bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association Between Doppler Snuffbox Resistive Index and Tissue Perfusion in Septic Patients
Authors: Wang Cui , Wang Xiaoting , Zhang Hongmin , Su Longxiang , Huang Wei , Liu Dawei
Published: September 2020

Background:

Peripheral vascular disorders leading to tissue hypoperfusion play a central role in the pathophysiology of organ failure in septic shock. The Doppler snuffbox resistive index (SBRI) can be an accurate parameter to evaluate the status of peripheral vasculature at the bedside. We evaluated whether the SBRI is related to lactate levels or the peripheral perfusion index (PI) and its ability to predict lactate clearance in septic patients.

Methods:

We conducted a prospective observational study in a tertiary general and teaching hospital in China. From July 2019 to December 2019, all consecutive adult patients with septic shock who required intensive care unit admission were included. At the same time, 20 stable postoperative patients were studied as a control group. We recorded the hemodynamic parameters, including the SBRI and PI, which were measured simultaneously after patient recruitment.

Results:

We evaluated 44 patients with septic shock in the study group and 20 stable postoperative patients in the control group. Patients with septic shock had higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores, procalcitonin levels, cardiac index (CI) and lactate levels than patients in the control group. The SBRI was correlated with the PI and lactate level. The CI was not correlated with lactate level in the patients examined. Based on lactate clearance in the first 6 h, the septic shock patients were divided into two groups: one with lactate clearance ≥20% (n = 28) and the other with lactate clearance <20% (n = 16). The CI was not significantly different between the two groups. The SBRI of the lactate clearance <20% group was higher than that of the lactate clearance ≥20% group and the control group. The PI of the lactate clearance <20% group was lower than that of the lactate clearance ≥20% group and the control group. The SBRI cutoff value for predicting 6-h lactate clearance after resuscitation was ≥1.09, with a sensitivity of 68.8% and a specificity of 85.7%. The PI cutoff value for predicting 6-h lactate clearance after resuscitation was ≤0.99, with a sensitivity of 64.3% and a specificity of 81.2%. The SBRI was significantly better than the PI for predicting 6-h lactate clearance after resuscitation (area under the curve: 0.805 vs. 0.703, P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

The Doppler SBRI is correlated with tissue perfusion parameters in critically ill patients. An abnormal SBRI may be better than the PI for predicting poor lactate clearance in septic patients. Further investigations are required to determine whether correcting an abnormal SBRI and PI may improve the success rate of septic shock resuscitation.
Utilization of the Falciform Ligament to Buttress the Pancreatic Transection Staple Line: A Novel Technique
Authors: Ammori Basil J.
Published: September 2020

Background:

Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) remains a common complication after distal pancreatectomy and is a major source of operative morbidity. Although various mechanical, biological, and synthetic aids have been used to reduce the risk of POPF, none have a proven benefit.

Materials and Methods:

The authors describe (and present a video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/SLE/A256) a novel technique in which the autologous falciform ligament was harvested, wrapped around the pancreas at the site of proposed pancreatic transection, and secured with sutures to buttress the pancreatic transection staple line. The pancreas was then transected with a triple-row stapler.

Results:

Two male patients aged 40 and 57 years each with a 4.3 and 4.2 cm solid mass in the body of the pancreas respectively underwent laparoscopic anterior radical antegrade modular pancreaticosplenectomy, the former patient underwent an en block transverse colectomy for suspected malignancy. Both patients had soft pancreata. They experienced no POPF, made an uneventful recovery, and were discharged from the hospital on the second and fourth postoperative days, respectively. No pancreatic complications were encountered at 5 and 6 months follow-up, respectively.

Conclusions:

The use of the falciform ligament to buttress the staple line at the time of pancreatic transection is a novel technique. Its potential benefit in reducing the risk of POPF warrants further assessment.
Non-standard magnetohydrodynamics equations and their implications in sunspots
Authors: El-Nabulsi Rami Ahmad
Published: September 2020

In this work, we study the physics of plasma waves and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium of sunspots based on the concept of non-standard Lagrangians which play an important role in several branches of science. We derived the modified fluid equations from the Maxwell–Vlasov equation using the moment conventional procedure. Several new interaction terms between physical quantities arise in the non-standard MHD (NS-MHD) equations that give rise to additional features in plasma MHD. A number of fundamental problems in plasma physics are discussed including the non-relativistic dynamics of inviscid fluid subject to the gravitational field, linear waves in plasma MHD and MHD equilibrium of sunspots. For the case of magnetoacoustic wave, it was observed that the NS-MHD equations modify the dispersion relation and its corresponding velocity depends on the sign (positive or negative) of the free parameters introduced in the theory. The non-standard Alfvén velocity is greater than the standard Alfvén velocity for the negative sign and smaller for the positive sign. Besides, in the MHD equilibrium of sunspots, non-standard MHD extends the conventional problem by adding several constraints that lead to an emergence of very low temperature inside the magnetic flux tube comparable to what is observed in low-temperature superconductors. Additional consequences are discussed accordingly.
Big influence of small random imperfections in origami-based metamaterials
Authors: Liu Ke , Novelino Larissa S. , Gardoni Paolo , Paulino Glaucio H.
Published: September 2020

