bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How dynamic is the Brahmaputra? Understanding the process–form–vegetation interactions for hierarchies of energy dissipation
Authors: Nandi Ketan Kumar , Pradhan Chandan , Dutta Subashisa , Khatua Kishanjit Kumar
Published: March 2022

The spatio‐temporal heterogeneity in process–form–vegetation interactions has enabled the Brahmaputra river system to dissipate the fluvial energy at hierarchical scales. The present review article synthesizes the knowledge on braided rivers and an extensive review of the bio‐morphological processes in the Brahmaputra River. In addition, field investigated datasets along with geo‐spatial imageries and Google Earth Engine computed fluvial information are integrated to conceptualize and understand the complex underlying processes in the river. The review can be further used to propose rejuvenation frameworks and research directions concerning the implication of hierarchical energy dissipation potential in the Brahmaputra River.
Disentangling municipal capacities for citizen participation in transformative climate adaptation
Authors: Glaas Erik , Hjerpe Mattias , Wihlborg Elin , Storbjörk Sofie
Published: March 2022

Transformative adaptation is described as decisive to mitigating risks and to seizing opportunities from a changing climate, requiring new ways of governing, planning and collaborating, alongside technical innovations. Building municipal capacities for citizen participation in adaptation is important to enabling such transformational changes but remains challenging. By applying capacities distilled from the literature on Urban Transformative Capacity and Participatory Climate Governance in a Swedish municipal case, this study aims to disentangle key limits for, and innovations to strengthen, local capacities for citizen participation in transformative climate adaptation. Interviews with municipal officials, focus groups with citizens, and document analyses were employed to analyse how climate adaptation and citizen participation are governed, and how these policy areas are interacting and could be bridged. The study points at conditions that foremost prevent bridging established policies and practices on adaptation and citizen participation, stemming from the different logics and distribution of responsibility within, and lacking collaboration between, these separated policy areas. The analysis concludes that potential ways to enable citizen participation in adaptation involve: broadening the geographical boundaries of deliberations; redefining the target groups for participation; co‐designing participation targets, approaches and evaluation; and developing new ways to analyse and act on the patterns in the citizen inputs received.
How law structures public participation in environmental decision making: A comparative law approach
Authors: Akerboom Sanne , Craig Robin Kundis
Published: March 2022

Despite some skepticism regarding its effectiveness, public participation has become a central facet of environmental decision making, including governments' various decisions to address climate change. However, the existing literature tends to address the general benefits of environmental public participation rather than examine details of how such participation actually occurs and how it differs among nations—even among nations all purportedly pursuing similar public participation goals. This article begins to fill that knowledge gap by examining law's key role in structuring how the public in different countries may actually participate in environmental decision making, including in unfolding national agendas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. Both the United States and European Union member states have decades of experience in writing—and rewriting—public participation into their environmental laws. This article actively explores and compares how the laws of the United States, the European Union, and the Netherlands (as an exemplar of an EU member state) structure public participation in environmental decision making in order to assess how far along the scale of public participation categories each government has progressed. It concludes that, for the moment, United States environmental law more often allows for public collaboration and empowers the public to make certain kinds of environmental decisions—although a new law in the Netherlands may soon encourage more creative and collaborative forms of public participation there, as well.
A case of vaccine‐associated myocarditis following pneumococcal immunization leading to acute mitral regurgitation
Authors: Yamamoto Hiroyuki , Takahashi Marie , Isogai Jun
Published: March 2022

Vaccine‐associated myocarditis (VAM) is a rare entity but can result in potentially serious sequelae if left untreated. However, the mechanisms of the complications of VAM and its treatment remain unclear. Herein, we report the first case of VAM related to pneumococcal immunization, presenting as a local and systemic inflammatory reaction, in which the patient developed significant secondary mitral regurgitation, resulting in acute heart failure. Finally, the patient recovered completely following corticosteroid treatment. This case highlights the value of cardiac magnetic resonance and the pitfall of endomyocardial biopsy in establishing the definitive diagnosis of VAM and emphasizes the importance of optimal management in understanding the mechanism and instituting the treatment for secondary mitral regurgitation caused by VAM.
Heteroligand o‐Semiquinonato Cobalt Complexes of 3‐Cyano and 3‐Nitroformazans
Authors: Protasenko Natalia A. , Arsenyev Maxim V. , Baranov Evgeny V. , Starikova Alyona A. , Bogomyakov Artem S. , Cherkasov Vladimir K.
Published: March 2022

The synthesis of four heteroligand o‐semiquinonate cobalt complexes of bidentate 3‐cyano‐ and 3‐nitroformazans is described. All complexes are characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The square‐planar mono‐o‐semiquinonato‐formazanate cobalt(II) complexes demonstrate diamagnetic properties due to strong intramolecular antiferromagnetic metal–ligand exchange. Magnetic properties of the six‐coordinated bis‐o‐semiquinonato‐formazanate cobalt(III) complexes indicate the domination of antiferromagnetic exchange interactions between unpaired electrons of o‐semiquinonato ligands, and the inclusion of electron‐withdrawing cyano and nitro groups at R3 position of formazanate ligand leads to an increase of the energy of this exchange interaction.
The effect of uncertainty on pain decisions for self and others
Authors: Loued‐Khenissi Leyla , Martin‐Brevet Sandra , Schumacher Luis , Corradi‐Dell’Acqua Corrado
Published: March 2022

Background

Estimating others’ pain is a challenging inferential process, associated with a high degree of uncertainty. While much is known about uncertainty’s effect on self‐regarding actions, its impact on other‐regarding decisions for pain have yet to be characterized.

