bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mixture toxicity study of metal oxide nanoparticles and chlorpyrifos on earthworms at low concentrations: a short-term exposure approach
Authors: Cáceres-Wenzel Marcela I. , Bernassani Florencia N. , Fuchs Julio S. , Cortón Eduardo , Cochón Adriana C.
Published: July 2022

Co-exposure soil studies of pollutants are necessary for an appropriate ecological risk assessment. Here, we examined the effects of two-component mixtures of metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs, ZnO or goethite) with chlorpyrifos (CPF) under laboratory conditions in short-term artificial soil assays using Eisenia andrei earthworms. We evaluated effects on metal accumulation, oxidative stress enzymes, and neurotoxicity related biomarkers in single and combined toxicity assays. Exposure to ZnO NPs increased Zn levels compared to control in single and combined exposure (ZnO NPs + CPF) at 72 h and 7 days, respectively. In contrast, there was no indication of Fe increase in organisms exposed to goethite NPs. One of the most notable effects on oxidative stress biomarkers was produced by single exposure to goethite NPs. This shows that the worms were more sensitive to goethite NPs than to ZnO NPs, regardless of nano-structure. Statistically significant differences between single and combined exposure were found for catalase and superoxide dismutase (goethite NPs) and for glutathione S-transferase (ZnO NPs) activities, mostly at 72 h. Acetylcholinesterase and carboxylesterase activities indicated that ZnO NPs were not neurotoxic to earthworms and similar degrees of inhibition were observed after single CPF and ZnO NPs + CPF exposure. These findings suggest a necessity to evaluate mixtures of NPs with co-existing contaminants in soil, and that the nature of metal oxide NPs and exposure time are relevant factors to be considered when assessing combined toxicity, as it may have an impact on ecotoxicological risk assessment.
SVAD: Stacked Variational Autoencoder Deep Neural Network -Based Dimensionality Reduction and classification of Small Sample Size and High Dimensional Data
Authors: Srivast Neha , tayal Devendra
Published: July 2022

The classification problem is a major concern in the field of computational biology, especially when there are many fewer samples than features. This is referred regarded as a "curse of dimensionality" problem caused by high-dimensional sample size problems. Many strategies for dimensionality reduction have been presented, however, they all have drawbacks when it comes to high-dimensional and small sample size (HDSSS) databases, such as large variance gradients and over-fitting issues. To address these issues, we suggested a variational autoencoder based deep neural network architecture that is dynamic and based on a mathematical foundation for unsupervised learning. The objective of this research is to propose a low-error classification algorithm for limited sample numbers and high-dimensional datasets. The study's innovation is that it guarantees the permissible dimension size regardless of reduction, in contrast to several previous approaches that typically reduce the dimension too heavily. The experimental findings reveal that the suggested method outperforms existing traditional methods such as RNN, CNN, and deep network architecture.
Impaired pulmonary function and associated factors in the elderly with tuberculosis on admission
Authors: He Meiyan , Yang Xiaoming , Zhang Zunjing , Liu Zhongda
Published: July 2022

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) can impair pulmonary function (PF), especially in the elderly. However, little is known regarding which risk factors contribute to impaired PF among the elderly with pulmonary TB.Methods: From January 2019 to February 2022, the elderly who were admitted to our hospital for pulmonary TB and underwent PF testing were included in this analysis. The forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and clinical characteristics were collected and analyzed retrospectively. The extent of impaired PF was then categorized based on the FEV1 and classified as grade 1–5. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for impaired PF.Results: A total of 249 patients who met the enrollment criteria were included in this analysis. According to the results of FEV1%, all patients were classified as grade 1 (n=37), grade 2 (n=46), grade 3 (n=55), grade 4 (n=56), or grade 5 (n=55). Statistical analysis showed that albumin (OR=0.928, P=0.013), body mass index (BMI)<18.5 kg/m2 (OR=4.968, P=0.046), lesion number≥3 (OR=4.229, P<0.001), male (OR=2.252, P=0.009), respiratory disease (OR=1.669, P=0.046), and cardiovascular disease (OR=2.489, P=0.027) were related to airway obstruction.Conclusions: A decline in PF is common in the elderly with pulmonary TB. The male sex, BMI<18.5 kg/m2, lesion number≥3, hypoproteinemia, and respiratory and cardiovascular comorbidities were identified as risk factors for a significant decline in PF. Our findings may be helpful to improve the current management of pulmonary TB in the elderly to save their lung function.
Low impact of regular PCR testing on presence at work site during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences during an open observational study in Lower Saxony 2020-21
Authors: Seiler Lisa K. , Stolpe Susanne , Stanislawski Nils , Stahl Frank , Witt Martin , Jonczyk Rebecca , Heiden Stefanie , Blume Holger , Kowall Bernd , Blume Cornelia
Published: July 2022

