bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bioprospecting of Sechium spp. varieties for the selection of characters with pharmacological activity
Authors: Iñiguez-Luna María Isabel , Cadena-Iñiguez Jorge , Soto-Hernández Ramón Marcos , Morales-Flores Francisco Javier , Cortes-Cruz Moisés , Watanabe Kazuo N. , Machida-Hirano Ryoko , Cadena-Zamudio Jorge David
Published: March 2021

Bioprospecting identifies new sources of compounds with actual or potential economic value that come from biodiversity. An analysis was performed regarding bioprospecting purposes in ten genotypes of Sechium spp., through a meta-analysis of 20 information sources considering different variables: five morphological, 19 biochemical, anti-proliferative activity of extracts on five malignant cell lines, and 188 polymorphic bands of amplified fragment length polymorphisms, were used in order to identify the most relevant variables for the design of genetic interbreeding. Significant relationships between morphological and biochemical characters and anti-proliferative activity in cell lines were obtained, with five principal components for principal component analysis (SAS/ETS); variables were identified with a statistical significance (< 0.7 and Pearson values ≥ 0.7), with 80.81% of the accumulation of genetic variation and 110 genetic bands. Thirty-nine (39) variables were recovered using NTSYSpc software where 30 showed a Pearson correlation (> 0.5) and nine variables (< 0.05), Finally, using a cladistics analysis approach highlighted 65 genetic bands, in addition to color of the fruit, presence of thorns, bitter flavor, piriform and oblong shape, and also content of chlorophylls a and b, presence of cucurbitacins, and the IC50 effect of chayote extracts on the four cell lines.
Buspirone alleviates anxiety, depression, and colitis; and modulates gut microbiota in mice
Authors: Kim Jeon-Kyung , Han Sang-Kap , Joo Min-Kyung , Kim Dong-Hyun
Published: March 2021

Gut microbiota regulate the neurodevelopmental processes and brain functions through the regulation of the microbiota–gut interaction and gut–brain communication. Buspirone, an agonist for serotonin 5-HT1A receptors, is used for the treatment of anxiety/depression. Therefore, to understand the gut microbiota-mediated mechanism of buspirone on anxiety/depression, we examined its effect on the immobilization stress (IS) or Escherichia coli K1 (EC)-induced anxiety/depression in mice. Oral or intraperitoneal administration of buspirone significantly suppressed stressor-induced anxiety/depression-like behaviors in the elevated plus maze, light/dark transition, tail suspension, and forced swimming tasks. Their treatments also reduced TNF-α expression and NF-κB+/Iba1+ cell population in the hippocampus and myeloperoxidase activity and NF-κB+/CD11c+ cell population in the colon. Buspirone treatments partially restored IS- or EC-induced gut microbiota perturbation such as β-diversity to those of normal control mice: they reduced the IS- or EC-induced gut Proteobacteria population. In particular, the anxiolytic activity of buspirone was positively correlated with the populations of Bacteroides and PAC001066_g in EC- or IS-exposed mice, while the populations of Lachnospiraceae, KE159660_g, LLKB_g, Helicobacter, and PAC001228_g were negatively correlated. The anti-depressant effect of buspirone was positively correlated with the Roseburia population. The fecal microbiota transplantations from buspirone-treated mice with IS-induced anxiety/depression or normal control mice suppressed IS-induced anxiety/depression-like behaviors and reduced hippocampal NF-κB+/Iba1+ and colonic NF-κB+/CD11c+ cell populations in the transplanted mice. Furthermore, they modified IS-induced perturbation of gut microbiota composition, particularly Proteobacteria, in the transplanted mice. In conclusion, buspirone alleviates IS as well as EC-induced anxiety/depression and colitis. It also suppresses associated neuroinflammation and modulates gut microbiota. Future studies can help to explain the relationship, if any, in the central and peripheral effects of buspirone.
Stroke prediction in patients presenting with isolated dizziness in the emergency department
Authors: Kim June-sung , Bae Hong Jun , Kim Muyeol , Ahn Shin , Sohn Chang Hwan , Seo Dong Woo , Kim Won Young
Published: March 2021

Diagnosing stroke in patients experiencing dizziness without neurological deficits is challenging for physicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of acute stroke in patients who presented with isolated dizziness without neurological deficits at the emergency department (ED), and determine the relevant stroke predictors in this population. This was an observational, retrospective record review of consecutive 2215 adult patients presenting with dizziness at the ED between August 2019 and February 2020. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify risk factors for acute stroke. 1239 patients were enrolled and analyzed. Acute stroke was identified in 55 of 1239 patients (4.5%); most cases (96.3%) presented as ischemic stroke with frequent involvement (29.1%) of the cerebellum. In the multivariate analysis, the history of cerebrovascular injury (odds ratio [OR] 3.08 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.24 to 7.67]) and an age of > 65 years (OR 3.01 [95% CI 1.33 to 6.83]) were the independent risk factors for predicting acute stroke. The combination of these two risks showed a higher specificity (94.26%) than that of each factor alone. High-risk patients, such as those aged over 65 years or with a history of cerebrovascular injury, may require further neuroimaging workup in the ED to rule out stroke.
Efficiency of nilotinib to target chronic phase-chronic myeloid leukaemia primary mature CD34− and immature CD34+ cells
Authors: Berger Marc G. , Lebecque Benjamin , Tassin Thomas , Dannus Louis-Thomas , Berger Juliette , Soucal Mélanie , Guerci Agnès , Cony-Makhoul Pascale , Johnson Hyacinthe , Etienne Gabriel , Guyotat Denis , Gagnieu Marie-Claude , Pereira Bruno , Saugues Sandrine , Tournilhac Olivier , Hermet Eric , Bourgne Céline
Published: March 2021