Aim

The present study exploited models of probabilistic decision‐making to investigate how uncertainty influences the valuation and assessment of another’s pain.

Materials & Methods

We engaged 63 dyads (43 strangers and 20 romantic couples) in a task where individual choices affected the pain delivered to either oneself (the agent) or the other member of the dyad. At each trial, agents were presented with cues predicting a given pain intensity with an associated probability of occurrence. Agents either chose a sure (mild decrease of pain) or risky (50% chance of avoiding pain altogether) management option, before bidding on their choice. A heat stimulation was then issued to the target (self or other). Decision‐makers were then asked to rate the pain administered to the target.

Results

We found that the higher the expected pain, the more risk‐averse agents became, in line with findings in value‐based decision‐making. Furthermore, agents gambled less on another individual’s pain (especially strangers) and placed higher bids on pain relief than they did for themselves. Most critically, the uncertainty associated with expected pain dampened ratings made for strangers’ pain. This contrasted with the effect on an agent’s own pain, for which risk had a marginal hyperalgesic effect.

Discussion & Conclusion

Overall, our results suggested that risk selectively affects decision‐making on a stranger’s suffering, both at the level of assessment and treatment selection, by (1) leading to underestimation, (2) privileging sure options and (3) altruistically allocating more money to insure the treatment’s success.

Significance

Uncertainty biases decision‐making but it is unclear if it affects choice behavior on pain for others. In examining this question, we found individuals were generally risk‐seeking when faced with looming pain, but more so for self; and assigned higher monetary values and subjective ratings on another’s pain. However, uncertainty dampened agents’ assessment of a stranger’s pain, suggesting latent variables may contradict overt altruism. This bias may underlie pain underestimation in clinical settings.
ISFET‐based sensors for (bio)chemical applications: A review
Authors: Cao Shengli , Sun Peng , Xiao Gang , Tang Qiang , Sun Xinyue , Zhao Hongyu , Zhao Shuang , Lu Huibin , Yue Zhao
Published: March 2022

Ion‐sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) sensor is a hot topic these years, playing the combined roles of signal recognizer and converter for (bio)chemical analytes. In this review article, the basic concept, origination, and history of the ISFET sensor are presented. In addition, the common fabrication processes, the most‐used working principle (potentiometric, amperometric, and impedancemetric), and the techniques of gate functionality (physical, chemical, and biological) are discussed introducing the afterward signal transfer processes from ISFET to the terminals through different types of circuits. At last, the development and recent progress (until 2021) of ions and biomolecules (DNA molecules, antibodies, enzymatic substrates, and cell‐related secretions or metabolism) were introduced together with the outlook and facing obstacles (Debye screening, the wearability of ISFET, the multiplexed detections) before the commercialization of ISFET. This review article emphasizes the advantages of the developed ISFET sensors as miniaturization, low‐cost, all‐solid, highly sensitive, and easy operation for portable and multiplexed detections.
A new impact model for the flexible rocking oscillator
Authors: Zhu Huanian , Chatzis Manolis N. , Acikgoz Sinan
Published: March 2022

Motivated by the rocking motion of non‐rigid structures during earthquakes, this paper investigates the rocking behaviour of laterally flexible oscillators. Previous studies in this area utilised ad hoc assumptions to consider transitions between different motion phases at impact. Some models explored direct transitions between two rocking phases assuming that elastic translational velocities remain the same, while others assumed the dissipation of all vertical momentum after a rocking phase, leading to a full contact phase upon impact. In this paper, an improved impact model is proposed, where consistent mechanical principles are used to determine the phase transition criteria. The model departs from the principle that the spring and damper elements of the oscillator cannot transfer horizontal impulses over infinitesimally small durations. Alongside other mechanical constraints, this principle yields a series of momentum equations, which are solved to determine the post‐impact velocities when transiting from one rocking phase to another. Through these equations, it is shown that a transition to full contact implies a specific locus of the vertical impulse from the support medium. Analytical and numerical investigations are then conducted to comparatively evaluate the new impact model. It is demonstrated that the new impact model yields equivalent results to established rigid rocking impact models for effectively rigid structures and resolves long‐standing issues associated with excessive energy dissipation observed in previous models. Time histories of free rocking motion and stability analyses under pulse excitations are used to illustrate and generalise the findings for a range of geometries.
An innovative integrated CCHP system with water scrubbing‐based biogas upgrading unit and molten carbonate fuel cell
Authors: Ghorbani Bahram , Ebrahimi Armin , Skandarzadeh Fatemeh
Published: March 2022

