bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chromosome-Level Genomes Reveal the Genetic Basis of Descending Dysploidy and Sex Determination in Morus Plants
Authors: Xia Zhongqiang , Dai Xuelei , Fan Wei , Liu Changying , Zhang Meirong , Bian Peipei , Zhou Yuping , Li Liang , Zhu Baozhong , Liu Shuman , Li Zhengang , Wang Xiling , Yu Maode , Xiang Zhonghuai , Jiang Yu , Zhao Aichun
Published: August 2022

Multiple plant lineages have independently evolved sex chromosomes and variable karyotypes to maintain their sessile lifestyles through constant biological innovation. Morus notabilis, a dioecious mulberry species, has the fewest chromosomes among Morus spp., but the genetic basis of sex determination and karyotype evolution in this species has not been identified. In this study, three high-quality genome assemblies were generated for Morus spp. [including dioecious M. notabilis (male and female) and Morus yunnanensis (female)] with genome sizes of 301–329 Mb and were grouped into six pseudochromosomes. Using a combination of genomic approaches, we found that the putative ancestral karyotype of Morus species was close to 14 protochromosomes, and that several chromosome fusion events resulted in descending dysploidy (2n = 2x = 12). We also characterized a ∼ 6.2-Mb sex-determining region on chromosome 3. Four potential male-specific genes, a partially duplicated DNA helicase gene (named MSDH) and three Ty3_Gypsy long terminal repeat retrotransposons (named MSTG1/2/3), were identified in the Y-linked area and considered to be strong candidate genes for sex determination or differentiation. Population genomic analysis showed that Guangdong accessions in China were genetically similar to Japanese accessions of mulberry. In addition, genomic areas containing selective sweeps that distinguish domesticated mulberry from wild populations in terms of flowering and disease resistance were identified. Our study provides an important genetic resource for sex identification research and molecular breeding in mulberry.
Perturbations of graphs for Newton maps I: bounded hyperbolic components
Authors: GAO YAN , NIE HONGMING
Published: August 2022

We consider graphs consisting of finitely many internal rays for degenerating Newton maps and state a convergence result. As an application, we prove that a hyperbolic component in the moduli space of quartic Newton maps is bounded if and only if every element has degree
$2$
on the immediate basin of each root. This provides the first complete description of bounded hyperbolic components in a complex two-dimensional moduli space.
The effects of international judges’ personal characteristics on their judging
Authors: Maučec Gregor , Dothan Shai
Published: August 2022

This Symposium Issue looks at how personal traits of international judges matter in their judging. The articles selected shed light on the ways that international judges’ personality, that is, their character differences and personal backgrounds, shape, control, or modify their conduct and their rulings. The articles in the Symposium reveal that individual international judges have different personal attributes and identities that affect: (i) different aspects of judicial reasoning, problem-solving and case management; (ii) the ways judges interact, deliberate and affect each other in collectively deciding cases; and (iii) the outcomes of international trials. This Symposium, therefore, looks beyond the traditional ‘legal formalistic’ understanding (prevalent also among international judges themselves) that judges – as impartial, rational, and mechanical decision-makers – simply apply existing, recognized rules or principles of law to the facts and questions before a court in the context of concrete cases without regard to any personal leanings and biases. It examines how and to what extent judges at international courts make their choices conditioned on their personal identity characteristics, and when such characteristics exhibit greater or lesser effects on their decision-making.
How Does Automation Risk Shape Social Policy Preference? Employment Insecurity and Policy Feedback Effect in China
Authors: Fan Ziteng , Ning Jing , He Alex Jingwei
Published: August 2022

Workplace automation fueled by technological innovations has been generating social policy implications. Defying the prevalent argument that automation risk triggers employment insecurity and prompts individuals to favour redistribution, this study doesn’t find empirical evidence in the Chinese context. Analysing national survey data, this study reveals a very strong association between automation risk and popular preference for government responsibility in old-age support. Further analysis suggests that more generous local welfare systems generate a reinforcing effect between automation risk and individuals’ support for government involvement in old-age support. In a welfare system in which major redistributive policies are not employment-dependent, automation risk may not necessarily trigger stronger preferences for short-term immediate protection through redistributive programmes, but may stimulate individuals to project their need for social protection towards middle- or longer-term and employment-related policies. The generosity of subnational welfare systems moderates the formation of individuals’ social policy preferences through policy feedback.
Landscape response to deformation in the Sabalan area, NW Iran: Inferred from quantitative morphological and structural analysis
Authors: SABER Reza , CAGLAYAN Ayse , ISIK Veysel
Published: August 2022