Since social distancing during the COVID-19-pandemic had a profound impact on professional life, this study investigated the effect of PCR testing on on-site work. PCR screening, antibody testing, and questionnaires offered to 4,890 working adults in Lower Saxony were accompanied by data collection on demographics, family status, comorbidities, psychosocial situation, health-related behavior, and the number of work-related contacts. Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals were estimated for the associations between regular PCR testing and other work and health-related variables, respectively, and working on-site. Analyses were stratified by the suitability of work tasks for mobile office. Between April 2020 and February 2021, 1,643 employees underwent PCR testing. Whether mobile working was possible strongly influenced the work behavior. Persons whose work was suitable for mobile office (mobile workers) had a lower probability of working on-site than persons whose work was not suitable for mobile office (RR = 0.09 (95%CI: 0.07–0.12)). In mobile workers, regular PCR-testing was slightly associated with working on-site (RR = 1.19 (0.66; 2.14)). In those whose working place was unsuitable for mobile office, the corresponding RR was 0.94 (0.80; 1.09). Compared to persons without chronic diseases, chronically ill persons worked less often on-site if their workplace was suitable for mobile office (RR = 0.73 (0.40; 1.33)), but even more often if their workplace was not suitable for mobile office (RR = 1.17 (1.04; 1.33)). If work was suitable for mobile office, regular PCR testing did not have a strong effect on presence at the work site. Trial registration: An ethics vote of the responsible medical association (Lower Saxony, Germany) retrospectively approved the evaluation of the collected subject data in a pseudonymized form in the context of medical studies (No. Bo/30/2020; Bo/31/2020; Bo/32/2020).
Frailty Nurse and GP-led models of care in Care Homes: The role of contextual factors impacting Enhanced Health in Care Homes framework implementation
Authors: (Zeb) Zeibeda Sattar , Young-Murphy Lesley , Craig Lynn , Steven Alison , Wilson-Menzfeld Gemma
Published: July 2022

Background
The Enhanced Health for Care homes (EHCH) framework is an innovative response to provide more proactive, preventative approaches to care for residents living in care homes. It involves co-producing a shared vision with primary care. As part of EHCH a UK clinical commissioning group supported GP's in two localities to implement their preferred delivery approach involving a new Frailty Nurse-led (FN-led) model in care homes alongside an existing General Practitioner-led (GP-led) model. This paper focuses on implementation of the new FN-led model.
Methods
A qualitative study design was adopted. Forty-eight qualitative semi-structured interviews were undertaken across six care home sites in a Northern locality: three implementing the FN-led and three engaged in an existing GP-led model. Participants included residents, family members, care home managers, care staff, and health professionals working within the EHCH framework.
Results
Two overarching themes were generated from data analysis: Unanticipated implementation issues and Unintended outcomes. Unsuccessful attempts to recruit Frailty Nurses (FN) with enhanced clinical skills working at the desired level (UK NHS Band 7) led to an unanticipated evolution in the implementation process of the FN-led model towards ‘training posts’. This prompted misaligned role expectations subsequently provoking unexpected temporary outcomes regarding role-based trust. The existing, well understood nature of the GP-led model may have further exacerbated these unintended outcomes.
Conclusion
Within the broader remit of embedding EHCH frameworks, the implementation of new FN roles needed to evolve due to unforeseen recruitment issues. Wider contextual factors are not in the control of those developing new initiatives and cannot always be foreseen, highlighting how wider factors can force evolution of planned implementation processes with unintended outcomes. However, the unintended outcomes in this study highlight the need for careful consideration of information dissemination (content and timing) to key stakeholders, and the influence of existing ways of working.
Cx43 acts as a mitochondrial calcium regulator that promotes obesity by inducing macrophages polarization
Authors: Zhou Qing , Wang Yuyan , Lu Zongshi , He Chengkang , Li Li , You Mei , Wang Lijuan , Cao Tingbing , Zhao Yu , Li Qiang , Mou Aidi , Shu Wentao , He Hongbo , Zhao Zhigang , Liu Daoyan , Zhu Zhiming , Gao Peng , Yan Zhencheng
Published: July 2022

