bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Methods of analysis of chloroplast genomes of C3, Kranz type C4 and Single Cell C4 photosynthetic members of Chenopodiaceae
Authors: Sharpe Richard M. , Williamson-Benavides Bruce , Edwards Gerald E. , Dhingra Amit
Published: August 2020

Background

Chloroplast genome information is critical to understanding forms of photosynthesis in the plant kingdom. During the evolutionary process, plants have developed different photosynthetic strategies that are accompanied by complementary biochemical and anatomical features. Members of family Chenopodiaceae have species with C3 photosynthesis, and variations of C4 photosynthesis in which photorespiration is reduced by concentrating CO2 around Rubisco through dual coordinated functioning of dimorphic chloroplasts. Among dicots, the family has the largest number of C4 species, and greatest structural and biochemical diversity in forms of C4 including the canonical dual-cell Kranz anatomy, and the recently identified single cell C4 with the presence of dimorphic chloroplasts separated by a vacuole. This is the first comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes in species representative of photosynthetic types in the family.

Results

Methodology with high throughput sequencing complemented with Sanger sequencing of selected loci provided high quality and complete chloroplast genomes of seven species in the family and one species in the closely related Amaranthaceae family, representing C3, Kranz type C4 and single cell C4 (SSC4) photosynthesis six of the eight chloroplast genomes are new, while two are improved versions of previously published genomes. The depth of coverage obtained using high-throughput sequencing complemented with targeted resequencing of certain loci enabled superior resolution of the border junctions, directionality and repeat region sequences. Comparison of the chloroplast genomes with previously sequenced plastid genomes revealed similar genome organization, gene order and content with a few revisions. High-quality complete chloroplast genome sequences resulted in correcting the orientation the LSC region of the published Bienertia sinuspersici chloroplast genome, identification of stop codons in the rpl23 gene in B. sinuspersici and B. cycloptera, and identifying an instance of IR expansion in the Haloxylon ammodendron inverted repeat sequence. The rare observation of a mitochondria-to-chloroplast inter-organellar gene transfer event was identified in family Chenopodiaceae.

Conclusions

This study reports complete chloroplast genomes from seven Chenopodiaceae and one Amaranthaceae species. The depth of coverage obtained using high-throughput sequencing complemented with targeted resequencing of certain loci enabled superior resolution of the border junctions, directionality, and repeat region sequences. Therefore, the use of high throughput and Sanger sequencing, in a hybrid method, reaffirms to be rapid, efficient, and reliable for chloroplast genome sequencing.
Outpatient vs. inpatient hip arthroplasty: a matched case-control study on a 90-day complication rate and 2-year patient-reported outcomes
Authors: Rosinsky Philip J. , Chen Sarah L. , Yelton Mitchell J. , Lall Ajay C. , Maldonado David R. , Shapira Jacob , Meghpara Mitchell B. , Domb Benjamin G.
Published: August 2020

Background

The transition to outpatient-based surgery is a major development occurring in recent years in the field of total hip arthroplasty (THA). The effect of this transition on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) is still not well established. The purpose of the current study was to compare patients undergoing inpatient THA (iTHA) to patients undergoing outpatient THA (oTHA) regarding (1) perioperative variables including surgical time, blood loss, and length of stay (2) 90-day complication rates and unplanned emergency room or office visits (3) 2-year PROs including modified Harris hip score (mHHS), Harris hip score (HHS), forgotten joint score (FJS), pain, and satisfaction, as well as the quality of live measures.

Methods

The American Hip Institute registry was analyzed for patients undergoing THA between July 2014 and April 2016. The first 100 patients undergoing oTHA were selected and matched to 100 patients undergoing iTHA via propensity matching based on the following variables: age, sex, body mass index (BMI), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and smoking status. The primary outcomes were PROs at 2 years post-operatively. The secondary outcomes were perioperative surgical variables, 90-day complication rates, and unplanned emergency and clinic visits.

Results

After exclusions, 91 patients remained in each group and were compared. The oTHA group showed improved 2-year PROs with regard to mHHS (91.5 vs. 86.2; P = 0.02), HHS (92.3 vs. 87.4; P = 0.02), and pain (1.0 vs. 1.5; P = 0.04). The oTHA group had an average length of stay of 6.8 h compared to 43.2 h for the iTHA group (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the groups regarding readmissions, emergency room visits, and unplanned clinic visits. Complications and revision rates were similar in both groups.

Conclusion

In appropriately selected, younger patients, oTHA can achieve improved postoperative 2-year PROs compared to iTHA. We found no differences regarding postoperative short-term complications or 2-year revision rates, and no differences in unplanned office visits or readmissions.

Level of evidence

Prognostic level 3.
Predictors of poor outcome in cervical spondylotic myelopathy patients underwent anterior hybrid approach: focusing on change of local kyphosis
Authors: Cheng Xing Jian , Jin Lin , Wang Xin , Zhang Wen , Shen Yong
Published: August 2020

Objective

This study was a retrospective multivariable analysis for risk factors of poor outcome in patients who underwent anterior hybrid approach, and discussed the causes of worsening of postoperative local alignment.

