bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Combination Treatments of Apigenin and Chemotherapy on Apoptosis- Related Genes and Proteins in Acute Leukaemia Cell Lines
Authors: Mahbub Amani A. , Maitre Christine L. Le , Cross Neil A. , Jordan-Mahy Nicola
Published: November 2021

Apigenin is a dietary polyphenol found abundantly in fruit and vegetables. It has been shown to sensitize acute lymphoid and myeloid leukaemia cells to topoisomerase inhibitor agents (e.g., etoposide), and alkylating agents (e.g., cyclophosphamide), reducing ATP levels and inducing apoptosis; whilst being protective to control haematopoietic stem cells. This study analysed the expression profiles of intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis-related genes and proteins to help elucidate the mechanisms of action of apigenin when used in combination with etoposide or cyclophosphamide in acute lymphoid and myeloid leukaemia cells (Jurkat and THP-1). Expression of apoptosis-related genes were measured using a TaqMan® Human Apoptosis Array and the StepOne Plus RT-qPCR System, whilst apoptosis-related proteins were determined using a protein profilerTM-human apoptosis array and the LI-COR OdysseyR Infrared Imaging System. Apigenin when combined with etoposide or cyclophosphamide-induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway, increasing the expression of pro-apoptotic cytochrome c, SMAC/DIABLO, and HTRA2/OMI, which promoted caspase-9 and -3 activation. Targeting anti-apoptotic and/or pro-apoptotic members of the apoptotic pathways is a promising strategy to induce cancer cell death and improve sensitivity to chemotherapy agents.Here apigenin in combination with etoposide or cyclophosphamide induced apoptosis in leukaemia cells and may have clinical potential in the treatment of leukaemia.
Toward the Creation of Disaster-Resilient Communities: The Machizukuri Initiative – the 2011 Tōhoku Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
Authors: Siawsh Nidam Marcus , Peszynski Konrad , Vo-Tran Huan , Young Leslie
Published: November 2021

Community engagement and involvement is an essential component of managing and responding to disasters. In Japan, greater community involvement and increased participation of its citizens has been encouraged through the machizukuri initiative. The machizukuri are local community councils that played a pivotal role in the recovery efforts following the Tōhoku Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GETET) that devastated much of northern Japan in 2011. However, their role in those efforts is not well understood.Thus, the aim of this study was to better understand the role and impact of local communities in responding to and recovering from disasters through examining the role of the machizukuri following the GEJET. An exploratory approach was adopted, and semi-structured interviews were undertaken with eight key decision-makers involved in recovery efforts. Key themes were identified including the overwhelming nature of the GEJET for which Japan was unprepared, and while the central government enacted their disaster management plans, responses were slow and failed to address local priorities. To compensate, the local community and machizukuri assisted and successfully united the local community to fill a gap left by the centralized governments’ approach. It is an example of an effective bottom-up approach to address a critical issue. However, the efforts were hindered by a lack of coordination between the various government bodies and aid organisations as well as communication failures that prevented a more coherent response. Recommendations were made to assist countries to remediate these shortcomings and respond more effectively to disasters.
Exosome-delivered miR-15a/16 Targets PD-L1 to Inhibit Immune Escape in Gastric Cancer
Authors: Yang Changliang , Zhang Qiumo , Zuo Mengsi , Yang Jiayu , Ning Tao , Deng Ting , Liu Rui , Bai Ming , Zhang Haiyang , Ying Guoguang , Ba Yi
Published: November 2021

Recently, immunotherapy targeting immune checkpoints, especially PD-1/PD-L1 blockade, has been demonstrated to play a crucial role in numerous malignancies to rejuvenate disabled T cells to achieve long-term remission. However, the underlying mechanism of PD-L1 expression dysregulation in gastric cancer (GC) has not been revealed. The present study aimed to determine whether artificially modified exosomes transporting miR-15a/16 target PD-L1 and inhibit immune escape in GC. Modified exosomes serve as novel nanoliposomes to suppress tumor growth and inhibit immune escape by targeting PD-L1 in vivo and in vitro. The present study also suggested that the combination of exosomal miR-15a/16 can be used in immunotherapy against tumors, including gastric cancer.
Parasagittal Dural Space and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Changes Across the Lifespan in Healthy Adults: Implications for Glymphatic Flow
Authors: HETT Kilian , Mcknight Colin D. , Eisma Jarrod J. , Elenberger Jason , Lindsey Jennifer D. , Considine Ciaran M. , Claassen Daniel O. , Donahue Manus J.
Published: November 2021