The geological and tectonic background of the Sabalan area in NW Iran and its present-day surface processes make it ideal for examining the effects of tectonic processes in shaping the Earth's crust. As a result of the intense distribution of pre-Quaternary and Quaternary structures (e.g., faults, joints and folds), most of the drainage basins in the southern and central parts of the study area have developed under tectonic-dominated conditions, whereas the effects of erosional processes are greater in the north and east. An evaluation of the geomorphic indices using the index of active tectonics (IAT) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methods shows that the AHP results are more reliable than the IAT results and are coherent with the geological and structural conditions of the study area. The geomorphic results are highly consistent with the intensity and distribution of fractures. The majority of fractures have developed in a NW–SE direction, indicating antithetic R′ Riedel fractures to the main NE-SW-trending faults. However, a significant number of the fractures in the study area are NNE–SSW- and NE–SW-oriented R and P fractures and NNW–SSE-oriented tension fractures. Palaeostress analysis of the fault data shows at least two faulting events in the pre-Quaternary and Quaternary, respectively. The pre-Quaternary NNW–SSE-striking dextral strike-slip faults experienced post-Eocene 25–30° clockwise rotation and re-activated as NE–SW-striking sinistral faults during the Quaternary. Although seismic activity is currently low, the consistency of our results with the regional stress data show that the study area is still tectonically active.
Impact of celebrity disclosure on mental health-related stigma
Authors: Gronholm Petra C. , Thornicroft Graham
Published: August 2022

Mental health stigma and discrimination are global problems, and their reduction is recognised as an important public health priority. Involving celebrities in stigma reduction is increasingly common. This Editorial considers the impact of celebrity disclosure on mental health-related stigma; that is, whether and how a famous person openly speaking about their experience of mental health conditions can reduce stigma. Potential explanations for how celebrity mental health disclosures can influence mental health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours are outlined, followed by an overview of evidence on how celebrity disclosure operates to reduce stigma. Considering the available evidence, we provide a number of conclusions and recommendations for how celebrities can effectively be involved in anti-stigma efforts, and what considerations this requires. It is fair to say that celebrity disclosures can support stigma-reduction efforts through increasing the public's awareness of mental health, modelling behaviour and generating openness on speaking about mental health problems, and on seeking help when needed. However, whether celebrity disclosure achieves changes in mental health stigma-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours depends on the extent to which there is a match between the attributes of the famous person, the content shared in their disclosure narrative and the intended audience of the message. Further research is needed on all these questions to better understand how to successfully utilise the potentially huge power of celebrity disclosure in large-scale anti-stigma efforts.
Elastic Anisotropy of Lizardite at Subduction Zone Conditions
Authors: Deng Xin , Luo Chenxing , Wentzcovitch Renata M. , Abers Geoffrey A. , Wu Zhongqing
Published: August 2022

Subduction zones transport water into Earth's deep interior through slab subduction. Serpentine minerals, the primary hydration product of ultramafic peridotite, are abundant in most subduction zones. Characterization of their high‐temperature elasticity, particularly their anisotropy, will help us better estimate the extent of mantle serpentinization and the Earth's deep water cycle. Lizardite, the low‐temperature polymorph of serpentine, is stable under the P‐T conditions of cold subduction slabs (<260°C at 2 GPa), and its high‐temperature elasticity remains unknown. Here we report ab initio elasticity and acoustic wave velocities of lizardite at P‐T conditions of subduction zones. Our static results agree with previous studies. Its high‐temperature velocities are much higher than previous experimental‐based lizardite estimates with chrysotile but closer to antigorite velocities. The elastic anisotropy of lizardite is much larger than that of antigorite and could better account for the observed large shear‐wave splitting in some cold slabs such as Tonga.
Differential microRNA expression analyses across two brain regions in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Dobricic Valerija , Schilling Marcel , Schulz Jessica , Zhu Ling-Shuang , Zhou Chao-Wen , Fuß Janina , Franzenburg Sören , Zhu Ling-Qiang , Parkkinen Laura , Lill Christina M. , Bertram Lars
Published: August 2022

Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Hitherto, sample sizes from differential miRNA expression studies in AD are exceedingly small aggravating any biological inference. To overcome this limitation, we investigated six candidate miRNAs in a large collection of brain samples. Brain tissue was derived from superior temporal gyrus (STG) and entorhinal cortex (EC) from 99 AD patients and 91 controls. MiRNA expression was examined by qPCR (STG) or small RNA sequencing (EC). Brain region-dependent differential miRNA expression was investigated in a transgenic AD mouse model using qPCR and FISH. Total RNA sequencing was used to assess differential expression of miRNA target genes. MiR-129-5p, miR-132-5p, and miR-138-5p were significantly downregulated in AD vs. controls both in STG and EC, while miR-125b-5p and miR-501-3p showed no evidence for differential expression in this dataset. In addition, miR-195-5p was significantly upregulated in EC but not STG in AD patients. The brain region-specific pattern of miR-195-5p expression was corroborated in vivo in transgenic AD mice. Total RNA sequencing identified several novel and functionally interesting target genes of these miRNAs involved in synaptic transmission (GABRB1), the immune-system response (HCFC2) or AD-associated differential methylation (SLC16A3). Using two different methods (qPCR and small RNA-seq) in two separate brain regions in 190 individuals we more than doubled the available sample size for most miRNAs tested. Differential gene expression analyses confirm the likely involvement of miR-129-5p, miR-132-5p, miR-138-5p, and miR-195-5p in AD pathogenesis and highlight several novel potentially relevant target mRNAs.
Enhanced ocean oxygenation during Cenozoic warm periods
Authors: Auderset Alexandra , Moretti Simone , Taphorn Björn , Ebner Pia-Rebecca , Kast Emma , Wang Xingchen T. , Schiebel Ralf , Sigman Daniel M. , Haug Gerald H. , Martínez-García Alfredo
Published: August 2022