Methods

A total of 86 patients with progressive spinal cord compression and local kyphosis underwent an anterior hybrid approach (ACDF+ACCF), between June 2011 and June 2017. We evaluated clinical outcome by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score and recovery rate. Patients were divided into two groups according to the worsening and improving of postoperative local alignment. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to the evaluation of risk factors. Mann-Whitney U test, independent t test, and chi-squared test were performed for the comparison of local kyphosis between postoperative and last follow-up.

Results

There were twenty patients who had a recovery rate of less than 50%. Advance age, longer duration of symptoms, bigger T1 slope angle, and lower change of local kyphosis angle were significantly associated with a poor clinical outcome by multivariate logistic regression analysis. The cause of worsening of postoperative local alignment had T1 slope, C2–7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), adjacent segment degeneration (ASD), and implant subsidence.

Conclusions

The change of local kyphosis was a predictor of clinical outcome after the hybrid approach. Furthermore, postoperative ASD, implant subsidence, T1 slope, and C2–7 Cobb were associated with recurrence of postoperative cervical kyphosis.
Characterization of thrombin/factor Xa inhibitors in Rhizoma Chuanxiong through UPLC-MS-based multivariate statistical analysis
Authors: Yang Yi-Yao , Wu Zhao-Yu , Xia Fang-Bo , Zhang Hao , Wang Xu , Gao Jian-Li , Yang Feng-Qing , Wan Jian-Bo
Published: August 2020

Background

The dry root and rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., or Chuanxiong, has been used as a blood-activating and stasis-removing traditional Chinese medicine for 1000 years. Our previous studies have shown the inhibitory activity on platelet and thrombin (THR) of Chuanxiong. THR and factor Xa (FXa) play significant roles in the coagulation cascade and their inhibitors are of valuable in the treatment of thromboembolic diseases. The aim of the present study is to screen THR and FXa inhibitors from Chuanxiong.

Methods

Four extracts [ethyl acetate (EA), butanol (BA) and remained extract (RE) from 75% ethanol extract, and water extract (WE)] of Chuanxiong were prepared, and their THR/FXa inhibitory activities were assessed in vitro. Following silica-gel column chromatography (SC), the active EA extract and BA extract was further partitioned, respectively. Their active fractions (EA-SC1 to EA-SC5; BA-SC1 to BA-SC5) were obtained and analyzed by LC–MS. After modeling by the principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA), the specific marker compounds were predicted and identified. Their enzyme inhibitory was assessed in vitro and interactions with THR/FXa were investigated by molecular docking analysis.

Results

Chuanxiong EA extract showed strong activity against THR and BA extract was more effective in inhibiting FXa activity, and their fractions exhibited obvious difference in enzyme inhibitory activity. Furthermore, marker compounds a–h were predicted by PCA and OPLS-DA, and their chemical structures were identified. Among them, senkyunolide A, Z-ligustilide, ferulic acid and senkyunolide I (IC50 was determined as 0.77 mM) with potential THR inhibitory activity, as well as isochlorogenic acid A with FXa inhibitory activity were screened out. It was found that the four components could interact with the active site of THR, and the binding energy was lower than − 5 kcal/mol. Isochlorogenic acid A were bound to the active site of FXa, and the binding energy was − 9.39 kcal/mol. The IC50 was determined as 0.56 mM.

Conclusions

THR/FXa inhibitory components in different extracts of Chuanxiong were successfully characterized by the method of enzyme inhibition activity assays with ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry-based multivariate statistical analysis.
PDCD6 cooperates with C-Raf to facilitate colorectal cancer progression via Raf/MEK/ERK activation
Authors: Wang Xiaojuan , Wu Fan , Wang Han , Duan Xiaoyuan , Huang Rong , Tuersuntuoheti Amannisa , Su Luying , Yan Shida , Zhao Yuechao , Lu Yan , Li Kai , Yao Jinjie , Luo Zhiwen , Guo Lei , Liu Jianmei , Chen Xiao , Lu Yalan , Hu Hanjie , Li Xingchen , Bao Mandula , Bi Xinyu , Du Boyu , Miao Shiying , Cai Jianqiang , Wang Linfang , Zhou Haitao , Ying Jianming , Song Wei , Zhao Hong
Published: August 2020

Background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies, and it’s expected that the CRC burden will substantially increase in the next two decades. New biomarkers for targeted treatment and associated molecular mechanism of tumorigenesis remain to be explored. In this study, we investigated whether PDCD6 plays an oncogenic role in colorectal cancer and its underlying mechanism.

Methods

Programmed cell death protein 6 (PDCD6) expression in CRC samples were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. The prognosis between PDCD6 and clinical features were analyzed. The roles of PDCD6 in cellular proliferation and tumor growth were measured by using CCK8, colony formation, and tumor xenograft in nude mice. RNA-sequence (RNA-seq), Mass Spectrum (MS), Co-Immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and Western blot were utilized to investigate the mechanism of tumor progression. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) were performed to determine the correlation of PDCD6 and MAPK pathway.

Results

Higher expression levels of PDCD6 in tumor tissues were associated with a poorer prognosis in patients with CRC. Furthermore, PDCD6 increased cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, RNA-seq showed that PDCD6 could affect the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway. PDCD6 interacted with c-Raf, resulting in the activation of downstream c-Raf/MEK/ERK pathway and the upregulation of core cell proliferation genes such as MYC and JUN.

