bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The required acoustic parameters simplification of invisibility cloaks and concentrators using the impedance-tunable coordinate transformation
Authors: Cao Jun , Qi Fenghua , Yan Senlin
Published: January 2021

Transformation acoustics, as an unconventional theory, provides a powerful tool to design various kinds of acoustic devices with excellent functionalities. However, the required ideal parameters, which are prescribed by the method, are both complex and hard to implement-even using acoustic metamaterials. Furthermore, simplified parameter materials are generally favored in transformation-acoustic design due to its easier realization with artificial structures. In this letter, we propose a coordinate transformation methodology for achieving simplified parameters by tuning the impedance distribution in the geometric limit, where the transformation media parameters can be derived by setting tunable impedance functions in the original space and a combination of suitable linear or nonlinear coordinate transformation. Based on this approach, both two-dimensional acoustic cloak and concentrators are designed with different sets of simplified parameters. Numerical simulations indicate good performance of these devices with minimized scattering at higher frequencies. The proposed method provides more opportunities to realize the designed acoustic devices experimentally, and can also be used for other transformation-acoustic designs including 3D cases.
Berberine-releasing electrospun scaffold induces osteogenic differentiation of DPSCs and accelerates bone repair
Authors: Ma Lan , Yu Yijun , Liu Hanxiao , Sun Weibin , Lin Zitong , Liu Chao , Miao Leiying
Published: January 2021

The repair of skeletal defects in maxillofacial region remains an intractable problem, the rising technology of bone tissue engineering provides a new strategy to solve it. Scaffolds, a crucial element of tissue engineering, must have favorable biocompatibility as well as osteoinductivity. In this study, we prepared berberine/polycaprolactone/collagen (BBR/PCL/COL) scaffolds with different concentrations of berberine (BBR) (25, 50, 75 and 100 μg/mL) through electrospinning. The influence of dosage on scaffold morphology, cell behavior and in vivo bone defect repair were systematically studied. The results indicated that scaffolds could release BBR stably for up to 27 days. Experiments in vitro showed that BBR/PCL/COL scaffolds had appropriate biocompatibility in the concentration of 25–75 μg/mL, and 50 and 75 μg/mL scaffolds could significantly promote osteogenic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells. Scaffold with 50 μg/mL BBR was implanted into the critical bone defect of rats to evaluate the ability of bone repair in vivo. It was found that BBR/PCL/COL scaffold performed more favorable than polycaprolactone/collagen (PCL/COL) scaffold. Overall, our study is the first to evaluate the capability of in vivo bone repair of BBR/PCL/COL electrospun scaffold. The results indicate that BBR/PCL/COL scaffold has prospective potential for tissue engineering applications in bone regeneration therapy.
Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-15 expression on peritumoral macrophages is a favorable prognostic factor for primary central nervous system lymphoma patients
Authors: Fudaba Hirotaka , Momii Yasutomo , Hirakawa Taisei , Onishi Kouhei , Asou Daigo , Matsushita Wataru , Kawasaki Yukari , Sugita Kenji , Fujiki Minoru
Published: January 2021

Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-15 (Siglec-15) is a new immune checkpoint molecule and its role of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) tumor microenvironment has been unclear. We explored the Siglec-15 and programed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in tumor tissues and analyzed the association between the expression of these molecules and overall survival in newly diagnosed PCNSL. A total of 60 patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in PCNSL were included in this study. The Siglec-15 and PD-L1 expression on tumor cells, intratumoral macrophages and peritumoral macrophages were immunohistochemically evaluated. The expression of Siglec-15 and PD-L1 was greater in macrophages than in tumor cells. Regarding peritumoral macrophages, the number of Siglec-15-positive samples (n = 24) was greater than the number of PD-L1-positive samples (n = 16). A multivariate Cox analysis showed that the Siglec-15 positivity of peritumoral macrophages and performance of high-dose methotrexate-based chemotherapy were independent predictors of overall survival (hazard ratio: 0.295 and 0.322, respectively). The Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that patients with Siglec-15-positive peritumoral macrophages had longer overall survival than those with Siglec-15-negative peritumoral macrophages (median overall survival: 3018 days and 746 days, respectively; p = 0.0290). Our findings indicate that the expression of Siglec-15 on peritumoral macrophages induces a favorable outcome in PCNSL patients.
Auditory roughness elicits defense reactions
Authors: Taffou Marine , Suied Clara , Viaud-Delmon Isabelle
Published: January 2021

Auditory roughness elicits aversion, and higher activation in cerebral areas involved in threat processing, but its link with defensive behavior is unknown. Defensive behaviors are triggered by intrusions into the space immediately surrounding the body, called peripersonal space (PPS). Integrating multisensory information in PPS is crucial to assure the protection of the body. Here, we assessed the behavioral effects of roughness on auditory-tactile integration, which reflects the monitoring of this multisensory region of space. Healthy human participants had to detect as fast as possible a tactile stimulation delivered on their hand while an irrelevant sound was approaching them from the rear hemifield. The sound was either a simple harmonic sound or a rough sound, processed through binaural rendering so that the virtual sound source was looming towards participants. The rough sound speeded tactile reaction times at a farther distance from the body than the non-rough sound. This indicates that PPS, as estimated here via auditory-tactile integration, is sensitive to auditory roughness. Auditory roughness modifies the behavioral relevance of simple auditory events in relation to the body. Even without emotional or social contextual information, auditory roughness constitutes an innate threat cue that elicits defensive responses.
Direct measurement of vagal tone in rats does not show correlation to HRV
Authors: Marmerstein Joseph T. , McCallum Grant A. , Durand Dominique M.
Published: January 2021

