bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Simultaneous identification of viruses and viral variants with programmable DNA nanobait
Authors: Bošković Filip , Zhu Jinbo , Tivony Ran , Ohmann Alexander , Chen Kaikai , Alawami Mohammed F. , Đorđević Milan , Ermann Niklas , Pereira-Dias Joana , Fairhead Michael , Howarth Mark , Baker Stephen , Keyser Ulrich F.
Published: January 2023

Respiratory infections are the major cause of death from infectious disease worldwide. Multiplexed diagnostic approaches are essential as many respiratory viruses have indistinguishable symptoms. We created self-assembled DNA nanobait that can simultaneously identify multiple short RNA targets. The nanobait approach relies on specific target selection via toehold-mediated strand displacement and rapid readout via nanopore sensing. Here we show that this platform can concurrently identify several common respiratory viruses, detecting a panel of short targets of viral nucleic acids from multiple viruses. Our nanobait can be easily reprogrammed to discriminate viral variants with single-nucleotide resolution, as we demonstrated for several key SARS-CoV-2 variants. Last, we show that the nanobait discriminates between samples extracted from oropharyngeal swabs from negative- and positive-SARS-CoV-2 patients without preamplification. Our system allows for the multiplexed identification of native RNA molecules, providing a new scalable approach for the diagnostics of multiple respiratory viruses in a single assay.
A structural basis for prion strain diversity
Authors: Manka Szymon W. , Wenborn Adam , Betts Jemma , Joiner Susan , Saibil Helen R. , Collinge John , Wadsworth Jonathan D. F.
Published: January 2023

Recent cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) studies of infectious, ex vivo, prion fibrils from hamster 263K and mouse RML prion strains revealed a similar, parallel in-register intermolecular β-sheet (PIRIBS) amyloid architecture. Rungs of the fibrils are composed of individual prion protein (PrP) monomers that fold to create distinct N-terminal and C-terminal lobes. However, disparity in the hamster/mouse PrP sequence precludes understanding of how divergent prion strains emerge from an identical PrP substrate. In this study, we determined the near-atomic resolution cryo-EM structure of infectious, ex vivo mouse prion fibrils from the ME7 prion strain and compared this with the RML fibril structure. This structural comparison of two biologically distinct mouse-adapted prion strains suggests defined folding subdomains of PrP rungs and the way in which they are interrelated, providing a structural definition of intra-species prion strain-specific conformations.
ELI trifocal microscope: a precise system to prepare target cryo-lamellae for in situ cryo-ET study
Authors: Li Shuoguo , Wang Ziyan , Jia Xing , Niu Tongxin , Zhang Jianguo , Yin Guoliang , Zhang Xiaoyun , Zhu Yun , Ji Gang , Sun Fei
Published: January 2023

Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) has become a powerful approach to study the high-resolution structure of cellular macromolecular machines in situ. However, the current correlative cryo-fluorescence and electron microscopy lacks sufficient accuracy and efficiency to precisely prepare cryo-lamellae of target locations for subsequent cryo-ET. Here we describe a precise cryogenic fabrication system, ELI-TriScope, which sets electron (E), light (L) and ion (I) beams at the same focal point to achieve accurate and efficient preparation of a target cryo-lamella. ELI-TriScope uses a commercial dual-beam scanning electron microscope modified to incorporate a cryo-holder-based transfer system and embed an optical imaging system just underneath the vitrified specimen. Cryo-focused ion beam milling can be accurately navigated by monitoring the real-time fluorescence signal of the target molecule. Using ELI-TriScope, we prepared a batch of cryo-lamellae of HeLa cells targeting the centrosome with a success rate of ~91% and discovered new in situ structural features of the human centrosome by cryo-ET.
Integrated multimodality microscope for accurate and efficient target-guided cryo-lamellae preparation
Authors: Li Weixing , Lu Jing , Xiao Ke , Zhou Maoge , Li Yuanyuan , Zhang Xiang , Li Zhixun , Gu Lusheng , Xu Xiaojun , Guo Qiang , Xu Tao , Ji Wei
Published: January 2023

Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) is a revolutionary technique for resolving the structure of subcellular organelles and macromolecular complexes in their cellular context. However, the application of the cryo-ET is hampered by the sample preparation step. Performing cryo-focused ion beam milling at an arbitrary position on the sample is inefficient, and the target of interest is not guaranteed to be preserved when thinning the cell from several micrometers to less than 300 nm thick. Here, we report a cryogenic correlated light, ion and electron microscopy (cryo-CLIEM) technique that is capable of preparing cryo-lamellae under the guidance of three-dimensional confocal imaging. Moreover, we demonstrate a workflow to preselect and preserve nanoscale target regions inside the finished cryo-lamellae. By successfully preparing cryo-lamellae that contain a single centriole or contact sites between subcellular organelles, we show that this approach is generally applicable, and shall help in innovating more applications of cryo-ET.
Polygenic risk score for tumor aggressiveness and early-onset prostate cancer in Asians
Authors: Song Sang Hun , Kim Eunae , Jung Yu Jin , Kim Hak-Min , Park Moon Soo , Kim Jung Kwon , Lee Hakmin , Oh Jong Jin , Lee Sangchul , Hong Sung Kyu , Byun Seok-Soo
Published: January 2023