The main purpose of this study is to develop an integrated structure of simultaneous generation of electricity and refrigeration as the main product and hot water as a by‐product. This proposed structure consists of a water scrubbing biogas upgrading process, molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) unit, gas/steam power (GSP) cycle, and absorption refrigeration (AR) system. In this regard, 10.71 kg/s untreated biogas enters the integrated system and 158,351 kW net power is produced. Wasted heat of the structure is utilized to generate cooling of 253.9 kW at a temperature of 243.6 K by applying the AR system and the rest of the heat is used to generate 8.391 kg/s hot water as the system byproducts. The process integration between the different parts has led to an increase in the thermal efficiency of the whole system so that the electrical and overall efficiencies are 78.68% and 79.86%, respectively. The investigation of the exergy study demonstrates that the exergy destruction of the entire structure is 71,859 kW, of which the turbine/compressor/pump section with 24,700 kW (with a share of 34.37% of the total) and MCFC/reformer section with 22,285 kW (with a share of 31.01% of the total) have the most irreversibility. The exergy efficiency of the hybrid structure is 71.06%. Through a parametric study, the present integrated system in various conditions is assessed. One of the results of main outcomes is the increase of overall efficiency up to 83.39% due to the reduction of inlet biogas methane mole content up to 50%. Rising the methane in inlet biogas, although leading to more production of system products, reduces the efficiencies of various parts of the system, including the MCFC unit and GSP cycle, as well as integrated system total efficiency.
Experimental investigation and performance evaluation of thermal energy management arrangements for robots
Authors: Sevinchan E. , Dincer I. , Lang H.
Published: March 2022

In this study, thermal energy management systems with the choices of three different thermal insulating materials are experimentally investigated for robotic applications. These insulating materials are stone wool, fiberglass and extruded polyurethane with air cooling and heating system which are evaluated in the low and high temperature environments to really assess the thermal behavior and performance in such extreme ambient conditions. In this regard, thermodynamic and heat transfer modeling studies are undertaken to investigate various performance parameters, including energy and exergy efficiencies. The experimental results showed that energy efficiencies of the thermal management methods are obtained 46.34% for stone wool, 31.15% for fiberglass, and 44.3% for air cooling system at 40°C. Moreover, the exergy efficiencies are 12.6% for stone wool, 15.08% for fiberglass, 18.91% for extruded polyurethane, and 3.86% for air cooling system.
Recent advances in overcoming barriers to cell‐based delivery systems for cancer immunotherapy
Authors: Ding Yingyue , Wang Yixin , Hu Quanyin
Published: March 2022

Immunotherapy strategies that use cell‐based delivery systems have sparked much interest in the treatment of malignancies, owing to their high biocompatibility, excellent tumor targeting capability, and unique biofunctionalities in the tumor growth process. A variety of design principles for cell‐based immunotherapy, including cell surface decoration, cell membrane coating, cell encapsulation, genetically engineered cell, and cell‐derived exosomes, give cancer immunotherapy great potential to improve therapeutic efficacy and reduce adverse effects. However, the treatment efficacy of cell‐based delivery methods for immunotherapy is still limited, and practical uses are hampered due to complex physiological and immunological obstacles, such as physical barriers to immune infiltration, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, upregulation of immunosuppressive pathways, and metabolic restriction. In this review, we present an overview of the design principles of cell‐based delivery systems in cancer immunotherapy to maximize the therapeutic impact, along with anatomical, metabolic, and immunological impediments in using cell‐based immunotherapy to treat cancer. Following that, a summary of novel delivery strategies that have been created to overcome these obstacles to cell‐based immunotherapeutic delivery systems is provided. Also, the obstacles and prospects of next‐step development of cell‐based delivery systems for cancer immunotherapy are concluded in the end.
A novel robust structural quadratic forecasting model and applications
Authors: Jiang He
Published: March 2022

Recently, big data have been collected and stored for the purpose of forecasting in modern operations management. Nevertheless, a massive amount of data information does not provide additional advantages as expected when implementing forecasting or decision‐making tasks but causes a waste of time and memory for collection, storage, and computing. Besides hierarchical time series forecasting, strong and weak hierarchies in variable space have also been studied for years. To this end, structural variable selection methods that extract vital information from data by distinguishing important variable from nuisance variable with strong or weak hierarchy are favored by scholars. However, the existing structural variable selection methods focus on establishing models with Gaussian or binomial noises without considering heavy‐tailed distributions. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate a robust structured variable selection approach called structural quadratic quantile regression. The model hierarchies are achieved using a proper design of an optimization with check loss function for robustness, regularization term, and one constraint. In computation, a novel algorithm is derived based on Dykstra's algorithm and the proximal alternating direction method of multipliers (pADMM), and its convergence is theoretically guaranteed. Finally, the efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated using both simulation and empirical applications from numbers of scientific domains in forecasting.
Reduced dietary acid load in U.S. vegetarian adults: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Authors: Storz Maximilian Andreas , Ronco Alvaro Luis
Published: March 2022