Accumulation in target cells is an essential pharmacokinetic step of targeted therapies. Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) against the BCR-ABL fusion protein in Chronic Phase-Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CP-CML) cells constitute a unique model in terms of efficacy, specificity, and in vivo demonstration of response heterogeneity by target cells. The overall therapeutic response to nilotinib is heterogeneous with no satisfactory explanation. To better understand the patients’ response heterogeneity, we quantified nilotinib uptake by primary CP-CML cells in standardized conditions using flow cytometry, which allowed also distinguishing mature (polymorphonuclear cells) from immature (CD34+) cells. Nilotinib was undetectable in 13.3% of PMN and 40% of CD34+ cells. Moreover, in CD34+ cells, intracellular nilotinib did not completely abolish BCR-ABL activity (monitored by CrkL phosphorylation inhibition), although nilotinib accumulated well in most CD34+ cell samples. Intracellular nilotinib concentration was inversely correlated with disease burden parameters, Sokal score, and early haematologic response at day 6 ± 1 only in PMN, suggesting an intrinsic ability to limit nilotinib entry in the forms with higher tumor cell burdenat diagnosis. These findings suggest that nilotinib accumulation in CP-CML cells is influenced by individual characteristics and intra-clonal heterogeneity, and might be used for pharmacokinetic studies and to assess the therapeutic response.
Publisher Correction: A link between appendectomy and gastrointestinal cancers: a large-scale population-based cohort study in Korea
Authors: Park Youn Young , Lee Kil‑yong , Oh Seong Taek , Park Sang Hyun , Do Han Kyung , Lee Jaeim
Published: March 2021

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Author Correction: Hypervirulent pneumococcal serotype 1 harbours two pneumolysin variants with differential haemolytic activity
Authors: Panagiotou Stavros , Chaguza Chrispin , Yahya Reham , Audshasai Teerawit , Baltazar Murielle , Ressel Lorenzo , Khandaker Shadia , Alsahag Mansoor , Mitchell Tim J. , Prudhomme Marc , Kadioglu Aras , Yang Marie
Published: March 2021

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Three-dimensional networks of superconducting NbSe2 flakes with nearly isotropic large upper critical field
Authors: Takahashi Togo , Ando Chisato , Saito Mitsufumi , Miyata Yasumitsu , Nakanishi Yusuke , Pu Jiang , Takenobu Taishi
Published: March 2021

Increasing the upper critical field Hc2 in superconductors is one of the most significant requirements for superconducting applications. Two-dimensional (2D) noncentrosymmetric NbSe2 is a promising candidate because its pair breaking is protected by the spin-momentum locking effect, resulting in a giant in-plane Hc2 (~50 T). However, the strong anisotropy of 2D NbSe2 suppresses the robustness of out-of-plane Hc2 (<5 T). To overcome this issue, we propose a synthetic approach to produce superconducting NbSe2 films with a nearly isotropic large Hc2. Scalable selenization methods are tailored to create 3D superconducting networks in which 2D NbSe2 flakes are vertically aligned to the substrates. The angle-resolved magneto-transports reveal enhanced Hc2 values that exceed 20 T for arbitrary directions under externally applied magnetic fields. The isotropic nature of Hc2 is attributed to the averaging intrinsic anisotropy of NbSe2 through 3D structured films, which was determined by X-ray diffraction measurements. The proposed synthetic approach will provide a new method for creating practical superconductors that are robust against magnetic fields.
Oxidative degradation of toxic organic pollutants by water soluble nonheme iron(iv)-oxo complexes of polydentate nitrogen donor ligands
Authors: Munshi Sandip , Jana Rahul Dev , Paine Tapan Kanti
Published: March 2021

A series of water soluble iron(ii) complexes of polydentate nitrogen donor ligands are reported to perform the oxidative degradation of polyhalogenated phenols and persistent organic pollutants using ceric ammonium nitrate as the oxidant.
Recent developments in catalysis with Pickering Emulsions
Authors: Chang Fuqiang , Vis Carolien M. , Ciptonugroho Wirawan , Bruijnincx Pieter C. A.
Published: March 2021

Pickering emulsions, emulsions stabilized by solid emulsifiers, offer many opportunities for application in catalysis. Recent advances in solid emulsifier design, type of conversions catalyzed and developments in reaction engineering are discussed.
Coexistence of fluorescent Escherichia coli strains in millifluidic droplet reactors
Authors: Zhao Xinne , Illing Rico , Ruelens Philip , Bachmann Michael , Cuniberti Gianaurelio , de Visser J. Arjan G. M. , Baraban Larysa
Published: March 2021

We use a millifluidic system to study the multi-species bacterial growth to unveil the details of cooperation between two Escherichia coli strains inside droplet reactors. This system also has the potential for studies of drug resistance transfer.
A sequentially bioconjugated optofluidic laser for wash-out-free and rapid biomolecular detection
Authors: Yang Xi , Gong Chaoyang , Wang Yanqiong , Luo Yanhua , Rao Yun-Jiang , Peng Gang-Ding , Gong Yuan
Published: March 2021

We demonstrate the sequential bioconjugation method in fiber optofluidic lasers for sensitive, wash-out-free and fast biodetection.
Four imidazole derivative AIEE luminophores: sensitive detection of NAC explosives
Authors: Lu Shuang , Fan Wutu , Liu Han , Gong Lingli , Xiang Zhouxuan , Wang Huimin , Yang Changying
Published: March 2021

Four imidazole sensors with aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) properties were used for the sensitive detection of NAC explosives.
MoS2/polyaniline/functionalized carbon cloth electrode materials for excellent supercapacitor performance
Authors: Wang Yanfang , Lv Xinrong , Zou Suyan , Lin Xiaoyun , Ni Yongnian
Published: March 2021