We attempted to assess the performance of an ethnic-specific polygenic risk score (PRS) designed from a Korean population to predict aggressive prostate cancer (PCa) and early-onset (age < 60). A PRS score comprised of 22 SNPs was computed in 3695 patients gathered from one of 4 tertiary centers in Korea. Males with biopsy or radical prostatectomy-proven PCa were included for analysis, collecting additional clinical parameters such as age, BMI, PSA, Gleason Group (GG), and staging. Patients were divided into 4 groups of PRS quartiles. Intergroup differences were assessed, as well as risk ratio and predictive performance based on GG using logistic regression analysis and AUC. No significant intergroup differences were observed for BMI, PSA, and rate of ≥ T3a tumors on pathology. Rate of GG ≥ 2, GG ≥ 3, and GG ≥ 4 showed a significant pattern of increase by PRS quartile (p < 0.001, < 0.001, and 0.039, respectively). With the lowest PRS quartile as reference, higher PRS groups showed sequentially escalating risk for GG ≥ 2 and GG ≥ 3 pathology, with a 4.6-fold rise in GG ≥ 2 (p < 0.001) and 2.0-fold rise in GG ≥ 3 (p < 0.001) for the highest PRS quartiles. Combining PRS with PSA improved prediction of early onset csPCa (AUC 0.759) compared to PRS (AUC 0.627) and PSA alone (AUC 0.736). To conclude, an ethnic-specific PRS was found to predict susceptibility of aggressive PCa in addition to improving detection of csPCa when combined with PSA in early onset populations. PRS may have a role as a risk-stratification model in actual practice. Large scale, multi-ethnic trials are required to validate our results.
A bolder conservation future for Indonesia by prioritising biodiversity, carbon and unique ecosystems in Sulawesi
Authors: Pusparini Wulan , Cahyana Andi , Grantham Hedley S. , Maxwell Sean , Soto-Navarro Carolina , Macdonald David W.
Published: January 2023

As more ambitious protected area (PA) targets for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework are set beyond Aichi Target 11, renew thinking into spatial prioritisation is required to enable PA expansion that maximises environmental values. Our study focuses on the biodiverse and forest-rich Indonesian island of Sulawesi, which has a terrestrial PA network that covers 10% of the island. We used Marxan to investigate trade-offs in the design of an expanded PA network that prioritised different conservation features (biodiversity, forest cover, carbon stock, karst and valuable metal-rich areas) under varying island-wide coverage targets (17%, 30%, and 50%). Our first scenario, which required existing PAs to be selected, required larger areas to meet these coverage targets, in contrast to our second scenario, which allowed for any part of the island to be chosen, irrespective of PA status. The vast Mekongga and Bangkiriang Landscapes, and Gorontalo corridor were consistently identified as a high priority for protection under all scenarios. To meet our conservation targets through expanding current PAs, creating new PAs, and creating corridors that connect existing PAs, we used a spatially explicit three-phase approach. Our findings identified 26,508 km2of priority areas to be included in the current PA network, potentially assisting Indonesia in meeting its post-2020 GBF target, if our approach is replicated across Indonesia as a national or sub-national analysis. We discuss various land management options through other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) and the costs to deliver this strategy.
Looking at faces in the wild
Authors: Varela Victor P. L. , Towler Alice , Kemp Richard I. , White David
Published: January 2023

Faces are key to everyday social interactions, but our understanding of social attention is based on experiments that present images of faces on computer screens. Advances in wearable eye-tracking devices now enable studies in unconstrained natural settings but this approach has been limited by manual coding of fixations. Here we introduce an automatic ‘dynamic region of interest’ approach that registers eye-fixations to bodies and faces seen while a participant moves through the environment. We show that just 14% of fixations are to faces of passersby, contrasting with prior screen-based studies that suggest faces automatically capture visual attention. We also demonstrate the potential for this new tool to help understand differences in individuals’ social attention, and the content of their perceptual exposure to other people. Together, this can form the basis of a new paradigm for studying social attention ‘in the wild’ that opens new avenues for theoretical, applied and clinical research.
Carcass traits and meat quality of goats fed with cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill) silage subjected to an intermittent water supply
Authors: de Lima Cruz Gabriel Ferreira , Santos Edson Mauro , de Araújo Gherman Garcia Leal , de Azevedo Paulo Sérgio , de Albuquerque Ítalo Reneu Rosas , Panosso Natália Matos , Perazzo Alexandre Fernandes , de Moura Zanine Anderson , de Jesus Ferreira Daniele , de Oliveira Lima Anny Graycy Vasconcelos , de Oliveira Juliana Silva
Published: January 2023

The effect of different proportions of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill) silage (CPS) and intermittent water supply (IWS) to crossbreed goats' diets on carcass traits and meat quality were evaluated. The IWS caused a reduction (p = 0.03) in the percentage of leg fat in the animals. The rib eye area, carcass weight, and physical–chemical characteristics were not affected (p > 0.05) by the CPS or IWS. The IWS reduced (p = 0.04) the elongase enzyme activity. The CPS inclusion in the diet reduced C22:0 (p = 0.01), some branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA), C20:1 (p = 0.03), c13-C18:1 (p = 0.01) fatty acids. Therefore, in situations of water scarcity, an intermittent water supply of up to 48 h and diets with up to 42% cactus pear silage, can be adopted in goat feedlot, without affecting carcass traits and meat quality.
Reciprocal facilitation between mental and visuomotor rotations
Authors: Guo Jianfei , Song Joo-Hyun
Published: January 2023