Background/Objectives:
Metabolic reprogramming initiates pro-inflammatory macrophages polarization that exacerbates adipocyte dysfunction and subsequent obesity. We hypothesize that connexin 43 (Cx43), a widely-expressed gap junction protein, might affect obesity by regulating mitochondrial calcium that participate in macrophage polarization.
Subjects/Methods:
Macrophage specific knockout of Cx43 and their wild-type littermates were fed with high fat diet (HFD) for 16 weeks. The body weight, glucose homeostasis, and inflammation were evaluated. RAW264.7, the murine-derived cell line, were used and treated with palmitic acid (PA) to mimic the obesity environment.
Results:
HFD treatment induced obesity and exacerbated macrophages infiltration with upregulation of macrophages Cx43. Macrophage-specific knockout of Cx43 reduced HFD-induced obesity by alleviating inflammation in adipose tissue, with less M1 pro-inflammatory macrophage polarization. In consistence, inhibition or knockdown of Cx43improved the impaired oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), reduced mitochondria-associated membranes (MAM) and mitochondrial Ca2+ overload in response to PA. Mechanistically, we confirmed an interaction between Cx43 and the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU), and knockdown of Cx43 alleviated PA-induced succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) oxidation by lowering MCU-mediated mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake.
Conclusions:
Cx43 as a mitochondrial Ca2+ regulator that aggravates obesity via promoting macrophages polarized to M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype and suggests that Cx43 might be a promising therapeutic target antagonizing obesity.
“Not just the consequences, but also the pleasurable sex”: a review of the content of comprehensive sexuality education for early adolescents in Rwanda
Authors: Mbarushimana Valens , Goldstein Susan , Conco Daphney Nozizwe
Published: July 2022

Background: Responding to adolescents' educational needs in sexual and reproductive health and rights is central to their sexual health. In 2016, Rwanda introduced the Competence-based curriculum (CBC) that integrated comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). However, globally, the content of CSE is sometimes dissimilar, and little evidence surrounds its scope in many settings. This study aimed to assess major topic areas of the school-based CSE for early adolescents, analyse how this CSE correlates with international guidelines, and make recommendations accordingly.Methods: We reviewed the CBC and conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants concerned with sexuality education to map sexuality education contents and related CSE competences for pre-primary, primary and lower secondary levels. We selected eleven of the 23 CBC documents for the final review. We manually extracted data using a standard form in Microsoft Excel. We conducted a descriptive analysis (frequency tables and charts) of review data and thematically analysed interviews in NVivo 11 for Windows using the International Technical Guidance of Sexuality Education (ITGSE).Findings: Overall, we found 58 CSE competences from the CBC. CSE competences increased with school grades: 4/58 (6.9%) in pre-school, 5/58 (8.6%) in lower-primary, 17/58 (29.3%) in upper-primary, and 32/58 (55.2%) in lower-secondary levels. Subjects of Kinyarwanda (13/58, 22.4%), Biology (10/58, 17.2%), and Social studies (9/58, 15.5%) abounded in CSE. Four ITGSE key concepts abounded most in CSE competences: Sexual and reproductive health (13/58, 22.4%); Human body and development (11/58, 19%); Values, rights, and sexuality (9/58, 15.5%); and Understanding gender (8/58, 13.8%). The CBC CSE covered least the area of Violence and staying safe (2/58, 3.4%). Six of 27 ITGSE topics had only one CSE competence, and eight ITGSE topics were not represented in the CBC. Recommended additional contents are sexual pleasure, sexual orientation, sexual desire and modern contraceptive methods such as condoms.Conclusion: CSE for early adolescents is delivered mainly in three subjects and aligns, to some extent, with the international guidelines for sexuality education. CSE intensifies with school grades and emphasises more on some topics than others that are equally important. The study recommends additional topics for CSE for this age group.
Multimodal 3D mouse brain atlas framework with skull-derived coordinate system
Authors: Perens Johanna , Salinas Casper Gravesen , Roostalu Urmas , Skytte Jacob Lercke , Gundlach Carsten , Hecksher-Sørensen Jacob , Dahl Anders Bjorholm , Dyrby Tim B.
Published: July 2022

Magnetic resonance imaging and light-sheet microscopy enable non-disruptive 3-dimensional imaging of mouse brains. A combination of complementary information from these modalities is essential for studying disease progression, developing effective therapies, and translating findings into clinical procedures. Although both technologies rely on atlas mapping for quantitative analysis, integration of data from these modalities has been challenging due to morphological differences between brain samples. In this study, we have developed a multimodal atlas framework that includes brain templates based on both imaging modalities, region delineations from the Allen’s Common Coordinate Framework, and a skull-derived stereotaxic coordinate system. The coordinate system allows users to precisely translate spatial positions from ex vivo modalities to locations in a living mouse brain. Consequently, the atlas resource, which is accessible via NeuroPedia, will allow the combination of results obtained from in vivo and ex vivo mouse brain measurements and accurate navigation in the brain during stereotaxic interventions.
Fecal microbiota from MRL/Lpr mice exacerbates pristane induced lupus
Authors: Yi Xiaoqing , Huang Cancan , Huang Chuyi , Zhao Ming , Lu Qianjin
Published: July 2022