Dissolved oxygen (O2) is essential for most ocean ecosystems, fuelling organisms’ respiration and facilitating the cycling of carbon and nutrients. Oxygen measurements have been interpreted to indicate that the ocean’s oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs) are expanding under global warming1,2. However, models provide an unclear picture of future ODZ change in both the near term and the long term3–6. The paleoclimate record can help explore the possible range of ODZ changes in warmer-than-modern periods. Here we use foraminifera-bound nitrogen (N) isotopes to show that water-column denitrification in the eastern tropical North Pacific was greatly reduced during the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO) and the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO). Because denitrification is restricted to oxygen-poor waters, our results indicate that, in these two Cenozoic periods of sustained warmth, ODZs were contracted, not expanded. ODZ contraction may have arisen from a decrease in upwelling-fuelled biological productivity in the tropical Pacific, which would have reduced oxygen demand in the subsurface. Alternatively, invigoration of deep-water ventilation by the Southern Ocean may have weakened the ocean’s ‘biological carbon pump’, which would have increased deep-ocean oxygen. The mechanism at play would have determined whether the ODZ contractions occurred in step with the warming or took centuries or millennia to develop. Thus, although our results from the Cenozoic do not necessarily apply to the near-term future, they might imply that global warming may eventually cause ODZ contraction.
Non-viral, specifically targeted CAR-T cells achieve high safety and efficacy in B-NHL
Authors: Zhang Jiqin , Hu Yongxian , Yang Jiaxuan , Li Wei , Zhang Mingming , Wang Qingcan , Zhang Linjie , Wei Guoqing , Tian Yue , Zhao Kui , Chen Ang , Tan Binghe , Cui Jiazhen , Li Deqi , Li Yi , Qi Yalei , Wang Dongrui , Wu Yuxuan , Li Dali , Du Bing , Liu Mingyao , Huang He
Published: August 2022

Recently, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has shown great promise in treating haematological malignancies1–7. However, CAR-T cell therapy currently has several limitations8–12. Here we successfully developed a two-in-one approach to generate non-viral, gene-specific targeted CAR-T cells through CRISPR–Cas9. Using the optimized protocol, we demonstrated feasibility in a preclinical study by inserting an anti-CD19 CAR cassette into the AAVS1 safe-harbour locus. Furthermore, an innovative type of anti-CD19 CAR-T cell with PD1 integration was developed and showed superior ability to eradicate tumour cells in xenograft models. In adoptive therapy for relapsed/refractory aggressive B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04213469), we observed a high rate (87.5%) of complete remission and durable responses without serious adverse events in eight patients. Notably, these enhanced CAR-T cells were effective even at a low infusion dose and with a low percentage of CAR+ cells. Single-cell analysis showed that the electroporation method resulted in a high percentage of memory T cells in infusion products, and PD1 interference enhanced anti-tumour immune functions, further validating the advantages of non-viral, PD1-integrated CAR-T cells. Collectively, our results demonstrate the high safety and efficacy of non-viral, gene-specific integrated CAR-T cells, thus providing an innovative technology for CAR-T cell therapy.
Promoting pedestrian ecomobility in Riyadh City for sustainable urban development
Authors: Katar Ihab
Published: August 2022

As the world is giving climate change a higher priority, several Coalitions are working on meeting a clean and green environment (SDG 13), focusing on new streets’ design in total urban development. A previous study discussed the pedestrian mobility status in Riyadh city, with attention to sustainable mobility, considering the pedestrians’ traveling patterns that use their cars rather than public transportation. This paper investigates the Ecomobility that seeks to promote the integration of passenging, cycling, wheeling, and walking. This approach will provide better health (SDG 3), clean air, mobility and accessibility, noise avoidance, greenhouse gas emission reduction, individual cost savings, and energy efficiency (SDG 11). It analyzes the pedestrians’ traveling modes in Riyadh city through a case study of the Prince Sultan University’s (PSU) community, then evaluates the pedestrians’ environment quality in the campus surroundings. Analysis used a web-based survey referred to the PSU people, including Students, Faculty, and Staff. On the other hand, the pedestrian’s environment quality was evaluated on-site built on well-constructed criteria. The assessment’s results addressed the factors influencing pedestrian choices and underlined the barriers to transformation to Ecomobility. They revealed that around 73% of the respondents expressed willingness to transform to ecomobility modes. About 52% of the survey sample preferred the public bus option. For the non-motorized options, students preferred cycling and wheeling modes, while faculty members and staff preferred walking. Based on conclusions, recommendations are proposed to foster pedestrian ecomobility for sustainable urban development in Riyadh city.
The importance of visual control and biomechanics in the regulation of gesture-speech synchrony for an individual deprived of proprioceptive feedback of body position.
Authors: Pouw Wim , Harrison Steven J. , Dixon James A.
Published: August 2022