A MoS2/PANI/functionalized carbon cloth (MoS2/PANI/FCC) was constructed by a drop-casting method. Its specific capacitances were higher than those of MoS2/CC and pure PANI/CC.
Gating control effect facilitates excellent gas selectivity in a novel Na-SSZ-27 zeolite
Authors: Zhao Chao , Yuan Jiamin , Tang Xiaomin , Chen Wei , Yi Xianfeng , Xia Hongqiang , Liu Wentao , Zheng Anmin , Liu Zhiqiang
Published: March 2021

A novel Na-SSZ-27 zeolite was demonstrated to possess excellent H2/CO2 diffusion selectivity due to the crucial effect of the “gating control” of the 8-ring windows.
Kinetically controlled synthesis of supramolecular block copolymers with narrow dispersity and tunable block lengths
Authors: Sarkar Aritra , Sasmal Ranjan , Das Angshuman , Agasti Sarit S. , George Subi J.
Published: March 2021

Synthesis of supramolecular block copolymers with tunable block length and narrow dispersity is demonstrated via seed-induced living supramolecular polymerization.
Evidencing ((n-C4H9)4N)2[W6I14] red–NIR emission and singlet oxygen generation by two photon absorption
Authors: Molard Yann , Taupier Gregory , Paofai Serge , Cordier Stéphane
Published: March 2021

Two photon absorption induced NIR emission has been observed for the first time for octahedral transition metal clusters.
Correction: Vescalagin and castalagin reduce the toxicity of amyloid-beta42 oligomers through the remodelling of its secondary structure
Authors: Araújo Ana R. , Camero Sergio , Taboada Pablo , Reis Rui L. , Pires Ricardo A.
Published: March 2021

Correction for ‘Vescalagin and castalagin reduce the toxicity of amyloid-beta42 oligomers through the remodelling of its secondary structure’ by Ana R. Araújo et al., Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 3187–3190, DOI: 10.1039/D0CC00192A.
A neural network potential energy surface for the F + H2O ↔ HF + OH reaction and quantum dynamics study of the isotopic effect
Authors: Zhang Xiaoren , Chen Jun , Xu Xin , Liu Shu , Zhang Dong H.
Published: March 2021

We report here a global and full dimensional neural network potential energy surface for the F + CH4 reaction and investigate the isotopic effect on the total reaction probabilities using the time-dependent wave packet method.
Prototropic forms of hydroxy derivatives of naphthoic acid within deep eutectic solvents
Authors: Khokhar Vaishali , Pandey Siddharth
Published: March 2021

A comparative study of the photophysical behaviour of structural variants of hydroxy naphthoic acids in choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvents.
Mechanism of methanol synthesis on Ni(110)
Authors: Peng Guowen , Xu Lang , Glezakou Vassiliki-Alexandra , Mavrikakis Manos
Published: March 2021

Planewave density functional theory (DFT-PW91) calculations are employed to study the methanol synthesis through CO2and CO hydrogenation, as well as the two side reactions: the water gas shift (WGS) reaction and the formic acid formation, on Ni(110).
Defective acidic 2D COF-based catalysts for boosting the performance of polyoxymethylene diethyl ether synthesis under mild conditions
Authors: Wang Guoqin , Zhu Gangli , Ding Yong , Xia Chungu , Wang Fang , Li Zhen
Published: March 2021

Broken nets fish more. Through engineering defects of frameworks by the mixing polymerization strategy, the accessibility of the network and capacity of strong acid were improved for the sulfonated phthalocyanine-containing polymeric catalyst.
Two Tb-metal organic frameworks with different metal cluster nodes for C2H2/CO2 separation
Authors: Liu Lizhen , Chen Yaozong , Yao Zizhu , Chen Dinggui , Lin Quanjie , Fan Zhiwen , Zhang Zhangjing , Chen Binyi , Xiang Shengchang
Published: March 2021

Two Tb-metal organic frameworks with different metal cluster nodes for selective separation of C2H2/CO2 have been synthesized.
Oxidative addition of cyanogen bromide toC,N-chelated and Lappert's stannylenes
Authors: Švec Petr , Samsonov Maksim A. , Růžičková Zdeňka , Brus Jiří , Růžička Aleš
Published: March 2021

The process of Br/CN redistribution observed within the (organo)tin(iv) species is displayed as the Pong arcade game.
Yttrium germole dianion complexes with Y–Ge bonds
Authors: Liu Jingjing , Singh Kalyan , Dutta Sayan , Feng Zhongtao , Koley Debasis , Tan Gengwen , Wang Xinping
Published: March 2021

The first rare earth complexes bearing Ge–RE bonds other than the RE–GeR3 structural type have been synthesized and structurally characterized.
A high-performance rocking-chair lithium-ion battery-supercapacitor hybrid device boosted by doubly matched capacity and kinetics of the faradaic electrodes
Authors: Su Feng , Qin Jieqiong , Das Pratteek , Zhou Feng , Wu Zhong-Shuai
Published: March 2021

A lithium-ion battery-supercapacitor hybrid device with a rocking-chair mechanism is constructed and exhibits high energy and power densities by virtue of double matching of capacity and kinetics between the two faradaic electrodes.
Scalable electrochemical reduction of sulfoxides to sulfides
Authors: Kong Zhenshuo , Pan Chao , Li Ming , Wen Lirong , Guo Weisi
Published: March 2021

A scalable electrochemical reduction of sulfoxides to sulfides has been developed.
BiCl3-Facilitated removal of methoxymethyl-ether/ester derivatives and DFT study of –O–C–O– bond cleavage
Authors: Pacherille Angela , Tuga Beza , Hallooman Dhanashree , Dos Reis Isaac , Vermette Mélodie , Issack Bilkiss B. , Rhyman Lydia , Ramasami Ponnadurai , Sunasee Rajesh
Published: March 2021