Conclusions

These findings reveal the oncogenic effect of PDCD6 in CRC by activating c-Raf/MEK/ERK pathway and indicate that PDCD6 might be a potential prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for patients with colorectal cancer.
RND2 attenuates apoptosis and autophagy in glioblastoma cells by targeting the p38 MAPK signalling pathway
Authors: Xu Yang , Sun Qian , Yuan Fan’en , Dong Huimin , Zhang Huikai , Geng Rongxin , Qi Yangzhi , Xiong Xiaoxing , Chen Qianxue , Liu Baohui
Published: August 2020

Background

Inhibition of p38 MAPK signalling leads to glioblastoma multiform (GBM) tumourigenesis. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism that induces p38 MAPK signalling pathway silencing during GBM genesis has yet to be determined. Identifying new factors that can regulate p38 MAPK signalling is important for tumour treatment.

Methods

Flow cytometry, TUNEL assays, immunofluorescence, JC-1 assays, and western blot analyses were used to detect the apoptosis of GBM cells. The specific methods used to detect autophagy levels in GBM cells were western blot analysis, LC3B protein immunofluorescence, LC3B puncta assays and transmission electron microscopy. The functions of these critical molecules were further confirmed in vivo by intracranial xenografts in nude mice. Tumour tissue samples and clinical information were used to identify the correlation between RND2 and p62 and LC3B expression, survival time of patients, and tumour volumes in clinical patients.

Results

By summarizing data from the TCGA database, we found that expression of the small GTPase RND2 was significantly increased in human glioblastomas. Our study demonstrated that RND2 functions as an endogenous repressor of the p38 MAPK phosphorylation complex. RND2 physically interacted with p38 and decreased p38 phosphorylation, thereby inhibiting p38 MAPK signalling activities. The forced expression of RND2 repressed p38 MAPK signalling, which inhibited glioblastoma cell autophagy and apoptosis in vitro and induced tumour growth in the xenografted mice in vivo. By contrast, the downregulation of RND2 enhanced p38 MAPK signalling activities and promoted glioma cell autophagy and apoptosis. The inhibition of p38 phosphorylation abolished RND2 deficiency-mediated GBM cell autophagy and apoptosis. Most importantly, our study found that RND2 expression was inversely correlated with patient survival time and was positively correlated with tumour size.

Conclusions

Our findings revealed a new function for RND2 in GBM cell death and offered mechanistic insights into the inhibitory effects of RND2 with regard to the regulation of p38 MAPK activation.
EIF3H promotes aggressiveness of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by modulating Snail stability
Authors: Guo Xiaobin , Zhu Rui , Luo Aiping , Zhou Honghong , Ding Fang , Yang Hongxin , Liu Zhihua
Published: August 2020

Background

Overexpression of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3H (EIF3H) predicts cancer progression and poor prognosis, but the mechanism underlying EIF3H as an oncogene remains unclear in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods

TCGA database and the immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of ESCC samples were used and determined the upregulation of EIF3H in ESCC. CCK8 assay, colony formation assay and transwell assay were performed to examine the ability of cell proliferation and mobility in KYSE150 and KYSE510 cell lines with EIF3H overexpression or knockdown. Xenograft and tail-vein lung metastatic mouse models of KYSE150 cells with or without EIF3H knockdown were also used to confirm the function of EIF3H on tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. A potential substrate of EIF3H was screened by co-immunoprecipitation assay (co-IP) combined with mass spectrometry in HEK293T cells. Their interaction and co-localization were confirmed using reciprocal co-IP and immunofluorescence staining assay. The function of EIF3H on Snail ubiquitination and stability was demonstrated by the cycloheximide (CHX) pulse-chase assay and ubiquitination assay. The correlation of EIF3H and Snail in clinical ESCC samples was verified by IHC.

Results

We found that EIF3H is significantly upregulated in esophageal cancer and ectopic expression of EIF3H in ESCC cell lines promotes cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion. Conversely, genetic inhibition of EIF3H represses ESCC tumor growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, we identified EIF3H as a novel deubiquitinating enzyme of Snail. We demonstrated that EIF3H interacts with and stabilizes Snail through deubiquitination. Therefore, EIF3H could promote Snail-mediated EMT process in ESCC. In clinical ESCC samples, there is also a positive correlation between EIF3H and Snail expression.

Conclusions

Our study reveals a critical EIF3H-Snail signaling axis in tumor aggressiveness in ESCC and provides EIF3H as a promising biomarker for ESCC treatment.
Body-mass index and long-term risk of sepsis-related mortality: a population-based cohort study of 0.5 million Chinese adults
Authors: Weng Li , Fan Junning , Yu Canqing , Guo Yu , Bian Zheng , Wei Yuxia , Yang Ling , Chen Yiping , Du Huaidong , Chang Liang , Gong Weiwei , Chen Junshi , Chen Zhengming , Du Bin , Lv Jun , Li Liming
Published: August 2020

Background

Sepsis represents a major worldwide healthcare burden. However, how body-mass index (BMI) is related to the long-term risk of sepsis-related mortality in low- and middle-income countries remains uncertain.

Methods

We examined the associations of sepsis-related mortality with both baseline BMI and waist circumference (WC) using data from China Kadoorie Biobank, a prospective cohort recruited during 2004–2008 and followed up to December 2016. After excluding participants with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, cancer, heart disease, and stroke, and omitting the first 3 years of follow-up, 440,763 participants remained for analysis.