Origami structures demonstrate great theoretical potential for creating metamaterials with exotic properties. However, there is a lack of understanding of how imperfections influence the mechanical behaviour of origami-based metamaterials, which, in practice, are inevitable. For conventional materials, imperfection plays a profound role in shaping their behaviour. Thus, this paper investigates the influence of small random geometric imperfections on the nonlinear compressive response of the representative Miura-ori, which serves as the basic pattern for many metamaterial designs. Experiments and numerical simulations are used to demonstrate quantitatively how geometric imperfections hinder the foldability of the Miura-ori, but on the other hand, increase its compressive stiffness. This leads to the discovery that the residual of an origami foldability constraint, given by the Kawasaki theorem, correlates with the increase of stiffness of imperfect origami-based metamaterials. This observation might be generalizable to other flat-foldable patterns, in which we address deviations from the zero residual of the perfect pattern; and to non-flat-foldable patterns, in which we would address deviations from a finite residual.
Minimum wave speeds in monostable reaction–diffusion equations: sharp bounds by polynomial optimization
Authors: Bramburger Jason J. , Goluskin David
Published: September 2020

Many monostable reaction–diffusion equations admit one-dimensional travelling waves if and only if the wave speed is sufficiently high. The values of these minimum wave speeds are not known exactly, except in a few simple cases. We present methods for finding upper and lower bounds on minimum wave speed. They rely on constructing trapping boundaries for dynamical systems whose heteroclinic connections correspond to the travelling waves. Simple versions of this approach can be carried out analytically but often give overly conservative bounds on minimum wave speed. When the reaction–diffusion equations being studied have polynomial nonlinearities, our approach can be implemented computationally using polynomial optimization. For scalar reaction–diffusion equations, we present a general method and then apply it to examples from the literature where minimum wave speeds were unknown. The extension of our approach to multi-component reaction–diffusion systems is then illustrated using a cubic autocatalysis model from the literature. In all three examples and with many different parameter values, polynomial optimization computations give upper and lower bounds that are within 0.1% of each other and thus nearly sharp. Upper bounds are derived analytically as well for the scalar reaction-diffusion equations.
Salamander-like tail regeneration in the West African lungfish
Authors: Verissimo Kellen Matos , Perez Louise Neiva , Dragalzew Aline Cutrim , Senevirathne Gayani , Darnet Sylvain , Barroso Mendes Wainna Renata , Ariel dos Santos Neves Ciro , Monteiro dos Santos Erika , Nazare de Sousa Moraes Cassia , Elewa Ahmed , Shubin Neil , Fröbisch Nadia Belinda , de Freitas Sousa Josane , Schneider Igor
Published: September 2020

Salamanders, frog tadpoles and diverse lizards have the remarkable ability to regenerate tails. Palaeontological data suggest that this capacity is plesiomorphic, yet when the developmental and genetic architecture of tail regeneration arose is poorly understood. Here, we show morphological and molecular hallmarks of tetrapod tail regeneration in the West African lungfish
Protopterus annectens
, a living representative of the sister group of tetrapods. As in salamanders, lungfish tail regeneration occurs via the formation of a proliferative blastema and restores original structures, including muscle, skeleton and spinal cord. In contrast with lizards and similar to salamanders and frogs, lungfish regenerate spinal cord neurons and reconstitute dorsoventral patterning of the tail. Similar to salamander and frog tadpoles,
Shh
is required for lungfish tail regeneration. Through RNA-seq analysis of uninjured and regenerating tail blastema, we show that the genetic programme deployed during lungfish tail regeneration maintains extensive overlap with that of tetrapods, with the upregulation of genes and signalling pathways previously implicated in amphibian and lizard tail regeneration. Furthermore, the lungfish tail blastema showed marked upregulation of genes encoding post-transcriptional RNA processing components and transposon-derived genes. Our results show that the developmental processes and genetic programme of tetrapod tail regeneration were present at least near the base of the sarcopterygian clade and establish the lungfish as a valuable research system for regenerative biology.
Exceptional preservation of reproductive organs and giant sperm in Cretaceous ostracods
Authors: Wang He , Matzke-Karasz Renate , Horne David J. , Zhao Xiangdong , Cao Meizhen , Zhang Haichun , Wang Bo
Published: September 2020