Do communicative actions such as gestures fundamentally differ in their control mechanisms from other actions? Evidence for such fundamental differences comes from a classic gesture-speech coordination experiment performed with a person (IW) with deafferentation (McNeill, 2005). Although IW has lost both his primary source of information about body position (i.e., proprioception) and discriminative touch from the neck down, his gesture-speech coordination has been reported to be largely unaffected, even if his vision is blocked. This is surprising because, without vision, his object-directed actions almost completely break down. We examine the hypothesis that IW’s gesture-speech coordination is supported by the biomechanical effects of gesturing on head posture and speech. We find that when vision is blocked, there are micro-scale increases in gesture-speech timing variability, consistent with IW’s reported experience that gesturing is difficult without vision. Supporting the hypothesis that IW exploits biomechanical consequences of the act of gesturing, we find that: (1) gestures with larger physical impulses co-occur with greater head movement, (2) gesture-speech synchrony relates to larger gesture-concurrent head movements (i.e. for bimanual gestures), (3) when vision is blocked, gestures generate more physical impulse, and (4) moments of acoustic prominence couple more with peaks of physical impulse when vision is blocked. It can be concluded that IW’s gesturing ability is not based on a specialized language-based feedforward control as originally concluded from previous research, but is still dependent on a varied means of recurrent feedback from the body.
Genetic pattern and demographic history of cutlassfish (Trichiurus nanhaiensis) in South China Sea by the influence of Pleistocene climatic oscillations
Authors: Gu Sui , Yan Yun-Rong , Yi Mu-Rong , Luo Zhi-Sen , Wen Hui , Jiang Chang-Ping , Lin Hung-Du , He Xiong-Bo
Published: August 2022

Trichiurus nanhaiensis is one of the most important commercial fish species in the South China Sea. This study aimed to investigate the level of genetic variation and population genetic structure of T. nanhaiensis in the South China Sea for the first time, using 281 individuals collected from seven locations along the coast of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hainan Island. A high level of haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity were detected in the mitochondrial DNA cyt b gene and nuDNA RYR 3 gene. The overall expected heterozygosity (He = 0.693) among the seven populations ranged from 0.681 to 0.706 in microsatellite DNA data, which revealed high levels of genetic diversity. Significant genetic differentiation was found in Taidong populations in Taiwan, revealing the prevention of gene flow caused by the Kuroshio Current. Two major lineages based on the cyt b gene suggested that the Taiwan Strait acted as a geographic barrier for T. nanhaiensis during the glacier periods in the late Pleistocene. The Bayesian skyline plot also revealed that population demographic expansion of T. nanhaiensis was estimated to have occurred in 0.1 Mya. Our results indicated that all populations of T. nanhaiensis had experienced a recent genetic bottleneck following recent expansion based on ABC analysis.
Hand explorations are determined by the characteristics of the perceptual space of real-world materials from silk to sand
Authors: Dövencioǧlu Dicle N. , Üstün F. Seyhun , Doerschner Katja , Drewing Knut
Published: August 2022

Perceiving mechanical properties of objects, i.e., how they react to physical forces, is a crucial ability in many aspects of life, from choosing an avocado to picking your clothes. There is, a wide variety of materials that differ substantially in their mechanical properties. For example, both, silk and sand deform and change shape in response to exploration forces, but each does so in very different ways. Studies show that the haptic perceptual space has multiple dimensions corresponding to the physical properties of textures, however in these experiments the range of materials or exploratory movements were restricted. Here we investigate the perceptual dimensionality in a large set of real materials in a free haptic exploration task. Thirty-two participants actively explored deformable and non-deformable materials with their hands and rated them on several attributes. Using the semantic differential technique, video analysis and linear classification, we found four haptic dimensions, each associated with a distinct set of hand and finger movements during active exploration. Taken together our findings suggest that the physical, particularly the mechanical, properties of a material systematically affect how it is explored on a much more fine-grained level than originally thought.
Lipase-mediated Baeyer–Villiger oxidation of benzylcyclopentanones in ester solvents and deep eutectic solvents
Authors: Mazur Marcelina , Janeczko Tomasz , Gładkowski Witold
Published: August 2022

This work presents the chemo-enzymatic Baeyer–Villiger oxidation of α-benzylcyclopentanones in ester solvents as well as deep eutectic solvents (DES). In the first part of the work the effect of selected reaction conditions on the reaction rate was determined. The oxidation process was most effective in ethyl acetate at 55 °C, with the use of lipase B from Candida antarctica immobilized on acrylic resin and UHP as oxidant. Ultimately, these preliminary studies prompted the development of an effective method for the implementation of lipase-mediated Baeyer–Villiger oxidation of benzylcyclopentanones in DES. The highest conversion was indicated when the oxidizing agent was a component of DESs (minimal DESs). The fastest conversion of ketones to lactones was observed in a mixture of choline chloride with urea hydrogen peroxide. In this case, after 3 days, the conversion of the ketones to lactones products exceeded 92% for all substrates. As a result, two new lactones were obtained and fully characterized by spectroscopic data.
Enhanced catalytic activity of MOF-74 via providing additional open metal sites for cyanosilylation of aldehydes
Authors: Jun Hyeji , Oh Sojin , Lee Gihyun , Oh Moonhyun
Published: August 2022