Humans exhibit remarkably complex cognitive abilities and adaptive behavior in daily life. Cognitive operation in the "mental workspace," such as mentally rotating a piece of luggage to fit into fixed trunk space, helps us maintain and manipulate information on a moment-to-moment basis. Skill acquisition in the "sensorimotor workspace," such as learning a new mapping between the magnitude of new vehicle movement and wheel turn, allows us to adjust our behavior to changing environmental or internal demands to maintain appropriate motor performance. While this cognitive and sensorimotor synergy is at the root of adaptive behavior in the real world, their interplay has been understudied due to a divide-and-conquer approach. We evaluated whether a separate domain-specific or common domain-general operation drives mental and sensorimotor rotational transformations. We observed that participants improved the efficiency of mental rotation speed after the visuomotor rotation training, and their learning rate for visuomotor adaptation also improved after their mental rotation training. Such bidirectional transfer between two widely different tasks highlights the remarkable reciprocal plasticity and demonstrates a common transformation mechanism between two intertwined workspaces. Our findings urge the necessity of an explicitly integrated approach to enhance our understanding of the dynamic interdependence between cognitive and sensorimotor mechanisms.
Biogeneration of silver nanoparticles from Cuphea procumbens for biomedical and environmental applications
Authors: González-Pedroza María G. , Benítez Andrea Regina Tapia , Navarro-Marchal Saúl A. , Martínez-Martínez Eduardo , Marchal Juan A. , Boulaiz Houria , Morales-Luckie Raúl A.
Published: January 2023

Nanotechnology is one of the most important and relevant disciplines today due to the specific electrical, optical, magnetic, chemical, mechanical and biomedical properties of nanoparticles. In the present study we demonstrate the efficacy ofCuphea procumbensto biogenerate silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with antibacterial and antitumor activity. These nanoparticles were synthesized using the aqueous extract ofC. procumbensas reducing agent and silver nitrate as oxidizing agent. The Transmission Electron Microscopy demonstrated that the biogenic AgNPs were predominantly quasi-spherical with an average particle size of 23.45 nm. The surface plasmonic resonance was analyzed by ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis) observing a maximum absorption band at 441 nm and Infrared Spectroscopy (FT IR) was used in order to structurally identify the functional groups of some compounds involved in the formation of nanoparticles. The AgNPs demonstrated to have antibacterial activity against the pathogenic bacteriaEscherichia coliandStaphylococcus aureus, identifying the maximum zone of inhibition at the concentration of 0.225 and 0.158 µg/mL respectively. Moreover, compared to the extract, AgNPs exhibited better antitumor activity and higher therapeutic index (TI) against several tumor cell lines such as human breast carcinoma MCF-7 (IC50of 2.56 µg/mL, TI of 27.65 µg/mL), MDA-MB-468 (IC50of 2.25 µg/mL, TI of 31.53 µg/mL), human colon carcinoma HCT-116 (IC50of 1.38 µg/mL, TI of 51.07 µg/mL) and melanoma A-375 (IC50of 6.51 µg/mL, TI of 10.89 µg/mL). This fact is of great since it will reduce the side effects derived from the treatment. In addition, AgNPs revealed to have a photocatalytic activity of the dyes congo red (10–3 M) in 5 min and malachite green (10–3 M) in 7 min. Additionally, the degradation percentages were obtained, which were 86.61% for congo red and 82.11% for malachite green. Overall, our results demonstrated for the first time thatC. procumbensbiogenerated nanoparticles are excellent candidates for several biomedical and environmental applications.
Breastfeeding is not a risk factor for clinical severity in Autism spectrum disorder in children from the ELENA cohort
Authors: Peries Marianne , Duhr Fanny , Picot Marie-Christine , Heude Barbara , Bernard Jonathan Y. , Baghdadli Amaria
Published: January 2023

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that results from a complex interaction between genes and environment. Breastfeeding (BF) is thought to promote healthy cognitive development, and a body of research has suggested that it may also protect against ASD. Our objectives were to identify the relationship between the initiation and duration of BF and the severity of clinical presentation in ASD. Data were collected from 243 children with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD followed in the ELENA cohort. Clinical severity was measured according to multiple dimensions using standardised tools. The frequency of the initiation of BF was comparable to that of the general population and the rate of children still being breastfed at six months of age was higher. Our results did not indicate a contribution of initiation or duration of BF to the prevention of clinical severity of ASD. We discuss our results in the light of possible methodological limitations of previous reports of an association between BF and ASD.

