bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CD34 and Bcl-2 as predictors for the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in cervical cancer
Authors: Lin Yun , Li Zhi , Liu Mubiao , Ye Haiyan , He Jianhui , Chen Jianguo
Published: January 2021

Background

Successful neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) could improve the surgical resection rate and radical curability of patients with cervical cancer, but only a subset of patients benefits. Therefore, identifying predictive biomarkers are urgently needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of CD34 and Bcl-2 in the NACT effectiveness of cervical cancer.

Methods

Sixty-seven patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (FIGO stages IB3, IIA2 or IIB) were classified into two groups based on effective (n = 48) and ineffective (n = 19) response to NACT. Immunohistochemistry was employed to identify CD34 and Bcl-2 expression before and after NACT. We analyzed the associations between the pre-NACT expression of these two biomarkers and the response of NACT. The expression of these two biomarkers before and after NACT was also assessed and compared.

Results

More patients were CD34 positive expression before NACT in effective group compared to ineffective group (p = 0.005). However, no statistically significant difference in Bcl-2 expression before NACT were found between two groups (p = 0.084). In NACT effective group, the expression of both CD34 and Bcl-2 after NACT are down-regulated (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively), while there are no statistical differences between the pre- and post-NACT expression of CD34 and Bcl-2 in NACT ineffective group (p = 0.453 and p = 0.317, respectively).

Conclusion

The positive CD34 expression before NACT may serve as a predictive biomarker for NACT of cervical cancer, but the pre-NACT expression of Bcl-2 is not an independent predictor. The down-regulated expression of these two indicators after NACT may indicate effective NACT.
Prediction of effectiveness of potassium-competitive acid blocker and serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor on abnormal sensation in the throat: use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)
Authors: Takahashi Nao , Ikeda Kaori , Iwai Genki , Shinbori Kaori , Baba Hironori , Sasaki Takanobu , Takahashi Kuniyuki , Morita Yuka , Horii Arata
Published: January 2021

Purpose

To determine patients with abnormal sensation in the throat (AST) who would respond to potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB) or serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) treatment.

Methods

AST patients were randomly divided into two groups. Thirty-one and 21 patients received P-CAB and SNRI treatment, respectively. GETS-J, the Japanese version of Glasgow Edinburgh Throat Scales (GETS), consisted of three subscales of throat symptoms (globus sensation, pain/swelling of the throat, and dysphagia) and somatic distress due to the disease, Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (FSSG), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used before and after treatments. Responders to treatments were defined as those who showed 50% or more decrease in symptom scores or somatic distress.

Results

Pre-treatment GETS-J pain/swelling scores and FSSG acid reflux scores were higher in P-CAB responders and decreased after treatment. Receiver operating characteristic curve for pain/swelling subscale had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.792 to predict P-CAB responders and a score of 11 provided the best combination of sensitivity (62.5%) and specificity (80%). Somatic distress and HADS anxiety scores, but no other GETS-J symptom scores, decreased after SNRI treatment. Pre-treatment globus scores were lower in SNRI responders. AUC value for globus subscale to predict SNRI responders was 0.741 and a score of 6.5 provided the best combination of sensitivity (70%) and specificity (73%).

Conclusions

Pain/swelling is a characteristic symptom in AST patients who respond to P-CAB treatment. SNRI treatment would be effective for somatic distress in cases with mild symptoms.
A new monoclonal antibody that blocks dimerisation and inhibits c-kit mutation-driven tumour growth
Authors: Bai Chenguang , Xu Yi , Qiu Cen
Published: January 2021

Purpose

Imatinib, a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has shown good clinical activity by inhibiting adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding to the receptor. Unfortunately, majority of patients eventually develop drug resistance, which limits the long-term benefits of the tyrosine kinase inhibitors and poses a significant challenge in the clinical management of GIST. The aim of our study was to explore the feasibility of blocking KIT dimerisation upstream of the phosphorylation in imatinib-resistant GIST.

Method

KITMAb was prepared using hybridoma technique. The biological function of KITMAb was examined in KIT-dimer-expressing cells constructed by transfecting with liposomes using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunohistochemistry, western blot, MTT, Annexin V/FITC, and flow cytometry assay, respectively.

Results

KIT-dimer was expressed in 293 cells transfected with c-kit mutated-type pcDNA3.1. Treatment of KIT-dimer-expressing cells with the KITMAb significantly decreased the expression of both KIT-dimer and other phosphorylated proteins of KIT downstream signalling pathway. Furthermore, KITMAb slowed down cell growth and reduced the proportion of cells in the proliferative phase (S + G2-M). Finally, we also found that KITMAb treatment accelerated cell apoptosis. These results indicate that KITMAb strongly inhibits KIT receptor dimerisation-mediated signalling pathway and cell growth responses in vitro.