Dietary acid load (DAL) is an important determinant of systemic pH and acid–base homeostasis. Diets abundant in acidogenic foods, such as meat and meat products, induce a low‐grade metabolic acidosis state that has been associated with cardiovascular disease, type‐2‐diabetes, and an increased cancer risk. Fruits and vegetables have alkalizing properties and beneficially affect DAL. It has thus been suggested that a plant‐based diet (restricting or excluding animal products) may be a powerful tool in reducing DAL; yet studies in that particular field are scarce. To explore these associations in greater detail, we examined DAL in self‐identified vegetarians from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007–2010). We compared dietary intake and two widely used markers of DAL (PRAL (potential renal acid load) and NEAP (net endogenous acid production; NEAPF and NEAPR)) among 8,398 nonvegetarians and 191 lacto‐ovo‐vegetarians with reliable dietary intake aged 18 years or older. Vegetarians had a more favorable body mass index and consumed fewer calories (1862.31 kcal/d) than nonvegetarians (2041.12 kcal/d). Vegetarians consumed fewer protein (34.17 g/1000 kcal) and phosphorus compared to nonvegetarians (39.50 g of protein/1000 kcal) but had a higher intake of magnesium and potassium. Nonvegetarians exhibited higher median DAL scores (PRAL: 11.90 mEq/d, NEAPF: 53.59 mEq/d, NEAPR: 55.67 mEq/d) than vegetarians (PRAL: −0.44 mEq/d, NEAPF: 39.60 mEq/d, NEAPR: 41.30 mEq/d). Vegetarians had more favorable DAL scores compared to nonvegetarians in this descriptive epidemiologic study. Future (interventional) trials are warranted to examine the varying acid load in different plant‐based dietary patterns.
Structural and functional biomarkers of the insula subregions predict sex differences in aggression subscales
Authors: Long Haixia , Fan Ming , Li Qiaojun , Yang Xuhua , Huang Yujiao , Xu Xinli , Ma Ji , Xiao Jie , Jiang Tianzi
Published: March 2022

Aggression is a common and complex social behavior that is associated with violence and mental diseases. Although sex differences were observed in aggression, the neural mechanism for the effect of sex on aggression behaviors remains unclear, especially in specific subscales of aggression. In this study, we investigated the effects of sex on aggression subscales, gray matter volume (GMV), and functional connectivity (FC) of each insula subregion as well as the correlation of aggression subscales with GMV and FC. This study found that sex significantly influenced (a) physical aggression, anger, and hostility; (b) the GMV of all insula subregions; and (c) the FC of the dorsal agranular insula (dIa), dorsal dysgranular insula (dId), and ventral dysgranular and granular insula (vId_vIg). Additionally, mediation analysis revealed that the GMV of bilateral dIa mediates the association between sex and physical aggression, and left dId–left medial orbital superior frontal gyrus FC mediates the relationship between sex and anger. These findings revealed the neural mechanism underlying the sex differences in aggression subscales and the important role of the insula in aggression differences between males and females. This finding could potentially explain sexual dimorphism in neuropsychiatric disorders and improve dysregulated aggressive behavior.
Transmembrane channel activity in human hepatocytes and cholangiocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells
Authors: Florentino Rodrigo M. , Li Qin , Coard Michael C. , Haep Nils , Motomura Takashi , Diaz‐Aragon Ricardo , Faccioli Lanuza A. P. , Amirneni Sriram , Kocas‐Kilicarslan Zehra N. , Ostrowska Alina , Squires James E. , Feranchak Andrew P. , Soto‐Gutierrez Alejandro
Published: March 2022

The initial creation of human‐induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) set the foundation for the future of regenerative medicine. Human iPSCs can be differentiated into a variety of cell types in order to study normal and pathological molecular mechanisms. Currently, there are well‐defined protocols for the differentiation, characterization, and establishment of functionality in human iPSC‐derived hepatocytes (iHep) and iPSC‐derived cholangiocytes (iCho). Electrophysiological study on chloride ion efflux channel activity in iHep and iCho cells has not been previously reported. We generated iHep and iCho cells and characterized them based on hepatocyte‐specific and cholangiocyte‐specific markers. The relevant transmembrane channels were selected: cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, leucine rich repeat‐containing 8 subunit A, and transmembrane member 16 subunit A. To measure the activity in these channels, we used whole‐cell patch‐clamp techniques with a standard intracellular and extracellular solution. Our iHep and iCho cells demonstrated definitive activity in the selected transmembrane channels, and this approach may become an important tool for investigating human liver biology of cholestatic diseases.
Resource flow and fund management at district level in Odisha: Evidence for improving district health systems in developing countries
Authors: Rout Sarit Kumar , Chandrashekar Sudha , Kadam Shridhar M.
Published: March 2022

Planning, budgeting and utilisation of resources at the district level are critical issues for strengthening district health systems. The objectives of this study are to examine budget making, budget execution and budget monitoring processes at the district level; analyse the trend and pattern of public health expenditure at district level. Two districts based on district development index were selected. A mixed‐method study design, both quantitative and qualitative, was used. Quantitative data on resource allocations and utilisation by the government for health were collected and analysed. Qualitative interviews were conducted with government officials to examine budget making, execution and monitoring processes. Resources are transferred through treasury and state health society (SHS) to public health institutions at the district level. Bottom‐up planning process is mainly followed for money routed through SHS constituting 36%–40% of total district spending. It takes around 21 days to transfer funds from the treasury to the SHS and the district gets a major proportion of total funds within 10–15 days. Overall, utilisation of resources is around 80%–85% under treasury and 71%–85% under National Health Mission. However, utilisation for specific programmes, non‐communicable diseases, is extremely low. Multiple bank accounts, number of rules and regulations at each layer of administration make the system complex. There is a lack of integration of different programmes at the district and below. This study suggests to get rid of input‐based budgeting gradually and introduce outcome‐based budgeting to increase efficiency.
Proton‐transfer‐induced in situ defect passivation for highly efficient wide‐bandgap inverted perovskite solar cells
Authors: Fang Zhimin , Jia Lingbo , Yan Nan , Jiang Xiaofen , Ren Xiaodong , Yang Shangfeng , Liu Shengzhong (Frank)
Published: March 2022