Results

During a median follow-up of 10.0 years, 1957 sepsis-related deaths (3,134,870 person-years) were included for analysis. Compared with reference BMI of 22.5 to < 25.0 kg/m2, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for sepsis-related mortality were 2.42 (95% CIs 2.07–2.84) for BMI of < 18.5, 1.59 (1.36–1.85) for 18.5 to < 20.0, 1.21 (1.06–1.38) for 20.0 to < 22.5, 0.97 (0.83–1.13) for 25.0 to < 27.5, 0.98 (0.80–1.21) for 27.5 to < 30.0, and 1.22 (0.93–1.60) for ≥ 30.0 kg/m2. Further adjustment for WC led to slightly augmentation of the effect size for the lower BMI groups and null association in the obese group. In the association analysis between WC and sepsis-related mortality, compared with the middle quintile group, only the highest quintile group showed an increased risk of sepsis-related mortality after adjusted for BMI (HR = 1.54; 95% CI 1.28–1.84).

Conclusions

Underweight, lower normal weight, and abdominal obesity are associated with increased future risk of sepsis-related mortality over 10 years in the Chinese population. The double burden of underweight and obesity indicates a heavy sepsis burden faced by low- and middle-income countries.
CSS: cluster similarity spectrum integration of single-cell genomics data
Authors: He Zhisong , Brazovskaja Agnieska , Ebert Sebastian , Camp J. Gray , Treutlein Barbara
Published: August 2020

It is a major challenge to integrate single-cell sequencing data across experiments, conditions, batches, time points, and other technical considerations. New computational methods are required that can integrate samples while simultaneously preserving biological information. Here, we propose an unsupervised reference-free data representation, cluster similarity spectrum (CSS), where each cell is represented by its similarities to clusters independently identified across samples. We show that CSS can be used to assess cellular heterogeneity and enable reconstruction of differentiation trajectories from cerebral organoid and other single-cell transcriptomic data, and to integrate data across experimental conditions and human individuals.
Inhibition of glucose assimilation in Auxenochlorella protothecoides by light
Authors: Xiao Yibo , Guo Jianying , Zhu Huachang , Muhammad Anwar , Deng Haiteng , Hu Zhangli , Wu Qingyu
Published: August 2020

Background

The yield of microalgae biomass is the key to affect the accumulation of fatty acids. A few microalgae can assimilate organic carbon to improve biomass yield. In mixotrophic cultivation, microalgae can use organic carbon source and light energy simultaneously. The preference of the main energy source by microalgae determines the biomass yield.Auxenochlorella protothecoidesis an oleaginous mixotrophic microalga that can efficiently assimilate glucose and accumulate a large amount of biomass and fatty acids. The current study focused on the effect of light on the growth and glucose assimilation ofA. protothecoides.

Results

In this study, we found that the uptake and metabolism of glucose inA. protothecoidescould be inhibited by light, resulting in a reduction of biomass growth and lipid accumulation. We employed comparative proteomics to study the influence of light on the regulation of glucose assimilation inA. protothecoides. Proteomics revealed that proteins involving in gene translation and photosynthesis system were up-regulated in the light, such as ribulose-phosphate 3-epimerase and phosphoribulokinase. Calvin cycle-related proteins were also up-regulated, suggesting that light may inhibit glucose metabolism by enhancing the production of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) in the Calvin cycle. In addition, the redox homeostasis-related proteins such as thioredoxin reductase were up-regulated in the light, indicating that light may regulate glucose uptake by changing the redox balance. Moreover, the increase of NADH levels and redox potential of the medium under illumination might inhibit the activity of the glucose transport system and subsequently reduce glucose uptake.

Conclusions

A theoretical model of how glucose assimilation inA. protothecoidesis negatively influenced by light was proposed, which will facilitate further studies on the complex mechanisms underlying the transition from autotrophy to heterotrophy for improving biomass accumulation.
PUFA-synthase-specific PPTase enhanced the polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis via the polyketide synthase pathway in Aurantiochytrium
Authors: Wang Sen , Lan Chuanzeng , Wang Zhuojun , Wan Weijian , Cui Qiu , Song Xiaojin
Published: August 2020

Background

Phosphopantetheinyl transferase (PPTase) can change the acyl-carrier protein (ACP) from an inactive apo-ACP to an active holo-ACP that plays a key role in fatty acids biosynthesis. Currently, the PPTase has been proved to be involved in the biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) via a polyketide synthase (PKS) pathway in Thraustochytrids, while its characteristics are not clarified.

Results

Here, the heterologous PPTase gene (pfaE) from bacteria was first co-expressed with the PKS system (orfA–orfC) from Thraustochytrid Aurantiochytrium. Then, a new endogenous PPTase (ppt_a) in Aurantiochytrium was identified by homologous alignment and its function was verified in E. coli. Moreover, the endogenous ppt_a was then overexpressed in Aurantiochytrium, and results showed that the production and proportion of PUFAs, especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in the transformant SD116::PPT_A were increased by 35.5% and 17.6%, respectively. Finally, higher DHA and PUFA proportion (53.9% and 64.5% of TFA, respectively) were obtained in SD116::PPT_A using a cerulenin feeding strategy.