Background: Recent studies have suggested the importance of a glymphatic clearance pathway for brain parenchymal metabolic waste products. One fundamental but relatively under-explored component of this pathway is the anatomic region surrounding the superior sagittal sinus, which has been hypothesized to encompass lymphatic vessels. This so-called parasagittal dural (PSD) space likely plays a physiologically significant role at the distal intracranial component of the human glymphatic circuit, yet owing to the relative novelty of this discovery, fundamental gaps persist in our knowledge of how this space changes with normal aging and intracranial bulk fluid transport. Methods: We tested the hypotheses that volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of the PSD space (i) are directly related to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow at the cerebral aqueduct, and (ii) increase with age. Healthy participants (n=62; age range = 20-83 years) provided informed, written consent and multi-modal 3 Tesla MRI was performed including phase contrast assessment of the CSF flow through the aqueduct of Sylvius, T1-weighted and T2-weighted MRI for tissue volume and PSD assessment. Standard anatomical and cognitive testing were applied to confirm inclusion criteria. PSD volume was extracted using a recently validated neural networks algorithm. Non-parametric regression models were applied to evaluate how PSD volume related to tissue volume and age cross-sectionally, and separately how PSD volume related to CSF flux (significance criteria: two-sided p<0.05). Results: A significant enlargement of PSD volume in relation to normal aging (p<0.001, Spearman’s- =0.6), CSF volume (p<0.001, Spearman’s- =0.6) and bulk CSF flux through the aqueduct of Sylvius (anterograde and retrograde, p<0.001) were observed. The elevation in PSD volume was not significantly related to changes in tissue volume (p=0.11 and p=0.24 for gray and white matter, respectively). Findings are consistent with PSD volume increasing with age and bulk CSF flux.Conclusions: The findings of this study are two folds, first they highlight the feasibility of quantifying PSD volume non-invasively in vivo in humans using machine learning and non-contrast MRI. Second, that PSD volume increases with age, and relates to bulk CSF volume and flux. Values reported should provide useful normative ranges for how PSD volume adjusts with age, which will serve as a necessary pre-requisite for comparisons to persons with neurodegenerative disorders.
Effect of Zinc Dialkyl Dithiophosphate Replenishment on Tribological Performance of Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine Oil
Authors: Omar Alaaeddin Al Sheikh , Salehi F. Motamen , Farooq U. , Neville A. , Morina A.
Published: November 2021

Soot is the main contamination that affects oil performance and increases oil drain intervals in heavyduty engine oil. It is also believed that additive concentration in engine oil can be influenced due to additive depletion over time and additive adsorption on soot particles. To extend oil drain intervals and improve oil performance, filter manufactures explore removing the soot to a certain level and replenishing the consumed additives. Zinc Dialkyl Dithiophosphate (ZDDP) is one of the most favoured anti-wear additives that reacts very rapidly with rubbing surfaces to form tribofilm that reduce wear. In this study, the experimental work aims to investigate the effect of ZDDP replenishment on tribological performance in the existence of soot and after removing soot from heavy-duty used oil. The study reveals that reclaiming the used oil can be achieved by removing the soot to a certain level. The results demonstrate that the reclaimed oil after removing soot is still not as good as the fresh oil. This study proves that additive depletion, additive adsorption on soot and the decomposition of antiwear additive adversely influence the reclaimed oil performance. However, replenishing the consumed additive by adding a small amount of ZDDP helps to improve the reclaimed oil performance compared to a large amount of ZDDP which is required to re-gain the oil performance in the existence of soot.
Modeling and Dynamics Analysis of a Universal Interface for Constructing Floating Fractional Order Mem-Elements
Authors: Li Ya , Xie Lijun , Zheng Ciyan , Yu Dongsheng , Eshraghian Jason K.
Published: November 2021

Fractional-order systems generalize classical differential systems and have empirically shown to achieve fine-grain modeling of the temporal dynamics and frequency responses of certain real-world phenomena. Although the study of integer-order memory element (mem-element) emulators has persisted for several years, the study of fractional-order memory elements (FOMEs) has received little attention. To promote the study of the characteristics and applications of mem-element systems in fractional calculus (FC) and memory systems, in this paper, we propose a novel universal interface for constructing floating FOMEs. When the topological structure of the interface remains unchanged, the floating fractional-order memristor (FOMR), fractional-order memcapacitor (FOMC) and fractional-order meminductor (FOMI) emulators can be realized by using the impedance combinations of different passive elements, without any mem-element emulators and mutators. When compared with previously proposed FOMEs, the proposed fractional-order mem-element emulators based on a universal interface not only feature the characteristics of floating terminals and simpler circuit structures, but can also realize all three different types of FOMEs. To explore the dynamical relationships between the mem-elements and the fractional order, we mathematically derive and analyze the maximum and minimum possible values of memductance, memcapacitance and inverse meminductance which accounts for practical design considerations when building FO systems. The memory characteristics of FOMEs are analyzed by varying their orders and stimuli frequencies. The consistency of theoretical analysis, numerical calculation and simulation results validates the correctness of our proposed emulators.
Evidence for Association of Vibrio Echinoideorum with Tissue Necrosis on Body Shell of the Green Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus Droebachiensis
Authors: Hira Jonathan , Stensvåg Klara
Published: November 2021