The preparation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) having many open metal sites is an excellent approach for the development of highly active MOF-based catalysts. Herein, well-defined rice-shaped MOF-74 microparticles having structural defects are prepared by incorporating two analogous organic linkers [2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-bezenedicarboxylic acid (DHBDC) and 2-hydroxy-1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (HBDC)] within the MOF-74 structure. The replacement of some of DHBDC in MOF-74 by HBDC causes the structural defects (excluding some of the bridged hydroxyl groups), and these structural defects provide the additional open metal sites within MOF-74. Finally, the additional open metal sites within MOF-74 result in the enhanced catalytic activity for the cyanosilylation of several aldehydes. A series of MOF-74s is prepared with various incorporated amounts of HBDC, and the optimum ratio between DHBDC and HBDC in MOF-74 to achieving the best catalytic performance is determined. In addition, the defected MOF-74 displays an excellent recyclability for the catalytic reaction.
Development and evaluation of a scoring system for assessing incisions in laser surgery
Authors: Hohmann Martin , Kühn David , Späth Moritz , Rohde Max , Stelzle Florian , Klämpfl Florian , Schmidt Michael
Published: August 2022

The idea of laser surgery is nearly as old as the laser itself. From the first trials to modern laser surgery systems, it was and is the aim to selectively cut the tissue in the focus spot without causing harm to surrounding structures. This is only possible when the correct parameters for the surgical laser are chosen. Usually, this is done by parameter studies. However, the concrete evaluation scheme often differs between groups and more precise approaches require staining and microscopic evaluation. To overcome these issues, a macroscopic scoring system is presented and evaluated. It can be shown that the scoring system works well and, thus, a laser cut can be evaluated within a few seconds. At the same time, the whole cutting front is taken into account. The presented scoring system is evaluated by the intra class correlation (ICC). The final agreement between different raters is more than 0.7. Therefore, the scoring system can be used to optimize and evaluate the cutting process and it should be suitable for comparing the results between different groups. Definitely, it can be applied for scoring within a group to enable e.g., a profound statistical analysis for a parameter study.
The healthy equine uterus harbors a distinct core microbiome plus a rich and diverse microbiome that varies with geographical location
Authors: Holyoak G. R. , Premathilake H. U. , Lyman C. C. , Sones J. L. , Gunn A. , Wieneke X. , DeSilva U.
Published: August 2022

The goal of this study was to understand the composition and existence of the resident uterine microbiome in healthy mares and to establish the presence of a core microbiome for the healthy equine uterus. We analyzed the microbiomes of 35 healthy mares that are long-time residents of three farms in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Australia as well as that of 19 mares purchased from scattered owners in the Southern Mid-Western states of the United States. Over 6 million paired-end reads of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene were obtained resulting in 19,542 unique Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs). ASVs were assigned to 17 known phyla and 213 known genera. Most abundant genera across all animals were Pseudomonas (27%) followed by Lonsdalea (8%), Lactobacillus (7.5%), Escherichia/Shigella (4.5%), and Prevotella (3%). Oklahoma and Louisiana samples were dominated by Pseudomonas (75%). Lonsdalea (28%) was the most abundant genus in the Australian samples but was not found in any other region. Microbial diversity, richness, and evenness of the equine uterine microbiome is largely dependent on the geographical location of the animal. However, we observed a core uterine microbiome consisting of Lactobacillus, Escherichia/Shigella, Streptococcus, Blautia, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, and Peptoanaerobacter.
Multi-spectroscopic, thermodynamic, and molecular docking/dynamic approaches for characterization of the binding interaction between calf thymus DNA and palbociclib
Authors: Magdy Galal , Shaldam Moataz A. , Belal Fathalla , Elmansi Heba
Published: August 2022

Studying the binding interaction between biological macromolecules and small molecules has formed the core of different research aspects. The interaction of palbociclib with calf thymus DNA at simulated physiological conditions (pH 7.4) was studied using different approaches, including spectrophotometry, spectrofluorimetry, FT-IR spectroscopy, viscosity measurements, ionic strength measurements, thermodynamic, molecular dynamic simulation, and docking studies. The obtained findings showed an apparent binding interaction between palbociclib and calf thymus DNA. Groove binding mode was confirmed from the findings of competitive binding studies with ethidium bromide or rhodamine B, UV–Vis spectrophotometry, and viscosity assessment. The binding constant (Kb) at 298 K calculated from the Benesi–Hildebrand equation was found to be 6.42 × 103 M−1. The enthalpy and entropy changes (∆H0 and ∆S0) were − 33.09 kJ mol−1 and 61.78 J mol−1 K−1, respectively, showing that hydrophobic and hydrogen bonds constitute the primary binding forces. As indicated by the molecular docking results, palbociclib fits into the AT-rich region of the B-DNA minor groove with four base pairs long binding site. The dynamic performance and stability of the formed complex were also evaluated using molecular dynamic simulation studies. The in vitro study of the intermolecular binding interaction of palbociclib with calf thymus DNA could guide future clinical and pharmacological studies for the rational drug scheming with enhanced or more selective activity and greater efficacy.
Association of pre- and postoperative αKlotho levels with long-term remission after pituitary surgery for acromegaly
Authors: Neidert Marian Christoph , Zeitlberger Anna Maria , Leske Henning , Tschopp Oliver , Sze Lisa , Zwimpfer Cornelia , Wiesli Peter , Bellut David , Bernays René-Ludwig , Rushing Elisabeth Jane , Schmid Christoph
Published: August 2022