Conclusions

We demonstrate c-kit mutation-driven KIT auto-dimerisation prior to tyrosine kinase phosphorylation as same as the procedure in ligand-dependent signalling pathway and describe a monoclonal antibody, KITMAb, with strong affinity to the dimerisation domain of KIT that blocks the important step in both the KIT signalling pathways. Further, the results suggest that treatment with KITMAb may be potentially therapeutic in imatinib-resistant GIST.
Growth sensitivity to climate varies with soil moisture regime in spruce–fir forests in central British Columbia
Authors: Griesbauer Hardy , DeLong S. Craig , Rogers Bruce , Foord Vanessa
Published: January 2021

Key message

Growth sensitivity to climate varies with soil moisture regime in spruce–fir forests in central British Columbia. Stands growing at their dry edaphic limits displayed especially strong and unique climatic sensitivities.

Soil moisture regime is an important influence of productivity, process, and structure in forested ecosystems. In western North America, projected warming trends may result in decreasing available soil moisture; however, the potential effects on forest growth remain unclear. This study aimed to determine the influence of stand-level soil moisture regime on the climatic sensitivity of mature hybrid white spruce (Picea glauca (Moensch) Voss x Picea engelmannii Parry) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) forests in central British Columbia, Canada. We collected and analyzed tree-ring data from 51 stands spanning a range of soil moisture regimes. Dendroecological analyses of climate–growth relationships indicated that warm summer temperatures and drought limit growth for both species across all soil moisture regimes; however, responses were strongest on the driest sites. Spruce populations across the gradient of soil moisture regimes displayed unique climate-growth relationships; growth in populations on wetter sites was more correlated with summer climate from the year prior to growth. Radial growth responses to prior summer temperatures strengthened over the past ca. 80 years in both species and across most sites, suggesting that climate–growth relationships are shifting in this region. This study presents evidence of the importance of considering site-level ecological factors such as soil moisture regime when studying forest growth responses to climate.
Handheld pH meter–assisted immunoassay for C-reactive protein using glucose oxidase–conjugated dendrimer loaded with platinum nanozymes
Authors: Li Bin , Ge Lilin , Lyu Peng , Chen Meijuan , Zhang Xiongfei , Xie Shuping , Wu Qinan , Kwok Hang Fai
Published: January 2021

A simple and feasible pH meter–based immunoassay is reported for detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) using glucose oxidase (GOD)–conjugated dendrimer loaded with platinum nanozyme. Initially, platinum nanozymes were loaded into the dendrimers through an in situ synthetic method. Then, GOD and monoclonal anti-CRP antibody with a high molar ratio were covalently conjugated onto carboxylated dendrimers via typical carbodiimide coupling. The immunoreaction was carried out with a competitive mode in a CRP-coated microplate. Along with formation of immunocomplex, the added glucose was oxidized into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide by GOD, and the latter was further decomposed by platinum nanozyme, thus accelerating chemical reaction in the positive direction. The produced gluconic acid changed the pH of detection solution, which was determined using a handheld pH meter. Under optimum conditions, the pH meter–based immunoassay gave a good signal toward target CRP from 0.01 to 100 ng mL−1. The limit of detection was 5.9 pg mL−1. An intermediate precision ≤ 11.2% was acquired with batch-to-batch identification. No nonspecific adsorption was observed during a series of procedures to detect target CRP, and the cross-reaction against other biomarkers was very low. Importantly, our system gave well-matched results for analysis of human serum samples relative to a referenced ELISA kit.

Graphical abstract
Characteristic of Parkinson’s disease with severe COVID-19: a study of 10 cases from Wuhan
Authors: Zhai Heng , Lv Yinzhang , Xu Yu , Wu Yi , Zeng Weiqi , Wang Tao , Cao Xuebing , Xu Yan
Published: January 2021

Information about Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with severe COVID-19 is scarce. We aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics, outcomes, and risk factors affecting the prognosis of PD patients with severe COVID-19 infection. Clinical data of severe COVID-19 patients admitted at the Union Hospital, Wuhan between 28th January and 29th February 2020 were collected and analyzed. 10 patients (1.96%) had a medical history of PD with a mean (SD) age of 72.10 (± 11.46) years. The clinical characteristics and outcomes of severe COVID-19 with and without PD patients were then compared. There was no significant difference in overall mortality between the PD and non-PD patients with severe COVID-19 (p > 0.05). In PD patients with severe COVID-19, the proportion of patients with critical type, disturbance of consciousness, incidence of complications, white blood cells count and neutrophils counts on admission seem higher in the non-survivors. PD patients with older age, longer PD duration, and late stage PD may be highly susceptible to critical COVID-19 infection and bad outcome. The PD patients with consciousness disorders and complications that progressed rapidly are at increased risk of death.
The use of Schirmer strips to measure salivary and lacrimal flow in non-Sjögren patients
Authors: Wróbel-Dudzińska Dominika , Kubik-Komar Agnieszka , Rykwa Dorota , Kosior-Jarecka Ewa , Żarnowski Tomasz , Chałas Renata
Published: January 2021

Introduction

Oral and ocular dryness are the most common symptoms reported during ophthalmological and dental examinations. It is becoming a serious and growing problem due to the huge variety of affecting factors and with population aging.