An experimental and DFT study of the cleavage of the MOM group mediated by an eco-friendly reagent, bismuth trichloride.
Promoting hydrogen evolution of a g-C3N4-based photocatalyst by indium and phosphorus co-doping
Authors: Yang Xiaohang , Cao Chi , Guo Zilong , Zhang Xiaoyu , Wang Yaxin , Yang Wensheng
Published: March 2021

An indium and phosphorus co-doped g-C3N4 photocatalyst (In,P-g-C3N4) was prepared by K2HPO4 post-treatment of an indium-doped g-C3N4 photocatalyst (In-g-C3N4) derived from in situ copolymerization of dicyandiamide and indium chloride.
Facile synthesis of carbamoylated benzimidazo[2,1-a]isoquinolin-6(5H)-ones via radical cascade cyclization under metal-free conditions
Authors: Liu Qi , Wang Lei , Liu Jie , Ruan Shuchen , Li Pinhua
Published: March 2021

An efficient synthesis of carbamoylated benzimidazo[2,1-a]isoquinolin-6(5H)-ones from 2-arylbenzoimidazoles and oxamic acids was developed under metal-free conditions with good product yields.
Conjugated microporous polymers using a copper-catalyzed [4 + 2] cyclobenzannulation reaction: promising materials for iodine and dye adsorption
Authors: Baig Noorullah , Shetty Suchetha , Al-Mousawi Saleh , Alameddine Bassam
Published: March 2021

A new design strategy is disclosed to synthesize conjugated microporous polymers using a Cu-catalyzed [4 + 2] cyclobenzannulation reaction. The polymers reveal BET surface areas up to 794 m2 g−1 and promising uptake of iodine and methylene blue.
Supramolecular aggregation properties of 4-(1-morpholino)-1,8-naphthalimide based fluorescent materials
Authors: Lovitt June I. , Gorai Tumpa , Cappello Emanuele , Delente Jason M. , Barwich Sebastian T. , Möbius Matthias E. , Gunnlaugsson Thorfinnur , Hawes Chris S.
Published: March 2021

Morpholine-substituted 1,8-naphthalimide fluorophores exhibit solvent and pH-dependent emission characteristics based on aggregation, and form robust chemically reversible metallogels.
Construction of the tetracyclic core of the Lycopodium alkaloid annotinolide C
Authors: Guo Xiang , Li Yong-Yao , Wang Shuang-Hu , Zhang Fu-Min , Li Bao-Sheng , Tu Yong-Qiang , Zhang Xiao-Ming
Published: March 2021

A concise approach to the tetracyclic core of annotinolide C has been developed which contains two key reactions epoxidation/1,2-migration to construct an aza [6.5] spiro ring (A and B) and semireduction/cyclization to construct lactone ring D.
Rh(iii)-Catalyzed multi-site-selective C–H bond functionalization: condition-controlled synthesis of diverse fused polycyclic benzimidazole derivatives
Authors: Wang Ying-Ying , Liu Man , Dong Lin
Published: March 2021

Multi-site-selective C–H activation: Diverse novel fused polycyclic- and multi-substituted 2-oxyl naphthalene benzimidazole derivatives were selectively synthesized via Rh(iii)-catalyzed tandem C–H activation/cyclization.
Practical scale up synthesis of carboxylic acids and their bioisosteres 5-substituted-1H-tetrazoles catalyzed by a graphene oxide-based solid acid carbocatalyst
Authors: Mittal Rupali , Kumar Amit , Awasthi Satish Kumar
Published: March 2021

Scalable synthesis of carboxylic acids and their bioisosteres, 5-substituted-1H-tetrazoles, catalyzed by phenylsulfonic acid functionalized reduced graphene oxide.
OBP-functionalized/hybrid superparamagnetic nanoparticles for Candida albicans treatment
Authors: Riboni Nicolò , Spadini Costanza , Cabassi Clotilde S. , Bianchi Federica , Grolli Stefano , Conti Virna , Ramoni Roberto , Casoli Francesca , Nasi Lucia , de Julián Fernández César , Luches Paola , Careri Maria
Published: March 2021

Hybrid superparamagnetic nanoparticles functionalized with odorant binding proteins for Candida albicans treatment.
The effect of pH and transition metal ions on cysteine-assisted gold aggregation for a distinct colorimetric response
Authors: Thuy Nguyen Trang Thi , Han Olivia A. , Lim Eun Bi , Haam Seungjoo , Park Joon-Seo , Lee Sang-Wha
Published: March 2021

Correction for ‘The effect of pH and transition metal ions on cysteine-assisted gold aggregation for a distinct colorimetric response’ by Trang Thi Thuy Nguyen et al., RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 9664–9674, DOI: 10.1039/D1RA00013F.
One tool to bring them all: Au-catalyzed synthesis of B,O- and B,N-doped PAHs from boronic and borinic acids
Authors: Ouadoudi Omar , Kaehler Tanja , Bolte Michael , Lerner Hans-Wolfram , Wagner Matthias
Published: March 2021

Singly and doubly B,E-doped PAHs were synthesized using a protocol that starts from easy-to-handle boronic and borinic acids and offers the possibility to choose between the preparation of B,O- and B,N-PAHs in the final reaction step.
Efficient antibacterial activity of hydroxyapatite through ROS generation motivated by trace Mn(iii) coupled H vacancies
Authors: Wang Ming , Li Miao , Wang Yunli , Shao Yiran , Zhu Yingchun , Yang Shiping
Published: March 2021