Soluble αKlotho (sKl) is a disease-specific biomarker that is elevated in patients with acromegaly and declines after surgery for pituitary adenoma. Approximately 25% of patients do not achieve remission after surgery, therefore a risk stratification for patients early in the course of their disease may allow for the identification of patients requiring adjuvant treatment. Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) have been assessed as biomarker for disease activity, however the value of sKl as a predictive biomarker of surgical success has not been evaluated yet. In this study, we measured serum biomarkers before and after transsphenoidal pituitary surgery in 55 treatment-naïve patients. Based on biochemical findings at follow-up (7–16 years), we divided patients into three groups: (A) long-term cure (defined by normal IGF-1 and random low GH (< 1 μg/l) or a suppressed GH nadir (< 0.4/μg/l) on oral glucose testing); (B) initial remission with later disease activity; (C) persistent clinical and/or biochemical disease activity. sKl levels positively related to GH, IGF-1 levels and tumor volume. Interestingly, there was a statistically significant difference in pre- and postoperative levels of sKl between the long-term cure group and the group with persistent disease activity. This study provides first evidence that sKl may serve as an additional marker for surgical success, decreasing substantially in all patients with initial clinical remission while remaining high after surgery in patients with persistent disease activity.
Polarimetric observables for the enhanced visualization of plant diseases
Authors: Rodríguez Carla , Garcia-Caurel Enrique , Garnatje Teresa , Serra i Ribas Mireia , Luque Jordi , Campos Juan , Lizana Angel
Published: August 2022

This paper highlights the potential of using polarimetric methods for the inspection of plant diseased tissues. We show how depolarizing observables are a suitable tool for the accurate discrimination between healthy and diseased tissues due to the pathogen infection of plant samples. The analysis is conducted on a set of different plant specimens showing various disease symptoms and infection stages. By means of a complete image Mueller polarimeter, we measure the experimental Mueller matrices of the samples, from which we calculate a set of metrics analyzing the depolarization content of the inspected leaves. From calculated metrics, we demonstrate, in a qualitative and quantitative way, how depolarizing information of vegetal tissues leads to the enhancement of image contrast between healthy and diseased tissues, as well as to the revelation of wounded regions which cannot be detected by means of regular visual inspections. Moreover, we also propose a pseudo-colored image method, based on the depolarizing metrics, capable to further enhance the visual image contrast between healthy and diseased regions in plants. The ability of proposed methods to characterize plant diseases (even at early stages of infection) may be of interest for preventing yield losses due to different plant pathogens.
A tree search algorithm towards solving Ising formulated combinatorial optimization problems
Authors: Cen Yunuo , Das Debasis , Fong Xuanyao
Published: August 2022

Simulated annealing (SA) attracts more attention among classical heuristic algorithms because many combinatorial optimization problems can be easily recast as the ground state search problem of the Ising Hamiltonian. However, for practical implementation, the annealing process cannot be arbitrarily slow and hence, it may deviate from the expected stationary Boltzmann distribution and become trapped in a local energy minimum. To overcome this problem, this paper proposes a heuristic search algorithm by expanding search space from a Markov chain to a recursive depth limited tree based on SA, where the parent and child nodes represent the current and future spin states. At each iteration, the algorithm selects the best near-optimal solution within the feasible search space by exploring along the tree in the sense of “look ahead”. Furthermore, motivated by the coherent Ising machine (CIM), the discrete representation of spin states is relaxed to a continuous representation with a regularization term, which enables the use of the reduced dynamics of the oscillators to explore the surrounding neighborhood of the selected tree nodes. We tested our algorithm on a representative NP-hard problem (MAX-CUT) to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared to semi-definite programming (SDP), SA, and simulated CIM. Our results show that with the primal heuristics SA and CIM, our high-level tree search strategy is able to provide solutions within fewer epochs for Ising formulated combinatorial optimization problems.
Identification and validation of a novel prognostic model of inflammation-related gene signature of lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Luo Dayuan , Feng Wei , Ma Yunqian , Jiang Zhibin
Published: August 2022

Previous literatures have suggested the importance of inflammatory response during lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) development. This study aimed at exploring the inflammation-related genes and developing a prognostic signature for predicting the prognosis of LUAD. Survival‑associated inflammation-related genes were identified by univariate Cox regression analysis in the dataset of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) penalized Cox regression model was used to derive a risk signature which is significantly negatively correlated with OS and divide samples into high-, medium- and low-risk group. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses suggested that the level of risk group was an independent prognostic factor of the overall survival (OS). Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve indicated the AUC of 1-, 3- and 5-years of the risk signature was 0.715, 0.719, 0.699 respectively. A prognostic nomogram was constructed by integrating risk group and clinical features. The independent dataset GSE30219 of Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) was used for verification. We further explored the differences among risk groups in Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), tumor mutation and tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, Single Sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) and the results of Cell-type Identification By Estimating Relative Subsets Of RNA Transcripts (CIBERSORT) suggested the status of immune cell infiltration was highly associated with risk groups. We demonstrated the prediction effect of CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in the low-risk group was better than that in the high-risk group using two methods of immune score include immunophenoscore from The Cancer Immunome Atlas (TCIA) and TIDE score from Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE). In addition, partial targeted drugs and chemotherapy drugs for lung cancer had higher drug sensitivity in the high-risk group. Our findings provide a foundation for future research targeting inflammation-related genes to predictive prognosis and some reference significance for the selection of immunotherapy and drug regimen for lung adenocarcinoma.
Clinical implementation of a bionic hand controlled with kineticomyographic signals
Authors: Moradi Ali , Rafiei Hamed , Daliri Mahla , Akbarzadeh-T. Mohammad-R. , Akbarzadeh Alireza , Naddaf-Sh. Amir-M. , Naddaf-Sh. Sadra
Published: August 2022

