varices. The narrowing of LIPV has been empirically demonstrated and sometimes hinders catheter insertion for the treatment of gastric varices. We herein investigated the morphology of narrowed LIPV in patients with portal hypertension. Venograms of LIPV on 25 patients with gastric varices (15 males; 10 females; age range, 45–79 years with a mean of 67 years) were retrospectively reviewed, the following four parameters were measured: the diameter of LIPV, the diameter of narrowed LIPV, the narrowing rate, and the distance to narrowed LIPV from the left renal vein. On all 25 venograms, a narrowing was detected just above the common trunk with the left adrenal vein. The diameter of LIPV was 9.0 ± 4.2 mm, the diameter of narrowed LIPV was 5.1 ± 2.3 mm, the narrowing rate was 40.6 ± 16.0%, and the distance to narrowed LIPV from the left renal vein was 20.0 ± 7.4 mm. This anatomical information about the narrowing of LIPV may contribute to the safe and efficacious treatment of gastric varices.