“Sea urchin lesion syndrome” is known as sea urchins disease with the progressive development of necrotic epidermal tissue and loss of external organs, including appendages on the outer body surface. Recently, a novel strain, Vibrio echinoideorum has been isolated from the lesions of green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis), an economically important mariculture species in Norway. V. echinoideorum has not been reported elsewhere in association of with green sea urchin lesion syndrome. Therefore, in this study, an immersion based bacterial challenge experiment was performed to expose sea urchins (wounded and non-wounded) to V. echinoideorum, thereby mimicking a nearly natural host-pathogen interaction under controlled conditions. This infection experiment demonstrated that only the injured sea urchins developed the lesion to a significant degree when exposed to V. echinoideorum. Pure cultures of the employed bacterial strain was recovered from the infected animals and its identity was confirmed by the MALDI-TOF MS spectra profiling. Additionally, the hemolytic phenotype of V. echinoideorum substantiated its virulence potential towards the host, and this was also supported by the cytolytic effect on red spherule cells of sea urchins. Furthermore, the genome sequence of V. echinoideorum was assumed to encode potential virulence genes and were subjected for in silico comparison with the established virulence factors of Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio tasmaniensis. This comparative virulence profile provided novel insights about virulence genes and their putative functions related to chemotaxis, adherence, invasion, evasion of the host immune system, and damage of host tissue and cells. Thus, it supports the pathogenicity of V. echinoideorum. In conclusion, the interaction of V. echinoideorum with injured sea urchins appears to be essential for the development of lesion syndrome and therefore, revealing its potentiality as an opportunistic pathogen.
Stability Analysis of Rib Pillars in Highwall Mining Under Dynamic and Static Loads in Open-Pit Coal Mine
Authors: Wu Haoshuai , Chen Yanlong , Lv Haoyan , Xie Qihang , Chen Yuanguang , Gu Jun
Published: November 2021

The highwall miner can be used to mine the retained coal in the end slope of an open-pit mine. However, the instability mechanism of the reserved rib pillar under dynamic and static loads is not clear, which restricts the safe and efficient application of the highwall mining system. In this study, the load-bearing model of the rib pillar in highwall mining was established, the cusp catastrophe theory and the safety coefficient of the rib pillar were considered, and the criterion equations of the rib pillar stability were proposed. Based on the limit equilibrium theory, the limit stress of the rib pillar was analyzed, and the calculation equations of plastic zone width of the rib pillar in highwall mining were obtained. Based on the Winkler foundation beam theory, the elastic foundation beam model composed of the rib pillar and roof under the highwall mining was established, and the calculation equations for the compression of the rib pillar under dynamic and static loads were developed. The results show that with the increase of the rib pillar width, the total compression of the rib pillar under dynamic and static loads approximately decreases in an inverse function, and the compression of the rib pillar caused by static loads of the overlying strata and trucks has a decisive role. Numerical simulation and theoretical calculation were performed in this study. In the Numerical simulation, the coal seam with a buried depth of 122 m and a thickness of 3 m was mined by the highwall miner. According to the established rib pillar instability model of the highwall mining system, it is found that when the mining tunnel width is 3 m, the reasonable width of the rib pillar is at least 1.3 m, and the safety factor of the rib pillar is 1.3. The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the results of theoretical calculation, which verifies the feasibility of the theoretical analysis of the rib pillar stability. The research results can provide an important reference for the stability analysis of rib pillars under highwall mining.
Theoretical And Experimental Research On 3D Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Turning Driven By a Single Actuator
Authors: Wei Shiyu , Zou Ping , Zhang Jiahao , Duan Jingwei , Fang Rui
Published: November 2021

In this paper, the peak heights of several turning methods were analyzed theoretically. Based on the results of theoretical analysis, a 3D-UVAT device driven by a single actuator was developed. To validate this design, the theory and experiment of 3D-UVAT have been undertaken. The FEA results show that design is safe, and can achieve obvious displacements in X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis. In the experiment, 304 stainless steel was chosen as experimental material. For comparison, CT, UVAT, and UEVT experiments were also carried out. The experimental results show that with the help of ultrasonic vibration, the surface grooves and defects are significantly reduced. This phenomenon is more obvious on machined surface obtained by 3D-UVAT. Three-dimensional surface topography shows that the roughness value Sa obtained by 3D-UVAT is smaller than CT and UVAT. Under some cutting conditions, the roughness value Sa of machined surface obtained by 3D-UVAT is smaller than UEVT. Thus, the results of theory and experiment proved that the 3D ultrasonic vibration-assisted turning driven by a single actuator has a great potential in improving the quality of machined surface.
Cytokine Changes in Cerebrospinal Fluid and Plasma Post-Emergency Orthopaedic Surgery
Authors: Fertleman Michael , Pereira Christopher , Dani Melanie , Harris Benjamin H. L. , Giovannantonio Matteo Di , Taylor-Robinson Simon D.
Published: November 2021