The bivalved crustacean ostracods have the richest fossil record of any arthropod group and display complex reproductive strategies contributing to their evolutionary success. Sexual reproduction involving giant sperm, shared by three superfamilies of living ostracod crustaceans, is among the most fascinating behaviours. However, the origin and evolution of this reproductive mechanism has remained largely unexplored because fossil preservation of such features is extremely rare. Here, we report exceptionally preserved ostracods with soft parts (appendages and reproductive organs) in a single piece of mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (approximately 100 Myr old). The ostracod assemblage is composed of 39 individuals. Thirty-one individuals belong to a new species and genus,
Myanmarcypris hui
gen. et sp. nov., exhibiting an ontogenetic sequence from juveniles to adults (male and female). Seven individuals are assigned to
Thalassocypria
sp. (Cypridoidea, Candonidae, Paracypridinae) and one to
Sanyuania
sp. (Cytheroidea, Loxoconchidae). Our micro-CT reconstruction provides direct evidence of the male clasper, sperm pumps (Zenker organs), hemipenes, eggs and female seminal receptacles with giant sperm. Our results reveal that the reproduction behavioural repertoire, which is associated with considerable morphological adaptations, has remained unchanged over at least 100 million years—a paramount example of evolutionary stasis. These results also double the age of the oldest unequivocal fossil animal sperm. This discovery highlights the capacity of amber to document invertebrate soft parts that are rarely recorded by other depositional environments.
Gemmobacter aquarius sp. nov., Runella rosea sp. nov. and Flavobacterium fluviale sp. nov., isolated from the Namhangang River system
Authors: Baek Min-gyung , Shin Su-Kyoung , Yi Hana
Published: September 2020

Three bacterial strains, namely HYN0069T, HYN0085T and HYN0086T, were isolated from freshwater samples taken from the Namhangan River system in Korea. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities and phylogenetic tree topologies indicated that the three strains belonged to the genera

Gemmobacter

,

Runella

and

Flavobacterium

by showing the highest sequence similarities with

Gemmobacter straminiformis

(98.4 %),

Runella aurantiaca

(98.3 %) and

Flavobacterium chungangense

(98.1 %). No bacterial species with validly published names showed 98.7 % or higher sequence similarity with the novel isolates. The average nucleotide identities between the genome sequences of the three new isolates and the three closest neighbours were 80.2–92.0 %, all below the threshold for bacterial species delineation (95–96 %). Many biochemical and physiological features also discriminated the isolates from previously known species of the genera

Gemmobacter

,

Runella

and

Flavobacterium

. Based on the phylogenetic and phenotypic data presented in this study, we suggest three novel species with the following names: Gemmobacter aquarius sp. nov. (type strain HYN0069T=KACC 19488T=NBRC 113115T), Runella rosea sp. nov. (type strain HYN0085T=KACC 19490T=NBRC 113116T) and Flavobacterium fluviale sp. nov. (type strain HYN0086T=KACC 19489T=NBRC 113117T).
Roseomonas harenae sp. nov., from desert gravel soil
Authors: Deng Yang , Sun Ye , Wang Hao , Yu Li-Yan , Zhang Yu-Qin
Published: September 2020

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile, pink-pigmented, coccus bacterium, designated CPCC 101081T, was isolated from a gravel soil sample collected from Badain Jara desert, PR China. Growth of the isolate occurred at 10–37 °C and pH 5.0–8.0, with optimal growth at 28–32 °C and pH 7.0, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C18:1ω7c/C18:1ω6c), summed feature 3 (C16:1ω6c/C16:1ω7c) and C18:12-OH. Q-10 was detected as the main respiratory quinone. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, an unidentified phospholipid, an amino-containing lipid and an unidentified glycophospholipid were examined in the polar lipids extraction. The 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison of strain CPCC 101081Twith the available sequences in the GenBank database showed that the isolate was closely related to members of the genusRosenomonas, with the highest similarity toRoseomonas roseaDSM 14916T(97.4 %). In the phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and the core genomes, strain CPCC 101081Twas included within the clade of the genusRoseomonas, representing a species level, with the closest neighbor ofR. roseaDSM 14916T. The genomic DNA G+C content was 68.7 mol%. The average nucleotide identity and the digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain CPCC 101081Tand the related type strains of the genusRoseomonaswere all far lower than the cut-off values for definition species. On the basis of above phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, strain CPCC 101081Tis proposed to represent a novel species of the genusRoseomonaswith the nameRoseomonas harenaesp. nov. strain CPCC 101081T(=KCTC 62852T=NBRC 113512T) is the type strain of the species.
Antitumor immunity in dMMR colorectal cancers requires interferon-induced CCL5 and CXCL10
Authors: Mowat Courtney , Mosley Shayla R. , Namdar Afshin , Schiller Daniel , Baker Kristi
Published: September 2020