A novel trace Mn3+-doped hydroxyapatite is developed for efficient antibacterial activity via ROS generation motivated by Mn(iii) and H vacancy couples.
A bioinspired switchable selective infrared solar absorber by tunable optical coupling
Authors: Wang Wanlin , Yan Xiaoyuan , Zou Qixuan , Hong Binbin , Zhang Wang , Wang Guo Ping
Published: March 2021

Inspired by the tunable coupling of pigment cells and iridocytes, a tunable thermoregulatory material is designed. The metamaterial can tune the solar absorptive quality from 0.9 to 0.03 while keeping the radiative quality small.
Proteasome in action: substrate degradation by the 26S proteasome
Authors: Sahu Indrajit , Glickman Michael H.
Published: March 2021

Ubiquitination is the major criteria for the recognition of a substrate-protein by the 26S proteasome. Additionally, a disordered segment on the substrate — either intrinsic or induced — is critical for proteasome engagement. The proteasome is geared to interact with both of these substrate features and prepare it for degradation. To facilitate substrate accessibility, resting proteasomes are characterised by a peripheral distribution of ubiquitin receptors on the 19S regulatory particle (RP) and a wide-open lateral surface on the ATPase ring. In this substrate accepting state, the internal channel through the ATPase ring is discontinuous, thereby obstructing translocation of potential substrates. The binding of the conjugated ubiquitin to the ubiquitin receptors leads to contraction of the 19S RP. Next, the ATPases engage the substrate at a disordered segment, energetically unravel the polypeptide and translocate it towards the 20S catalytic core (CP). In this substrate engaged state, Rpn11 is repositioned at the pore of the ATPase channel to remove remaining ubiquitin modifications and accelerate translocation. C-termini of five of the six ATPases insert into corresponding lysine-pockets on the 20S α-ring to complete 20S CP gate opening. In the resulting substrate processing state, the ATPase channel is fully contiguous with the translocation channel into the 20S CP, where the substrate is proteolyzed. Complete degradation of a typical ubiquitin-conjugate takes place over a few tens of seconds while hydrolysing tens of ATP molecules in the process (50 kDa/∼50 s/∼80ATP). This article reviews recent insight into biochemical and structural features that underlie substrate recognition and processing by the 26S proteasome.
The complex role of adipokines in obesity, inflammation, and autoimmunity
Authors: Taylor Erin B.
Published: March 2021

The global obesity epidemic is a major contributor to chronic disease and disability in the world today. Since the discovery of leptin in 1994, a multitude of studies have characterized the pathological changes that occur within adipose tissue in the obese state. One significant change is the dysregulation of adipokine production. Adipokines are an indispensable link between metabolism and optimal immune system function; however, their dysregulation in obesity contributes to chronic low-grade inflammation and disease pathology. Herein, I will highlight current knowledge on adipokine structure and physiological function, and focus on the known roles of these factors in the modulation of the immune response. I will also discuss adipokines in rheumatic and autoimmune diseases.
Brain angiotensin system: a new promise in the management of epilepsy?
Authors: Ramos Alberto Javier
Published: March 2021

Epilepsy is a highly prevalent neurological disease and anti-epileptic drugs (AED) are almost the unique clinical treatment option. A disbalanced brain renin–angiotensin system (RAS) has been proposed in epilepsy and several reports have shown that angiotensin II (Ang II) receptor-1 (ATR1) activation is pro-inflammatory and pro-epileptogenic. In agreement, ATR1 blockage with the repurposed drug losartan has shown benefits in animal models of epilepsy. Processing of Ang II by ACE2 enzyme renders Ang-(1-7), a metabolite that activates the mitochondrial assembly (Mas) receptor (MasR) pathway. MasR activation presents beneficial effects, facilitating vasodilatation, increasing anti-inflammatory and antioxidative responses. In a recent paper published in Clinical Science, Gomes and colleagues (Clin. Sci. (Lond.) (2020) 134, 2263–2277) performed intracerebroventricular (icv) infusion of Ang-(1-7) in animals subjected to the pilocarpine model of epilepsy, starting after the first spontaneous motor seizure (SMS). They showed that this approach reduced the frequency of SMS, restored animal anxiety, increased exploration, and augmented the hippocampal expression of protective catalase enzyme and antiapoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2). Interestingly, but surprisingly, Gomes and colleagues showed that MasR expression and mTor activity were reduced in the hippocampus of the epileptic Ang-(1-7) treated animals. These results show that Ang-(1-7) administration could represent a new avenue for developing strategies for the management of epilepsy in clinical settings. However, future work is necessary to evaluate the levels of RAS metabolites and the activity of key enzymes in these experimental interventions to completely understand the therapeutic potential of the brain RAS manipulation in epilepsy.
The fate of planetesimals formed at planetary gap edges
Authors: Eriksson Linn E. J. , Ronnet Thomas , Johansen Anders
Published: March 2021