Background: The process of neuroinflammation after surgery and how it may contribute to post-operative neurocognitive disorders (PND) is not well understood. Studying the association between central and peripheral cytokines and neuroinflammation is a prelude to the development of treatments for PND. Here, we investigate the hypotheses that there is a greater cytokine response in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) than plasma after orthopaedic surgery, and that plasma cytokine levels are directly related to CSF cytokine levels, enabling plasma cytokine levels to be used as markers of neuroinflammation. Methods: Patients admitted with a fractured neck of femur were invited to participate in this study. Participants had a spinal catheter inserted just prior to induction of anaesthesia. Samples of blood and CSF were taken before, immediately after, and on the first day following emergency surgery. The catheter was then removed. Samples were analysed for the presence of ten cytokines by immunoassay. Results: A spinal catheter was successfully inserted in 11 participants during the 18-month study period. Five plasma cytokines (IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70 and IL-13) rose significantly following surgery, whereas all ten CSF cytokines rose significantly (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IFN-γ and TNF-α) (adjusted-p <0.05). Central (CSF) cytokine levels were consistently higher than their peripheral (plasma) counterparts after surgery, with some patients having a particularly marked neuroinflammatory response. The greatest increases occurred in IL-8 in CSF and IL-6 in plasma. There were significant, strong positive correlations between several of the measured cytokines in the CSF after surgery, but far fewer in plasma. There was no significant correlation between cytokine levels in the plasma and CSF at each of the three time points.Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyse paired samples of plasma and CSF for cytokine levels before and after emergency orthopaedic surgery. This study demonstrates that following surgery for a fractured neck of femur, there is a far greater rise in cytokines in the CSF compared to plasma. The lack of correlation between peripheral and central cytokines suggests measurement of peripheral cytokines are not necessarily related to which patients may have a large neuroinflammatory response.
Dynamic Characteristics Analysis of Two-Beam Laser Welding Robot for Fulselage Panels
Authors: Zeng Qingfei , Liu Xuemei , Liu Ziru , Li Aiping
Published: November 2021

Industrial robotics is becoming increasingly popular in the field of manufacturing automation. Two-beam laser welding robot which is a proprietary industrial robot of great importance to improve the welding quality of stringer-skin T-shape structure. In the process of two-beam laser cooperative welding, the robot constantly adjusts its own posture, and the position and posture of each joint would change simultaneously, which leads to the change of the natural frequency, and other dynamic characteristics of the welding robot. Based on the finite element method (FEM), the modal analysis of the robot joints in the range of motion ability and the range of motion in the process of two beam laser welding are studied, which can provide the basis for the design and accurate control of the robot with high degree of freedom (DOF). The dynamic characteristics of the whole robot in different positions and attitudes is carried out, which includes two parts, one is importance ranking of 18 joints of the robot through orthogonal test according to the range of each joint movement. The other is obtaining a plurality of time points in one welding cycle, and performing a modal analysis of the robot at each time point on the basis of the robot joints in the range of motion during the process of two-beam laser welding, the optimal number of time nodes are attained and the test workload could be reduced. The approach described herein provides a theoretical basis for robotics design and control optimization.
Gas Turbine Rotor System Fault Diagnosis Method based on Improved Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Networks
Authors: Liu Shucong , Wang Hongjun , Han Fengxia , Zhang Xiang
Published: November 2021

In gas turbine rotor system fault diagnosis intelligent method based on data-driven is an important means to monitor the health status of gas turbine, it is necessary to obtain sufficient effective fault data to train the intelligent diagnosis model. In the actual operation of gas turbine, the collected gas turbine fault data is limited, and the small and imbalanced fault samples seriously affect the accuracy of fault diagnosis method. Aiming at the imbalance of gas turbine fault data, an Improved Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Network (Improved DCGAN) suitable for gas turbine signal is proposed, an structural optimization on generator of Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Network (DCGAN) and gradient penalty improvement on the loss function are introduced to generate effective fault data and improve the classification accuracy. The experiment results of gas turbine test bench demonstrated that the proposed method generated effective fault samples as a supplementary set of fault samples to balance the dataset, effectively improved the fault classification and diagnosis performance of gas turbine rotor in the case of small samples, The proposed method can be used as a solution to the problems of small unbalanced fault samples, and provides an effective method for gas turbine fault diagnosis.
Garment Fit Evaluation for Fashion Design and Manufacturing
Authors: Liu Kaixuan , Zhu Chun , Zeng Xianyi , Tao Xuyuan , Bruniaux Pascal , Wang Jianping
Published: November 2021

Currently, garment fit evaluation is one of the biggest bottlenecks for fashion design and manufacturing. In this paper, we proposed a garment fit prediction model using data learning technology, such as Back Propagation Artificial Neural Networks (BP-ANNs), Random Forest, Bayesian Classifier. The inputs of the proposed model are digital clothing pressures measured by virtual try-on; while the output of the model is one of the three fit conditions- tight, fit or loose. In order to acquire reliable learning data, virtual and real try-on experiments were carried out to collect input and output learning data respectively. After learning from the collected input and output experimental data, the proposed model can predict garment fit rapidly and automatically by inputting digital clothing pressures measured by virtual try-on. Test results showed that the prediction accuracies of data-learning-based garment fit evaluation methods are much better than that of traditional methods.
Effect of a Single-Shot of a High-Density Viscoelastic Solution of Hyaluronic Acid in Patients with Symptomatic Primary Knee Osteoarthritis: The No-Dolor Study
Authors: Calvet Joan , Khorsandi Danial , Tío Laura , Monfort Jordi
Published: November 2021