Background: The roles of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of SLE have been receiving much attention during recent years. However, it still remains unknown how fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and microbial metabolites affect the immune responses and lupus progression. Methods: We transferred the fecal microbiota from MRL/Lpr mice and MRL/Mpj mice or PBS to the pristane-induced lupus mice and observed the disease development of the pristane-induced lupus mice. We also screened the gut microbiota and metabolite spectrums of the pristane-induced lupus mice with FMT via 16S rRNA sequencing, metagenomic sequencing and metabolomics, respectively, followed by the correlation analysis.Results: FMT from MRL/Lpr mice could promote the pathogenesis of the pristane induced lupus mice, which also affected the immune cell profiles in the intestine exclusively the plasma cells. The structures and compositions of microbial communities in gut of the FMT-Lpr mice were different from those of the FMT-Mpj mice and FMT-PBS mice. Some specific microbes such as prevotella taxa were predominantly enriched in the gut microbiome of the FMT-Lpr mice, which were positively associated with the functional pathways such as cyanoamino acid metabolism. Differential metabolites such as valine and L-isoleucine were identified with varied abundance among three groups. The abundance alteration of the prevotella taxa may affect the phenotypic changes such as the proteinuria levels in the pristane-induced lupus mice.Conclusion: These findings further confirmed that gut microbiota play an important role in the pathogenesis of lupus. The intervention of gut microbiome may provide a novel way to treat lupus.
GDReBase: A Comprehensive, Indexed andUpdated Knowledge Base for Relations betweenHuman Gut Microbes and Diseases
Authors: Xu Haolei , Li Xin , Zheng Chenghao , Liu Kaihua , Liu Sitong , Zeng Yufei , Song Ziyang , Cui Shanzhu , Xu Yongdong
Published: July 2022

Background: Gut microbes play a prominent role in many aspects of human health, as seen through the increasing number of related studies. The accumulation of intestinal flora-related studies enables us to better understand the various relationships between human gut microbes and other factors that affect the human body. However, the existing database does not meet the requirements of browsing or retrieving the latest and most comprehensive published data for scientists. Thus, a knowledge base containing the data related to gut microbes and updates occurring in real-time is in great demand.Results: We present a knowledge base of consistently curated relationships between human gut microbes and disease, phenotype, external influence, etc. By continuously and automatically collecting papers published in mainstream journals and using deep learning and NLP methods for entity relationship identification, GDReBase has now integrated data from 86,848 papers, a figure that will continue to grow.Conclusion: GDReBase is a convenient and comprehensive resource for gut microbiology research and can be accessed free of charge at http://122.112.175.241.
TTC39C may be a new target for the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Rong Hao , Jun Peng , Ma Ke , Zhu Jiang , He Jin-Tao
Published: July 2022

Background: The tetratricopeptide repeat domain 39C ( TTC39C ) gene is a novel TTC genes, which mainly mediates the interaction between proteins. It has been shown to be involved in the progression of a variety of tumors. Here we aimed to identify the effect of TTC39C on lung adenocarcinoma, which can be used as potential intervention targets.Methods: Take samples from TCGA database for difference analysis of TTC39C. Transwell experiment was used to detect the ability of cell metastasis. Celigo and MTT assay detected the effect of TTC39C gene subtraction on cell proliferation. FACS was used to detect the effect of TTC39C gene subtraction on apoptosis. Clonal formation experiment was used to detect the effect of TTC39C gene subtraction on clonal ability. Transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics were used to study the possible enrichment pathway of TTC39C gene in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma.Results: TTC39C expression was significantly increased in lung adenocarcinoma. the proliferation, metastasis and cloning ability of human lung cancer cells were inhibited, while the apoptosis of cells increased significantly after TTC39C depletion. It is concluded that TTC39C may be involved in the progression of LUAD mainly through metabolic pathway and p53 pathway through transcriptomics combined with proteomics and metabolomics.Conclusion: In summary, TTC39C plays an important role in regulating the proliferation and metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma cells. The main pathways involved in TTC39C in lung adenocarcinoma mainly include energy metabolism and p53 pathway.
Potent and Selective Covalent Inhibition of the Papain-like Protease from SARS-CoV-2
Authors: Sanders Brian , Pokhrel Suman , Labbe Audrey , Mathews Irimpan , Cooper Connor , Davidson Russell , Phillips Gwyndalyn , Weiss Kevin , Zhang Qiu , O'Neill Hugh , Kaur Manat , Ferrins Lori , Schmidt Jurgen , Reichard Walter , Surendranathan Surekha , Parvathareddy Jyothi , Phillips Lexi , Rainville Christopher , Sterner David , Kumaran Desigan , Andi Babak , Babnigg Gyorgy , Moriarty Nigel , Adams Paul , Joachimiak Andrzej , Hurst Brett , Kumar Suresh , Butt Tauseef , Jonsson Colleen , Wakatsuki Soichi , Galanie Stephanie , Head Martha , Parks Jerry
Published: July 2022