The presence of rings and gaps in protoplanetary disks are often ascribed to planet–disk interactions, where dust and pebbles are trapped at the edges of planetary-induced gas gaps. Recent works have shown that these are likely sites for planetesimal formation via the streaming instability. Given the large amount of planetesimals that potentially form at gap edges, we address the question of their fate and their ability to radially transport solids in protoplanetary disks. We performed a series ofN-body simulations of planetesimal orbits, taking into account the effect of gas drag and mass loss via ablation. We considered two planetary systems: one that is akin to the young Solar System and another inspired by the structures observed in the protoplanetary disk around HL Tau. In both systems, the proximity to the gap-opening planets results in large orbital excitations, causing the planetesimals to leave their birth locations and spread out across the disk soon after formation. We find that collisions between pairs of planetesimals are rare and should not affect the outcome of our simulations. Collisions with planets occur for ~1% of the planetesimals in the Solar System and for ~20% of the planetesimals in the HL Tau system. Planetesimals that end up on eccentric orbits interior of ~10 au experience efficient ablation and lose all mass before they reach the innermost disk region. In our nominal Solar System simulation, with a stellar gas accretion rate ofṀ0= 10−7M⊙yr−1andα= 10−2, we find that 70% of the initial planetesimal mass has been ablated after 500 kyr. Since the protoplanets are located further away from the star in the HL Tau system, the ablation rate is lower and only 11% of the initial planetesimal mass has been ablated after 1 Myr using the same disk parameters. The ablated material consist of a mixture of solid grains and vaporized ices, where a large fraction of the vaporized ices re-condense to form solid ice. Assuming that the solid grains and ices grow to pebbles in the disk midplane, this results in a pebble flux of ~10−100M⊕Myr−1through the inner disk. This occurred in the Solar System at a time so early in its evolution that there is not likely to be any record of it. Our results demonstrate that scattered planetesimals can carry a significant flux of solids past planetary-induced gaps in young and massive protoplanetary disks.
Retraction notice to: ‘Assembly of efficient Ag/n-Si/Cu2CdSnS4/Au 5 for photovoltaic cell utilities’
Authors: El Saeedy Halemah I. , Yakout Hanan A. , Mahmoud Mona , Abdelaal Said A. , El Sayed Mardia T.
Published: March 2021

Refers to RETRACTED: Assembly of efficient Ag/n-Si/Cu2CdSnS4/ Au for photovoltaic cell utilities, Halemah I. El Saeedy, Hanan A. Yakout, Mona Mahmoud, Said A. Abdelaal, and Mardia T. El Sayed, Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 92, 30302 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2020200207. published online 17 December 2020

At the request of the Authors, the following article has been retracted.

The following article has been retracted. Shortly after publication, the Editorial Board of EPJ Applied Physics received comments from a specialist in electron microscopy and analysis. He pointed out that the paper presented severe errors dealing with the microanalysis spectrum presented in one of the figures. As a conclusion, the presented EDS spectrum could not correspond to the studied sample. After careful consideration, the Editorial Board of EPJ Applied Physics asked for the retraction of this paper, due to the fundamental nature of the mistakes in the data and analysis of EDS spectrum, upon which the conclusion of the paper was incorrectly found.

The Authors accept this decision and request the retraction of the paper.
Sea container inspection with tagged neutrons
Authors: Pérot Bertrand , Carasco Cédric , Eléon Cyrille , Bernard Sébastien , Sardet Alix , El Kanawati Wassila , Deyglun Clément , Perret Grégory , Sannié Guillaume , Valkovic Vladivoj , Sudac Davorin , Obhodas Jasmina , Moretto Sandra , Nebbia Giancarlo , Fontana Cristiano , Pino Felix , Donzella Antonietta , Zenoni Aldo , Iovene Alessandro , Tintori Carlo , Moszynski Marek , Gierlik Michal
Published: March 2021

Neutron inspection of sea-going cargo containers has been widely studied in the past 20 yr to non-intrusively detect terrorist threats, like explosives or Special Nuclear Materials (SNM), and illicit goods, like narcotics or smuggling materials. Fast 14 MeV neutrons are produced by a portable generator with the t(d, n)αfusion reaction, and tagged in both direction and time thanks to the alpha particle detection. This Associated Particle Technique (APT) allows focusing inspection on specific areas of interest in the containers, previously identified as containing suspicious items with X-ray radiographic scanners or radiation portal monitors. We describe the principle of APT for non-nuclear material identification, and for nuclear material detection, then we provide illustrations of the performances for 10 min inspections with significant quantities (kilograms) of explosives, illicit drugs, or SNM, in different cargo cover loads (e.g. metallic, organic, or ceramic matrices).
Review of Medical Image Synthesis using GAN Techniques
Authors: Krithika alias Anbu Devi M. , Suganthi K.
Published: March 2021

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) is one of the vital efficient methods for generating a massive, high-quality artificial picture. For diagnosing particular diseases in a medical image, a general problem is that it is expensive, usage of high radiation dosage, and time-consuming to collect data. Hence GAN is a deep learning method that has been developed for the image to image translation, i.e. from low-resolution to highresolution image, for example generating Magnetic resonance image (MRI) from computed tomography image (CT) and 7T from 3T MRI which can be used to obtain multimodal datasets from single modality. In this review paper, different GAN architectures were discussed for medical image analysis.
An intelligent detection and therapeutic device to support sleep apnea in infants
Authors: Divakaran Sindu , Sudhakar T. , Sindhiya R , Gupta Rimisha , Premkumar J
Published: March 2021

Among the numerous sleep-disorders breathing patterns encountered by babies, such as intermittent respiration, premature apnea, obstructive sleep apnea wa sconsidered a major cause of concern. Upper airway structure, pulmonary system mechanics, etc. are only a few reasons why the babies are vulnerable to obstructive sleep disorder. An imbalance in the viscoelastic properties of the pharynx, dilators and pressure can lead to airway collapse. Low level of oxygen in blood or hypoxemia is considered a characteristic in infants with severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Invasive treatments like nasopharyngeal tubes, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), or tracheostomy are found to be helpful in most cases where infants experience sleep apnea. This paper suggests an appropriate method for long-term monitoring of obstructive sleep apnea in infants and, if any abnormalities are observed, the tool provides continuous airway pressure treatment until the abnormality is stabilized. Resilient propagation algorithm is utilised to train the datasets and produce a relevant output.
Securing Pharmaceutical Supply Chain using Blockchain Technology
Authors: Lingayat Vishwesh , Pardikar Isha , Yewalekar Shubham , Khachane Shyamal , Pande Sachin
Published: March 2021