The vagus nerve is the largest autonomic nerve, innervating nearly every organ in the body. “Vagal tone” is a clinical measure believed to indicate overall levels of vagal activity, but is measured indirectly through the heart rate variability (HRV). Abnormal HRV has been associated with many severe conditions such as diabetes, heart failure, and hypertension. However, vagal tone has never been directly measured, leading to disagreements in its interpretation and influencing the effectiveness of vagal therapies. Using custom carbon nanotube yarn electrodes, we were able to chronically record neural activity from the left cervical vagus in both anesthetized and non-anesthetized rats. Here we show that tonic vagal activity does not correlate with common HRV metrics with or without anesthesia. Although we found that average vagal activity is increased during inspiration compared to expiration, this respiratory-linked signal was not correlated with HRV either. These results represent a clear advance in neural recording technology but also point to the need for a re-interpretation of the link between HRV and “vagal tone”.
IgE-binding residues analysis of the house dust mite allergen Der p 23
Authors: Pang Sze Lei , Matta Sri Anusha , Sio Yang Yie , Ng Yu Ting , Say Yee-How , Ng Chyan Leong , Chew Fook Tim
Published: January 2021

House dust mites (HDMs) are one of the major causes of allergies in the world. The group 23 allergen, Der p 23, from Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, is a major allergen amongst HDM-sensitized individuals. This study aims to determine the specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) binding frequency and IgE-binding residues of recombinant Der p 23 (rDer p 23) allergen amongst a cohort of consecutive atopic individuals in a tropical region. We performed site-directed mutagenesis and carried out immuno-dot blot assays using 65 atopic sera. The immuno-dot blot assays results indicated that the two residues K44 and E46 which are located at the N-terminal region are the major IgE-binding residues. The rDerp-23 sIgE titers are strongly correlated to the number of IgE-binding residues for rDer p 23 (P < 0.001). Atopic individuals who were only sensitized to HDM have a significantly higher number of IgE-binding residues than the individuals who were polysensitized to HDM and other crude allergens (P < 0.05). Individuals with allergic multimorbidity and moderate-to-severe allergic rhinitis also have a higher number of IgE-binding residues compared to those with single allergic disease and mild allergic rhinitis. The results prompt us to hypothesize that the individuals who have a higher number of IgE-binding residues may face a bigger challenge to be treated through immunotherapy due to the complexity in designing an effective hypoallergen with a high number of IgE-binding residues. We propose that the development of a refined molecular diagnostic assay, which includes alanine substitution of surface-exposed residues could be a more precise diagnostic strategy to identify all the IgE-binding residues of a major allergen for an atopic individual and the development could be another new dimension in allergy diagnosis and allergen immunotherapy treatment.
Cytoglobin protects cancer cells from apoptosis by regulation of mitochondrial cardiolipin
Authors: Thorne Lorna S. , Rochford Garret , Williams Timothy D. , Southam Andrew D. , Rodriguez-Blanco Giovanny , Dunn Warwick B. , Hodges Nikolas J.
Published: January 2021

Cytoglobin is important in the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma but the molecular and cellular basis remain to be elucidated. In the current study, we develop a new cell model to study the function of cytoglobin in oral squamous carcinoma and response to cisplatin. Transcriptomic profiling showed cytoglobin mediated changes in expression of genes related to stress response, redox metabolism, mitochondrial function, cell adhesion, and fatty acid metabolism. Cellular and biochemical studies show that cytoglobin expression results in changes to phenotype associated with cancer progression including: increased cellular proliferation, motility and cell cycle progression. Cytoglobin also protects cells from cisplatin-induced apoptosis and oxidative stress with levels of the antioxidant glutathione increased and total and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species levels reduced. The mechanism of cisplatin resistance involved inhibition of caspase 9 activation and cytoglobin protected mitochondria from oxidative stress-induced fission. To understand the mechanism behind these phenotypic changes we employed lipidomic analysis and demonstrate that levels of the redox sensitive and apoptosis regulating cardiolipin are significantly up-regulated in cells expressing cytoglobin. In conclusion, our data shows that cytoglobin expression results in important phenotypic changes that could be exploited by cancer cells in vivo to facilitate disease progression.
Deep-sea bacteria trigger settlement and metamorphosis of the mussel Mytilus coruscus larvae
Authors: Chang Rui-Heng , Yang Li-Ting , Luo Ming , Fang Yihan , Peng Li-Hua , Wei Yuli , Fang Jiasong , Yang Jin-Long , Liang Xiao
Published: January 2021