Direct-acting antivirals are needed to combat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The papain-like protease (PLpro) domain of Nsp3 from SARS-CoV-2 is essential for viral replication. In addition, PLpro dysregulates the host immune response by cleaving ubiquitin and interferon-stimulated gene 15 protein (ISG15) from host proteins. As a result, PLpro is a promising target for inhibition by small-molecule therapeutics. Here we have designed a series of covalent inhibitors by introducing a peptidomimetic linker and reactive electrophile onto analogs of the noncovalent PLpro inhibitor GRL0617. The most potent compound inhibited PLpro with kinact/KI = 10,000 M− 1 s− 1, achieved sub-µM EC50 values against three SARS-CoV-2 variants in mammalian cell lines, and did not inhibit a panel of human deubiquitinases at > 30 µM concentrations of inhibitor. An X-ray co-crystal structure of the compound bound to PLpro validated our design strategy and established the molecular basis for covalent inhibition and selectivity against structurally similar human DUBs. These findings present an opportunity for further development of covalent PLpro inhibitors.
Gait stability characteristics in able-bodied individuals during self-paced inclined treadmill walking
Authors: Lu Chenmiao , Al-Juaid Rawan , Al-Amri Mohammad
Published: July 2022

Gait on inclined surfaces requires active neuromuscular control to maintain stability. This study investigated the effects of self-paced incline treadmill walking on gait stability characteristics and the activation of key lower limb muscles. Twenty-seven healthy subjects (mean age: 25.02 ± 2.06 years) walked at their preferred walking speed on an augmented instrumented treadmill for three minutes at three inclination angles (-8°,0°, and 8°). Changes in gait characteristics (i.e., stability, walking speed, spatial-temporal, kinematic, and muscle forces) across inclination angles were assessed using repeated measures ANOVA and Freidman tests. Results showed that inclined treadmill walking had a significant impact on overall gait characteristics, reflecting changes in gait parameters and muscle activations with respect to the inclination of the treadmill. Stability and walking speed had reduced significantly during uphill walking, suggesting that it was the most challenging walking condition. During uphill walking, there was a significant increase in the peak activation of hamstrings, gastrocnemius, vastus intermedius, and vastus lateralis muscles. In contrast, the peak activation of the antagonist muscle groups including the quadriceps, tibialis anterior, and tibialis posterior muscles significantly increased during downhill walking. Our findings demonstrate that able-bodied individuals adopted walking patterns during inclined treadmill walking to maintain a comfortable and safe walking performance. Future studies should consider inclined treadmill walking as a functional assessment tool or as a rehabilitation intervention to improve gait stability by targeting muscle training.
Serum sulfonylurea receptor-1 is correlation to perihematomal edema after intracerebral hemorrhage and as a biomarker of clinical prognosis in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage
Authors: Huang Mingsheng , Ma Ping , Liu Yiheng , Peng Jie , Ma Mincai , Zhang Xiang , Cheng Yuan
Published: July 2022

Background
Sulfonylurea receptor-1(Sur1) and transient receptor potential melastatin 4(Trpm4) are implicated in acute brain injury. We determine whether serum Sur1 and Trpm4 concentrations are associated with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH) related perihematomal edema(PHE) and clinical outcome after ICH.
Methods
Serum Sur1 and Trpm4 concentrations were measured in 51 healthy controls and 51 patients with ICH. modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score and non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) were recorded to assess perihematomal edema (PHE) severity. Modified Rankin Scale(mRS) score of 4–6 at 3 months after ICH was defined as an unfavorable outcome.
Results
Serum Sur1 and Trpm4 concentrations were substantially higher in patients with ICH than in controls. Peak PHE volume was positively correlated with baseline Sur1(r = 0.302, p = 0.031) and more significant related to peak Sur1(0.346, 0.013). Under receiver operating characteristic curve, peak Sur1 levels remained as an independent predictor of poor outcome (OR1.574, 95% CI, 1.144 to 2.165).
Conclusions
Elevated serum Sur1 levels are related to PHE severity and are independently associated with poor prognosis after ICH, indicating that serum Sur1 may have the potential to be a prognostic biomarker of ICH.
Oligomer-Nanoparticle Release from PLA Bioplastics Catalyzed by Gut Enzymes and Its Acute Inflammatory Effect
Authors: Wang Mengjing , Li Qianqian , Xu Youdong , Yang Junjie , Chua Shae Linn , Jia Linran , Lv Jia , Chen Huaiwen , Huang Changjin , Huang Yichao , Chen Jianmin , Fang Mingliang
Published: July 2022