Objectives

The purpose was to demonstrate an application of the Schirmer test for xerostomia. Subsequently, to compare and correlate the results achieved from the lacrimal Schirmer test and salivary Schirmer test in non-Sjögren patients.

Methods

Study group consisted of 642 patients with/without subjective or/and objective symptoms of dry eye or mouth who did not fulfill the criteria for diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome. The lacrimal Schirmer test (lST) and the salivary Schirmer tests (sST) were performed (sSTm was put on the floor of the mouth, sSTp in front of the parotid gland duct). The results were recorded after 1 min (sSTm), 3 min (sSTp), and 5 min (lST).

Results

The lST and sST test scores were considerably higher in the healthy group than in others, p < 0.001. The results of sST1 and sST2 decreased with the appearance of subjective and objective symptoms, p < 0.001. There were positive correlations between lST and sSTm outcomes between the groups, p < 0.001.

Conclusions

We present the Schirmer test adapted to measure salivary gland hypofunction that is a time-saving tool in our daily practice. Results of this study reveal an excellent correlation between the eye Schirmer test and the salivary Schirmer tests.

Clinical relevance

The salivary Schirmer tests seem to be rapid, convenient, and reliable objective screening tools for salivary gland hypofunction in non-Sjögren patients.
Development of neural networks chip generating driving waveform for electrostatic motor
Authors: Sasaki Takuro , Kurosawa Mika , Usami Yu , Kato Shinya , Sakaki Arisa , Takei Yuki , Kaneko Minami , Uchikoba Fumio , Saito Ken
Published: January 2021

The authors are studying hardware neural networks (HNN) to control the locomotion of the microrobot. The neural networks chip is the integrated circuit chip of the HNN. We proposed the electrostatic motor that is the new actuator of the microrobot in our previous research. The electrostatic motor used the waveform generator to generate the driving waveform. In this paper, the authors will propose the driving circuit using neural networks chip. The cell body model is the basic component of the neural networks chip that outputs 3 MHz frequency of electrical oscillated pulse waveform. Therefore, large capacitors need to connect outside of the neural networks chip to generate the low-frequency driving waveform. The proposal neural networks chip generates a long delay without using large capacitors. In addition, the neural networks chip generated a two-phase anti-phase synchronized waveform by incorporating a mechanism for adjusting synaptic weight. As a result, the proposal neural networks chip can generate the electrostatic motor’s driving waveform with variable frequency. The frequency of the driving waveform could vary from 40 to 126 Hz.
B-mode ultrasound diagnostic flowchart for solid breast masses: JABTS BC-01 study
Authors: Watanabe Takanori , Yamaguchi Takuhiro , Tohno Eriko , Tsunoda Hiroko , Kaoku Setsuko , Ban Kanako , Watanabe Ryoji , Umemoto Takeshi , Hirokaga Koichi , Ito Toshikazu
Published: January 2021

Purpose

Breast ultrasound has been widely used as an essential examination for diagnosing breast cancer. However, standardized diagnostic criteria are as yet lacking. This study aimed to develop a simple diagnostic flowchart for beginners learning breast ultrasonography. The diagnostic flowchart was developed based on the recall criteria widely used in Japan.

Methods

We conducted a multicenter study to examine recall criteria usefulness in the diagnostic phase of breast disease. Women with ultrasound-visible breast masses who underwent B-mode breast ultrasound examination were recruited from 22 hospitals in Japan between September 2009 and January 2010. B-mode images were evaluated by members of the centralized image interpretation committee. We developed the new diagnostic flowchart based on the results. The usefulness of the diagnostic flowchart was assessed by employing datasets from the current study and another study which we conducted (BC-04 study).

Results

We evaluated 1045 solid masses (malignant: 495, benign: 550). Multivariate analysis showed that shape, margin, echogenic halo, interruption of the mammary gland interface, and depth width ratio were significant findings for distinguishing between benign and malignant masses. We modified the recall criteria and developed our novel diagnostic flowchart using these findings. The sensitivity and specificity of the new flowchart (current study: 0.97, 0.45; BC-04 study dataset: 0.95, 0.45) were similar to those of experts (current study: 0.96, 0.54; BC-04 study dataset: 0.98, 0.38).

Conclusion

We developed a simple diagnostic flowchart for breast ultrasound. This flowchart is anticipated to be applicable to educating beginners learning breast ultrasound.
CTCs-oriented adjuvant personalized cytostatic therapy non-metastatic breast cancer patients: continuous non-randomized prospective study and prospective randomized controlled study
Authors: Shliakhtunou Ya A.
Published: January 2021

The aim

To conduct a prospective randomized controlled study of the optimization of adjuvant therapy in patients with non-metastatic breast cancer, taking into account the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) with an assessment of tumor-specific OS and DFS.

Materials

Stage 1 Continuous non-randomized prospective study (n = 102) to study the clinical and prognostic value of CTCs and evaluate the effectiveness of adjuvant systemic therapy in relation to CTC eradication; Stage 2 Prospective randomized controlled study (n = 128) of optimization of adjuvant therapy taking into account CTCs with an assessment of the effectiveness of the standard therapy and an optimized therapy regimen.