Conclusions

This study has illustrated a PUFAs-synthase-specific PPTase in PKS system and provided a new strategy to improve the PUFA production in Thraustochytrids.
Vertical stratification of sand fly diversity in relation to natural infections of Leishmania sp. and blood-meal sources in Jamari National Forest, Rondônia State, Brazil
Authors: Leão Paula de Oliveira , Pereira Júnior Antonio Marques , de Paulo Paula Frassinetti Medeiros , Carvalho Luis Paulo Costa , Souza Ana Beatriz Nascimento , da Silva Michelli Santos , Castro Thaís Santos , Freitas Moisés Thiago de Souza , Rodrigues Moreno Magalhães de Souza , Ferreira Gabriel Eduardo Melim , Medeiros Jansen Fernandes
Published: August 2020

Background

Almost 1000 cases of American cutaneous leishmaniasis have been registered yearly in Rondônia State, Brazil. Little is known about the Leishmania transmission cycle (vectors and reservoirs) in the state. This study aimed to evaluate sand fly fauna from two vertical stratification layers in order to identify potential vectors and their blood-meal sources.

Methods

The study was conducted in Jamari National Forest. Sand flies were collected in the canopy (15 m) and at ground level (1 m) using HP light traps during four months, February, April, August and October, 2018. Insects were identified to the species level, and females were subjected to DNA extraction and PCR targeting minicircle kDNA and hsp70 (for Leishmania detection and species identification), and cytb (to identify blood-meal sources). Exploratory data analysis was used to determine mean of abundance and species richness between stratifications. The hsp70 and cytb sequences were analyzed and compared with sequences from GenBank.

Results

Overall, 68 species were identified from 15,457 individuals. On the Potosi trail, 7531 individuals of 49 species were collected; canopy captures totaled 6463 individuals of 46 species, while ground captures totaled 1068 individuals of 38 species. On the Santa Maria trail, 7926 individuals of 61 species were collected; canopy captures totaled 6136 individuals of 51 species, while ground captures totaled 1790 individuals of 53 species. A total of 23 pools were positive for kDNA (canopy n = 21, ground n = 2). Only two samples were sequenced for hsp70 (both in canopy); one sequence exhibited similarity with Leishmania braziliensis (Lutzomyia davisi pool) and another with L. naiffi (Lu. antunesi pool). The cytb fragment was amplified in 11 of 86 samples. Sample sequencing identified cytb DNA from 5 blood-meal sources: Micrastur gilvicollis, Psophia viridis, Tamandua tetradactyla, Homo sapiens and Choloepus didactylus.

Conclusions

Sand fly fauna is more diverse in the canopy than at ground level. Factors such as blood-meal sources, resting sites, and abiotic components probably contribute to high abundance in the canopy. Our results reinforce the possibility that Lu. antunesi and Lu. davisi participate in Leishmania transmission in forest environments and may play an important role in transmission from sylvatic to human hosts.
Mental health in the era of COVID-19: prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a cohort of patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes during the social distancing
Authors: Alessi Janine , de Oliveira Giovana Berger , Franco Debora Wilke , Brino do Amaral Bibiana , Becker Alice Scalzilli , Knijnik Carolina Padilla , Kobe Gabriel Luiz , de Carvalho Taíse Rosa , Telo Guilherme Heiden , Schaan Beatriz D. , Telo Gabriela Heiden
Published: August 2020

Background

In patients with diabetes, the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms is about two to four times greater than in the general population. The association between diabetes and mental health disorders could be exacerbated in a stressful environment, and psychological distress could increase depressive symptoms and cause adverse diabetes outcomes.

Objectives

To assess the prevalence of mental health disorders in patients with diabetes during the social distancing period due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study developed to assess the impact of social distancing on a cohort of adults with type 1 (n = 52) and type 2 diabetes (n = 68) in Brazil. Inclusion criteria involved having an HbA1c test collected in the past 3 months and having a valid telephone number in electronic medical records. The primary outcome was the prevalence of minor psychiatric disorders, assessed by survey (SRQ-20). Secondary outcomes included the prevalence of diabetes related emotional distress, eating and sleeping disorders, all assessed by validated surveys at the moment of the study. Statistical analyses included unpaired t-test for continuous variables and χ2 test for categorical variables.

Results

Overall (n = 120), participants had a mean age of 54.8 ± 14.4 years-old, and HbA1c of 9.0 ± 1.6% (75 ± 17.5 mmol/mol); 93% of patients showed signs of current mental suffering based on the surveys measured. Almost 43% of patients showed evidence of significant psychological distress, with a significant greater tendency in patients with type 2 diabetes. The presence of diabetes related emotional distress was found in 29.2% of patients; eating disorders in 75.8%; and moderate/severe sleeping disorders in 77.5%.

Conclusions

We found a high prevalence of evidence of psychological distress among patients with diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic and this highlights the need for mental health access and support for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Eye care utilization among diabetics in the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1): a cross-sectional study
Authors: Akuffo Kwadwo Owusu , Asare Akosua Kesewah , Sewpaul Ronel , Dukhi Natisha , Kumah David Ben , Agyei-Manu Eldad , Addo Emmanuel Kofi , Reddy Priscilla
Published: August 2020

Objective

Diabetes is a chronic disease of uncontrolled blood sugar levels. People with diabetes are at an increased risk of developing visual impairment and other diabetes-related visual complications. The study aims to determine the eyecare utilization pattern and its associated determinants among diabetics in the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1).