Background

Pronolis®HD mono 2.5% is a novel, one-shot, high-density sterile viscoelastic solution, recently available in Spain, which contains a high amount of intermediate molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HA), highly concentrated (120 mg in 4.8 mL solution: 2.5%). The objective of the study was to analyze the efficacy and safety of this treatment in symptomatic primary knee osteoarthritis (OA).
Methods

This observational, prospective, multicenter, single-cohort study involved 166 patients with knee OA treated with a single-shot of Pronolis®HD mono 2.5% and followed up as many as 24 weeks.
Results

Compared with baseline, the score of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain subscale significantly reduced at the 12-week visit (primary endpoint, median: 9 interquartile range [IQR]: 7-11 versus median: 4; IQR: 2-6). The percentage of patients achieving >50% improvement in the pain subscale increased progressively from 37.9% (at 2 weeks) to 66.0% (at 24 weeks). Similarly, WOMAC scores for pain on movement, stiffness subscale, and functional capacity subscale showed significant reductions at the 12-week visit which were maintained up to the 24-week visit. The EuroQol visual analog scale score significantly increased after 12 weeks (median: 60 versus 70). The need for rescue medication (analgesics/nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) also significantly decreased in all post-injection visits. Three patients (1.6%) reported local adverse events (joint swelling) of mild intensity.
Conclusions

In conclusion, a single intra-articular injection of the high-density viscoelastic gel of HA is effective and safe for the relief of symptoms in patients with knee OA.
Trial registration:
ClinicalTrial# NCT04196764
Patterns of flower-visiting insects depend on flowering phenological shifts along an altitudinal gradient in subalpine moorland ecosystems
Authors: Matsubara Natsuki , Goto Akihito , Uchida Kei , Sasaki Takehiro
Published: November 2021

Alpine and subalpine moorland ecosystems contain unique plant communities, often with many endemic and threatened species, some of which depend on insect pollination. Although alpine and subalpine moorland ecosystems are vulnerable to climatic change, few studies have investigated flower-visiting insects in such ecosystems and examined the factors regulating plant-pollinator interactions along altitudinal gradients. Here, we explored how altitudinal patterns in flower visitors change according to altitudinal shifts in flowering phenology in subalpine moorland ecosystems in northern Japan. We surveyed flower-visiting insects and flowering plants at five sites differing in altitude in early July (soon after snowmelt) and mid-August (peak growing season). In July, we found a higher visiting frequency by more variable insect orders including Dipteran, Hymenopteran, Coleopteran, and Lepidopteran species at the higher altitude sites in association with the mass flowering of Geum pentapetalum and Nephrophyllidium crista-galli. In August, such altitudinal patterns were not observed, and Dipteran species dominated across the sites due to the flowering of Narthecium asiaticum and Drosera rotundifolia. Earlier snowmelt associated with recent climate change is expected to extend the growth period of moorland plants and modify flowering phenology in moorland ecosystems, leading to altered plant-pollinator interactions. Our study provides key baselines for the detection of endangered biotic interactions and extinction risks of moorland plants under ongoing climate change.
The Relative Contribution of Large-Scale Circulation and Land Surface to Summer Precipitation Over Asian Mid-Low Latitudes
Authors: Chen Yue , Wang Aihui , Feng Guolin
Published: November 2021

Understanding the contributions of large-scale atmospheric circulation and local land surface processes to precipitation is essentially important for the climate prediction. This study adopts a dynamic adjustment (DA) approach based on constructed circulation analogs to quantitatively isolate the contribution of atmospheric circulation to summer land precipitation (Pr) over Asian mid-low latitudes during 1980-2019. The atmospheric circulation factor is represented by the 500 hPa geopotential height (Z500) from the fifth generation ECMWF reanalysis (ERA5), and the land surface factors, including soil moisture (SM) and net radiation and heat fluxes are from the products of the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS). The residual component after DA is regarded as the contribution from land surface processes via evaporation mainly resulting from SM. The results indicate that the key SM-Pr feedback areas are mainly located in northeast China and the northern Indian Peninsula. The key influencing area of Z500 on the land Pr anomaly shows a “-+-” tripole pattern in the mid-latitude region. Atmospheric circulation determines the magnitude of summer land Pr, while the residual components reflect the land-atmosphere coupling effect and dominate Pr trend. This conclusion is helpful for better understanding the evolution mechanism of summer climate over Asia mid-low latitudes and may also have application value for climate prediction.
The Healing of Bone Defects by Cell-Free and Stem Cell-Seeded 3D Printed PLA Tissue Engineered Scaffolds
Authors: Bahraminasab Marjan , Talebi Athar , Doostmohammadi Nesa , Arab Samaneh , Ghanbari Ali , Zarbakhsh Sam
Published: November 2021