Although the risks of microplastics in environmental exposure and human health are being increasingly studied, little is known about the behavior of “eco-friendly” bioplastics in humans, especially their effects on our gastrointestinal tract. Here we demonstrate that enzymatic hydrolysis of bio-based polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics rapidly generates an excess of nanoplastic particles by competing for triglyceride-degrading lipase during gastrointestinal processes. These tiny nanoparticles are oligomers formed by hydrophobic-driven self-aggregation, and upon exposure the oligomers and their associated nanoparticles can bioaccumulate in in vitro and several in vivo organs, including the liver, intestine, and even in the brain. Severe intestinal damage and inflammation are also observed, the toxic effect of which is mostly pronounced from hydrolyzed oligomer products. Furthermore, the oligomers’ potential protein target screening using large scale pharmacophore model reveals that oligomers can interact with matrix metallopeptidase 12 protein (MMP12), which is further validated using protein binding assay. A close mechanistic study reveals high binding affinity of oligomers to the catalytic zinc ion finger domain, leading to MMP12 inactivation and mediating the adverse bowel inflammatory effect following PLA oligomer exposure. Since biodegradable plastics are highly proposed as one solution for the global plastic problem, understanding the gastrointestinal fate and toxicity of bioplastics, will provide ground-breaking data on bioplastics as a substantial risk to human health.
Effect of the pulse width of discharging current on deformation behavior of short tube in electromagnetic expansion
Authors: Zhang Xiao , Ouyang Shaowei , Li Xiaoxiang , Du Limeng , Li Liang , Xue Yuan , Deng Fangxiong
Published: July 2022

In order to meet the requirement of manufacturing of tubular parts in variant applications, the study of deformation behavior of tube in electromagnetic expansion has remarkable necessity. Especially, in the electromagnetic expansion of short tube (the tube length shorter than the coil length), the deformation behavior is more complex than the existing studies of electromagnetic expansion of long tubes. In this paper, the effect of different discharging current pulse width on deformation behavior of AA6061 aluminum short tube has been studied and discussed, according to the waveforms of radial Lorentz force, velocity and displacement. Results showed that when the discharging current has short pulse width, the deformed tube has concave profile, while when the discharging current has long pulse width, the displacement of tube middle gradually exceeds that of tube end during the forming process, which means that the deformed tube changes to convex profile.
The association between lumbar cage migration and subsidence on osteogenesis following transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: A DICOM-based software data analysis
Authors: Rickert Marcus , Wehner Diana , Rahim Tamim , Hölper Bernd , Eichler Michael , Makowski Marcus , Rauschmann Michael , Brenneis Marco
Published: July 2022

Pseudarthrosis following transforaminal interbody fusion (TLIF) is not infrequent. Although cage migration and subsidence are commonly regarded as evidence of the absence of solid fusion, there is still no evidence of the influence of cage migration and subsidence on fusion.
This study aimed to evaluate cage migration and subsidence using computed tomography (CT) DICOM data following lumbar interbody fusion. The effects of cage migration and subsidence on fusion and clinical outcomes were also assessed.
A postoperative CT data set of 67 patients treated with monosegmental TLIF was analyzed in terms of cage position. To assess the effects of cage migration and subsidence on fusion, 12-month postoperative CT scans were used to assess fusion status. Clinical evaluation included the Oswestry Disability Index, and the visual analog scale for pain.
Postoperative cage migration occurred in 85.1% of all patients, and cage subsidence was observed in 58.2%. Radiological signs of pseudarthrosis was observed in 7.5% of the patients Neither cage migration nor subsidence affected the clinical or radiographic outcomes. No correlation was found between clinical and radiographic outcomes.
The incidence of cage migration was considerable. However, as cage migration and subsidence were not associated with bony fusion, their clinical significance was considered limited.
An Effective LSSVM-Based Approach for Milling Tool Wear Prediction
Authors: Ge Yingshang , Zhang Jianhua , Song Guohao , Zhu Kangyi
Published: July 2022