Results

Monitoring of CTCs during adjuvant drug treatment has established that a significant decrease in the frequency of CTC identification can be achieved only by sequential administration of anthracyclines and taxanes (paclitaxel) AC-T, which allows reducing CTCs compared to other regimens from 52.6 to 15.8% (p = 0.006).

CTC-oriented personalized adjuvant therapy in the experimental group, based on the timely transition from an ineffective adjuvant chemotherapy regimen to taxanes, as well as additional monochemotherapy with gemcitabine can achieve 100% eradication CTCs. In the adjuvant therapy experimental group taking into account CTCs (n = 68), the OS 5-year tumor-specific rate was 90.3 ± 3.8%, (control group 78.7 ± 3.9%, p = 0.036). DFS tumor-specific in the experimental group was 88.0 ± 4.4%, (control group 80.6 ± 3.3%, p = 0.023).

Conclusions

The use of the method of treatment of CTC-oriented personalized adjuvant therapy for non-metastatic breast cancer makes it possible to reliably increase DFS 5-year by 7.4% and OS 5-year by 11.6%.
Transdisciplinary Translational Science for Youth Health and Wellness: Introduction to a Special Issue
Authors: Scudder Ashley T. , Welk Gregory J. , Spoth Richard , Beecher Constance C. , Dorneich Michael C. , Meyer Jacob D. , Phillips L. Alison , Weems Carl F.
Published: January 2021

Background

Transdisciplinary translational science applies interdisciplinary approaches to the generation of novel concepts, theories and methods involving collaborations among academic and non-academic partners, in order to advance the translation of science into broader community practice.

Objective

This paper introduces a special issue on transdisciplinary translational science for youth health and wellness. We provide an overview of relevant research paradigms, share the related goals of the Iowa State University Translational Research Network (U-TuRN), and introduce the specific papers in the issue.

Method

Authors were asked to submit empirical reports, programmatic reviews or policy-related papers that examined youth health issues from a transdisciplinary translational perspective.

Results

The papers included in this special issue each involve direct and fully-integrated community-university partnerships and collaborations between academic and non-academic partners in scholarship and research. Reports emphasize the value of the applied nature of the work with a research agenda driven primarily by real-world health and social needs.

Conclusions

There is growing acceptance of the need for transdisciplinary, community-university collaborative research approaches as a means to meet both the requirements posed by real-world problems as well as goals of advancing scientific knowledge and innovation. In this issue, readers will find papers that show the promise of rethinking existing conceptual frameworks to incorporate transdisciplinary approaches as a catalyst to addressing translational science questions related to the field of children and youth care.
Spray deposition of sulfonated cellulose nanofibers as electrolyte membranes in fuel cells
Authors: Bayer Thomas , Cunning Benjamin Vaughan , Šmíd Břetislav , Selyanchyn Roman , Fujikawa Shigenori , Sasaki Kazunari , Lyth Stephen Matthew
Published: January 2021

Nanocellulose is a promising new membrane material for fuel cells, with much lower cost and environmental impact compared with Nafion or Aquivion. It is mechanically strong, is an excellent hydrogen barrier and has reasonable proton conductivity.
Here, sulfonation of cellulose nanofibers is performed to enhance the conductivity (up to 2 × 10− 3 S cm− 1) without compromising the membrane integrity, and fuel cells are fabricated with 30 µm-thick “paper” membranes. The hydrogen crossover current is two orders of magnitude lower than for Nafion fuel cells with equivalent thickness, but the power density is rather low.
Spray-coating is used to deposit 8 µm-thick membranes directly onto the electrocatalyst layer, in a process analogous to 3D printing or additive manufacturing. The resulting paper fuel cell has high current density (> 0.8 A cm− 2) and power density (156 mW cm− 2) under standard measurement conditions (H2/air; 80°C; 95% RH; 0.1 MPa), attributed to decreased membrane resistance. The cost of the spray-painted cellulose membranes is calculated to be ~ 50 $ m− 2, which is much lower than that of Nafion, even without taking into consideration economies of scale. This new concept in electrochemical energy conversion paves the way for the mass production of affordable, recyclable fuel cells.