Results

The mean age of participants was 56.2 years and 66.6% were females. The prevalence of eyecare utilization among participants was 49.0% and this differed significantly by age groups (p = 0.024) and the number of years since diabetes diagnosis (p < 0.001). After statistical adjustments, older age (55–64 years OR = 4.18, p = 0.003 and ≥ 65 years OR = 4.78, p = 0.002), having health insurance (OR = 6.32, p = 0.002), and having had diabetes for 6–10 years (OR = 4.23, p = 0.005) were significantly associated with eye care utilization. About half of people diagnosed with diabetes in South Africa have had an eye examination since diabetes diagnosis, which is disturbingly low given the impact of diabetes complications on eye health. Government policies must be directed at ensuring access to affordable health insurance and eye health education on diabetes.
HGF and IL-10 expressing ALB::GFP reporter cells generated from iPSCs show robust anti-fibrotic property in acute fibrotic liver model
Authors: Choi Ja Sung , Jeong In Sil , Park Young-Jin , Kim Sung-Whan
Published: August 2020

Background

Cell therapy using hepatocytes derived from stem cells has been regarded as a promising alternate to liver transplantation. However, the heterogeneity of these hepatocytes makes them unsuitable for therapeutic use. To overcome this limitation, we generated homogenous hepatocyte like induced hepatocyte-like (iHep) cells.

Methods

iHep cells were generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) integrated with the albumin (ALB) reporter gene. The therapeutic properties of these iHep cells were investigated after transplantation in fibrotic liver tissues of a mouse model.

Results

The iHep cells expressed hepatocyte specific genes and proteins, and exhibited high levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and interleukin (IL)-10 expressions. Transplantation of iHep cells significantly decreased thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver fibrosis, apoptotic cells in the liver, and ameliorated abnormal liver function. Liver tissues engrafted with iHep cells exhibited decreased expression of pro-inflammatory factors such as transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, IL-6, and monocyte chemo attractant protein (MCP)-1. Furthermore, an increased number of proliferating hepatocytes and human albumin-expressing iHep cells were detected in mice liver.

Conclusions

This study has investigated and proven the liver regeneration potential of genome-edited iHep cells and promises to be a strong foundation for further studies exploring cell therapy as an alternative therapeutic option for the treatment of liver fibrosis.
Neural machine translation of chemical nomenclature between English and Chinese
Authors: Xu Tingjun , Chen Weiming , Zhou Junhong , Dai Jingfang , Li Yingyong , Zhao Yingli
Published: August 2020

Machine translation of chemical nomenclature has considerable application prospect in chemical text data processing between languages. However, rule based machine translation tools have to face significant complication in rule sets building, especially in translation of chemical names between English and Chinese, which are the two most used languages of chemical nomenclature in the world. We applied two types of neural networks in the task of chemical nomenclature translation between English and Chinese, and made a comparison with an existing rule based machine translation tool. The result shows that deep learning based approaches have a great chance to precede rule based translation tools in machine translation of chemical nomenclature between English and Chinese.
177Lu radiolabeling and preclinical theranostic study of 1C1m-Fc: an anti-TEM-1 scFv-Fc fusion protein in soft tissue sarcoma
Authors: Delage J. A. , Faivre-Chauvet A. , Fierle J. K. , Gnesin S. , Schaefer N. , Coukos G. , Dunn S. M. , Viertl D. , Prior J. O.
Published: August 2020

Purpose

TEM-1 (tumor endothelial marker-1) is a single-pass transmembrane cell surface glycoprotein expressed at high levels by tumor vasculature and malignant cells. We aimed to perform a preclinical investigation of a novel anti-TEM-1 scFv-Fc fusion antibody, 1C1m-Fc, which was radiolabeled with 177Lu for use in soft tissue sarcomas models.

Methods

1C1m-Fc was first conjugated to p-SCN-Bn-DOTA using different excess molar ratios and labeled with 177Lu. To determine radiolabeled antibody immunoreactivity, Lindmo assays were performed.

The in vivo behavior of [177Lu]Lu-1C1m-Fc was characterized in mice bearing TEM-1 positive (SK-N-AS) and negative (HT-1080) tumors by biodistribution and single-photon emission SPECT/CT imaging studies. Estimated organ absorbed doses were obtained based on biodistribution results.

Results

The DOTA conjugation and the labeling with 177Lu were successful with a radiochemical purity of up to 95%. Immunoreactivity after radiolabeling was 86% ± 4%. Biodistribution showed a specific uptake in TEM-1 positive tumor versus liver as critical non-specific healthy organ, and this specificity is correlated to the number of chelates per antibody. A 1.9-fold higher signal at 72 h was observed in SPECT/CT imaging in TEM-1 positive tumors versus control tumors.