Bacteria from coast seawaters are widely known to induce larval recruitment of many invertebrates. However, whether and how deep-sea bacteria, that play crucial roles in the ecological and biogeochemical cycles, promote larval recruitment remains little known. Here, the interaction between deep-sea bacterial biofilms (BFs) and Mytilus coruscus larvae was tested. All these nine deep-sea bacterial isolates triggered planktonic-sessile transition, and the highest percentage of post-larvae was observed in Virgibacillus sp. 1 BF. Except for Pseudomonas sp. 3, Pseudoalteromonas sp. 32 and Bacillus sp. 13, other BF cell  densities were significantly related to their corresponding inductive efficiency. The deep-sea Virgibacillus sp. 1 BFʼs cue that triggers planktonic-sessile transition was uncovered. Treating Virgibacillus sp. 1 BFs through physic-chemical approaches reduced inducing impact and cell survival. The conditioned water collaborated with formalin-fixed Virgibacillus sp. 1 BF hoisted planktonic-sessile transition efficiency in comparison to each one alone. Thus, two signals derived from deep-sea bacteria trigger planktonic-sessile transition in M. coruscus. This finding firstly demonstrates that deep-sea bacteria has good potential for application in the mussel seed production and provides novel insight to clarify the bacteria-mussel interaction.
Orchid Bsister gene PeMADS28 displays conserved function in ovule integument development
Authors: Shen Ching-Yu , Chen You-Yi , Liu Ke-Wei , Lu Hsiang-Chia , Chang Song-Bin , Hsiao Yu-Yun , Yang Fengxi , Zhu Genfa , Zou Shuang-quan , Huang Lai-Qiang , Liu Zhong-Jian , Tsai Wen-Chieh
Published: January 2021

The ovules and egg cells are well developed to be fertilized at anthesis in many flowering plants. However, ovule development is triggered by pollination in most orchids. In this study, we characterized the function of a Bsister gene, named PeMADS28, isolated from Phalaenopsis equestris, the genome-sequenced orchid. Spatial and temporal expression analysis showed PeMADS28 predominantly expressed in ovules between 32 and 48 days after pollination, which synchronizes with integument development. Subcellular localization and protein–protein interaction analyses revealed that PeMADS28 could form a homodimer as well as heterodimers with D-class and E-class MADS-box proteins. In addition, ectopic expression of PeMADS28 in Arabidopsis thaliana induced small curled rosette leaves, short silique length and few seeds, similar to that with overexpression of other species’ Bsister genes in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, complementation test revealed that PeMADS28 could rescue the phenotype of the ABS/TT16 mutant. Together, these results indicate the conserved function of BsisterPeMADS28 associated with ovule integument development in orchid.
Herd immunity drives the epidemic fadeout of avian cholera in Arctic-nesting seabirds
Authors: van Dijk Jacintha G. B. , Iverson Samuel A. , Gilchrist H. Grant , Harms N. Jane , Hennin Holly L. , Love Oliver P. , Buttler E. Isabel , Lesceu Stephanie , Foster Jeffrey T. , Forbes Mark R. , Soos Catherine
Published: January 2021

Avian cholera, caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, is a common and important infectious disease of wild birds in North America. Between 2005 and 2012, avian cholera caused annual mortality of widely varying magnitudes in Northern common eiders (Somateria mollissima borealis) breeding at the largest colony in the Canadian Arctic, Mitivik Island, Nunavut. Although herd immunity, in which a large proportion of the population acquires immunity to the disease, has been suggested to play a role in epidemic fadeout, immunological studies exploring this hypothesis have been missing. We investigated the role of three potential drivers of fadeout of avian cholera in eiders, including immunity, prevalence of infection, and colony size. Each potential driver was examined in relation to the annual real-time reproductive number (Rt) of P. multocida, previously calculated for eiders at Mitivik Island. Each year, colony size was estimated and eiders were closely monitored, and evaluated for infection and serological status. We demonstrate that acquired immunity approximated using antibody titers to P. multocida in both sexes was likely a key driver for the epidemic fadeout. This study exemplifies the importance of herd immunity in influencing the dynamics and fadeout of epidemics in a wildlife population.
Unraveling cardiolipin-induced conformational change of cytochrome c through H/D exchange mass spectrometry and quartz crystal microbalance
Authors: Sun Sin-Cih , Huang Hung-Wei , Lo Yi-Ting , Chuang Min-Chieh , Hsu Yuan-Hao Howard
Published: January 2021

Cardiolipin (CL), a crucial component in inner mitochondrial membranes, interacts with cytochrome c (cyt c) to form a peroxidase complex for the catalysis of CL oxidation. Such interaction is pivotal to the mitochondrial regulation of apoptosis and is affected by the redox state of cyt c. In the present study, the redox-dependent interaction of cyt c with CL was investigated through amide hydrogen/deuterium exchange coupled with mass spectrometry (HDXMS) and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Ferrous cyt c exhibited a more compact conformation compared with its ferric form, which was supported by the lower number of deuterons accumulated and the greater amplitude reduction on dissipation. Upon association with CL, ferrous cyt c resulted in a moderate increase in deuteration, whereas the ferric form caused a drastic increase of deuteration, which indicated that CL-bound ferric cyt c formed an extended conformation. These results were consistent with those of the frequency (f) − dissipation (D) experiments, which revealed that ferric cyt c yielded greater values of |ΔD/Δf| within the first minute. Further fragmentation analysis based on HDXMS indicated that the effect of CL binding was considerably different on ferric and ferrous cyt c in the C-helix and the Loop 9–24. In ferric cyt c, CL binding affected Met80 and destabilized His18 interaction with heme, which was not observed with ferrous cyt c. An interaction model was proposed to explain the aforementioned results.
Propofol infusions using a human target controlled infusion (TCI) pump in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Authors: Miyabe-Nishiwaki T. , Kaneko A. , Yamanaka A. , Maeda N. , Suzuki J. , Tomonaga M. , Matsuzawa T. , Muta K. , Nishimura R. , Yajima I. , Eleveld D. J. , Absalom A. R. , Masui K.
Published: January 2021