Clinical Trial Registration: NCT02625116.
Decoding of the speech envelope from EEG using the VLAAI deep neural network
Authors: Accou Bernd , Vanthornhout Jonas , hamme Hugo Van , Francart Tom
Published: January 2023

To investigate the processing of speech in the brain, commonly simple linear models are used to establish a relationship between brain signals and speech features. However, these linear models are ill-equipped to model a highly-dynamic, complex non-linear system like the brain, and they often require a substantial amount of subject-specific training data. This work introduces a novel speech decoder architecture: the Very Large Augmented Auditory Inference (VLAAI) network. The VLAAI network outperformed state-of-the-art subject-independent models (median Pearson correlation of 0.19, p < 0.001), yielding an increase over the well-established linear model by 52%. Using ablation techniques, we identified the relative importance of each part of the VLAAI network and found that the non-linear components and output context module influenced model performance the most (10% relative performance increase). Subsequently, the VLAAI network was evaluated on a holdout dataset of 26 subjects and a publicly available unseen dataset to test generalization for unseen subjects and stimuli. No significant difference was found between the default test and the holdout subjects, and between the default test set and the public dataset. The VLAAI network also significantly outperformed all baseline models on the public dataset. We evaluated the effect of training set size by training the VLAAI network on data from 1 up to 80 subjects and evaluated on 26 holdout subjects, revealing a relationship following a hyperbolic tangent function between the number of subjects in the training set and the performance on unseen subjects. Finally, the subject-independent VLAAI network was finetuned for 26 holdout subjects to obtain subject-specific VLAAI models. With 5 minutes of data or more, a significant performance improvement was found, up to 34% (from 0.18 to 0.25 median Pearson correlation) with regards to the subject-independent VLAAI network.
RNA sequencing of blood from sex- and age-matched discordant siblings supports immune and transcriptional dysregulation in autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Tomaiuolo Pasquale , Piras Ignazio Stefano , Sain Simona Baghai , Picinelli Chiara , Baccarin Marco , Castronovo Paola , Morelli Marco J. , Lazarevic Dejan , Scattoni Maria Luisa , Tonon Giovanni , Persico Antonio M.
Published: January 2023

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition with onset in early childhood, still diagnosed only through clinical observation due to the lack of laboratory biomarkers. Early detection strategies would be especially useful in screening high-risk newborn siblings of children already diagnosed with ASD. We performed RNA sequencing on peripheral blood, comparing 27 pairs of ASD children vs their sex- and age-matched unaffected siblings. Differential gene expression profiling, performed applying an unpaired model found two immune genes, EGR1 and IGKV3D-15, significantly upregulated in ASD patients (both p adj = 0.037). Weighted gene correlation network analysis identified 18 co-expressed modules. One of these modules was downregulated among autistic individuals (p = 0.035) and a ROC curve using its eigengene values yielded an AUC of 0.62. Genes in this module are primarily involved in transcriptional control and its hub gene, RACK1, encodes for a signaling protein critical for neurodevelopment and innate immunity, whose expression is influenced by various hormones and known "endocrine disruptors". These results indicate that transcriptomic biomarkers can contribute to the sensitivity of an intra-familial multimarker panel for ASD and provide further evidence that neurodevelopment, innate immunity and transcriptional regulation are key to ASD pathogenesis.
People conform to social norms when gambling with lives or money
Authors: Jiang Yueyi , Marcowski Przemysław , Ryazanov Arseny , Winkielman Piotr
Published: January 2023

Many consider moral decisions to follow an internal “moral compass”, resistant to social pressures. Here we examine how social influence shapes moral decisions under risk, and how it operates in different decision contexts. We employed an adapted Asian Disease Paradigm where participants chose between certain losses/gains and probabilistic losses/gains in a series of moral (lives) or financial (money) decisions. We assessed participants’ own risk preferences before and after exposing them to social norms that are generally risk-averse or risk-seeking. Our results showed that participants robustly shifted their own choices towards the observed risk preferences. This conformity holds even after a re-testing in three days. Interestingly, in the monetary domain, risk-averse norms have more influence on choices in the loss frame, whereas risk-seeking norms have more influence in the gain frame, presumably because norms that contradict default behavior are most informative. In the moral domain, risk-averse as opposed to risk-seeking norms are more effective in the loss frame but in the gain frame different norms are equally effective. Taken together, our results demonstrate conformity in risk preferences across contexts and highlight unique features of decisions and conformity in moral and monetary domains.
Exploring the mechanism of active components from ginseng to manage diabetes mellitus based on network pharmacology and molecular docking
Authors: Li Ming-han , Jin Ming-hui , Hu Rui-yi , Tang Shan , Li Ke-ke , Gong Xiao-Jie , Sun Yin-shi , Wang Ying-ping , Wang Zi , Li Wei
Published: January 2023

A large body of literature has shown that ginseng had a role in diabetes mellitus management. Ginsenosides are the main active components of ginseng. But what ginsenosides can manage in diabetic are not systematic. The targets of these ginsenosides are still incomplete. Our aim was to identify which ginsenosides can manage diabetes mellitus through network pharmacology and molecular docking. To identify the targets of these ginsenosides. In this work, we retrieved and screened ginsenosides and corresponding diabetes mellitus targets across multiple databases. PPI networks of the genes were constructed using STRING, and the core targets were screened out through topological analysis. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses were performed by using the R language. Finally, molecular docking was performed after bioinformatics analysis for verification. Our research results showed that 28 ginsenosides in ginseng might be against diabetes mellitus by modulating related proteins such as VEGFA, Caspase 3, and TNF-α. Among the 28 ginsenosides, 20(R)-Protopanaxatriol, 20(R)-Protopanaxadiol, and Ginsenoside Rg1 might play a significant role. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis showed that the management of diabetes mellitus by ginsenosides may be related to the positive regulation of reactive oxygen metabolic processes, associated with the insulin signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, and AMPK signaling pathway. Molecular docking results and molecular dynamics simulation showed that most ginsenosides could stably bind to the core target, mainly hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic bond. This study suggests the management of ginseng on diabetes mellitus. We believe that our results can contribute to the systematic study of the mechanism of ginsenosides for the management of diabetes mellitus. At the same time, it can provide a theoretical basis for subsequent studies on the management of ginsenosides in diabetes mellitus.
Computational prediction of disease related lncRNAs using machine learning
Authors: Khalid Razia , Naveed Hammad , Khalid Zoya
Published: January 2023