Wide‐bandgap (≥1.68 eV) inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been recognized as promising top component cells on the commercial crystalline silicon cell to surpass its Shockley–Queisser efficiency limit. However, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) is dramatically limited by the huge open‐circuit voltage (VOC) loss. Herein, we propose a proton‐transfer‐induced in situ defect passivation strategy to reduce the nonradiative recombination to minimize the VOC loss. Specifically, a liquid‐form neutral amine, 3,4,5‐trifluorobenzylamine (TFBA) was added into ethyl acetate (EA) as anti‐solvent for the film preparation, which induces proton‐transfer from the formamidinium (FA) and methylammonium (MA) in the perovskite precursors to the TFBA. The protonated TFBA exhibits a gradient distribution near the surface of the perovskite film, achieving in situ defect passivation. As a result, TFBA‐based 1.68 eV‐bandgap inverted PSCs afforded a PCE of 20.39%, one of the highest for cells with this bandgap. Meanwhile, due to the strong interaction between TFBA and the perovskite film, the mixed‐halide perovskites demonstrate much better photostability. Our findings offer an effective strategy to passivate defects in PSCs.

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Loneliness and screen time usage over a year
Authors: MacDonald Kristi Baerg , Patte Karen A. , Leatherdale Scott T. , Schermer Julie Aitken
Published: March 2022

Introduction

This study investigates the stability of loneliness in adolescents over a 1‐year period. Also, we examine how the use of screen time media (watching television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, and texting) predicts loneliness over a year and how loneliness predicts screen time media usage.

Methods

The study uses survey data from the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, and Sedentary behavior Study. A large (N = 20,903; 54% female) sample of Canadian students in grades 9–11 (Time 1) and grades 10–12 (Time 2) were assessed at two‐time points, 1 year apart.

Results

Loneliness scores were found to be stable over the 1‐year period, with a slight increase. Additionally, while loneliness was associated with some screen time within the same year, the effects from loneliness or screen time variables at time one predicting the other at time two were negligible. The study also provides evidence that the various screen time media did not fit a single dimension. Finally, there were sex differences in loneliness and some of the media variables.

Conclusions

Loneliness appears to increase slightly over the course of a year in high school students. Results indicated that Internet use and loneliness are related; however screen time use in one year does not have a substantial impact on loneliness a year later or vice versa. Lastly, the data suggested that researchers examine screen time behaviors individually in their investigations.
Toxicity of transition metal nanoparticles: A review of different experimental models in the gastrointestinal tract
Authors: Hu Wanting , Wang Chenlong , Gao Dan , Liang Qionglin
Published: March 2022

The development of nanotechnology is becoming a major trend nowadays. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used in fields including food, biomedicine, and cosmetics, endowing NPs more opportunities to enter the human body. It is well‐known that the gut microbiome plays a key role in human health, and the exposure of intestines to NPs is unavoidable. Accordingly, the toxicity of NPs has attracted more attention than before. This review mainly highlights recent advances in the evaluation of NPs' toxicity in the gastrointestinal system from the existing cell‐based experimental models, such as the original mono‐culture models, co‐culture models, three‐dimensional (3D) culture models, and the models established on microfluidic chips, to those in vivo experiments, such as mice models, Caenorhabditis elegans models, zebrafish models, human volunteers, as well as computer‐simulated toxicity models. Owing to these models, especially those more biomimetic models, the outcome of the toxicity of NPs acting in the gastrointestinal tract can get results closer to what happened inside the real human microenvironment.
Microarray illustrates enhanced mechanistic action towards osteogenesis for magnesium aluminate spinel ceramic‐based polyphasic composite scaffold with mesenchymal stem cells and bone morphogenetic protein 2
Authors: Sharma Anu , Krishnan Manu , Ganganahalli Gurudatta , Saraswathy Seema , Johnson Roy , Iyer Satish R.
Published: March 2022