Graphic abstract
LDC-IL: The Indian repository of resources for language technology
Authors: Choudhary Narayan
Published: January 2021

This paper introduces the Government of India Initiative on linguistic data creation in Indian languages. The Linguistic Data Consortium for Indian Languages (LDC-IL) is a fully funded Government of India scheme established in 2007 to cater to the needs of linguistic resources required for the development of language technology in Indian languages. LDC-IL worked silently for more than a decade with a team of around regular fifty people and involving thousands of resource persons, covering twenty major languages of India. Part of the output of LDC-IL was launched in April 2019 by the Hon’ble Vice President of India. This paper, the first introductory paper in an academic journal, aims to give a brief of the works done by LDC-IL and how these works are crucial in the development of language technology for Indian languages. Within a short span of eight months of its release, the language resources released by LDC-IL have been procured and utilized by scores of industry and academic bodies and individual researchers, including major industry leaders like Microsoft, Google, Samsung etc.
Picturebook Adaptations of Aesop Fables: An Analysis of Morrison and Pinkney’s Adaptations of Three Classic Tales
Authors: Yenika-Agbaw Vivian
Published: January 2021

This article examines the reconstruction of human foibles in picturebook adaptations of three popular Aesop’s fables: “The Ants and the Grasshopper”, “The Lion and the Mouse”, and “The Hare and the Tortoise”. Adopting adaptation and globalectics perspectives, the author illustrates how social hierarchy is deconstructed in these fables where the authors use anthropomorphic animals to moralize about the human condition. Thus, although the adaptations reiterate lessons from the original source material, they deliberately undermine and/or expand the lessons by integrating sociocultural signifiers that situate Black aesthetics at the core of the narratives. The article examines six picturebook adaptations by award-winning artists, Toni and Slade Morrison, and Jerry Pinkney.
Using machine learning for model benchmarking and forecasting of depletion-induced seismicity in the Groningen gas field
Authors: Limbeck Jan , Bisdom Kevin , Lanz Fabian , Park Timothy , Barbaro Eduardo , Bourne Stephen , Kiraly Franz , Bierman Stijn , Harris Chris , Nevenzeel Keimpe , den Bezemer Taco , van Elk Jan
Published: January 2021

The Groningen gas field in the Netherlands is experiencing induced seismicity as a result of ongoing depletion. The physical mechanisms that control seismicity have been studied through rock mechanical experiments and combined physical-statistical models to support development of a framework to forecast induced-seismicity risks. To investigate whether machine learning techniques such as Random Forests and Support Vector Machines bring new insights into forecasts of induced seismicity rates in space and time, a pipeline is designed that extends time-series analysis methods to a spatiotemporal framework with a factorial setup, which allows probing a large parameter space of plausible modelling assumptions, followed by a statistical meta-analysis to account for the intrinsic uncertainties in subsurface data and to ensure statistical significance and robustness of results. The pipeline includes model validation using e.g. likelihood ratio tests against average depletion thickness and strain thickness baselines to establish whether the models have statistically significant forecasting power. The methodology is applied to forecast seismicity for two distinctly different gas production scenarios. Results show that seismicity forecasts generated using Support Vector Machines significantly outperform beforementioned baselines. Forecasts from the method hint at decreasing seismicity rates within the next 5 years, in a conservative production scenario, and no such decrease in a higher depletion scenario, although due to the small effective sample size no statistically solid statement of this kind can be made. The presented approach can be used to make forecasts beyond the investigated 5-years period, although this requires addition of limited physics-based constraints to avoid unphysical forecasts.
Correlations among metamorphopsia test scores, optical coherence tomography findings and multifocal electroretinogram responses in epiretinal membrane patients
Authors: Lee Jung Woo , Park Sung Yong , Kim Patrick S. , Cho In Hwan , Kim Hoon Dong
Published: January 2021

Purpose

To quantify metamorphopsia with a novel objective method in patients with epiretinal membrane (ERM) and to compare the relationships among metamorphopsia scores, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings, and multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) results.

Methods

This study included 52 eyes of 52 patients with idiopathic ERM who underwent comprehensive ophthalmologic examinations, including measurement of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), OCT, and mfERG. The degree of metamorphopsia was quantified using MonPack One® (Metrovision, Perenchies, France). On the topographic map of the early treatment diabetic retinopathy (ETDRS) grid, retinal thickness in the central, superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal subfields were measured, and metamorphopsia scores for each corresponding subfield were also obtained. The amplitudes and implicit times of mERG were elicited from each subfield. Then, the correlations among metamorphopsia scores, OCT findings, and mfERG responses were analyzed.

Results

The mean age of the patients was 65.3 ± 18.5 y, and the average metamorphopsia score of the individual subfields was 2.03 ± 1.18. Initial BCVA was 0.50 ± 0.12 logMAR, but there was no significant correlation between metamorphopsia scores and BCVA. The metamorphopsia scores from the central subfields showed significant correlations with central retinal thickness (CRT) (p = 0.001). The mean metamorphopsia scores in the central subfield showed a significant relationship with the mean N1 and P1 amplitudes (p = 0.001, p = 0.048, respectively), while no relationship was observed between metamorphopsia scores and mfERG amplitudes in other subfields.