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which were once considered as transcriptional noise, are now in the limelight of current research. LncRNAs play a major role in regulating various biological processes such as imprinting, cell differentiation, and splicing. The mutations of lncRNAs are involved in various complex diseases. Identifying lncRNA-disease associations has gained a lot of attention as predicting it efficiently will lead towards better disease treatment. In this study, we have developed a machine learning model that predicts disease-related lncRNAs by combining sequence and structure-based features. The features were trained on SVM and Random Forest classifiers. We have compared our method with the state-of-the-art and obtained the highest F1 score of 76% on SVM classifier. Moreover, this study has overcome two serious limitations of the reported method which are lack of redundancy checking and implementation of oversampling for balancing the positive and negative class. Our method has achieved improved performance among machine learning models reported for lncRNA-disease associations. Combining multiple features together specifically lncRNAs sequence mutation has a significant contribution to the disease related lncRNA prediction.
Integration of meta-analysis, machine learning and systems biology approach for investigating the transcriptomic response to drought stress in Populus species
Authors: Tahmasebi Ahmad , Niazi Ali , Akrami Sahar
Published: January 2023

In Populus, drought is a major problem affecting plant growth and development which can be closely reflected by corresponding transcriptomic changes. Nevertheless, how these changes in Populus are not fully understood. Here, we first used meta-analysis and machine learning methods to identify water stress-responsive genes and then performed a systematic approach to discover important gene networks. Our analysis revealed that large transcriptional variations occur during drought stress. These changes were more associated with the response to stress, cellular catabolic process, metabolic pathways, and hormone-related genes. The differential gene coexpression analysis highlighted two acetyltransferase NATA1-like and putative cytochrome P450 genes that have a special contribution in response to drought stress. In particular, the findings showed that MYBs and MAPKs have a prominent role in the drought stress response that could be considered to improve the drought tolerance of Populus. We also suggest ARF2-like and PYL4-like genes as potential markers for use in breeding programs. This study provides a better understanding of how Populus responses to drought that could be useful for improving tolerance to stress in Populus.
Clinical outcomes of presbyopia-correcting intraocular lenses in patients with Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy
Authors: Blau-Most Michal , Reitblat Olga , Levy Adi , Assia Ehud I. , Kleinmann Guy
Published: January 2023

Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is considered a contraindication for the implantation of presbyopia-correcting IOLs, without sufficient corroborating evidence. A Retrospective, case–control study. Nineteen eyes of ten patients with grade 2–5 FECD (study group) and 57 healthy eyes of 57 patients (control group) who underwent cataract surgery with implantation of presbyopia-correcting IOLs, at the Ein-Tal Eye Center, Tel Aviv, Israel, were included. The target refraction was emmetropia for both groups. Two subgroups of IOLs were analyzed separately: extended depth of focus (EDOF), (9 eyes of FECD patients and 27 eyes of control patients) and multifocal IOLs (10 eyes of FECD patients and 30 eyes of control patients). Main outcome measures were visual acuity and refraction 6 weeks after the surgery. Secondary outcomes were patient perceptions of visual acuity, spectacle independence, photic phenomena and satisfaction scores, reported in a self-assessment questionnaire. FECD patients in the EDOF IOL subgroup had inferior uncorrected distance visual acuity (P = 0.007) and better uncorrected near visual acuity (P = 0.001) compared to the controls. They had less spectacle independence for the intermediate range (P = 0.01) and overall (P = 0.006). However, they did not have more photic phenomena. In the multifocal IOL subgroup, no significant differences were found between the FECD and the control group in visual acuity for all ranges and in spectacle independence. FECD patients had more photic phenomena than the controls (P = 0.006), but it did not interfere with daily life activities. There was no difference in post-operative mean spherical equivalent, patient reported visual perception, and general satisfaction between FECD and control patients in both groups. Our results suggest that presbyopia-correcting IOLs can be carefully considered in patients with grade 2–5 FECD, with slightly inferior results compared with healthy eyes.
Topological phase transition and robust pseudospin interface states induced by angular perturbation in 2D topological photonic crystals
Authors: Borges-Silva Daniel , Costa Carlos H. , Bezerra Claudionor G.
Published: January 2023

In recent years the research about topological photonic structures has been a very attractive topic in nanoscience from both a basic science and a technological point of view. In this work we propose a two-dimensional topological photonic structure, composed of a trivial and a topological photonic crystals, made of dumbbell-shaped dielectric rods. The topological behavior is induced by introducing an angular perturbation in the dumbbell-shaped dielectric rods. We show that this composed structure supports pseudospin interface states at the interface between the trivial and topological crystals. Our numerical results show that a bandgap is opened in the band structure by introducing the angular perturbation in the system, lifting the double degeneracy of the double Dirac cone at the $$\Gamma $$
Γ
point of the Brillouin zone, despite keeping the $$C_6$$