Conclusion

TEM-1 is a promising target that could allow a theranostic approach to soft-tissue sarcoma, and 1C1m-Fc appears to be a suitable targeting candidate. In this study, we observed the influence of the ratio DOTA/antibody on the biodistribution. The next step will be to investigate the best conjugation to achieve an optimal tumor-to-organ radioactivity ratio and to perform therapy in murine xenograft models as a prelude to future translation in patients.
Caries prevalence among 18 years old, an epidemiological survey in Israel
Authors: Yavnai Nirit , Mazor Sigal , Vered Yuval , Shavit Idan , Zini Avraham
Published: August 2020

Background

There is a lack of evidence on caries prevalence among 18 years old Israeli young adults with only a scarce evidence regarding this index age group. In the last few years dental care policy in Israel underwent substantial changes and a major reform in dental services was led by the Israeli Ministry of Health, including coverage of dental care for children by the state. In addition, a cessation of community water fluoridation was in a debate.

The objective of the current study was to describe prevalence of caries among 18 years old Israeli young adults and to evaluate possible associations with personal and demographic variables.

Methods

The study was a cross sectional clustered survey. Participants were recruited to the study at their first day of military service. Participants completed a questionnaire for personal and demographic data, including: age, country of birth, education, and current smoking status. Then participants underwent clinical evaluation included DMFT and caries free rates. No radiographic evaluation was included in the current study. Univariate and multivariate statistical analysis were performed.

Results

A total of 702 participants were included in the study, 58.4% were males. Their mean age was 19.03 ± 0.65 years, 91.3% of the participants were born in Israel. Mean DMFT was 1.95 ± 2.67, and 46.7% (n = 328) were caries free. Higher DMFT score was significantly associated with participant’s parents’ education, country of birth, and smoking status. Lower caries free rates were significantly associated with participant’s parents’ education, and smoking status. After linear regression for total DMFT, all variables were significant predictors to higher DMFT, except father’s education, while logistic regression for caries free, only mother’s education was found to be a significant predictor.

Conclusions

The current study presents encouraging low DMFT levels. Participants in this study were not included in the dental care services reform, and did enjoy the benefits of water fluoridation, enabling the results to play an important baseline data for future reference. Additionally, results should be considered when planning intervention programs for at risk groups.

Trial registration

This study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier No. NCT02958891, November 8th, 2016) and was approved by the IDF Institutional Review Board (#1524–2015).
Consistent constraint-based video-level learning for action recognition
Authors: Shi Qinghongya , Zhang Hong-Bo , Ren Hao-Tian , Du Ji-Xiang , Lei Qing
Published: August 2020

This paper proposes a new neural network learning method to improve the performance for action recognition in video. Most human action recognition methods use a clip-level training strategy, which divides the video into multiple clips and trains the feature learning network by minimizing the loss function of clip classification. The video category is predicted by the voting of clips from the same video. In order to obtain more effective action feature, a new video-level feature learning method is proposed to train 3D CNN to boost the action recognition performance. Different with clip-level training which uses clips as input, video-level learning network uses the entire video as the input. Consistent constraint loss is defined to minimize the distance between clips of the same video in voting space. Further, a video-level loss function is defined to compute the video classification error. The experimental results show that the proposed video-level training is a more effective action feature learning approach compared with the clip-level training. And this paper has achieved the state-of-the-art performance on UCF101 and HMDB51 datasets without using pre-trained models of other large-scale datasets. Our code and final model are available at https://github.com/hqu-cst-mmc/VLL.
Energy-aware MAC protocol for data differentiated services in sensor-cloud computing
Authors: Liu Shun , Huang Guosheng , Gui Jinsong , Wang Tian , Li Xiong
Published: August 2020

The energy-aware MAC protocol is the basic communication protocol for device-to-device communication in sensor-cloud computing and facilitates data sensing, computing, and sharing for applications. Transmitting high-priority data to control centers quickly to manage emergencies is essential for sensor-cloud applications. In this paper, a Dynamic Wait time-based MAC (DWT-MAC) protocol is proposed for data differentiated services of a sensor-cloud system (SCS). The DWT-MAC protocol is novel in that it changes the receiver wait time, which has been fixed in previous MAC protocols, and it reduces the delay in data transmission by dynamically adjusting the wait time. In the DWT-MAC protocol, the wait time changes according to the number of senders, which can ensure that it always approaches the optimal value. A dynamic time adjustment algorithm, which causes the wait time to always trail the optimal value, is proposed to reduce delays. While the DWT-MAC protocol cannot ensure wait times of the optimal value, it can ensure that it quickly comes close to the optimal value, which is suitable for dynamically changing networks. Extensive experiments show that the DWT-MAC protocol reduces the average delay in the transmission of data of the highest priority by 49.3%.
Hepatitis B virus infections among health professional students in Mwanza city,Tanzania in 2016
Authors: Mirambo Mariam M. , Mkumbo Emmanuel , Selega Hadija , Msemwa Betrand , Mushi Martha F. , Silago Vitus , Seni Jeremiah , Mshana Stephen E. , Kasang Christa
Published: August 2020

Background

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the vaccination against Hepatitis B virus in all infants and children up to the age of 18 years. In addition, adults in high-risk groups should also be vaccinated. This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infections among health professional students in the city of Mwanza, Tanzania in order to provide data that can assist in devising prevention and control strategies in this special group.

Methods

A cross-sectional study involving health professional students of the Catholic University of health and Allied Sciences was conducted between April and July 2016. Hepatitis B surface antigen was detected using rapid antigen test while the anti-hepatitis B surface antibodies(anti-HBs) were quantified using Enzygnost Anti-HBs II assay and anti-HBV core antibodies tested using enzyme immunoassay.