Conclusions

The degree of metamorphopsia in patients with ERM could be objectively quantified in each subfield using a novel metamorphopsia test. The metamorphopsia scores were significantly correlated with retinal thickness, especially at the central subfields, and the scores in the central subfields were significantly correlated with the N1 and P1 amplitudes of mfERG. Thus, the metamorphopsia test can be a useful method to evaluate metamorphopsia symptoms for patients with ERM.
Intestinal microbial communities of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) may be improved by feeding a Hermetia illucens meal/low-fishmeal diet
Authors: Rimoldi Simona , Antonini Micaela , Gasco Laura , Moroni Federico , Terova Genciana
Published: January 2021

With demands and reliance on aquaculture still growing, there are various challenges to allow sustainable growth and the shift from fishmeal (FM) to other protein sources in aquafeed formulations is one of the most important. In this regard, interest in the use of insect meal (IM) in aquafeeds has grown rapidly. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to assess the effects of dietary IM from Hermetia illucens (Hi) larvae included in a low-FM diet on gut microbial communities of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), in terms of both composition and function of microbiome. A feeding trial was conducted using 192 trout of about 100-g mean initial weight. Fish were fed in quadruplicate (4 tanks/diet) for 131 days with two diets: the control (Ctrl) contained 20% of FM as well as other protein sources, whereas the Hi diet contained 15% of Hi larvae meal to replace 50% of the FM contained in the Ctrl diet. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene was used to identify the major feed and gut bacterial taxa, whereas Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) analysis was performed on gut bacterial genomes to identify the major active biological pathways. The inclusion of IM led to an increase in Firmicutes, mainly represented by Bacilli class and to a drastic reduction of Proteobacteria. Beneficial genera, such as Lactobacillus and Bacillus, were enriched in the gut of fish fed with the Hi diet, whereas the number of bacteria assigned to the pathogenic Aeromonas genus was drastically reduced in the same fish group. The metagenome functional data provided evidence that dietary IM inclusion can shape the metabolic activity of trout gut microbiota. In particular, intestinal microbiome of fish fed with IM may have the capacity to improve dietary carbohydrate utilization. Therefore, H. illucens meal is a promising protein source for trout nutrition, able to modulate gut microbial community by increasing the abundance of some bacteria taxa that are likely to play a key role in fish health.
Perceptions and Knowledge About the MenB Vaccine Among Parents of High School Students
Authors: Richardson Eric , Ryan Kathleen A. , Lawrence Robert M. , Harle Christopher A. , Young Alyson , Livingston Melvin D. , Rawal Amit , Staras Stephanie A. S.
Published: January 2021

Serogroup B meningococcal disease (MenB) causes almost 60% of meningitis cases among adolescents and young adults. Yet, MenB vaccine coverage among adolescents remains below 10%. Since parents are the primary medical decision makers for adolescents, we examined MenB vaccination rates and parent attitudes about meningitis and the MenB vaccine. In 2018, in conjunction with a county-wide, school-based immunization campaign, we conducted a mixed methods study among parents of 16- to 17-year-olds. We facilitated focus groups asking parents about their knowledge of meningitis and reactions to educational materials and sent behavioral surveys based on Health Belief Model constructs to parents through the county high school system. Parents in three focus groups (n = 8; participation rate = 13%) expressed confusion about their child’s need to receive the MenB vaccine in addition to the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY), but conveyed strong trust in their physicians’ recommendation. Among survey participants (n = 170), 70 (41%) had heard of the MenB vaccine. Among those 70 parents, the most common barriers to vaccination were concerns about side effects (55%) and uncertainty of susceptibility due to receipt of the MenACWY vaccine (30%). The percentage of teens that received at least one dose of the MenB vaccine was 50% (n = 35) by parent report and 23% (n = 16) by state vaccination records. Parents demonstrated uncertainty and confusion about the MenB vaccine particularly due to the existence of another meningitis vaccine and limited health care provider recommendations. Confirmatory studies of parent confusion about the MenB vaccine are needed to develop interventions.
Convolutional Neural Networks for Semantic Segmentation as a Tool for Multiclass Face Analysis in Thermal Infrared
Authors: Müller David , Ehlen Andreas , Valeske Bernd
Published: January 2021

Convolutional neural networks were used for multiclass segmentation in thermal infrared face analysis. The principle is based on existing image-to-image translation approaches, where each pixel in an image is assigned to a class label. We show that established networks architectures can be trained for the task of multiclass face analysis in thermal infrared. Created class annotations consisted of pixel-accurate locations of different face classes. Subsequently, the trained network can segment an acquired unknown infrared face image into the defined classes. Furthermore, face classification in live image acquisition is shown, in order to be able to display the relative temperature in real-time from the learned areas. This allows a pixel-accurate temperature face analysis e.g. for infection detection like Covid-19. At the same time our approach offers the advantage of concentrating on the relevant areas of the face. Areas of the face irrelevant for the relative temperature calculation or accessories such as glasses, masks and jewelry are not considered. A custom database was created to train the network. The results were quantitatively evaluated with the intersection over union (IoU) metric. The methodology shown can be transferred to similar problems for more quantitative thermography tasks like in materials characterization or quality control in production.
Saturnine Texts and Parodic Sunrises: Don Quixote and Le Roman Comique
Authors: de Armas Frederick A.
Published: January 2021