C
6

symmetry group. A pseudospin topological behavior was observed and analyzed with emphasis on the photonic bands at the $$\mathbf{\Gamma }$$
Γ
point. We have also investigated the robustness of these pseudospin interface states and, according with our numerical results, we conclude that they are robust against defects, disorder and reflection. Finally, we have shown that the two edge modes present energy flux propagating in opposite directions, which is the photonic analogue of the quantum spin Hall effect.
Cytokine upsurge among drug-resistant tuberculosis endorse the signatures of hyper inflammation and disease severity
Authors: Sampath Pavithra , Rajamanickam Anuradha , Thiruvengadam Kannan , Natarajan Alangudi Palaniappan , Hissar Syed , Dhanapal Madhavan , Thangavelu Bharathiraja , Jayabal Lavanya , Ramesh Paranchi Murugesan , Ranganathan Uma Devi , Babu Subash , Bethunaickan Ramalingam
Published: January 2023

Tuberculosis (TB) elimination is possible with the discovery of accurate biomarkers that define the stages of infection. Drug-resistant TB impair the current treatment strategies and worsen the unfavourable outcomes. The knowledge on host immune responses between drug-sensitive and drug-resistant infection is inadequate to understand the pathophysiological differences and disease severity. The secreted proteins, cytokines display versatile behaviour upon infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and their imbalances often tend to assist disease pathology than protection. Therefore, studying these soluble proteins across TB infection spectrum (drug-resistant TB, drug-sensitive TB, and latent TB) may unveil the disease mediated responses and unique stage specific cytokine signatures. Thus, we sought to determine the plasma cytokine levels from healthy, latently infected, drug-sensitive, and drug-resistant TB individuals. Our study revealed top 8 cytokines (IL-17, IL-1α, IL-2, IL-10, IL-5, IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-6) and their biomarker abilities to discriminate different stages of infection.
Surface topologies and self interactions in reactive and nonreactive Richtmyer–Meshkov instability
Authors: Bambauer Maximilian , Hasslberger Josef , Ozel-Erol Gulcan , Chakraborty Nilanjan , Klein Markus
Published: January 2023

The reactive Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI) exhibits strong wrinkling of a reactive flame front after an interaction with a shock wave. High levels of deformation and wrinkling can cause the flame surface to intersect with itself, leading to the events of flame self interactions (FSI). As FSI can have a significant influence on the development and topology of the flame surface, it should be considered an important factor affecting the burning characteristics of the flame. The topological structure and statistics of FSI are analyzed using data from high-fidelity simulations of a planar shock wave interacting with a statistically planar hydrogen/air flame for stoichiometric, lean and nonreactive gas mixtures. FSI events are detected by searching for critical points in the field of the reaction progress variable c and divided into the following topological categories: burned gas mixture pocket (BP), unburned gas mixture pocket (UP), tunnel formation (TF) and tunnel closure (TC). It is found that reactivity and flame thickness are decisive factors, influencing the frequency and topological distribution of the detected FSI events. While in early RMI-stages the FSI is found to be mainly dependent on the flame thickness, later stages are heavily influenced by the reactivity, as high reactivity quickly burns out emerging wrinkled structures (in the stoichiometric case) leading to massively reduced levels of FSI. The findings are further supported by the results from the nonreactive case, which at later stages of the RMI closely resembles the less reactive lean case. Analysis of the topology distribution over time and conditioned over c, reveals further differences between the lean and stoichiometric case, as the strong wrinkling and mixing encountered with the lean case facilitates the build up of many pocket-type and tunnel-type interactions throughout the wrinkled flame front. For the stoichiometric case, mainly tunnel-type and unburned pocket topologies are found in the narrow flame funnels extending into the burned gas.
Report on the first detection of Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) in the Republic of Benin, West Africa
Authors: Sétamou Mamoudou , Soto Yovanna L. , Tachin Martine , Alabi Olufemi J.
Published: January 2023

The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri, was detected for the first time in the Republic of Benin, West Africa. The ACP is a known vector of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), the putative causal agent of the devastating Huanglongbing (HLB; citrus greening disease). During visual surveys, ACP was only observed on residential citrus trees in southern Benin, but not in residential areas or commercial groves in the central and northern parts of the country. Its identity was confirmed morphologically and molecularly via DNA barcoding with published primers. Analysis of the obtained sequences showed that the ACP recorded in Benin clustered with the ones previously reported from Nigeria, suggesting a common origin of both populations. The ACP samples from Benin also carried Ca. Carsonella ruddii and Ca. Profftella armatura, two commonly found ACP endosymbionts. However, all the sampled ACP individuals tested negative for Ca. Liberibacter africanus, Ca. Liberibacter americanus, and CLas by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. This is the second report of the ACP in West Africa after Nigeria, the eastern bordering country of the Republic of Benin. Benin has an expanding commercial citrus industry, especially in the southern part of the country. Although the ACP samples tested negative for the HLB associated bacteria, the detection of ACP in the country requires swift actions including area-wide surveys to determine the extent of spread of this pest and the implementation of eradication or control efforts to prevent its establishment and spread of HLB in the country.
Empathy moderates the relationship between cognitive load and prosocial behaviour
Authors: Gamble Roger S. , Henry Julie D. , Vanman Eric J.
Published: January 2023