Spinel (magnesium aluminate MgAl2O4) ceramic‐based polyphasic composite scaffold has been recently reported for craniofacial bone tissue engineering. Improving the osteogenic effects of such composite scaffolds with bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP2) is an intensely researched area. This study investigated the gene interactions of this scaffold with BMP2 and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Human bone marrow MSCs were cultured in 3 groups: Group 1—Control (BMSCs), Group 2—BMSC with BMP2, and Group 3—BMSC with scaffold and BMP2. After RNA isolation, gene expression analysis was done by microarray. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (−1.0 > fold changes>1 and p value <.05) were studied for their function and gene ontologies using Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). They were further studied by protein–protein interaction network analysis using STRING and MCODE Cytoscape plugin database. Group 3 showed up regulation of 3222 genes against 2158 of Group 2. Group 3 had five annotation clusters with enrichment scores from 2.08 to 3.93. Group 2 had only one cluster. Group 3 showed activation of all major osteogenic pathways: TGF, BMP2, WNT, SMAD, and Notch gene signaling with effects of calcium and magnesium released from the scaffold. Downstream effect of all these caused significant activation of RUNX2, the key transcriptional regulator of osteogenesis in Group 3. STRING and MCODE Cytoscape plugin demonstrated the interactions. The enhanced MSC differentiation for osteogenesis with the addition of BMP2 to the polyphasic composite scaffold proposed promising clinical applications for bone tissue engineering.
Anticholinesterase and antioxidant activities of novel heterocyclic Schiff base derivatives containing an aryl sulfonate moiety
Authors: Kamalı Ayfer , Çakmak Reşit , Boğa Mehmet
Published: March 2022

In this research, nine novel heterocyclic Schiff base derivatives (10–18) bearing an aryl sulfonate moiety were designed, synthesized for the first time, and characterized. Then, their inhibitory effects on acetyl‐ and butyrylcholinesterase (AChE and BChE) were investigated in vitro conditions. Moreover, their antioxidant activities were examined by DPPH and ABTS methods. The results indicated that some of the tested molecules had varying enzyme inhibition and antioxidant activities. We determined that compounds 8, 9, 14, 17, and 18 indicated inhibitory effects with IC50 values ranging from 89.30 to 111.28 μM against BChE, respectively compared to standard compound galanthamine (IC50 = 125.88 μM). On the other hand, of the molecules tested, only compound 5 (IC50 = 36.64 μM) displayed inhibitory activity higher than galanthamine against AChE. In DPPH assay, compounds 15 (IC50 = 161.93 μM), 16 (IC50 = 191.76 μM) and 17 (IC50 = 107.55 μM) showed higher antioxidant activity than BHT (IC50 = 203.50 μM). On the other hand, it was determined in ABTS assay that Schiff bases 10–17 (except for compound 18) indicated higher antioxidant activity than BHT.
PTB: Not just a polypyrimidine tract‐binding protein
Authors: Dai Shirui , Wang Chao , Zhang Cheng , Feng Lemeng , Zhang Wulong , Zhou Xuezhi , He Ye , Xia Xiaobo , Chen Baihua , Song Weitao
Published: March 2022

Polypyrimidine tract‐binding protein (PTB), as a member of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein family, functions by rapidly shuttling between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. PTB is involved in the alternative splicing of pre‐messenger RNA (mRNA) and almost all steps of mRNA metabolism. PTB regulation is organ‐specific; brain‐ or muscle‐specific microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs partially contribute to regulating PTB, thereby modulating many physiological and pathological processes, such as embryonic development, cell development, spermatogenesis, and neuron growth and differentiation. Previous studies have shown that PTB knockout can inhibit tumorigenesis and development. The knockout of PTB in glial cells can be reprogrammed into functional neurons, which shows great promise in the field of nerve regeneration but is controversial.
Lived experiences of radiation therapists using health literacy strategies with patients—A qualitative review using interpretative phenomenological analysis
Authors: Kelly Toni , Thompson Jennifer D , Surjan Yolanda , Rinks Marianne , Warren‐Forward Helen
Published: March 2022

Introduction

Adaptive communication is an essential requirement to deliver quality patient‐centred care. Determining patients’ informational needs and acting on the needs are skills radiation therapists (RTs) employ daily with patients. Learning health literacy (HL) strategies to assist with the informational delivery provides RTs with options to improve patients’ understanding of vital radiotherapy treatment information or tasks. This research investigates the lived experiences of RTs from the Illawarra and Shoalhaven Cancer Care Centres in Australia using HL strategies during patient interactions after undertaking HL training workshops.

Methods

An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach was used. Audio‐recorded semi‐structured interviews were conducted with six RTs. Two reviewers analysed each interview script separately before discussing and constructing substantive and sub‐themes.

Results

Four substantive themes were constructed: RT personal attitudes and responses to HL, HL strategies used by RTs, patient associated HL needs and barriers when addressing patient HL needs. RTs were either person‐ or process‐focussed during patient interactions. It was identified that information is provided to patients according to how RTs themselves like to learn new information.

Conclusion

This research has allowed an opportunity to inquire into the lived experiences of RTs implementing HL strategies when providing information to patients. While RTs may be person or process‐focussed, the patient’s needs are always prioritised when providing information, which ultimately results in patient understanding and increased engagement.
The Escherichia coli DnaK chaperone stimulates the α‐complementation of β‐galactosidase
Authors: Berhanu Samuel , Ueda Takuya , Alix Jean‐Hervé
Published: March 2022