One of the main issues in bone tissue engineering is to realize the response of the host to the engineered scaffolds. In this paper, the in-vivo healing of critical-sized bony defects by cell-free and stem cell-seeded 3D printed PLA scaffolds was studied in rat calvaria bone. First, the scaffolds were 3D printed based on a designed computer model and half of them were seeded by with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). The SEM images of the surfaces of PLA and PLA+Cell scaffolds were taken for morphological analysis. All the scaffolds were implanted in the defect sites of rat calvaria bones and histological analysis was conducted after 8 and 12 weeks. The results showed that both cell-free and stem cell-seeded scaffolds exhibited superb healing compared with the empty defect controls. The histological observation revealed the formation of both new bone and connective tissues in the healing site after 8 and 12 weeks, postoperatively. The bone cells including osteoblasts and osteocytes with lacuna were also observed. The higher filled area and the higher bone formation and bone maturation were observed after 12 weeks and in particular for PLA+Cell scaffolds. Furthermore, the systemic toxicity evaluation of the scaffolds using ALT and AST tests reject any toxicity for both cell-free and stem cell-seeded scaffolds. It can be concluded that the 3D printed PLA scaffold with BMSCs seeding has well osteogenic potential to be used for bone defect healing.
Evaluating the Diagnostic Pathway for Acute ACL Injuries in Trauma Centres: A Systematic Review
Authors: Allott Miss Natasha E H , McGregor Alison H , Banger Matthew S
Published: November 2021

Objective: This review sought to evaluate the literature on the initial assessment and diagnostic pathway for patients with a suspected Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear.Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL were systematically searched for eligible studies. Studies were included if they used at least one assessment method to assess for ACL injury and participants were assessed at an acute trauma centre within 6-weeks of injury. Article quality was evaluated using the QUADAS-2 checklist. Results: A total of 353 studies were assessed for eligibility, 347 were excluded for the following reasons: injuries were not assessed in an acute trauma setting, injuries were not acute, participants had previous ACL injuries or chronic joint deformities affecting the knee, participants were under 18, or participants included animals or cadavers. A total of six studies were included in the review. Common assessment methods included: laxity tests, joint effusion, inability to continue activity, and a history of a ‘pop’ and ‘giving way’ at the time of injury. Diagnostic accuracy varied greatly between the assessment method and the assessing clinician. Gold standard diagnostics were MRI and arthroscopy. A weighted meta-mean calculated the time to reach diagnosis to be 68.60 days [CI 23.94, 113.24]. The mean number of appointments to reach diagnosis varied from 2-5. Delay to surgery or surgical consultation ranged from 61 to 328 days. Conclusion: Clinicians in the Emergency Department are not proficient in performing the assessment methods that are used for diagnosis in acute ACL injury. Reliance on specialist assessments or radiological methods inevitably increases the time to reach a diagnosis, which has repercussions on management options. There is an ever-growing demand to improve diagnostic accuracy and efficiency, innovation into new diagnostic methods that require less specialist training would help improve patient care.
Independent Acquisition of Carnassial Teeth in Fishes and Mammals
Authors: Matsui Kumiko , Kimura Yuri
Published: November 2021

Vertebrates evolved tooth replacement over 400 million years ago. Over 200 million years later, the combination of vertical tooth replacement with thecodont implantation (teeth in bone sockets) has been considered a key morphological innovation in mammal evolution. We discovered that an extinct fish taxon, Serrasalmimus secans, that shows this same innovation in a lineage (Serrasalmimidae) that survived the end Cretaceous mass extinction. Carnassial teeth are known in both mammals and pycnodont fish, but these teeth do not share the same tissues nor developmental processes. Therefore, a serrasalmimid pycnodont fish independently acquired mammal-like tooth replacement and implantation, thus showing that fishes and mammals evolved convergent carnassial dental morphologies at about the same time, around 60 Ma, in separate ecosystems.
Effects of Different Probiotic Strains B. Lactis, L. Rhamnosus and L. Reuteri on Brain-Intestinal Axis Immunomodulation in an Endotoxin-Induced Inflammation
Authors: Michels Monique , Jesus Gabriel Fernandes Alves , Abatti Mariane Rocha , Córneo Emily , Cucker Luana , Borges Heloisa de Medeiros , Matos Natan da Silva , Rocha Luana Bezerra , Dias Rodrigo , Simon Carla Sasso , Voytena Ana Paula Lorenzen , Rossetto Marina , Ramlov Fernanda , Dal-Pizzol Felipe
Published: November 2021

Aim: The study evaluated the effects of supplementation with three different probiotic strains B. lactis (LACT GBTM), L. rhamnosus (RHAM GBTM) and L. reuteri (REUT GBTM) on brain-intestinal immunomodulation in an animal model of LPS-induced inflammation. Methods: 50 mice Balb/C were distributed into five groups: Control; lipopolysaccharide (LPS); LPS + B. lactis (LACT GBTM); LPS + L. rhamnosus (RHAM GBTM); LPS + L. reuteri (REUT GBTM). The animals were supplemented with their respective probiotic microorganisms daily, for 30 days, at a concentration of 1x109 CFU/animal/day. After 30 days of supplementation, animals received the inflammatory insult by LPS (15mg/kg). Behavioral tests, oxidative stress and inflammation were performed, as well as gut and brain histology. Results: In the behavioral test, LPS+ B. lactis group was less anxious than the other groups. Serum interleukin IL-1β and IL-6 levels increased in all groups that received the LPS insult and there was a reduction in inflammation in the supplemented groups when compared to the LPS group in brain and gut. A reduction in myeloperoxidase activity and oxidative stress in groups supplemented with probiotics. Intestine histological analysis, damage to tissue integrity in the LPS group and preservation of integrity in the supplemented animals. In the brain, infiltrates of perivascular inflammatory cells can be seen in the LPS group. Conclusion: The three probiotic studies showed efficient immunomodulating activity and ensured integrity of the intestinal barrier function, even after the severe insult by LPS. These results show the important role of probiotics in the gut-brain axis.
Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease Using Neuropsychological Tests: a Predict-Diagnose Approach Using Neural Networks
Authors: Mukherji Devarshi , Mukherji Manibrata , Mukherji Nivedita
Published: November 2021