Chimpanzees are genetically and physiologically similar to humans. Several pharmacokinetic models of propofol are available and target controlled infusion (TCI) of propofol is established in humans, but not in chimpanzees. The purpose of this study was to investigate if human pharmacokinetic models can accurately predict propofol plasma concentration (Cp) in chimpanzees and if it is feasible to perform TCI in chimpanzees. Ten chimpanzees were anaesthetized for regular veterinary examinations. Propofol was used as an induction or maintenance agent. Blood samples were collected from a catheter in a cephalic vein at 3–7 time points between 1 and 100 min following the propofol bolus and/or infusion in five chimpanzees, or TCI in six chimpanzees. Cp was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. The Marsh, Schnider and Eleveld human pharmacokinetic models were used to predict Cp for each case and we examined the predictive performances of these models using the Varvel criteria Median PE and Median APE. Median PE and Median APE for Marsh, Schnider and Eleveld models were within or close to the acceptable range. A human TCI pump was successfully maintained propofol Cp during general anesthesia in six chimpanzees. Human propofol pharmacokinetic models and TCI pumps can be applied in chimpanzees.
HSP60 knockdown exerts differential response in endothelial cells and monocyte derived macrophages during atherogenic transformation
Authors: Shirsath Kavita , Joshi Apeksha , Vohra Aliasgar , Devkar Ranjitsinh
Published: January 2021

Ectopic expression of HSP60 in vascular cells is known to activate auto-immune response that is critical to atherogenic initiation. However, the pathogenic relevance of the aberrant HSP60 upregulation in intracellular signaling pathways associated with atherogenic consequences in vascular cells remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to determine the role of endogenous HSP60 in atherogenic transformation of endothelial cells and macrophages. After generating primary evidence of oxidized low density lipoprotein (OxLDL) induced HSP60 upregulation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), its physiological relevance in high fat high fructose (HFHF) induced early atherogenic remodelling was investigated in C57BL/6J mice. Prominent HSP60 expression was recorded in tunica intima and media of thoracic aorta that showed hypertrophy, lumen dilation, elastin fragmentation and collagen deposition. Further, HSP60 overexpression was found to be prerequisite for its surface localization and secretion in HUVEC. eNOS downregulation and MCP-1, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 upregulation with subsequent macrophage accumulation provided compelling evidences on HFHF induced endothelial dysfunction and activation that were also observed in OxLDL treated- and HSP60 overexpressing-HUVEC. OxLDL induced concomitant reduction in NO production and monocyte adhesion were prevented by HSP60 knockdown, implying towards HSP60 mediated possible regulation of the said genes. OxLDL induced HSP60 upregulation and secretion was also recorded in THP-1 derived macrophages (TDMs). HSP60 knockdown in TDMs accounted for higher OxLDL accumulation that correlated with altered scavenger receptors (SR-A1, CD36 and SR-B1) expression further culminating in M1 polarization. Collectively, the results highlight HSP60 upregulation as a critical vascular alteration that exerts differential regulatory role in atherogenic transformation of endothelial cells and macrophages.
Low retinoic acid levels mediate regionalization of the Sertoli valve in the terminal segment of mouse seminiferous tubules
Authors: Imura-Kishi Kasane , Uchida Aya , Tsunekawa Naoki , Suzuki Hitomi , Takase Hinako M. , Hirate Yoshikazu , Kanai-Azuma Masami , Hiramatsu Ryuji , Kurohmaru Masamichi , Kanai Yoshiakira
Published: January 2021

In mammalian testes, undifferentiated spermatogonia (Aundiff) undergo differentiation in response to retinoic acid (RA), while their progenitor states are partially maintained by fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). Sertoli valve (SV) is a region located at the terminal end of seminiferous tubule (ST) adjacent to the rete testis (RT), where the high density of Aundiff is constitutively maintained with the absence of active spermatogenesis. However, the molecular and cellular characteristics of SV epithelia still remain unclear. In this study, we first identified the region-specific AKT phosphorylation in the SV Sertoli cells and demonstrated non-cell autonomous specialization of Sertoli cells in the SV region by performing a Sertoli cell ablation/replacement experiment. The expression of Fgf9 was detected in the RT epithelia, while the exogenous administration of FGF9 caused ectopic AKT phosphorylation in the Sertoli cells of convoluted ST. Furthermore, we revealed the SV region-specific expression of Cyp26a1, which encodes an RA-degrading enzyme, and demonstrated that the increased RA levels in the SV region disrupt its pool of Aundiff by inducing their differentiation. Taken together, RT-derived FGFs and low levels of RA signaling contribute to the non-cell-autonomous regionalization of the SV epithelia and its local maintenance of Aundiff in the SV region.
Planting period is the main factor for controlling maize rough dwarf disease
Authors: Clemente-Orta Gemma , Albajes Ramon , Batuecas Iván , Achon M. A.
Published: January 2021