Results

A total of 1211 health professional students with median age of 22 interquartile range (IQR):21–24 years were enrolled. The slighlty majority (57.5%) of these students were males and 475(39.2%) were in clinical practices. Out of 1211 students, 37 (3.1%) were Hepatitis B surface antigen positive. Of 1174 students tested for anti-HBs, 258 (22%) had titres > 10 IU/L indicating HBV immunity. The median anti-HBs titres was 47.7 IU/L(IQR:16–3-113). A total of 230(89.2%) students among those who were positive for anti-HBs were also positive for HBV core antibodies indicating HBV natural infections. Male sex (adjusted odd ratio(AOR):1.77, p < 0.000), being married (AOR:1.82, p = 0.002) and being in clinical practices (AOR:1.39, p = 0.028) independenlty predicted anti-HBs positivity.

Conclusion

A significant proportion of health professional students was naturally immune to Hepatitis B virus. There is a need to measure anti-HBs in order to reduce the cost of unnecessary vaccination especially in the countries with high endemicity of HBV.
Pollinator-mediated self-pollination and reproductive assurance in an isolated tree of Magnolia grandiflora L.
Authors: Sukumaran Arun , Khanduri Vinod Prasad , Sharma Chandra Mohan
Published: August 2020

Background

The ability to produce seeds when pollinators or potential mates are scarce is one of the principal advantages of self-pollination in flowering plants. However, the role of pollinators mediating self-pollination to ensure seed set when pollen or potential mates are limited has received less attention. This study examined the reproductive consequences and involvement of pollinators in assuring seed set in an isolated tree ofMagnolia grandiflora, a predominantly outcrossing species.

Methods

We tested various aspects of reproduction such as flower density, floral rewards, stigma receptivity, pollinator abundance and behaviour, fruit set and seed set, in two successive reproductive years (2015–2016).

Results

Flowers ofM.grandiflorapossess a suite of traits facilitating pollinator-mediated self-pollination (PMS), although the chances of autonomous self-pollination are reduced due to herkogamy, spatial separation of anther and stigma. The mean pollen production/flower was 5,152,289 ± 285,094 with a pollen-to-ovule ratio of 39430 ± 164. We found a significant positive correlation between number of visits and seed production for bees (r= 0.5099,p= 0.0007) and beetles (r= 0.7159,p= 0.00001), indicating these are effective at PMS. There was a significant negative correlation for thrips (r= – 0.3206,p= 0.044) and no correlation for flies or spiders. The percent fruit set was 100% and the seed set per ovule ranged between 19 and 20%.

Conclusions

PMS will guarantee reproductive assurance and mitigate the effect of reduced mates or pollen limitation which is expected to increase the fecundity and establishment of individual trees in geographically isolated locations.
High impact nutrition and dietetics journals’ use of publication procedures to increase research transparency
Authors: Gorman Dennis M. , Ferdinand Alva O.
Published: August 2020

Background

The rigor and integrity of the published research in nutrition studies has come into serious question in recent years. Concerns focus on the use of flexible data analysis practices and selective reporting and the failure of peer review journals to identify and correct these practices. In response, it has been proposed that journals employ editorial procedures designed to improve the transparency of published research.

Objective

The present study examines the adoption of editorial procedures designed to improve the reporting of empirical studies in the field of nutrition and dietetics research.

Design

The instructions for authors of 43 journals included in Quartiles 1 and 2 of the Clarivate Analytics’ 2018 Journal Citation Report category Nutrition and Dietetics were reviewed. For journals that published original research, conflict of interest disclosure, recommendation of reporting guidelines, registration of clinical trials, registration of other types of studies, encouraging data sharing, and use of the Registered Reports were assessed. For journals that only published reviews, all of the procedures except clinical trial registration were assessed.

Results

Thirty-three journals published original research and 10 published only reviews. Conflict of interest disclosure was required by all 33 original research journals. Use of guidelines, trial registration and encouragement of data sharing were mentioned by 30, 27 and 25 journals, respectively. Registration of other studies was required by eight and none offered Registered Reports as a publication option at the time of the review. All 10 review journals required conflict of interest disclosure, four recommended data sharing and three the use of guidelines. None mentioned the other two procedures.

Conclusions

While nutrition journals have adopted a number of procedures designed to improve the reporting of research findings, their limited effects likely result from the mechanisms through which they influence analytic flexibility and selective reporting and the extent to which they are properly implemented and enforced by journals.
Application of evolutionary and swarm optimization in computer vision: a literature survey
Authors: Nakane Takumi , Bold Naranchimeg , Sun Haitian , Lu Xuequan , Akashi Takuya , Zhang Chao
Published: August 2020

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) and swarm algorithms (SAs) have shown their usefulness in solving combinatorial and NP-hard optimization problems in various research fields. However, in the field of computer vision, related surveys have not been updated during the last decade. In this study, inspired by the recent development of deep neural networks in computer vision, which embed large-scale optimization problems, we first describe a literature survey conducted to compensate for the lack of relevant research in this area. Specifically, applications related to the genetic algorithm and differential evolution from EAs, as well as particle swarm optimization and ant colony optimization from SAs and their variants, are mainly considered in this survey.