Sensing the proper signal could be a vital piece of the solution to the much evading attributes of prosthetic hands, such as robustness to noise, ease of connectivity, and intuitive movement. Towards this end, magnetics tags have been recently suggested as an alternative sensing mechanism to the more common EMG signals. Such sensing technology, however, is inherently invasive and hence only in simulation stages of magnet localization to date. Here, for the first time, we report on the clinical implementation of implanted magnetic tags for an amputee's prosthetic hand from both the medical and engineering perspectives. Specifically, the proposed approach introduces a flexor–extensor tendon transfer surgical procedure to implant the tags, artificial neural networks to extract human intention directly from the implanted magnet's magnetic fields -in short KineticoMyoGraphy (KMG) signals- rather than localizing them, and a game strategy to examine the proposed algorithms and rehabilitate the patient with his new prosthetic hand. The bionic hand's ability is then tested following the patient's intended gesture type and grade. The statistical results confirm the possible utility of surgically implanted magnetic tags as an accurate sensing interface for recognizing the intended gesture and degree of movement between an amputee and his bionic hand.
Analysis of the impact of success on three dimensions of sustainability in 173 countries
Authors: Kaklauskas A. , Kaklauskiene L.
Published: August 2022

The United Nations have announced 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets, which are indivisible and integrated, and which balance the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This indicates that the performance of successful nations is generally good across many sustainability indicators. Our results, based on multi-criteria and statistical analysis across 173 countries, suggest an interconnection between a country’s sustainability 12 indicators and success. This article focuses on the Country Success and Sustainability (CSS) Maps and Models of the World, which show that improvements in environmental, social, and economic sustainability indicators lead to improvements in the country's success, and vice versa. The CSS Models explain 98.2% of national success and 80.8% of the three dimensions of average sustainability dispersions. When a nation’s success increases by 1%, the 12 indicators of the three dimensions of sustainability improve by 0.85% on average. The human development index and GDP per capita were the success variables with the most substantial impact on 12 sustainability indicators in 173 countries. Calculations made using equal and different weights of 17 criteria show a deviation of 5.34% for the priorities of these 173 countries.
Contrasting effects of sleep fragmentation and angiotensin-II treatment upon pro-inflammatory responses of mice
Authors: Ensminger David C. , Wheeler Nicholas D. , Al Makki Reem , Eads Kristen N. , Ashley Noah T.
Published: August 2022

Disordered sleep promotes inflammation in brain and peripheral tissues, but the mechanisms that regulate these responses are poorly understood. One hypothesis is that activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) from sleep loss elevates blood pressure to promote vascular sheer stress leading to inflammation. As catecholamines produced from SNS activation can directly regulate inflammation, we pharmacologically altered blood pressure using an alternative approach-manipulation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Male C57BL6/J mice were treated with angiotensin or captopril to elevate and reduce blood pressure, respectively and then exposed to 24-h of sleep fragmentation (SF) or allowed to sleep (control). Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine gene expression and as endothelial adhesion gene expression as well as serum glucocorticoids (corticosterone) were measured. RAS manipulation elevated cytokines and endothelial adhesion expression in heart and aorta while SF increased cytokine expression in peripheral tissues, but not brain. However, there were interactive effects of angiotensin-II and SF upon cytokine gene expression in hippocampus and hypothalamus, but not prefrontal cortex. SF, but not RAS manipulation, elevated serum corticosterone concentration. These findings highlight the contrasting effects of RAS manipulation and SF, implying that inflammation from SF is acting on different pathways that are largely independent of RAS manipulation.
LINC00511/hsa-miR-573 axis-mediated high expression of Gasdermin C associates with dismal prognosis and tumor immune infiltration of breast cancer
Authors: Sun Kai , Chen Ri-xin , Li Jing-zhang , Luo Zhan-xiong
Published: August 2022