This essay analyzes Scarron’s careful imitation of Cervantes’Don Quixote, and how many of the traits are transformed into a less complex novel. In order to comprehend this shift, the essay will look at three key elements in the two novels. While Cervantes fashions himself as a saturnine author, Scarron fails to fully self-fashion. Secondly, this piece will focus on the solar image used at the beginning of the two novels; and third we will consider the construction of the main character in these works. While both novels shadow the solar author and protagonist, Cervantes makes them into melancholy figures that conceal wisdom. Scarron, on the other hand, exhibits a noisy author/narrator that cannot abide saturnine sufferings and utilizes clatter and chaos to rail against the heavens. He is unable to turn his idealized main character (Destiny) into someone that can both be part and rise above the noise of the world.
Mucho a la Majestad sagrada agrada: un soneto en eco en los cancioneros hispano-portugueses
Authors: Pérez-Abadín Barro Soledad
Published: January 2021

More than fifty textual sources exist for the sonnet “Mucho a la Majestad sagrada agrada”, most of them being Spanish-Portuguese manuscripts, which demonstrates that the sonnet was widespread in the Iberian Peninsula in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Our paper bears witness of this fact and, based on the available testimonies, edits the text offering all of its variants. A poetical analysis is then provided, in which the sonnet is interpreted more as a moral and homiletic discourse than a conventional funeral poem. The epigraphs offer contradictory information, identifying the deceased as Isabel de Valois or Anna de Austria while the sonnet serves as a memento mori, warning that death respects no condition or status, not even royalty. Sentences and admonishments make up for the absence of specific details in this ambiguous sonnet, where the names of the author and la “reinatal” who serves as the example of the perishable nature of the human condition, remain hidden. Both enigmas are thus inherent to the interpretation of this poem. The Cancioneiro Verdelho is added to all of the repertoires which are known sources, and this sonnet is placed at the base of a transtextual dialogue with other texts, a dialogue which proves to be revealing of the significant connexions that exist between Spanish-Portuguese cancioneros.
The ten amino acids of the oxygen-evolving enhancer of tobacco is sufficient as the peptide residues for protein transport to the chloroplast thylakoid
Authors: Ma Sang Hoon , Kim Hyun Min , Park Se Hee , Park Seo Young , Mai Thanh Dat , Do Ju Hui , Koo Yeonjong , Joung Young Hee
Published: January 2021

Key message

The thylakoid transit peptide of tobacco oxygen-evolving enhancer protein contains a minimal ten amino acid sequences for thylakoid lumen transports. This ten amino acids do not contain twin-arginine, which is required for typical chloroplast lumen translocation.

Chloroplasts are intracellular organelles responsible for photosynthesis to produce organic carbon for all organisms. Numerous proteins must be transported from the cytosol to chloroplasts to support photosynthesis. This transport is facilitated by chloroplast transit peptides (TPs). Four chloroplast thylakoid lumen TPs were isolated from Nicotiana tabacum and were functionally analyzed as thylakoid lumen TPs. Typical chloroplast stroma-transit peptides and thylakoid lumen transit peptides (tTPs) are found in N. tabacum transit peptides (NtTPs) and the functions of these peptides are confirmed with TP–GFP fusion proteins under fluorescence microscopy and chloroplast fractionation, followed by Western blot analysis. During the functional analysis of tTPs, we uncovered the minimum 10 amino acid sequence is sufficient for thylakoid lumen transport. These ten amino acids can efficiently translocate GFP protein, even if they do not contain the twin-arginine residues required for the twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway, which is a typical thylakoid lumen transport. Further, thylakoid lumen transporting processes through the Tat pathway was examined by analyzing tTP sequence functions and we demonstrate that the importance of hydrophobic core for the tTP cleavage and target protein translocation.
Using altmetrics for detecting impactful research in quasi-zero-day time-windows: the case of COVID-19
Authors: Boetto Erik , Fantini Maria Pia , Gangemi Aldo , Golinelli Davide , Greco Manfredi , Nuzzolese Andrea Giovanni , Presutti Valentina , Rallo Flavia
Published: January 2021

On December 31st 2019, the World Health Organization China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology detected in Wuhan City. The cause of the syndrome was a new type of coronavirus isolated on January 7th 2020 and named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since January 2020 an ever increasing number of scientific works related to the new pathogen have appeared in literature. Identifying relevant research outcomes at very early stages is challenging. In this work we use COVID-19 as a use-case for investigating: (1) which tools and frameworks are mostly used for early scholarly communication; (2) to what extent altmetrics can be used to identify potential impactful research in tight (i.e. quasi-zero-day) time-windows. A literature review with rigorous eligibility criteria is performed for gathering a sample composed of scientific papers about SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 appeared in literature in the tight time-window ranging from January 15th 2020 to February 24th 2020. This sample is used for building a knowledge graph that represents the knowledge about papers and indicators formally. This knowledge graph feeds a data analysis process which is applied for experimenting with altmetrics as impact indicators. We find moderate correlation among traditional citation count, citations on social media, and mentions on news and blogs. Additionally, correlation coefficients are not inflated by indicators associated with zero values, which are quite common at very early stages after an article has been published. This suggests there is a common intended meaning of the citational acts associated with aforementioned indicators. Then, we define a method, i.e. the Comprehensive Impact Score (CIS), that harmonises different indicators for providing a multi-dimensional impact indicator. CIS shows promising results as a tool for selecting relevant papers even in a tight time-window. Our results foster the development of automated frameworks aimed at helping the scientific community in identifying relevant work even in case of limited literature and observation time.
Identifying Efficient Transport Pathways in Early-Wood Timber: Insights from 3D X-ray CT Imaging of Softwood in the Presence of Flow
Authors: Burridge H. C. , Pini R. , Shah S. M. K. , Reynolds T. P. S. , Wu G. , Shah D. U. , Scherman O. A. , Ramage M. H. , Linden P. F.
Published: January 2021