pUC18 and pUC19 are well‐known high copy‐number plasmid vectors routinely used for DNA cloning purposes. We show here that, in Escherichia coli transformed by native pUC18, the α‐complementation of β‐galactosidase (i.e., mediated by the peptide LacZα18) is intrinsically weak and slow, but is greatly stimulated by the DnaK/DnaJ/GrpE chaperone system. In contrast, the α‐complementation mediated by the peptide LacZα19 (in E. coli transformed by the native pUC19) is much more efficient and therefore does not require the assistance of the DnaK chaperone machinery. The marked difference between these two LacZα peptides is reproduced in a cell‐free protein expression system coupled with α‐complementation. We conclude that: (i) α‐complementation of β‐galactosidase is DnaK‐mediated depending upon the LacZα peptide donor; (ii) DnaK, sensu stricto, is not necessary for α‐complementation, but can enhance it to a great extent; (iii) this observation could be used to establish an easy and inexpensive method for screening small molecules libraries in search of DnaK inhibitors and also for deciphering the DnaK‐mediated protein quality control mechanism.
Impact of intestinal failure and parenteral support on adult patients with short‐bowel syndrome: A multinational, noninterventional, cross‐sectional survey
Authors: Jeppesen Palle B. , Shahraz Saeid , Hopkins Thomas , Worsfold Andrew , Genestin Elisabeth
Published: March 2022

Background

Patients with short‐bowel syndrome and intestinal failure (SBS‐IF) require parenteral support (PS) and experience various symptoms and comorbidities. This survey assessed the impact of SBS‐IF and PS on patients and their health‐related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods

An online survey of adult patients who had a self‐reported clinician diagnosis of SBS‐IF and were receiving PS was conducted in France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the USA. Patients reported symptoms, comorbidities, and treatment satisfaction; the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire: Specific Health Problem (WPAI:SHP) and the Home Parenteral Nutrition‐Quality of Life (HPN‐QoL) questionnaire assessed impact on work and HRQoL, respectively.

Results

Patients (N = 181; aged 52.0 ± 15.1 years; 56.9% women) experienced fatigue (75.1%), anemia (49.7%), and difficulty spending time with family (36.5%) and friends (30.4%). A total work productivity loss of 37.5% was calculated in patients reporting employment (29.3%). Patients typically (64.0%) reported some degree of satisfaction with their PS treatment. Almost two‐thirds (59.7%) reported that their PS was either “not,” “a little,” or “moderately” convenient. The mean HPN‐QoL scores were higher for patients who were satisfied with treatment (n = 116; 17.1 ± 21.0 [median, 16.7; interquartile range, 0.0–31.7]) than for patients who were dissatisfied/neither (n = 65; 1.7 ± 19.7 [median, 0.0; interquartile range, –13.3–13.3]).

Conclusions

Patients with SBS‐IF who are receiving PS experience burdensome symptoms and comorbidities and report impacts on work productivity and time spent with friends and family. This study can increase awareness of the impacts of SBS‐IF and PS and how treatment satisfaction may influence patients’ health and HRQoL.
The spatial and temporal trends of severe periodontitis burden in Asia, 1990–2019: A population‐based epidemiological study
Authors: Luo Li‐Sha , Luan Hang‐Hang , Jiang Jun‐Feng , Wu Lan , Li Cheng , Leng Wei‐Dong , Zeng Xian‐Tao
Published: March 2022

Background

To investigate the long‐term and spatial patterns of incidence, prevalence, and disability‐adjusted life year (DALY) rates of severe periodontitis in Asia from 1990 to 2019, and to estimate the associations between disease burden and socioeconomic development using the Socio‐Demographic Index (SDI).

Methods

Data were obtained from the global burden of disease study 2019. The average annual percent change (AAPC) was calculated to reflect temporal trends, spatial autocorrelation analysis was conducted to estimate the spatial characteristics, and spatial panel models were used to investigate the association between SDI and severe periodontitis burden.

Results

For Asia as a whole, the crude rates increased by 1.10% per year for incidence, 1.42% per year for prevalence, and 1.41% per year for DALY from 1990 to 2019. The age‐standardized incidence, prevalence and DALY rates increased by 0.18%, 0.22%, and 0.23% per year, respectively. Spatially, the hot spots of age‐standardized incidence, prevalence and DALY rates were located in Southern Asia, besides, these rates all showed increasing trends in most countries, and the increases were clustered in Southeastern Asia. Further, SDI showed a negative association with incidence (coef = −14.44; 95% CI: −24.63, −4.25) and prevalence (coef = −40.09; −51.81, −28.36), and a positive association with DALY rates (coef = 0.31; 0.23; 0.38).

Conclusions

Severe periodontitis poses a serious public health challenge in Asian countries with increasing temporal trends and substantial spatial inequalities. Effective geographically targeted public health interventions and strategies are needed to address the growing burden associated with severe periodontitis.
Enhancement of nutritional, sensory and storage stability by lactic fermentation of Auricularia auricula
Authors: Sun Zhengchen , Cong Yu , Li Tianyu , Meng Xianghong , Zhang Fang
Published: March 2022

BACKGROUND

Auricularia auricula is of important nutritional value, although its utilization or consumption are mainly under the original form with no further processing. Indeed, its liquid or other fermented products contribute to improved digestion and absorption of nutrients.