Maize rough dwarf virus (MRDV) is one of the main yield-limiting factors of maize in the Mediterranean. However, knowledge about the interactions between the agroecosystem and the virus–vector–host relationship continues to be limited. We used multi-model inference to test a landscape-scale approach together with variables measured in the field, and we estimated the effects of early and late planting on MRDV incidence. The results revealed that the virus incidence increased by 3% when the planting was delayed, and this increase was coincident with the first peak of the vector population. The variables at the field and landscape scales with a strong effect on virus incidence were the proportions of grasses in adjacent crops, in uncultivated areas, and in edges close to maize plants. Grass plant cover in the edges also affected virus incidence, but these effects varied with the planting period. These findings provide new insights into the causes of MRDV incidence and may provide some guidance to growers to reduce losses caused by the virus. Among the recommendations to be prioritized are early planting, management of grasses at field edges, and non-overlapping cultivation of maize and winter cereals in the same area.
Facial UV photo imaging for skin pigmentation assessment using conditional generative adversarial networks
Authors: Kojima Kaname , Shido Kosuke , Tamiya Gen , Yamasaki Kenshi , Kinoshita Kengo , Aiba Setsuya
Published: January 2021

Skin pigmentation is associated with skin damages and skin cancers, and ultraviolet (UV) photography is used as a minimally invasive mean for the assessment of pigmentation. Since UV photography equipment is not usually available in general practice, technologies emphasizing pigmentation in color photo images are desired for daily care. We propose a new method using conditional generative adversarial networks, named UV-photo Net, to generate synthetic UV images from color photo images. Evaluations using color and UV photo image pairs taken by a UV photography system demonstrated that pigment spots were well reproduced in synthetic UV images by UV-photo Net, and some of the reproduced pigment spots were difficult to be recognized in color photo images. In the pigment spot detection analysis, the rate of pigment spot areas in cheek regions for synthetic UV images was highly correlated with the rate for UV photo images (Pearson’s correlation coefficient 0.92). We also demonstrated that UV-photo Net was effective for floating up pigment spots for photo images taken by a smartphone camera. UV-photo Net enables an easy assessment of pigmentation from color photo images and will promote self-care of skin damages and early signs of skin cancers for preventive medicine.
Small Extracellular Vesicles from adipose derived stromal cells significantly attenuate in vitro the NF-κB dependent inflammatory/catabolic environment of osteoarthritis
Authors: Cavallo Carola , Merli Giulia , Borzì Rosa Maria , Zini Nicoletta , D’Adamo Stefania , Guescini Michele , Grigolo Brunella , Di Martino Alessandro , Santi Spartaco , Filardo Giuseppe
Published: January 2021

The therapeutic ability of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells to address osteoarthritis (OA) is mainly related to the secretion of biologically active factors, which can be found within their secreted Extracellular Vesicles including small Extracellular Vesicles (sEV). Aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sEV from adipose derived stromal cells (ADSC) on both chondrocytes and synoviocytes, in order to gain insights into the mechanisms modulating the inflammatory/catabolic OA environment. sEV, obtained by a combined precipitation and size exclusion chromatography method, were quantified and characterized, and administered to chondrocytes and synoviocytes stimulated with IL-1β. Cellular uptake of sEV was evaluated from 1 to 12 h. Gene expression and protein release of cytokines/chemokines, catabolic and inflammatory molecules were analyzed at 4 and 15 h, when p65 nuclear translocation was investigated to study NF-κB pathway. This study underlined the potential of ADSC derived sEV to affect gene expression and protein release of both chondrocytes and synoviocytes, counteracting IL-1β induced inflammatory effects, and provided insights into their mechanisms of action. sEV uptake was faster in synoviocytes, where it also elicited stronger effects, especially in terms of cytokine and chemokine modulation. The inflammatory/catabolic environment mediated by NF-κB pathway was significantly attenuated by sEV, which hold promise as new therapeutic strategy to address OA.
Mitochondrial haplogroup J associated with higher risk of obesity in the Qatari population
Authors: Dashti Mohammed , Alsaleh Hussain , Rodriguez-Flores Juan L. , Eaaswarkhanth Muthukrishnan , Al-Mulla Fahd , Thanaraj Thangavel Alphonse
Published: January 2021

Obesity, a major risk factor for metabolic disorders, is highly prevalent in Qatari population. Maternal transmission of obesity traits can be significant; for example, X haplogroup is known to be associated with lower BMI and body fat mass in Northern Europeans and T haplogroup which is a sister haplogroup of J is known to be associated with obesity in Caucasian subjects from Austria and Southern Italy. We aimed to delineate the mitochondrial haplogroups and variants associated with obesity in Qatari population. Mitochondrial genomes of 864 Qatari individuals were extracted from whole exome sequencing data with an average coverage of 77X. We distributed the participants into 2 sub-cohorts: obese (BMI ≥ 30) and non-obese (BMI < 30); the mean value of BMI from these two groups were 36.5 ± 5.7 and 26.5 ± 2.6, respectively. Mitochondrial haplogroup profiling followed by uni- and multivariant association tests adjusted for covariates were performed. Qatari individuals with mitochondrial haplogroup J had an increased (twofold) risk of obesity (odds ratio [OR] 1.925; 95% CI 1.234–3.002; P = 0.0038; the Bonferroni adjusted P value threshold is 0.0041), whereas the individuals with haplogroup X were at low risk of obesity (OR 0.387; 95% CI 0.175–0.857; P = 0.019). Further, a set of 38 mitochondrial variants were found to be associated (at P ≤ 0.05) with obesity in models adjusted for age, sex and haplogroup.
A method to alleviate false-positive results of the Elecsys HIV combi PT assay
Authors: Lu Xiaolan , Zhang Minghong , Liu Wen , Sheng Nan , Du Qin , Zhang Maoxin , Guo Xiaolan , Wang Guangrong , Wang Qiang
Published: January 2021