Colorectal cancers (CRCs) deficient in DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) are heavily infiltrated by CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and are associated with a better prognosis than the majority of CRCs. The immunogenicity of dMMR CRCs is commonly attributed to abundant neoantigen generation due to their extreme genomic instability. However, lack of neoantigenic overlap between these and other CRCs necessitates study of antigen-independent mechanisms of immune activation by dMMR CRCs in order identify therapeutic strategies for treating MMR proficient CRCs. We show here using organoid cocultures and orthotopic models that a critical component of dMMR CRC’s immunogenicity is the activation and recruitment of systemic CD8+ T cells into the tumor epithelium by overexpression of the chemokines CCL5 and CXCL10. This is dependent on endogenous activation of the cGAS/STING and IFN signaling pathways by the damaged DNA in dMMR CRCs. These signaling pathways remain sensitive to exogenous stimulation in other CRCs, identifying an attractive therapeutic avenue for increasing TIL infiltration into normally immune resistant CRC subtypes. We have thus identified a key neoantigen-independent mechanism that underlies the ability for dMMR CRCs to recruit TILs into the tumor epithelium. Given that TIL recruitment is a prerequisite for effective tumor killing either by the endogenous immune system or in the context of immunotherapies, treatments that activate IFN-induced chemokine-production by tumor cells promise to improve the prognosis of patients with many different CRC subsets.

Statement of Significance

A critical component of antitumor immunity in dMMR CRCs is their ability to recruit T cells into the tumor epithelium as a prerequisite to tumor cell killing. This occurs because their extensive genomic instability leads to endogenous activation of cGAS/STING and overexpression of CCL5 and CXCL10.
Robustness of individualized inferences from longitudinal resting state dynamics
Authors: Hommelsen Maximilian , Viswanathan Shivakumar , Daun Silvia
Published: September 2020

Tracking how individual human brains change over extended timescales is crucial in scenarios ranging from healthy aging to stroke recovery. Tracking these neuroplastic changes with resting state (RS) activity is a promising but poorly understood possibility. It remains unresolved whether a person’s RS activity over time can be reliably decoded to distinguish neurophysiological changes from confounding differences in cognitive state during rest. Here, we assessed whether this confounding can be minimized by tracking the configuration of an individual’s RS activity that is shaped by their distinctive neurophysiology rather than cognitive state. Using EEG, individual RS activity was acquired over five consecutive days along with activity in tasks that were devised to simulate the confounding effects of inter-day cognitive variation. As inter-individual differences are shaped by neurophysiological differences, the inter-individual differences in RS activity on one day were analyzed (using machine learning) to identify a distinctive configuration in each individual’s RS activity. Using this configuration as a classifier-rule, an individual could be re-identified with high accuracy from 2-second samples of the instantaneous oscillatory power acquired on a different day both from RS and confounded-RS. Importantly, the high accuracy of cross-day classification was achieved only with classifiers that combined information from multiple frequency bands at channels across the scalp (with a concentration at characteristic fronto-central and occipital zones). These findings support the suitability of longitudinal RS to support robust individualized inferences about neurophysiological change in health and disease.
The zinc finger antiviral protein ZAP destabilises viral transcripts and restricts human cytomegalovirus
Authors: Gonzalez-Perez Ana Cristina , Stempel Markus , Wyler Emanuel , Urban Christian , Piras Antonio , Hennig Thomas , Heim Albert , Landthaler Markus , Pichlmair Andreas , Erhard Florian , Dölken Lars , Brinkmann Melanie M.
Published: September 2020

Interferon-stimulated gene products (ISGs) play a crucial role in early infection control. The ISG zinc finger CCCH-type antiviral protein 1 (ZAP/ZC3HAV1) antagonises several RNA viruses by binding to CG-rich RNA sequences, whereas its effect on DNA viruses is largely unknown. Here, we decipher the role of ZAP in the context of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection, a β-herpesvirus that is associated with high morbidity in immunosuppressed individuals and newborns. We show that expression of the two major isoforms of ZAP, the long (ZAP-L) and short (ZAP-S), is induced during HCMV infection and that both negatively affect HCMV replication. Transcriptome and proteome analyses demonstrated that the expression of ZAP decelerates the progression of HCMV infection. SLAM-sequencing revealed that ZAP restricts HCMV at early stages of infection by destabilising a distinct subset of viral transcripts with low CG content. In summary, this report provides evidence of an important antiviral role for ZAP in host defense against HCMV infection and highlights its differentiated function during DNA virus infection.
The influence of geneRv3671cinMycobacterium bovisto its replication and acid resistance
Authors: Lin Weidong , Xin Ting
Published: September 2020

To study the effect of Marp protein in Mycobacteriumbovisto the acid resistance and growth performance, this research constructed a knockout mutant (ΔMarp) with mycobacteriophage, complemented strain (ΔMarpComp), and overexpressing strain (PmvRv3671) of the geneRv3671cwith pmv261 plasmid. Culturing them in standard 7H9 medium to the early logarithmic phase and transferring them into 7H9 medium at pH 6.6 and pH 5.0 and maintenance solution at pH 6.6 and pH 4.5. Likewise, macrophages Raw264.7 were infected with multiple infections at 10. The results showed that while they grew in 7H9 medium at pH 5.0 or pH 6.6 and maintenance buffer at pH 4.5, the lived number of over-expressing strain PmvRv3671 is more than wild-type strain M.bovis, ΔMarpComp andΔMarpon the 14thday. After removing the effects of citrate solution, it can be found that the acid resistance abilities of them all are significantly lower on the 14thday than that on the 5thday. Using them infected Raw264.7 macrophages with IFNγ stimulation, the growth rate of the PmvRv3671 is better than An5,ΔMarpand ΔMarpComp. In conclusion,Rv3671cover-expressing strain had shown a better growth ability than wild-type An5,ΔMarpand ΔMarpComp under acidic environment. When exposed to pH 4.5 citrate maintenance solution for a long time, acid resistance abilities of them all have become weaker.
TMS cortical mapping of multiple muscles: absolute and relative test-retest reliability
Authors: Nazarova Maria , Novikov Pavel , Ivanina Ekaterina , Kozlova Ksenia , Dobrynina Larisa , Nikulin Vadim V.
Published: September 2020