Breast cancer (BC) is considered the second commonest human carcinoma and the most incident and mortal in the female population. Despite promising treatments for breast cancer, mortality rates of metastatic disease remain high. Gasdermin C (GSDMC) is an affiliate of the gasdermin (GSDM) family, which is involved in the process of pyroptosis. Pyroptosis is implicated in tumorigenesis, but the role of GSDMC in cancer cells is yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the role and mechanism of GSDMC in breast cancer. We conducted a pan-cancer analysis of the expression and prognosis of GSDMC utilizing multidimensional data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We investigated GSDMC expression levels in 15 BC tissues and matched adjacent normal tissues by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Further verification was performed in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. We discovered that elevated GSDMC expression was considerably linked to a worse prognosis in breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA). Next, we identified noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) which contributing to higher expression of GSDMC by a series of expression, survival, and correlation analysis. We finally identified LINC00511/hsa-miR-573 axis to be the most promising ncRNA-associated pathways that account for GSDMC in BRCA. Furthermore, we demonstrated the significant correlations between GSDMC expression and immune infiltrates, immune checkpoints, and immune markers in BRCA. This study illustrated that ncRNAs-mediated upregulation of GSDMC linked to dismal prognosis and also exhibited a correlation with tumor immune cell infiltration in BRCA. It is anticipated to offer novel ideas for the link between pyroptosis and tumor immunotherapy.
Structural and biochemical evidence for the emergence of a calcium-regulated actin cytoskeleton prior to eukaryogenesis
Authors: Akıl Caner , Tran Linh T. , Orhant-Prioux Magali , Baskaran Yohendran , Senju Yosuke , Takeda Shuichi , Chotchuang Phatcharin , Muengsaen Duangkamon , Schulte Albert , Manser Edward , Blanchoin Laurent , Robinson Robert C.
Published: August 2022

Charting the emergence of eukaryotic traits is important for understanding the characteristics of organisms that contributed to eukaryogenesis. Asgard archaea and eukaryotes are the only organisms known to possess regulated actin cytoskeletons. Here, we determined that gelsolins (2DGels) from Lokiarchaeota (Loki) and Heimdallarchaeota (Heim) are capable of regulating eukaryotic actin dynamics in vitro and when expressed in eukaryotic cells. The actin filament severing and capping, and actin monomer sequestering, functionalities of 2DGels are strictly calcium controlled. We determined the X-ray structures of Heim and Loki 2DGels bound actin monomers. Each structure possesses common and distinct calcium-binding sites. Loki2DGel has an unusual WH2-like motif (LVDV) between its two gelsolin domains, in which the aspartic acid coordinates a calcium ion at the interface with actin. We conclude that the calcium-regulated actin cytoskeleton predates eukaryogenesis and emerged in the predecessors of the last common ancestor of Loki, Heim and Thorarchaeota.
Spherical α-helical polypeptide-mediated E2F1 silencing against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI)
Authors: Zhu Rongying , Hou Mengying , Zhou Yang , Ye Huan , Chen Lei , Ge Chenglong , Duan Shanzhou , Yin Lichen , Chen Yongbing
Published: August 2022

Spherical α-helical polypeptide (SPP) mediated effective E2F1 silencing in the myocardium for the treatment of ischemia reperfusion injury.
Efficient covalent capping of carbon and gold with TEMPO for catalysis and spin writing
Authors: Romanovs Vitalijs , Sidorkin Valery , Doronina Evgeniya , Jouikov Viatcheslav
Published: August 2022

TEMPO-covered redox-switchable paramagnetic interfaces were prepared by covalent cathodic grafting of a diamagnetic iodoalkyl precursor.
Pyrochlore-structural Nd2Ta2O5N2 photocatalyst with an absorption edge of over 600 nm for Z-scheme overall water splitting
Authors: Zou Hai , Qi Yu , Du Shiwen , Liu Lifang , Xin Xueshang , Bao Yunfeng , Wang Shuowen , Feng Zhaochi , Zhang Fuxiang
Published: August 2022

A pyrochlore-structural oxynitride Nd2Ta2O5N2 with a visible light absorption edge of ca. 620 nm was firstly explored to function as an effective H2-evolving photocatalyst for promising photocatalytic Z-scheme overall water splitting.
Phosphenic isocyanate (O2PNCO): gas-phase generation, characterization, and photodecomposition reactions
Authors: Zhu Bifeng , Jiang Junjie , Lu Bo , Li Xiaolong , Jiang Xin , Rauhut Guntram , Zeng Xiaoqing
Published: August 2022

Phosphenic isocyanate (O2PNCO) has been generated and characterized, and its photodecomposition via the intermediacy of two exotic small molecules O2PN and OPNO in the triplet ground state has been disclosed.
Engineered myoglobin as a catalyst for atom transfer radical cyclisation
Authors: Lubskyy Andriy , Guo Chao , Chadwick Robert J. , Petri-Fink Alke , Bruns Nico , Pellizzoni Michela M.
Published: August 2022

Myoglobin was subjected to site-directed mutagenesis and transformed into a catalyst able to perform the atom transfer radical reaction.
A small-data-driven model for predicting adsorption properties in polymeric thin films
Authors: Han Uiyoung , Kang Taegyu , Im Jongho , Hong Jinkee
Published: August 2022

By performing regression analysis of the adsorption of a polymer, predictive modeling of the properties of a thin film even with a small data set is possible.
Photochemical alkynylation of hydrosilanes by iron catalysis
Authors: Ding Ling , Liu Yuxiu , Niu Kaikai , Wang Qingmin
Published: August 2022

We have developed a method for iron-catalyzed, visible-light-induced alknylation of hydrosilanes reaction. A chlorine radical acts as a hydrogen atom transfer reagent to generate a silyl radical, which reacts with the sulfone substrates to form a Si–C bond.