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most expensive and currently incurable disease that affects a large number of the elderly globally. One in five Medicare dollars is spent on AD-related tests and treatments. Accurate AD diagnosis is critical but often involves invasive and expensive tests that include brain scans and spinal taps. Recommending these tests for only patients who are likely to develop the disease will save families of cognitively normal individuals and hospitals from unnecessary expenditures. Moreover, many of the subjects chosen for clinical trials for AD therapies never develop any cognitive impairment and prove not to be ideal candidates for those trials. It is thereby critical to find inexpensive ways to first identify individuals who are likely to develop cognitive impairment and focus attention on them for in-depth testing, diagnosing, and clinical trial participation. Research shows that AD is a slowly progressing disease. This slow progression allows for early detection and treatment, but more importantly, gives the opportunity to predict the likelihood of disease development from early indications of memory lapses. Neuropsychological tests have been shown to be effective in identifying cognitive impairment. Relying exclusively on a set of longitudinal neuropsychological test data available from the ADNI database, this paper has developed Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) models to predict future neuropsychological test results and Multi-Level Perceptron (MLP) models to diagnose the future cognitive states of individuals based on those predicted results. The RNNs use sequence prediction techniques to predict test scores for two to four years in the future. The predicted scores and predictions of cognitive states based on them showed a high level of accuracy for a group of test subjects, when compared with their known future cognitive assessments conducted by ADNI. This shows that a battery of neuropsychological tests can be used to track the cognitive states of people above a certain age and identify those who are likely to develop cognitive impairment in the future. This ability to triage individuals into those who are likely to remain normal and those who will develop cognitive impairment in the future, advances the quest to find appropriate candidates for invasive tests like spinal taps for disease identification, and the ability to identify suitable candidates for clinical trials.
The Impact Of Waist Circumference And Diabetes On Incident Of Cardiovascular Death During 9 Years Of Follow Up In General Population
Authors: Li Man , Wang Shu-xia , Su Yong-kang , Sun Jin , Zhang An-hang , Cheng Bo-kai , Cai Shuang , Zhu Ping
Published: November 2021

Background: It has been reported that obesity and diabetes are both the risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, recent articles reported that compared with BMI, waist circumference (WC) can better reflect obesity, more closely related to visceral fat tissue which is positively associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death. Moreover, few studies have both investigated the prognostic value of both WC and diabetes during a long-term follow up. We aimed to investigate whether higher level of WC measurements and diabetes were able to predict cardiovascular mortality in general population.Methods: In this prospective cohort study, a total of 1521 consecutive subjects free of clinical cardiovascular disease were included. The end point was cardiovascular death. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression models were used to evaluate the cumulative risk of outcome at different WC levels with or without diabetes.Results: During a median follow up of 9.2 years, there were 265 patients had the occurrence of cardiovascular death. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates indicated that the patients with higher levels of WC (WC>94cm) coexist with diabetes had significantly increased risk of cardiovascular death (log-rank p＜0.05). After adjustment for potential confounders, multiple COX regression models showed that the incidence of cardiovascular death was significantly higher when patients with high WC coexisted with DM (HR 3.78; 95% CI: 3.35–3.98; p＜0.001).Conclusion: Patients with high WC and diabetes represent a high-risk population for cardiovascular death. WC and diabetes may provide incremental prognostic value beyond traditional risks factors.
Prevalence of and factors associated with non-communicable diseases among Bangladeshi adults: investigation from nationally surveyed data
Authors: Rahman Md. Ashfikur , Halder Henry Ratul , Kundu Satyajit , Banna Md. Hasan Al
Published: November 2021

Background

Chronic non-communicable diseases, owing to their increasing prevalence, are the greatest constraint to disease burden reduction in Bangladesh. As a result, we concentrated on determining the prevalence and risk factors for major chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among adult Bangladeshis.
Methods

Data from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2017-18 were analyzed. If a participant had diabetes or hypertension, it was classified as NCD. Whereas comorbidity is defined as a subject having both diabetes and hypertension. Both the unadjusted and adjusted log-binomial regression models considering the survey weights were employed to identify the factors associated with NCDs and comorbidity.
Results