The spatial accuracy of TMS may be as small as a few millimeters. Despite such great potential, navigated TMS (nTMS) mapping is still underused for the assessment of motor plasticity, particularly in clinical settings. Here we investigate the within-limb somatotopy gradient as well as absolute and relative reliability of three hand muscle cortical representations (MCRs) using a comprehensive grid-based sulcus-informed nTMS motor mapping. We enrolled 22 young healthy male volunteers. Two nTMS mapping sessions were separated by 5-10 days. Motor evoked potentials were obtained from abductor pollicis brevis (APB), abductor digiti minimi, and extensor digitorum communis. In addition to individual MRI-based analysis, we studied MNI normalized MCRs. For the reliability assessment, we calculated intra-class correlation and the smallest detectable change. Our results revealed a somatotopy gradient reflected by APB MCR having the most lateral location. Reliability analysis showed that the commonly used metrics of MCRs, such as areas, volumes, centers of gravity (COGs), and hotspots had a high relative and low absolute reliability for all three muscles. For within-limb TMS somatotopy, the most common metrics such as the shifts between MCR COGs and hotspots had poor relative reliability. However, overlaps between different muscle MCRs were highly reliable. We thus provide novel evidence that inter-muscle MCR interaction can be reliably traced using MCR overlaps while shifts between the COGs and hotspots of different MCRs are not suitable for this purpose. Our results have implications for the interpretation of nTMS motor mapping results in healthy subjects and patients with neurological conditions.
Essential gene analysis inAcinetobacter baumanniiby high-density transposon mutagenesis and CRISPR interference
Authors: Bai Jinna , Dai Yunfei , Farinha Andrew , Tang Amy Y. , Syal Sapna , Vargas-Cuebas German , Surujon Defne , Isberg Ralph R. , van Opijnen Tim , Geisinger Edward
Published: September 2020

Acinetobacter baumanniiis a poorly understood bacterium capable of life-threatening infections in hospitals. Few antibiotics remain effective against this highly resistant pathogen. Developing rationally-designed antimicrobials that can targetA. baumanniirequires improved knowledge of the proteins that carry out essential processes allowing growth of the organism. Unfortunately, studying essential genes has been challenging using traditional techniques, which usually require time-consuming recombination-based genetic manipulations. Here, we performed saturating mutagenesis with dual transposon systems to identify essential genes inA. baumanniiand we developed a CRISPR-interference (CRISPRi) system for facile analysis of these genes. We show that the CRISPRi system enables efficient transcriptional silencing inA. baumannii. Using these tools, we confirmed the essentiality of the novel cell division protein AdvA and discovered a previously uncharacterized AraC-family transcription factor (ACX60_RS03245) that is necessary for growth. In addition, we show that capsule biosynthesis is a conditionally essential process, with mutations in late-acting steps causing toxicity in strain ATCC 17978 that can be bypassed by blocking early-acting steps or activating the BfmRS stress response. These results open new avenues for analysis of essential pathways inA. baumannii.

Importance

New approaches are urgently needed to controlA. baumannii,one of the most drug resistant pathogens known. To facilitate the development of novel targets that allow inhibition of the pathogen, we performed a large-scale identification of genes whose products the bacterium needs for growth. We also developed a CRISPR-based gene knockdown tool that operates efficiently inA. baumannii, allowing rapid analysis of these essential genes. We used these methods to define multiple processes vital to the bacterium, including a previously uncharacterized gene-regulatory factor and export of a protective polymeric capsule. These tools will enhance our ability to investigate processes critical for the essential biology of this challenging hospital-acquired pathogen.
Proteome-wide Profiling of RNA-Binding Protein Responses to flg22 Reveals Novel Components of Plant Immunity
Authors: Bach-Pages Marcel , Chen Honglin , Sanguankiattichai Nattapong , Soldan Riccardo , Kaschani Farnusch , Kaiser Markus , Mohammed Shabaz , van der Hoorn Renier A.L. , Castello Alfredo , Preston Gail M.
Published: September 2020