Wider use of timber has the potential to greatly reduce the embodied carbon of construction. Improved chemical treatment could help overcome some of the barriers to wider application of timber, by furthering the durability and/or mechanical properties of this natural material. Improving timber treatment by treating the whole volume of a piece of timber, or tailored sections thereof, requires sound understanding and validated modelling of the natural paths for fluid flow through wood. In this study we carry out a robust analysis of three-dimensional X-ray CT measurements on kiln-dried softwood in the presence of flow and identify small portions of early-wood which are uniquely capable of transporting fluids—herein ‘efficient transport pathways’. We successfully model the effects of these pathways on the liquid uptake by timber by introducing a spatial variability in the amount of aspiration of the bordered pits following kiln drying. The model demonstrates that fluid advances along these efficient transport paths between 10 and 30 times faster than in the remainder of the timber. Identifying these efficient transport pathways offers scope to improve and extend the degree to which timber properties are enhanced at an industrial scale through processes to impregnate timber.
Peste des petits ruminants virus non-structural C protein inhibits the induction of interferon-β by potentially interacting with MAVS and RIG-I
Authors: Linjie Li , Xiaoling Shi , Xiaoxia Ma , Xin Cao , Ali Amjad , Jialin Bai
Published: January 2021

Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) causes an acute and highly contagious disease in domestic and wild small ruminants throughout the world, mainly by invoking immunosuppression in its natural hosts. It has been suggested that the non-structural C protein of PPRV helps in evading host responses but the molecular mechanisms by which it antagonizes the host responses have not been fully characterized. Here, we report the antagonistic effect of PPRV C protein on the expression of interferon-β (IFN-β) through both MAVS and RIG-I mediated pathways in vitro. Dual luciferase reporter assay and direct expression of IFN-β mRNA analysis indicated that PPRV C significantly down regulates IFN-β via its potential interaction with MAVS and RIG-I signaling molecules. Results further indicated that PPRV C protein significantly suppresses endogenous and exogenous IFN-β-induced anti-viral effects in PPRV, EMCV and SVS infections in vitro. Moreover, PPRV C protein not only down regulates IFN-β but also the downstream cytokines of interferon stimulated genes 56 (ISG56), ISG15, C-X-C motif chemokine (CXCL10) and RIG-I mediated activation of IFN promoter elements of ISRE and NF-κB. Further, this study deciphers that PPRV C protein could significantly inhibit the phosphorylation of STAT1 and interferes with the signal transmission in JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Collectively, this study indicates that PPRV C protein is important for innate immune evasion and disease progression.
Research on GRU Neural Network Satellite Traffic Prediction Based on Transfer Learning
Authors: Li Ning , Hu Lang , Deng Zhong-Liang , Su Tong , Liu Jiang-Wang
Published: January 2021

In this paper, we propose a Gated Recurrent Unit(GRU) neural network traffic prediction algorithm based on transfer learning. By introducing two gate structures, such as reset gate and update gate, the GRU neural network avoids the problems of gradient disappearance and gradient explosion. It can effectively represent the characteristics of long correlation traffic, and can realize the expression of nonlinear, self-similar, long correlation and other characteristics of satellite network traffic. The paper combines the transfer learning method to solve the problem of insufficient online traffic data and uses the particle filter online training algorithm to reduce the training time complexity and achieve accurate prediction of satellite network traffic. The simulation results show that the average relative error of the proposed traffic prediction algorithm is 35.80% and 8.13% lower than FARIMA and SVR, and the particle filter algorithm is 40% faster than the gradient descent algorithm.
Who Becomes Unhappy when Income Inequality Increases?
Authors: Lous Bjorn , Graafland Johan
Published: January 2021

Literature has established that, on a macroeconomic level, income inequality has a negative effect on average life satisfaction. An unresolved question is, however, which income groups are harmed by income inequality. In this paper we investigate this relationship at the microeconomic level combining national indicators of income inequality with individual data of life satisfaction from the World Values Survey for 39 countries over a period of 25 years. Tests on moderation by income category show that the Gini coefficient is most negatively related to life satisfaction of the lowest income groups, but the negative effects also extends to other income groups. For the income share of the top 1% we find a similar result. These findings show that income inequality is especially a concern for the lower income groups, but that the harmful effect of income inequality also spillovers to the life satisfaction of other income groups.