The overall prevalence (age-adjusted) of NCDs (40.43% (95% CI: 40.29-40.56) diabetes and hypertension was 11.55% (95% CI: 11.46-11.64) and 35.04% (95% CI: 34.91-35.17), respectively, while 6.16% (95% CI: 6.09-6.23) of participants had comorbidity. The adjusted regression model shows that being aged >34 years, and overweight or obese were significant risk factors of all NCDs, where being involved in work and from rich households were found as risk factors of diabetes and comorbidity. Smoker participants and females were more likely to have hypertension compared to their counterparts. Contrary, being underweight was a protective factor of having NCDs, similarly, engage in work was found as protective factors of diabetes and co-morbidity.
Conclusion

A growing prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and comorbidity was discovered in this study. To reduce the burden of these NCDs, it is necessary to take the necessary steps.
Bioinformatics Analysis of Apolipoprotein H Demonstrates Its Potential as a Prognostic Biomarker in Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Wang Peng , Zhao Guan-an
Published: November 2021

Objectives This study aimed to systematically reveal the clinical value of APOH in KIRC.Methods The expression of APOH and its methylation level in KIRC were explored. Also, the prognostic value of APOH was evaluated. In addition, the correlation of APOH and immune infiltrates in KIRC was analyzed. Finally, enrichment analysis was performed to predict the APOH-associated pathways in KIRC.Results Compared with the normal group, APOH was down-regulated in KIRC both in mRNA and protein levels. The APOH expression was related to several phenotypes of KIRC patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that APOH high expression correlated with shorter OS, PFI, and DSS time. Cox regression only indicated the independent prognostic impact of APOH for PFI. ROC curve showed the better prediction performance of APOH for PFI and nomogram further revealed its contribution to survival probability. Additionally, a negative correlation between APOH expression and methylation was observed, and APOH methylation did not influence the prognosis of patients. In addition, both expression and methylation of APOH were related to immune infiltrates, suggesting the importance of immune infiltrates in KIRC. Finally, the KEGG and GSEA analyses indicated a positive relationship of APOH with Complement and coagulation cascades pathways in KIRC.Conclusions APOH was closely related to the prognosis of KIRC patients and might be involved in the Complement and coagulation cascades pathway, implying the involvement of APOH in tumorigenesis and metastasis of KIRC.
Heterogenous Profiles Between Matched Primary Tumors and Brain Metastases Reveal Tumor Evolution
Authors: Chen Yanming , Dai Xiaoxiao , Wang Ji , Tao Chuming , Wang Ye , Zhu Qing , Yuan Liqun , Wang Zhongyong , Sheng Minfeng , Zhang Tan , Li Shenggang , Zhang Yongsheng , Dong Jun , Lan Qing , Zhao Jizong
Published: November 2021

Background: Brain metastases (BMs) are the most common central nervous system (CNS) malignant tumors, with rapid disease progression and extremely poor prognosis. The heterogeneity between primary tumors and BMs leads to the divergent efficacy of the adjuvant therapy response to primary tumors and BMs. However, the extent of heterogeneity between primary tumors and BMs, and the evolutionary process remains little known. Methods: To deeply insight the extent of inter-tumor heterogeneity at single-patient level and the process of these evolutions, we retrospectively analyzed a total of 26 tumor samples from 11 patients with matched primary tumors and BMs. One patient underwent four times brain metastatic lesion surgery with diverse locations and one operation for the primary lesion. The genomic and immune heterogeneity between primary tumors and BMs was evaluated by utilizing the whole-exome sequencing (WESeq) and immunohistochemical analysis.Results: In addition to inheriting genomic phenotype and molecular phenotype from the primary tumors, massive unique genomic phenotype and molecular phenotype were also observed in BMs, which revealed unimaginable complexity of tumor evolution and extensive heterogeneity among lesions at single-patient level. Our study also verified that the expression level of immune checkpoints-related molecule Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) (P = 0.0013) and the density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) (P = 0.0248) in BMs were significantly lower than that in paired primary tumors. Additionally, tumor microvascular density (MVD) and tumor invasiveness were also differed between primary tumors and paired BMs, indicating that temporal and spatial diversity profoundly contributes to the evolution of BMs heterogeneity.Conclusion: We verified the significance of temporal and spatial factors to the evolution of tumor heterogeneity by multi-dimensional analysis of matched primary tumors and BMs, which also provided novel insight for formulating individualized treatment strategies of BMs.
A System Biology Approach to Explore Host-Pathogen Interaction Under Phytochemical Cross Linkages
Authors: Yousaf Muhammad Junaid , Hussain Anwar , Iqbal Amjad
Published: November 2021

Phyto-signalling molecules are minute, but tangible that has rigorous roles in any plant-pathogen interaction. Certainly, most of the pathogen alters their biosynthesis, transport, degradation and cellular signalling responses to pave their virulence. Therefore, the gene expressions of such molecules with their correlated defense mechanisms were analysed in Arabidopsis thaliana against Erysiphe orontii (a potential biotroph), Botrytis cinerea (a potential necrotroph), Pseudomonas syringae (a bacterial hemibiotroph), and Phytophthora infestans (a fungal hemibiotroph) using molecular biology/ system biology techniques. The findings strongly suggested that each pathogen has its own unique infection strategy based on up-regulation and down-regulation of host phyto-signalling genes. Our studies also explored four basic pathogenic infection maps based on cross linking phyto-signalling molecules.