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play critical roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation and are known to contribute to plant immunity. To understand the responses of cellular RBPs to an immune elicitor, we applied RNA interactome capture to Arabidopsis leaves treated with flg22. Strikingly, flg22 induced a pervasive remodelling of the cellular RBPome affecting 186 proteins. Flg22-responsive RBPs included classical RBPs involved in RNA metabolism as well as non-canonical RBPs. RBP responders detected after 2h of treatment are enriched in putative sites for post-translational modifications, which may play a regulatory role. By contrast, changes in RBP abundance becomes increasingly important for the RBPome responses to flg22 after 12h. Plant resistance toPseudomonas syringaeis strongly altered in mutant lines lacking individual flg22-responsive RBPs, supporting the importance of RBP dynamics in plant immunity. This study provides a comprehensive and systematic census of flg22 responsive plant RBPs, discovering novel components of plant immunity.
High affinity modified ACE2 receptors protect from SARS-CoV-2 infection in hamsters
Authors: Higuchi Yusuke , Suzuki Tatsuya , Arimori Takao , Ikemura Nariko , Mihara Emiko , Kirita Yuhei , Ohgitani Eriko , Mazda Osam , Motooka Daisuke , Nakamura Shota , Sakai Yusuke , Itoh Yumi , Sugihara Fuminori , Matsuura Yoshiharu , Matoba Satoaki , Okamoto Toru , Takagi Junichi , Hoshino Atsushi
Published: September 2020

The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor via receptor binding domain (RBD) to enter into the cell and inhibiting this interaction is a main approach to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. We engineered ACE2 to enhance the affinity with directed evolution in 293T cells. Three cycles of random mutation and cell sorting achieved 100-fold higher affinity to RBD than wild-type ACE2. The extracellular domain of modified ACE2 fused to the human IgG1-Fc region had stable structure and neutralized SARS-CoV-2 without the emergence of mutational escape. Therapeutic administration protected hamsters from SARS-CoV-2 infection, decreasing lung virus titers and pathology. Engineering ACE2 decoy receptors with human cell-based directed evolution is a promising approach to develop a SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing drug that has affinity comparable to monoclonal antibodies yet displaying resistance to escape mutations of virus.

One Sentence Summary

Engineered ACE2 decoy receptor has a therapeutic potential against COVID-19 without viral escape mutation.
An improved flower pollination algorithm for solving a Type-II U-shaped assembly line balancing problem with energy consideration
Authors: Zhang Beikun , Xu Liyun
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The increasing energy shortage leads to worldwide attentions. This paper aims to develop a mathematical model and optimization algorithm to solve the energy-oriented U-shaped assembly line balancing problem. Different from most existing works, the energy consumption is set as a major objective.

Design/methodology/approach

An improved flower pollination algorithm (IFPA) is designed to solve the problem. The random key encoding mechanism is used to map the continuous algorithm into discrete problem. The pollination rules are modified to enhance the information exchange between individuals. Variable neighborhood search (VNS) is used to improve the algorithm performance.

Findings

The experimental results show that the two objectives are in conflict with each other. The proposed methodology can help manager obtain the counterbalance between them, for the larger size balancing problems, and the reduction in objectives is even more significant. Besides, the experiment results also show the high efficiency of the proposed IFPA and VNS.

Originality/value

The main contributions of this work are twofold. First, a mathematical model for the U-shaped assembly line balancing problem is developed and the model is dual foci including minimized SI and energy consumption. Second, an IFPA is proposed to solve the problem.
Study on the importance of wine bottle design on consumer choices
Authors: Chamorro Antonio , García-Gallego José Manuel , Trindade-Carlos Hermelinda da Conceição
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The aim of this study is to analyse the importance of bottle design in relation to other purchasing criteria, and also to understand which design elements are most attractive to consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of a sample of 437 wine drinkers was carried out in Portugal using non-probabilistic sampling. The technique used was conjoint analysis based on the SPSS conjoint module.

Findings

One of the key findings was the low importance of bottle design in shaping consumer preferences compared to other attributes (origin, price and category of wine). In terms of design elements, the label had the biggest influence on consumer choice, followed by the type of bottle, bottle seal and brand name, in that order. Differences in consumer choice were evident according to the level of knowledge of wine and frequency of consumption.

Practical implications

The findings of this study provide guidance for Portuguese wineries as regards the marketing and design decisions of their products and packaging.

Originality/value

This study sheds new light on the importance of wine bottle design on consumer preferences. Previous studies in the area have proved to be minimal and heterogeneous.
What do we mean by “transferable skills”? A literature review of how the concept is conceptualized in undergraduate health sciences education
Authors: Olesen Kristoffer Brix , Christensen Mette Krogh , O'Neill Lotte Dyhrberg
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Due to rapid changes in the future labor market, transferable skills are recognized as a vital learning outcome for students in undergraduate higher education. However, ambiguities surrounding the concept and content of transferable skills hamper the actual teaching and learning of transferable skills. Consequently, there is a great need for an overview of the literature on transferable skills to qualify and develop the approaches to transferrable skills in higher education. This study aims to outline a typology of how transferable skills are conceptualized in health sciences education, that is, medicine, nursing and related health professionals’ education.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was a mixed studies literature review, which included quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies. A seven-stage sequential exploratory synthesis of the included studies was conducted.