The production and distribution of counterfeit drugs is an urgent and increasingly critical worldwide issue, especially in pandemics. The imperfect supply chain system in the pharmaceutical industry is one of the reasons for drug counterfeiting. Drugs ownership changes from manufacturers to wholesaler, distributor, and then pharmacist before it reaches the customer thus making it difficult to keep track of it. In this paper, we have compared the existing proposed architectures of blockchain and IoT based supply chain management systems. The system implemented using hyper ledger fabric ensures sharing, storing, transparency, and traceability of data in each link of the supply chain. On the other hand, Ethereum architecture utilized the features of smart contracts to manage the interactions between sender and receiver. Finally, the study mainly focuses on increasing the safety of pharmaceutical products and reducing the manual operation of the supply chain with the most efficient architecture.
Tcp Syn Flood Attack Detection and Prevention System using Adaptive Thresholding Method
Authors: Ramkumar B N , Subbulakshmi T
Published: March 2021

Transmission Control Protocol Synchronized (SYN) flooding contributes to a major part of the Denial of service attacks (Dos) because of the easy to exploit nature of the TCP three way handshake mechanism. Attackers use this weakness to overflow the TCP queue of the server and make its re-sources consumed resulting it to be unavailable for the requests of legitimate users. So we are in need of a quick and precise defence mechanism to detect the TCP-SYN Flood attack. The main objective of the paper is to propose a detection and prevention mechanism of the TCP-SYN flood attack using adaptive thresholding. Adaptive threshold algorithm (ATA) is used to calculate dynamic threshold .Thus this algorithm helps to overcome the limitations of static thresholding like high false positive ratio and also alert users after violation of the threshold calculated by adaptive thresholding algorithm. The result of the suggested mechanism is very effective in the detection and prevention of the TCP SYN flood attack using adaptive thresholding algorithm.
Virtual AI Assistant for Person with Partial Vision Impairment
Authors: Raghavan Rohith , Krishnan Vishodhan , Nishad Hitesh , Shaikh Bushra
Published: March 2021

Smartphones help us with almost every activity and task nowadays. The features and hardware of the phone can be leveraged to make apps for online payment, content consumption, and creation, accessibility, etc. These devices can also be used to help and assist visually challenged and guide them in their daily activities. As the visually challenged sometimes face difficulty in sensing the objects or humans in the surroundings, they require guidance or help in recognizing objects, human faces, reading text, and other activities. Hence, this Android application has been proposed to help and assist people with partial vision impairment. The application will make use of technologies like face detection, object and text recognition, barcode scanner, and a basic voice-based chatbot which can be used to execute basic commands implemented through Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. The application will be able to detect the number of faces, recognize the object in the camera frame of the application, read out the text from newspapers, documents, etc, and open the link detected from the barcode, all given as output to the user in the form of voice.
Speaker Recognition using Random Forest
Authors: Khadar Nawas K , Kumar Barik Manish , Nayeemulla Khan A
Published: March 2021

Speaker identification has become a mainstream technology in the field of machine learning that involves determining the identity of a speaker from his/her speech sample. A person’s speech note contains many features that can be used to discriminate his/her identity. A model that can identify a speaker has wide applications such as biometric authentication, security, forensics and human-machine interaction. This paper implements a speaker identification system based on Random Forest as a classifier to identify the various speakers using MFCC and RPS as feature extraction techniques. The output obtained from the Random Forest classifier shows promising result. It is observed that the accuracy level is significantly higher in MFCC as compared to the RPS technique on the data taken from the well-known TIMIT corpus dataset.
Early Detection of LDoS Attack using SNMP MIBs
Authors: Rajakumaran Gayathri , Venkataraman Neelanarayanan , Quadir Abdul
Published: March 2021

Early detection of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are given more emphasizing due to its adverse effects on disrupting the services of legitimate users. LDoS attack is one among the DoS category which floods the target at ideal rate to keep the connections open for longer duration. Traditional defense measures are inadequate to filter due to its less traffic volume. The current works focus on either empirical studies or signal processing models to capture the behavioural characteristics of LDoS based on TCP’s congestion control and timeout mechanism but none carries out detection at a faster timestamp. Early detection solutions are the main focus as it could scale up the revenue losses in today’s online application issues. Hence our model is based on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), through which the early detection of LDoS attacks is carried out. The relevant detection metrics are identified through theoretical validation of SNMP MIBs and existing dataset analysis. Experimental simulations illustrate the LDoS detection efficiency and the same has been validated for theoretically.
Behandlung von querschnittgelähmten Patienten – ein Interview
Authors: Mehrholz Jan , Bartholet Claudio
Published: March 2021

Claudio Bartholet ist Physiotherapeut und seit 12 Jahren an der Universitätsklinik Balgrist tätig. Seine Ausbildung absolvierte er an der Schule für Physiotherapie des Universitätsspitals Zürich. Er ist Teamleiter der Physiotherapieabteilung des Zentrums für Paraplegie.
Konversion eines alloplastischen Shunts in einen Hybridshunt
Authors: Krönung Gerhard
Published: March 2021

Komplexe autologe Shuntrevisionen erfordern präoperativ eine regionale, topografisch kontinuierliche Darstellung der beteiligten venösen, gelegentlich auch der arteriellen Gefäße, d. h. eine angiografische Landkarte. Die Duplexuntersuchung mit diskontinuierlichen Einzelbildern kann die angiografisch kontinuierliche Information meist nicht gleichwertig ersetzen.
Bestimmung der GFR: messen oder schätzen?
Authors: Schork Anja
Published: March 2021