To explore the effects of urea dissociation on reducing false-positive results of  the Elecsys HIV combi PT assay. A retrospective analysis was used to evaluate the false-positive rate of the Elecsys HIV combi PT assay. Six false-positive sera, six positive sera and six sera from patients with early HIV infection were collected. Dissociation was performed using 1 mol/L, 2 mol/L, 4 mol/L, 6 mol/L, or 8 mol/L urea, and HIV screening assay were then detected to select the appropriate concentration of urea dissociation. Next, 55 false-positive sera and 15 sera from early HIV infection were used to verify the best concentration of urea to achieve dissociation. Retrospective analysis showed that the COI of the Elecsys HIV combi PT assay in false-positive sera ranged from 1.0 to 200.0, and approximately 97.01%(227/234) of false-positive sera were in the range of 1.0–15.0. The avidity index (AI) in positive and false-positive sera decreased as the urea dissociation concentration increased. When the dissociation concentration was 6 mol/L, the AI of false-positive serum was between 0.0234 and 0.2567, and the AI of early HIV infection sera was between 0.4325 and 0.5017. The difference in AI between false-positive and positive samples was significant. When negativity was defined as an AI of less than 0.3970, the sensitivity and specificity were 100.0% and 100.0%, respectively. Urea-mediated dissociation could significantly reduce the false-positive rate of the Elecsys HIV combi PT assay with a low COI. Our findings provided a reference for distinguishing positive and false-positive of the Elecsys HIV combi PT assay.
Particle-antiparticle duality and fractionalization of topological chiral solitons
Authors: Oh Chang-geun , Han Sang-Hoon , Jeong Seung-Gyo , Kim Tae-Hwan , Cheon Sangmo
Published: January 2021

Although a prototypical Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) soliton exhibits various important topological concepts including particle-antiparticle (PA) symmetry and fractional fermion charges, there have been only few advances in exploring such properties of topological solitons beyond the SSH model. Here, by considering a chirally extended double-Peierls-chain model, we demonstrate novel PA duality and fractional charge e/2 of topological chiral solitons even under the chiral symmetry breaking. This provides a counterexample to the belief that chiral symmetry is necessary for such PA relation and fractionalization of topological solitons in a time-reversal invariant topological system. Furthermore, we discover that topological chiral solitons are re-fractionalized into two subsolitons which also satisfy the PA duality. As a result, such dualities and fractionalizations support the topological $$\mathbb {Z}_4$$

Z
4

algebraic structures. Our findings will inspire researches seeking feasible and promising topological systems, which may lead to new practical applications such as solitronics.
A non-targeted metabolomics study on Xylella fastidiosa infected olive plants grown under controlled conditions
Authors: Jlilat Asmae , Ragone Rosa , Gualano Stefania , Santoro Franco , Gallo Vito , Varvaro Leonardo , Mastrorilli Piero , Saponari Maria , Nigro Franco , D’Onghia Anna Maria
Published: January 2021

In the last decade, the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa has devastated olive trees throughout Apulia region (Southern Italy) in the form of the disease called “Olive Quick Decline Syndrome” (OQDS). This study describes changes in the metabolic profile due to the infection by X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca ST53 in artificially inoculated young olive plants of the susceptible variety Cellina di Nardò. The test plants, grown in a thermo-conditioned greenhouse, were also co-inoculated with some xylem-inhabiting fungi known to largely occur in OQDS-affected trees, in order to partially reproduce field conditions in terms of biotic stress. The investigations were performed by combining NMR spectroscopy and MS spectrometry with a non-targeted approach for the analysis of leaf extracts. Statistical analysis revealed that Xylella-infected plants were characterized by higher amounts of malic acid, formic acid, mannitol, and sucrose than in Xylella-non-infected ones, whereas it revealed slightly lower amounts of oleuropein. Attention was paid to mannitol which may play a central role in sustaining the survival of the olive tree against bacterial infection. This study contributes to describe a set of metabolites playing a possible role as markers in the infections by X. fastidiosa in olive.
The contribution of ocular residual astigmatism to anterior corneal astigmatism in refractive astigmatism eyes
Authors: Lin Jian
Published: January 2021

To determine the distribution of ocular residual astigmatism (ORA) in astigmatic eyes and the influence on the anterior corneal (ACA) and refractive astigmatism (RA). A total of 165 children met the inclusion criteria. Right eyes’ data were analyzed. Using Thibos vector analysis to calculate ORA. Spearman correlation analysis was used to obtain the correlation between the magnitude of ORA, ACA and RA. The median magnitude of ORA in astigmatic eyes was 0.57 D, with interquartile range was 0.42 D. And they were main against-the-rule (57.6–75.8%) and oblique astigmatism (13.9–34.5%) ORA. The ORA in 140 eyes (84.8%) acted as an offset to ACA, meanwhile, 25 eyes (15.2%) superimposed it. About 98% (97.9–98.4%) against-the-rule and 75% (73.9–82.5%) oblique ORA counteracted ACA, nevertheless, all with-the-rule ORA had a superimposed effect on ACA. For with-the-rule ACA, about 86% (85.4–85.9%) ORA worked to offset it. There was statistically correlations between ORA and ACA (r = 0.17, P = 0.03), ORA and RA (r = − 0.27, P = 0.001). The magnitude of ocular residual astigmatism was relatively small in children’s astigmatic eyes. Both against-the-rule and oblique ORA can counteract with-the-rule ACA.
Urine biomarkers in ESSIC type 2 interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome and overactive bladder with developing a novel diagnostic algorithm
Authors: Jiang Yuan-Hong , Jhang Jia-Fong , Hsu Yung-Hsiang , Ho Han-Chen , Wu Ya-Hui , Kuo Hann-Chorng
Published: January 2021