Cognitive load reduces both empathy and prosocial behaviour. However, studies demonstrating these effects have induced cognitive load in a temporally limited, artificial manner that fails to capture real-world cognitive load. Drawing from cognitive load theory, we investigated whether naturally occurring cognitive load from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic moderated the relationship between empathy and prosocial behaviour (operationalised as support for public health measures). This large study in an Australian sample (N = 600) identified negative relationships between pandemic fatigue, empathy for people vulnerable to COVID-19, and prosocial behaviour, and a positive relationship between empathy and prosocial behaviour. Additionally, we found that the negative effect of the pandemic on prosocial behaviour depended on empathy for vulnerable others, with pandemic fatigue’s effects lowest for those with the highest empathy. These findings highlight the interrelationships of cognitive load and empathy, and the potential value of eliciting empathy to ease the impact of real-world cognitive load on prosocial behaviour.
Changes in corneal higher-order aberrations during treatment for infectious keratitis
Authors: Matsumura Takehiro , Yamaguchi Takefumi , Suzuki Takanori , Ogiwara Yurina , Takamura Yoshihiro , Inatani Masaru , Shimazaki Jun
Published: January 2023

This study aimed to quantify the changes in corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) before and after treatment for infectious keratitis and verify the correlation between corneal HOAs and visual acuity. Corneal HOAs were analysed using swept-source anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT). Ninety-eight eyes of 96 consecutive patients with infectious keratitis treated with topical eye drops were retrospectively evaluated. Corneal HOAs increased with the infection but decreased with infection resolution following antimicrobial treatment. Corneal HOAs became larger as the degree of corneal findings became more severe. The increase in HOAs of the total cornea was correlated with the decrease in visual acuity both before and after treatment (4 mm, ρ = 0.530 and 0.590; 6 mm, ρ = 0.479 and 0.567, respectively; all P < 0.0001). Furthermore, pretreatment HOA (anterior, 6 mm), pretreatment logMAR best spectacle-corrected visual acuity, and age were prognostic factors significantly associated with posttreatment visual acuity (β = 0.31, P = 0.013; β = 0.36, P < 0.0001; and β = 0.35, P = 0.0007, respectively) (adjusted R2 = 0.474). These results indicate that corneal HOAs quantified using AS-OCT can be used as an objective index to evaluate corneal optical function during the treatment of infectious keratitis.
Biometric authentication security enhancement under quantum dot light-emitting diode display via fingerprint imaging and temperature sensing
Authors: Jung Hanyung , Sim Soobin , Lee Hyunkoo
Published: January 2023

We improved biometric authentication security using dual recognition based on fingerprint image detection and skin-temperature-change sensing under quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) displays. QLEDs are more advantageous than organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in terms of the contrast classification of patterns such as those in fingerprint recognition, owing to their narrow full-width-half-maximum. In this work, scattered, transmitted, and reflected light was captured from the top of the QLED, improving the digital luminance by 25%, as compared with that of OLEDs, because the electroluminescence spectra of the QLED were sustained, whereas those of the OLED were distorted by the generated noise peaks. A QLED with eight apertures sized up to tens of micrometers, mimicking the actual wiring structure of commercialized smartphones, was implemented to detect human fingerprints. The QLED using reduced graphene oxide as the temperature sensor detected temperature changes instantaneously upon finger touch, showing a 2% temperature response based on the human body temperature; however, the temperature change was less than 0.1% for spoof fingerprints printed on paper. Thus, this study successfully enhanced biometric authentication security, through fingerprint recognition based on image sensing using an optical system with micrometer-sized apertures and skin-temperature detection under QLED displays.
The role of resilience in daily experiences of posttraumatic growth, affect, and HIV/AIDS stigma among people living with HIV
Authors: Pięta Małgorzata , Rzeszutek Marcin
Published: January 2023

This study investigated the intraindividual variability in daily posttraumatic growth (PTG) versus posttraumatic depreciation (PTD), positive and negative affect (PA and NA), and HIV/AIDS stigma among people living with HIV (PLWH). In particular, we examined whether this variability derives from participants’ resilience operationalized on a trait level. The participants included 67 PLWH, who completed a baseline questionnaire on resilience, measured with the Brief Resilience Scale. Following this, they completed the shortened versions of the following inventories over five consecutive days: the Posttraumatic Growth and Posttraumatic Depreciation Inventory V Expanded version Inventory, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule – Expanded Form, and the Berger HIV Stigma Scale. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was utilized to analyze the study results. We observed significant intraindividual variability in PTG, PTD, PA, NA, and perceived HIV/AIDS stigma. Resilience was related to PTG, PTD, PA, and NA but not to stigma. Moreover, higher resilience was associated with higher, stabler PA and lower, stabler NA. Our results highlight the need of further studies on the daily functioning of PLWH. Specifically, while health status is important, it does not appear to be the predominant source of everyday distress for PLWH. Consequently, psychological counselling for PLWH should concentrate more on the life of the person as a whole and not only on coping with HIV infection.
Pathway-guided monitoring of the disease course in bladder cancer with longitudinal urine proteomics
Authors: Carvalho Luís Botelho , Capelo José Luis , Lodeiro Carlos , Dhir Rajiv , Pinheiro Luis Campos , López-Fernández Hugo , Martins Gonçalo , Medeiros Mariana , Díaz Fernando , Santos Hugo Miguel
Published: January 2023

Background

Monitoring bladder cancer over time requires invasive and costly procedures. Less invasive approaches are required using readily available biological samples such as urine. In this study, we demonstrate a method for longitudinal analysis of the urine proteome to monitor the disease course in patients with bladder cancer.