In order to realize real-time and precise monitoring of the tool wear in the milling process, this paper presents a tool wear predictive model based on the Stacked Multilayer Denoising AutoEncoders (SMDAE) technique, the particle swarm optimization with an adaptive learning strategy (PSO-ALS) and the Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LSSVM). Cutting force and vibration information are adopted as the monitoring signals. The unique feature extraction and fusion method consists of three steps: multi-domain features extraction, dimension-reduction by principal component analysis (PCA) and dimension-increment by SMDAE. As a novel feature representation learning approach, the SMDAE technique is utilized to fuse the PCA-based fusion features to enrich the effective information by realizing dimension-increment, thus helping polish up the predictive performance of the proposed model. PSO-ALS is used to obtain the optimal parameters for LSSVM, simplifying the problem and increasing the population diversity. Twelve sets of cutting experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. The experimental results show that the presented model is superior to models such as PSO-LSSVM in predictive performance, and the SMDAE technique effectively improves the prediction accuracy of the constructed model. The findings of this paper provide theoretical guidance for monitoring milling tool wear in real industrial situations.
Carleman linearization approach for chemical kinetics integration toward quantum computation
Authors: Akiba Takaki , Morii Youhi , Maruta Kaoru
Published: July 2022

The Harrow, Hassidim, Lloyd (HHL) algorithm is a quantum algorithm expected to accelerate solving large-scale linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). To apply the HHL to non-linear problems such as chemical reactions, the system must be linearized. In this study, Carleman linearization was utilized to transform nonlinear first-order ODEs of chemical reactions into linear ODEs. Although this linearization theoretically requires the generation of an infinite matrix, the original nonlinear equations can be reconstructed. For the practical use, the linearized system should be truncated with finite size and analysis precision can be determined by the extent of the truncation. Matrix should be sufficiently large so that the precision is satisfied because quantum computers can treat. Our method was applied to a one-variable nonlinear system to investigate the effect of truncation orders in Carleman linearization and time step size on the absolute error. Subsequently, two zero-dimensional homogeneous ignition problems for H2–air and CH4–air gas mixtures were solved. The results revealed that the proposed method could accurately reproduce reference data. Furthermore, an increase in the truncation order in Carleman linearization improved accuracy even with a large time-step size. Thus, our approach can provide accurate numerical simulations rapidly for complex combustion systems.
Have The Cake And Eat It Too: Differential Privacy Enables Privacy And Precise Analytics
Authors: Subramanian Rishabh
Published: July 2022

Existing research in differential privacy, whose applications have exploded across functional areas in the last few years, describes an intrinsic trade-off between the privacy of a dataset and its utility for analytics. Resolving this trade-off critically impacts potential applications of differential privacy to protect privacy in datasets even while enabling analytics using them. In contrast to the existing literature, this paper shows how differential privacy can be employed to precisely—not approximately—retrieve the analytics on the original dataset.We examine, conceptually and empirically, the impact of noise addition on the quality of data analytics. We show that the accuracy of analytics following noise addition increases with the privacy budget and the variance of the independent variable. Also, the accuracy of analytics following noise addition increases disproportionately with an increase in the privacy budget when the variance of the independent variable is greater. Using actual data to which we add Laplace noise, we provide evidence supporting these two predictions. We then demonstrate our central thesis that, once the privacy budget employed for differential privacy is declared and certain conditions for noise addition are satisfied, the slope parameters in the original dataset can be accurately retrieved using the estimates in the modified dataset of the variance of the independent variable and the slope parameter. Thus, differential privacy can enable robust privacy as well as precise data analytics.
Disparities and Determinants of Food Insecurity for New Mexico’s Unique Populations
Authors: Gutierrez Katherine M
Published: July 2022

New Mexico, a majority-minority state, had the second-highest poverty rate in the US (19.5%) and highest rate of food insecurity (16.8%) in 2019. Its unique history means that nearly half of Hispanics in the state are from families that can trace their ancestral arrival back to the late 1500s, an understudied subgroup called Hispaños (old New Mexican families). I use the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement for the state of New Mexico from 2000-2018 to look at food insecurity by Hispanic origin and nativity attempting to isolate Hispaño households from other Hispanic origin households. Using linear probability models, results show that foreign- and native-born Hispanics were more likely to experience food insecurity than non-Hispanic New Mexicans of any nativity. Within those groups, and Hispaños are less likely than their Mexican-origin peers to be food insecure. These results emphasize the importance of data disaggregation, and the results show promising results for further investigation into the outcomes of Hispanics with long-standing ties to an area versus those who are more recent arrivals.
Analysis of Applications of the Rice Blast Disease-Resistance Pita-R Gene and Development of Pita-R-dCAPS Marker for Efficient Marker-Assisted Selection
Authors: He Niqing , Huang Fenghuang , Yu Mingxiang , Zhu Yebao , Li Qingshun Q. , Yang Dewei
Published: July 2022