Die glomeruläre Filtrationsrate (GFR) kann als Clearance von Substanzen, die glomerulär filtriert, jedoch tubulär möglichst wenig sezerniert oder rückresorbiert werden (z. B. Kreatinin (endogen) bzw. Inulin, Iohexol, Iothalamat (exogen)), anhand der Konzentration im Serum und im Sammelurin gemessen werden. Alternativ kann die GFR anhand der Serumkonzentrationen von verabreichten Filtrationsmarkern in zeitlich versetzten Blutabnahmen oder im Rahmen von bildgebenden Verfahren gemessen werden. Klassische endogene Biomarker zur Einschätzung der Nierenfunktion im Serum sind Kreatinin, Harnstoff (der helfen kann, das Urämierisiko einzuschätzen), und Cystatin C, das weniger von der Muskelmasse abhängig, jedoch teurer zu bestimmen ist als Kreatinin. Zunehmend genauere Formeln zur Schätzung der Clearance bzw. der GFR aus der Serumkonzentration von Kreatinin oder Cystatin C wurden entwickelt: 1976 die Formel nach Cockcroft und Gault, 1999 die MDRD-Formel bzw. 2006 die vereinfachte MDRD-Formel und zuletzt 2009 die CKD-EPI-Formeln.
Homöopathie in der Augenheilkunde – mehr als Euphrasia officinalis
Authors: Hildebrandt Jörg
Published: March 2021

Mein Ziel ist es, zu einer Integrativen Medizin besonders in der Augenheilkunde zu ermutigen. In dieser Fallserie beschreibe ich 4 Patienten mit Erkrankungen aus verschiedenen Bereichen der Augenheilkunde und unterschiedliche homöopathische Zugänge. Eine pragmatische Therapie zeigt hervorragende Ergebnisse, wenn die Umstände Homöopathie erfordern, aber die klassische Anamnese und Repertorisation nicht immer zulassen. Klinische Homöopathie, bewährte Indikationen, Typologie, Repertorisation, Materia-medica-Wissen, neue Arzneiprüfungen und neue homöopathische Methoden wie die Elemententheorie oder die Empfindungsmethode etc. sind alle von großer Wichtigkeit, um unser Ziel des § 1 des Organons zu erreichen: kranke Menschen gesund zu machen, was man Heilung nennt.
Klinische Ernährung im Kontext der Onkologie
Authors: Ferschke Melanie
Published: March 2021

Eine gute supportive Ernährungstherapie in der Onkologie basiert auf Standards und festen Abläufen im klinischen Alltag. Dazu gehören effizient eingesetzte und aufeinander aufbauende Screenings und Assessments. Das Wissen um Möglichkeiten der künstlichen Ernährung ist gerade in der Onkologie unverzichtbar, so z. B. über die Eskalationsstufen der Ernährung. Zudem bedarf es eines Standardrepertoires an Nahrungen mit festen Kriterien zur Auswahl.
Measurement of intragastric pressure: an objective method to ascertain whether gastric wall extension is sufficient for assessment of the non-extension sign
Authors: Imamura Kentaro , Machii Motoko , Yao Kenshi , Sou Suketo , Nagahama Takashi , Yao Tsuneyoshi , Kanemitsu Takao , Miyaoka Masaki , Ohtsu Kensei , Ueki Toshiharu
Published: March 2021

Background and study aims The optimal intragastric pressure (IP) for strong gastric wall extension is unclear. We aimed to develop an accurate method to measure IP using endoscopy and determine the pressure required for strong gastric wall extension.

Methods An in vitro experiment using an endoscope with a rubber attached at its tip was conducted. The process of inserting the pressure measurement probe into the forceps channel was skipped, and the tube of the pressure measurement device was directly connected to the forceps channel. In vivo, the pressure in 51 consecutive patients at the time of strong gastric wall extension was measured. Strong extension of the gastric wall was defined as when the folds in the greater curvature were flattened as a result of sufficient extension of the gastric wall by insufflated air during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The IP at that time was measured.

Results In vitro, 20 mL of tap water was injected once into the forceps channel and then aspirated for 10 seconds. Pressure measurement after irrigation of the forceps channel as well as the measurement by inserting the probe procedure were accurately performed. In vivo, among the 51 included patients, the mean IP (range) was 14.7 mmHg (10–23). Strong extension of the gastric wall was obtained in 96.1 % of patients when the IP was 20 mmHg.

Conclusions We developed an accurate method to measure IP using upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Strong extension of the gastric wall was obtained in almost all patients when the IP was 20 mmHg.
Sporadic Hemiplegic Migraine Type 1 and Congenital Ataxia due to a Single Amino Acid Deletion (ΔF1502) in CACNA1A: A Challenging Diagnosis
Authors: Albamonte Emilio , Barp Andrea , Duga Valentina , Carraro Elena , Passarini Alice , Bergamoni Stefania , Maggi Lorenzo , Sansone Valeria Ada
Published: March 2021

Mutations in the CACNA1A gene have been classically related to three neurologic disorders: hemiplegic migraine type 1 (both familiar and sporadic FHM1/SHM1), episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2), and spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6). More recently, pathogenic variants in CACNA1A have been recognized as causative of an early-onset cerebellar syndrome consistent with the definition of congenital ataxia (CA), variably associated with paroxysmal symptoms. Early recognition of congenital ataxia is challenging because the presenting symptoms, such as hypotonia, weak deep tendon reflexes, and delayed motor milestones, are unspecific while clear signs of a cerebellar syndrome which are usually not seen before the second or third year. Here, we report on a case of nonepisodic ataxia of congenital onset and severe SHM1 where the diagnosis of congenital ataxia was made retrospectively after the identification of the ΔF1502 pathogenic variant in CACNA1A by an hemiplegic migraine multigene panel, conducted for the onset of hemiplegic migraine attacks associated with hemispheric swelling. A significant reduction in migraine attacks frequency was achieved with acetazolamide.