This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic values of urine cytokines in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) and overactive bladder (OAB) patients, and to develop a novel diagnostic algorithm. Urine samples were collected from 40 IC/BPS, 40 OAB patients, and 30 controls. Commercially available multiplex immunoassays were used to analyze 31 targeted cytokines. Urine cytokine profiles were significantly different among study groups and controls. MIP-1β showed the highest sensitivity (92.2%) for identifying diseased study patients from controls. The cytokines with high diagnostic values for distinguishing between IC and OAB included IL-10, RANTES, eotaxin, CXCL10, IL-12p70, NGF, IL-6, IL-17A, MCP-1, and IL-1RA. The diagnostic algorithm was subsequently developed according to the diagnostic values obtained. MIP-1β was selected for the initial screening test to diagnose diseased patients and controls with diagnostic rates of 81.6% and 68.4%, respectively. As confirmation tests for IC/BPS, the diagnostic rates of eotaxin, CXCL10, and RANTES were 73.3%, 72.7%, and 69.7%, respectively. As the confirmation test for OAB, the diagnostic rate of IL-10 was 60%. Urine cytokine profiles of IC/BPS and OAB patients differed from those of controls and might be useful as biomarkers for diagnosis. A novel pilot diagnostic algorithm was developed based on these profiles.
A novel bifunctional aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase catalyzing reduction of acetyl-CoA to ethanol at temperatures up to 95 °C
Authors: Wang Qiang , Sha Chong , Wang Hongcheng , Ma Kesen , Wiegle Juergen , Abomohra Abd El-Fatah , Shao Weilan
Published: January 2021

Hyperthermophilic Thermotoga spp. are excellent candidates for the biosynthesis of cellulosic ethanol producing strains because they can grow optimally at 80 °C with ability to degrade and utilize cellulosic biomass. In T. neapolitana (Tne), a putative iron-containing alcohol dehydrogenase was, for the first time, revealed to be a bifunctional aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase (Fe-AAdh) that catalyzed both reactions from acetyl-coenzyme A (ac-CoA) to acetaldehyde (ac-ald), and from ac-ald to ethanol, while the putative aldehyde dehydrogenase (Aldh) exhibited only CoA-independent activity that oxidizes ac-ald to acetic acid. The biochemical properties of Fe-AAdh were characterized, and bioinformatics were analyzed. Fe-AAdh exhibited the highest activities for the reductions of ac-CoA and acetaldehyde at 80–85 °C, pH 7.54, and had a 1-h half-life at about 92 °C. The Fe-AAdh gene is highly conserved in Thermotoga spp., Pyrococcus furiosus and Thermococcus kodakarensis, indicating the existence of a fermentation pathway from ac-CoA to ethanol via acetaldehyde as the intermediate in hyperthermophiles.
Association between serum sodium level within normal range and handgrip strength in relation to hypertension status: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Shimizu Yuji , Yamanashi Hirotomo , Fukui Shoichi , Kawashiri Shin-Ya , Nagata Yasuhiro , Maeda Takahiro
Published: January 2021

Serum sodium concentration within the normal range could act as an indicator of age-related changes such as decrease in muscle strength and impairment of capillary function. Since endothelial injury stimulates endothelial repair by enhancing CD34-positive cell production, the level of serum sodium may be inversely associated with that of circulating CD34-positive cells, thus indicating the degree of age-related endothelial injury. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 246 elderly Japanese men aged 60–69 years. Subjects were stratified by hypertension status because hypertension should act as a strong confounding factor for the analyses performed in this study. Serum sodium concentration was positively associated with handgrip strength in non-hypertensive subjects [standardized parameter estimate (β) = 0.29; p = 0.003], but not for hypertensive subjects (β = 0.01; p = 0.878), while it was inversely associated with circulating CD34-positive cell levels in non-hypertensive subjects [simple correlation coefficient (r) = − 0.28; p = 0.002] but not for hypertensive subjects (r = − 0.07; p = 0.454). For non-hypertensive elderly subjects, serum sodium concentration within the normal range is positively associated with handgrip strength and inversely associated with CD34-positive cells, thus partly indicating the degree of age-related endothelium injury. These associations could prove to be an efficient tool for clarifying the background mechanism governing the decrease in age-related muscle strength.
Towards a common template for neural reinforcement of finger individuation
Authors: Kilmarx Justin , Oblak Ethan , Sulzer James , Lewis-Peacock Jarrod
Published: January 2021

The inability to individuate finger movements is a common impairment following stroke. Conventional physical therapy ignores underlying neural changes with recovery, leaving it unclear why sensorimotor function often remains impaired. Functional MRI neurofeedback can monitor neural activity and reinforce it towards a healthy template to restore function. However, identifying an individualized training template may not be possible depending on the severity of impairment. In this study, we investigated the use of functional alignment of brain data across healthy participants to create an idealized neural template to be used as a training target for new participants. We employed multi-voxel pattern analyses to assess the prediction accuracy and robustness to missing data of pre-trained functional templates corresponding to individual finger presses. We found a significant improvement in classification accuracy (p < 0.001) of individual finger presses when group data was aligned based on function (88%) rather than anatomy (46%). Importantly, we found no significant drop in performance when aligning a new participant to a pre-established template as compared to including this new participant in the creation of a new template. These results indicate that functionally aligned templates could provide an effective surrogate training target for patients following neurological injury.
A pilot study on essential oil aroma stimulation for enhancing slow-wave EEG in sleeping brain
Authors: Ko Li-Wei , Su Cheng-Hua , Yang Meng-Hsun , Liu Shen-Yi , Su Tung-Ping
Published: January 2021