RESULTS

The present study used Lactiplantibacillus plantarum to ferment A. auricula juice after an initial processing comprising superfine grinding and high‐pressure homogenization. The content of probiotic bacteria in the juice of A. auricula reached 8.48 log colony‐forming units mL−1 after 24 h of fermentation under 37 °C, with the addition of 3% carbon and 0.3% nitrogen source. Meanwhile, the antioxidant activity was increased approximately two‐fold, as well as the enriched volatile flavors, both effectively cover up the unwelcoming earthy smell of A. auricula. Furthermore, the storage stability was also strengthened up to 28 days.

CONCLUSION

In summary, the introduced fermentation process not only realized the purpose of improving the nutritional value of A. auricula, but also effectively upgraded the sensory evaluation of A. auricula products. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry
The mental health of Vietnam theater veterans—the lasting effects of the war: 2016–2017 Vietnam Era Health Retrospective Observational Study
Authors: Cypel Yasmin , Schnurr Paula P. , Schneiderman Aaron I. , Culpepper William J. , Akhtar Fatema Z. , Morley Sybil W. , Fried Dennis A. , Ishii Erick K. , Davey Victoria J.
Published: March 2022

Mental health data from the 2016–2017 Vietnam Era Health Retrospective Observational Study (VE‐HEROeS) were analyzed by cohort, represented by United States Vietnam theater veterans (VTs) who served in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; nontheater veterans (NTs) without theater service; and age‐ and sex‐matched nonveterans (NVs) without military service. The exposure of interest was Vietnam theater service. Surveys mailed to random samples of veterans (n= 42,393) and nonveterans (n= 6,885) resulted in response rates of 45.0% for veterans (n= 6,735 VTs,Mage= 70.09,SE= 0.04;n= 12,131 NTs) and 67.0% for NVs (n= 4,530). We examined self‐report data on four mental health outcomes: probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, psychological distress, and overall mental health functioning. Weighted adjusted odds ratios (aORs) between each outcome and cohort were estimated, controlling for covariates in four models: cohort plus sociodemographic variables (Model 1), Model 1 plus physical health variables (Model 2), Model 2 plus potentially traumatic events (PTEs; Model 3), and Model 3 plus other military service variables (Model 4). Mental health outcome prevalence was highest for VTs versus other cohorts, with the largest aOR, 2.88, for PTSD, 95% CI [2.46, 3.37],p< .001 (Model 4, VT:NT). Physical health and PTEs contributed most to observed effects; other service variables contributed least to aORs overall. Mental health dysfunction persists among VTs years after the war's end. The present results reaffirm previous findings and highlight the need for continued mental health surveillance in VTs.
Cognitive impairment and microvascular function in end‐stage renal disease
Authors: Angermann Susanne , Günthner Roman , Hanssen Henner , Lorenz Georg , Braunisch Matthias C. , Steubl Dominik , Matschkal Julia , Kemmner Stephan , Hausinger Renate , Block Zenonas , Haller Bernhard , Heemann Uwe , Kotliar Konstantin , Grimmer Timo , Schmaderer Christoph
Published: March 2022

Objective

Hemodialysis patients show an approximately threefold higher prevalence of cognitive impairment compared to the age‐matched general population. Impaired microcirculatory function is one of the assumed causes. Dynamic retinal vessel analysis is a quantitative method for measuring neurovascular coupling and microvascular endothelial function. We hypothesize that cognitive impairment is associated with altered microcirculation of retinal vessels.

Methods

152 chronic hemodialysis patients underwent cognitive testing using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Retinal microcirculation was assessed by Dynamic Retinal Vessel Analysis, which carries out an examination recording retinal vessels' reaction to a flicker light stimulus under standardized conditions.

Results

In unadjusted as well as in adjusted linear regression analyses a significant association between the visuospatial executive function domain score of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and the maximum arteriolar dilation as response of retinal arterioles to the flicker light stimulation was obtained.

Conclusion

This is the first study determining retinal microvascular function as surrogate for cerebral microvascular function and cognition in hemodialysis patients. The relationship between impairment in executive function and reduced arteriolar reaction to flicker light stimulation supports the involvement of cerebral small vessel disease as contributing factor for the development of cognitive impairment in this patient population and might be a target for noninvasive disease monitoring and therapeutic intervention.
Intelligent detection of vulnerable functions in software through neural embedding‐based code analysis
Authors: Zeng Peng , Lin Guanjun , Zhang Jun , Zhang Ying
Published: March 2022

Software vulnerability is a fundamental problem in cybersecurity, which poses severe threats to the secure operation of devices and systems. In this paper, we propose a new vulnerability detection framework of employing advanced neural embedding. For example, CodeBERT is a large‐scale pre‐trained embedding model for natural language and programming language. It achieves state‐of‐the‐art performance on various natural language processing and code analysis tasks, demonstrating improved generalization ability compared with conventional models. The proposed framework encapsulates CodeBERT as a code representation generator and combines it with transfer learning to conduct cross‐project vulnerability detection. Considering the problem of lacking code embedding models on C source code, we extract the knowledge from C source code to fine‐tune the pre‐trained embedding model, so as to better facilitate the detection of function‐level vulnerabilities in C open‐source projects. To address the severe data imbalance issue in real‐world scenarios, we introduce code argumentation idea and use a large number of synthetic vulnerability data to further improve the robustness of the detection method. Experimental results show that the proposed vulnerability detection framework achieves better performance than existing methods.