Findings

This review showed that transferable skills reflected three main conceptualizations: Program Requirements, Employability and Holistic Development. Overall, the global methodological quality of the empirical studies of interventions to further transferable skills development in health science education was weak.

Research limitations/implications

This study aids clear conceptualization in future empirical studies.

Practical implications

By distinguishing between three main conceptualizations of transferable skills, this study's typology supports alignment in transferable skills curricula because conceptually sound learning objectives provide teachers and students in health sciences education with a clear purpose and direct educators' choice of relevant teaching and assessment strategies.

Originality/value

This review – the first of its kind – contributes to conceptualization of transferable skills as the basis for curriculum development and research.
The roles of social enterprises in a Swedish labour market integration programme – opportunities and challenges for social innovation
Authors: Kraff Helena , Jernsand Eva Maria
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) in the Swedish establishment programme for newly arrived refugees, and how its set-up affects WISEs preconditions for social innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper builds on a longitudinal and qualitative action research study of a WISE and its work in organising a course for labour market integration, in the context of the Swedish establishment programme. The authors were actively involved in the study as embedded researchers.

Findings

The exploration identifies a number of roles that WISEs take on in the establishment programme. It illustrates how WISEs hybrid character places participants at the centre of the innovation process, where their opinions and knowledge are considered crucial, and how this positively affects their ability to gain skills and confidence. However, the study also makes visible how issues of coordination between stakeholders in the programme lead to mismatches between course content and participant profiles, colliding activities and sporadic participation. In short, the bureaucracy embedded in labour market integration systems erodes the preconditions of WISEs to foster social innovation.

Originality/value

The embeddedness of the authors provides in-depth knowledge regarding how complex state systems affect WISEs in practice. Importantly, it also gives insights into the experiences of refugees, a group that is often mentioned in the literature on WISEs, although mainly in passing.
Experimental study on frequency‐dependent elastic properties of weakly consolidated marine sandstone: effects of partial saturation
Authors: Li Hui , Zhao Luanxiao , Han De‐hua , Gao Jinghuai , Yuan Hemin , Wang Yirong
Published: September 2020

Investigating seismic dispersion and attenuation characteristics of loosely compacted marine sandstone is essential in reconciling different geophysical measurements (surface seismic, well logging and ultrasonic) for better characterization of a shallow marine sandstone reservoir. We have experimented with a typical high‐porosity and high‐permeability sandstone sample, extracted from the Paleogene marine depositional setting in the Gulf of Mexico, at the low‐frequency band (2–500 Hz) as well as ultrasonic point (106 Hz), to investigate the effects of varying saturation levels on a rock's elasticity. The results suggest that the Young's modulus of the measured sample with adsorbed moisture at laboratory conditions (room temperature, 60%–90% humidity) exhibits dispersive behaviours. The extensional attenuation can be as high as 0.038, and the peak frequency occurs around 60 Hz. The extensional attenuation due to moisture adsorption can be dramatically mitigated with the increase of confining pressure. For partial saturation status, extensional attenuation increases as increasing water saturation by 79% with respect to the measured frequencies. Additionally, the results show that extensional attenuation at the fully water‐saturated situation is even smaller than that at adsorbed moisture conditions. The Gassmann–Wood model can overall capture the P‐wave velocity‐saturation trend of measured data at seismic frequencies, demonstrating that the partially saturated unconsolidated sandstone at the measured seismic frequency range is prone to be in the relaxed status. Nevertheless, the ultrasonic velocities are significantly higher than the Gassmann–Wood predictions, suggesting that the rocks are in the unrelaxed status at the ultrasonic frequency range. The poroelastic modelling results based on the patchy saturation model also indicate that the characteristic frequency of the partially saturated sample is likely beyond the measured seismic frequency range.
St Thomas Becket and Medieval London
Authors: JENKINS JOHN
Published: September 2020

Thomas Becket was born in London, and throughout his life had a close if chequered relationship with the city. After his death, while his body lay in its shrine at Canterbury, the citizens of London made great efforts to reclaim his memory for themselves by seeding his commemoration throughout the city. He was swiftly adopted as London's patron saint, the ‘Light of Londoners’, and the strength of devotion to him was made manifest in such construction programmes as the first stone London Bridge, the hospital on his birth site and the city‐wide waterworks. By comparison with Canterbury's focus on Becket's martyrdom, London fostered a dynamic and vibrant cult based upon his birth and rebirth, centralising this element of the cult in their pageants and giving genesis to central elements of the wider Becket mythos such as the ‘Saracen mother’ story. The purpose of this article is to fill a lacuna in the historiography of both the saint and the city, and provide an overview of the importance of St Thomas Becket to medieval Londoners, and of London to the cult of St Thomas.
Longitudinal analysis of complete blood count parameters in advanced‐stage lung cancer patients
Authors: Rojko Livia , Megyesfalvi Zsolt , Czibula Eszter , Reiniger Lilla , Teglasi Vanda , Szegedi Zsolt , Szallasi Zoltan , Dome Balazs , Moldvay Judit
Published: September 2020

Background

Metastatic lung cancer is a debilitating disease, but with the advances in immunotherapy, therapeutic options have vastly increased. Numerous complete blood count parameters (CBC) have been described as easily accessible biomarkers that might predict response to immunotherapy. However, to date, no comprehensive study has been performed on the longitudinal changes of these parameters during cancer progression.