Methods

We compared the urine proteomes of patients who experienced recurrence and/or progression (n = 13) with those who did not (n = 17). We identified differentially expressed proteins within various pathways related to the hallmarks of cancer. The variation of such pathways during the disease course was determined using our differential personal pathway index (dPPi) calculation, which could indicate disease progression and the need for medical intervention.

Results

Seven hallmark pathways are used to develop the dPPi. We demonstrate that we can successfully longitudinally monitor the disease course in bladder cancer patients through a combination of urine proteomic analysis and the dPPi calculation, over a period of 62 months.

Conclusions

Using the information contained in the patient’s urinary proteome, the dPPi reflects the individual’s course of bladder cancer, and helps to optimise the use of more invasive procedures such as cystoscopy.
A microfluidic chip-based multivalent DNA walker amplification biosensor for the simultaneous detection of multiple food-borne pathogens
Authors: Xu Zhenli , Wang Jiaqi , Jia Zhijian , Wu Yong-Xiang , Gan Ning , Yu Shaoning
Published: January 2023

A multivalent DNA walker amplification biosensor combined with the microfluidic chip for simultaneously and sensitively detecting V.P, S.T, and S.A bacteria.
The enhancement of enzyme cascading via tetrahedral DNA framework modification
Authors: Zhao Haipei , Li Mingqiang , Lu Shasha , Cao Nan , Zuo Xiaolei , Wang Shaopeng , Li Min
Published: January 2023

We report an enzyme conjugation method that can enhance the enzymatic activity by a tetrahedral DNA framework modification.
Screening of a short chain antimicrobial peptide-FWKFK and its application in wound healing
Authors: Zhang Runfeng , Yan Han , Wang Xijie , Cong Hailin , Yu Bing , Shen Youqing
Published: January 2023

As a kind of basic polypeptide with antibacterial properties, antimicrobial peptides play an important role in resisting the invasion of foreign microorganisms.
Progress and prospects toward supramolecular bioactive ion transporters
Authors: Mondal Abhishek , Ahmad Manzoor , Mondal Debashis , Talukdar Pinaki
Published: January 2023

This feature article summarises the recent contribution of the authors toward developing supramolecular anion transport systems with improved biocompatibility and desired efficacy.
The pnictogen bond forming ability of bonded bismuth atoms in molecular entities in the crystalline phase: a perspective
Authors: Varadwaj Pradeep R. , Varadwaj Arpita , Marques Helder M. , Yamashita Koichi
Published: January 2023

This study discusses the ability of bound bismuth in molecular entities to participate in non-covalent bonding interactions and hence features Bi-centered pnictogen bonds in crystal lattices and nanoscale materials.
Solvent-dependent formation kinetics of L,L-diphenylalanine micro/nanotubes
Authors: Bandeira Carla Carolina Silva , Foiani Letícia Marques Caviola , Carlos Giovana Bonano , Ishikawa Mariana Sayuri , Ferreira Paula Maria Gabriela Leal , da Silva Martinho Herculano
Published: January 2023

Investigating the molecular mechanism underlying the aggregation process of amyloid fibers is of great importance both for their implications in several degenerative diseases and for the design of new materials based on self-assembly.
Molecular dynamics simulations of copolymer compatibilizers for polylactide/poly(butylene succinate) blends
Authors: Prasitnok Orrasa , Prasitnok Khongvit
Published: January 2023

PLA–PBS diblock copolymers provided the best compatibilization efficiency for immiscible PLA/PBS blends.
Origin of anomalously stabilizing ice layers on methane gas hydrates near rock surface
Authors: Li Yang , Corkery Robert W. , Carretero-Palacios Sol , Berland Kristian , Esteso Victoria , Fiedler Johannes , Milton Kimball A. , Brevik Iver , Boström Mathias
Published: January 2023

Gas hydrates (GHs) in the water-filled rock cavity close to freezing temperatures can be stabilised via the formation of ice layers.
A spin statistical factor in electron transfer to oxygen molecules
Authors: Borovkov Vsevolod I. , Bagryansky Victor A. , Molin Yuri N.
Published: January 2023

Extremely fast spin relaxation of triplet oxygen molecules reduces the spin selectivity in reactions involving3O2to a much lesser extent than might be expected.
Photo-Fenton-induced selective dehydrogenative coupling of methanol into ethylene glycol over iron species-anchored TiO2 nanorods
Authors: Yan Wenjun , Li Na , Yan Zhiyu , Wang Zhongde
Published: January 2023

Benefiting from the synergistic effect of Fenton and photocatalytic mechanisms, the photo-Fenton-induced selective dehydrogenative coupling of methanol into ethylene glycol exhibits high efficiency over iron species-anchored TiO2 nanorods.