Sleep quality is important to health and life quality. Lack of sleep can lead to a variety of health issues and reduce in daytime function. Recent study by Fultz et al. also indicated that sleep is crucial to brain metabolism. Delta power in sleep EEG often indicates good sleep quality while alpha power usually indicates sleep interruptions and poor sleep quality. Essential oil has been speculated to improve sleep quality. Previous studies also suggest essential oil aroma may affect human brain activity when applied awake. However, those studies were often not blinded, which makes the effectiveness and mechanism of aroma a heavily debated topic. In this study, we aim to explore the effect of essential oil aroma on human sleep quality and sleep EEG in a single-blinded setup. The aroma was released when the participants are asleep, which kept the influence of psychological expectation to the minimum. We recruited nine young, healthy participants with regular lifestyle and no sleep problem. All participants reported better sleep quality and more daytime vigorous after exposing to lavender aroma in sleep. We also observed that upon lavender aroma releases, alpha wave in wake stage was reduced while delta wave in slow-wave sleep (SWS) was increased. Lastly, we found that lavender oil promote occurrence of SWS. Overall, our study results show that essential oil aroma can be used to promote both subjective and objective sleep quality in healthy human subjects. This makes aroma intervention a potential solution for poor sleep quality and insomnia.
On-chip silicon photonic controllable 2 × 2 four-mode waveguide switch
Authors: Truong Cao Dung , Nguyen Thi Hang Duy , Chandrahalim Hengky , Trinh Minh Tuan
Published: January 2021

Multimode optical switch is a key component of mode division multiplexing in modern high-speed optical signal processing. In this paper, we introduce for the first time a novel 2 × 2 multimode switch design and demonstrate in the proof-of-concept. The device composes of four Y-multijunctions and 2 × 2 multimode interference coupler using silicon-on-insulator material with four controllable phase shifters. The shifters operate using thermo-optic effects utilizing Ti heaters enabling simultaneous switching of the optical signal between the output ports on four quasi-transverse electric modes with the electric power consumption is in order of 22.5 mW and the switching time is 5.4 µs. The multimode switch exhibits a low insertion loss and a low crosstalk below − 3 dB and − 19 dB, respectively, in 50 nm bandwidth in the third telecom window from 1525 to 1575 nm. With a compact footprint of 10 µm × 960 µm, this device exhibits a relatively large width tolerance of ± 20 nm and a height tolerance of ± 10 nm. Furthermore, the conceptual principle of the proposed multimode switch can be reconfigurable and scalable in multifunctional on-chip mode-division multiplexing optical interconnects.
Generation of Trichoderma harzianum with pyr4 auxotrophic marker by using the CRISPR/Cas9 system
Authors: Vieira Amanda A. , Vianna Giovanni R. , Carrijo Jessica , Aragão Francisco J. L. , Vieira Pabline M.
Published: January 2021

Trichoderma harzianum is a filamentous fungus used as a biological control agent for agricultural pests. Genes of this microorganism have been studied, and their applications are patented for use in biofungicides and plant breeding strategies. Gene editing technologies would be of great importance for genetic characterization of this species, but have not yet been reported. This work describes mutants obtained with an auxotrophic marker in this species using the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/ Cas (CRISPR-associated) system. For this, sequences for a guide RNA and Cas9 overexpression were inserted via biolistics, and the sequencing approach confirmed deletions and insertions at the pyr4 gene. Phenotypic characterization demonstrated a reduction in the growth of mutants in the absence of uridine, as well as resistance to 5-fluorotic acid. In addition, the gene disruption did not reduce mycoparasitc activity against phytopathogens. Thus, target disruption of the pyr4 gene in T. harzianum using the CRISPR/Cas9 system was demonstrated, and it was also shown that endogenous expression of the system did not interfere with the biological control activity of pathogens. This work is the first report of CRISPR Cas9-based editing in this biocontrol species, and the mutants expressing Cas9 have potential for the generation of useful technologies in agricultural biotechnology.
Infrared and visible image fusion via octave Gaussian pyramid framework
Authors: Yan Lei , Hao Qun , Cao Jie , Saad Rizvi , Li Kun , Yan Zhengang , Wu Zhimin
Published: January 2021

Image fusion integrates information from multiple images (of the same scene) to generate a (more informative) composite image suitable for human and computer vision perception. The method based on multiscale decomposition is one of the commonly fusion methods. In this study, a new fusion framework based on the octave Gaussian pyramid principle is proposed. In comparison with conventional multiscale decomposition, the proposed octave Gaussian pyramid framework retrieves more information by decomposing an image into two scale spaces (octave and interval spaces). Different from traditional multiscale decomposition with one set of detail and base layers, the proposed method decomposes an image into multiple sets of detail and base layers, and it efficiently retains high- and low-frequency information from the original image. The qualitative and quantitative comparison with five existing methods (on publicly available image databases) demonstrate that the proposed method has better visual effects and scores the highest in objective evaluation.