Methods

The clinicopathological variables and CBC parameters of 986 advanced stage lung cancer patients were retrospectively analyzed. Blood tests were performed as part of the routine checkup and the results were recorded at the time of the diagnosis of the primary tumor, the diagnosis of brain or bone metastases, and also during the last available follow‐up.

Results

In the experimental subcohort, 352 and 466 patients were diagnosed with brain and bone metastases, respectively. The control group consisted of 168 patients without clinically detectable or other distant organ metastases. In our longitudinal analyses, we found significantly decreasing absolute lymphocyte count (ALC: P < 0.001), and significantly increasing absolute neutrophil count (ANC: P < 0.001) levels in all patient subgroups, irrespective of histopathological type and metastatic site. Interestingly, patients with brain metastases had significantly descending‐ascending platelet count (PLT) trendlines (P < 0.001), while the bone metastatic subgroup exhibited significantly ascending‐descending trendlines (P = 0.043).

Conclusions

Significantly decreasing ALC, significantly increasing ANC and fluctuating PLT levels may be found in brain and bone metastatic lung cancer patients during disease progression. Our findings might contribute to improve personalized healthcare in this devastating malignancy.

Key points

Significant findings of the study

Significantly decreasing ALC, and significantly increasing ANC levels can be found in advanced‐stage lung cancer patients during disease progression

Patients with brain metastases have descending‐ascending PLT trendlines, while patients with bone metastases exhibit ascending‐descending trendlines during disease progression

What this study adds

The descending values for ALC, and the ascending mean values for PLT and ANC, might be suggestive of poor response to second‐ or third‐line immunotherapy in advanced‐stage lung cancer patients.

The current study might help to improve patient selection and treatment strategies for brain and/or bone metastatic lung cancer patients.
Optimal Eco‐Label Standards in an Oligopolistic Setting
Authors: Forlin Valeria
Published: September 2020

The last couple of decades have seen the emergence of several labels, many of which certify a higher environmental quality to appeal to customers with environmentally friendly tastes. Existing eco‐labels present different standards and different levels of uptake. Often, there is a trade off between these two dimensions: the eco‐label sponsor anticipates that if a standard is too stringent, fewer producers are likely to adopt it. This article looks at the standard that is optimally chosen to solve this trade off, depending on whether the eco‐label sponsor is a non‐governmental organization that aims at reducing emissions, an industry association that wants to maximize total profits, or a government that cares about consumer surplus. In order to compute the eco‐label adoption rate in an oligopoly, we extend the classical model of vertical differentiation to a scenario with more than two producers. When optimally choosing their standard, the non‐governmental organization chooses the most ambitious one, the government chooses the least ambitious one, and the industry association chooses a standard in between.
The utility of screening diagnostic tests in identifying associative immune‐mediated haemolytic anaemia in dogs
Authors: Woodward GM , White JD
Published: September 2020

The study aimed to (1) define the proportion of dogs with immune‐mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA) that have associative and non‐associative disease and (2) evaluate the utility of screening diagnostic tests in identifying potential triggers of associative IMHA. Medical records of 78 dogs diagnosed with IMHA at a specialist hospital in Sydney from July 2008 to August 2017 were reviewed. The original diagnosis was revised according to published guidelines (Garden et al., 2019) as either diagnostic, supportive or suspicious for IMHA. Associative IMHA was confirmed if immunosuppressive therapy was discontinued within six weeks of effective treatment of a potential trigger. Associative IMHA was considered possible when a potential trigger was identified but its significance could not be confirmed. Associative IMHA was confirmed (3) or suspected (7) in 10 dogs (13%, confidence interval [CI] 7.1%–22%), with 68 cases presumed to be non‐associative. Associative IMHA was present in 3/29 (10.3%) of dogs with criteria diagnostic for IMHA, 4/42 (9.5%) of dogs with criteria supportive for IMHA and 3/7 (42.9%) of dogs with criteria suspicious for IMHA. Abdominal ultrasound was performed in 68 dogs and identified possible triggers in five (7.3%, CI 3.2% to 16%). Thoracic radiographs were performed in 70 dogs but did not identify any potential triggers (0%, CI 0% to 5.2%). Urine culture was performed in 22 dogs and was positive in three (14%, CI 4.7% to 33.3%). Routine screening tests, particularly thoracic radiographs, have a low yield in identifying potential triggers of associative IMHA, but are more likely to be useful in dogs fulfilling less stringent diagnostic criteria of IMHA.