Rice blast is a detrimental rice disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Here, we identified a resistance gene from the rice cultivar Fuhui 2663 which is resistant to the rice blast isolate KJ201. Through isolated population analyses and sequencing approaches, the candidate gene was traced to chromosome 12. With the use of a map-based cloning strategy, the resistance gene was ultimately mapped to an 80-kb resistance locus region containing the Pita gene. Candidate gene prediction and cDNA sequencing indicated that the target resistance gene in Fuhui 2663 was allelic to Pita, thus being referred to as Pita-R hereafter. Further analysis showed that the Pita-R protein had one amino acid change: Ala (A) residue 918 in Pita-R was replaced by Ser (S) in Pita-S, leading to a significant change in the 3D structure of the Pita-S protein. CRISPR/Cas9 knockout experiments confirmed that Pita-R is responsible for the resistance phenotype of Fuhui 2663. Importantly, Pita-R did not affect the main agronomic traits of the variety compared to the Pita gene as verified by knockout experiments, indicative of potential applications of Pita-R in broader breeding programs. Furthermore, a Pita-R-dCAPS molecular marker with good specificity and high efficiency was developed to facilitate rice breeding for resistance to this devastating disease.
Evaluation of edge computing platforms through TinyML workloads
Authors: Morales-García Juan , Bueno-Crespo Andrés , Martínez-España Raquel , Posadas Juan-Luis , Manzoni Pietro , Cecilia José M.
Published: July 2022

The Internet of Things (IoT) enables the next economic revolution in which data and immediacy are the key players. Edge computing is a compelling alternative for enabling computing capabilities at the network's edge. These computing capabilities could help transform the generated data into useful information by executing machine learning (ML) workloads. TinyML is emerging as a fast-growing ML ecosystem field aiming to perform workloads on typically battery-operated devices, providing sensor data analytics at extremely low power (mW). In this work, we evaluate a wide range of TinyML and edge computing platforms to assess the computational/energy trade-off of these platforms. In this work, we analyse the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense microcontroller and three different edge computing devices, namely the CPU-based Raspberry Pi 4 and the CPU-GPU Nvidia Jetson platforms Nano and AGX Xavier. We run two lightweight artificial neural networks (ANN) to forecast the internal temperature of an operational greenhouse. Our results show that the microcontroller-based devices can offer a competitive and energy-efficient computational alternative to more traditional edge computing approaches for lightweight ML workloads.
Tiliroside suppresses Triple-negative breast cancer as a multifunctional CAXII inhibitor
Authors: Han Rui , Yang Hongxing , Ling Changquan , Lu Lingeng
Published: July 2022

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer characterized by poor prognosis, early recurrence, and the lack of durable chemotherapy responses and specific targeted treatments. In this preclinical study, we examines Tiliroside (TS, C30H26O13), as one of the major compounds of Tribulus terrestris L. which has been used as alternative therapy in clinic practice of breast cancer treatment, for its therapeutic use in TNBC. The association between CAXII expression level and survival probability of TNBC patients, and the difference of CAXII expression level between TNBC and normal samples were evaluated by using public databases. To determine the anticancer efficacy of TS on TNBC cells, cell proliferation, wound healing, cell invasion, and 3D spheroid formation assays were performed and excellent anticancer activities of TS were displayed. Mouse models further demonstrate that TS significantly reduces the tumor burden and improves survival rate. The properties of TS as a novel CAXII inhibitor have also been evaluated by CAXII activity assay, pHi, pHe and lactate level assay. Further RT-PCR and Caspase-3 activity analyses also revealed the positive regulating effects of TS on E2F1,3/Caspase-3 axis in TNBC cells cultured in 2D or 3D systems. The findings indicate that TS suppresses TNBC progression as a potential novel CAXII inhibitor in preclinical experiments, which warrants further investigation on its therapeutic implications.
Corneal higher order aberrations by Sirius topography and their relation to different refractive errors
Authors: Salman Abdelrahman , Kailani Obeda , Ghabra Marwan , Omran Rana , Darwish Taym R , Shaaban Rafea , Ibrahim Hussein , Alhaji Hala , Khalil Hussam
Published: July 2022

Purpose: to compare the root mean square (RMS) of anterior corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) in patients with refractive errors.Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted at Department of Ophthalmology, Tishreen University Hospital, Latakia, Syria. The eyes were divided into four groups based on refractive error: mild-to-moderate myopia, hypermetropia, myopic astigmatism, and emmetropic eyes as controls. The following anterior corneal HOAs were evaluated using the Scheimpflug-Placido Sirius (CSO, Italy) topographer over 6 mm pupil: Root mean square (RMS) total corneal HOAs, RMS trefoil, RMS coma and RMS spherical aberrations. Results: RMS values of total HOAs, trefoil and coma showed a statistically significant difference in all four groups (P < 0.05, all). They were lowest in the control group (0.18± 0.09, 011± 0.08 and 0.09± 0.08 μm, respectively) and highest in the myopic astigmatism group (0.31± 0.16, 0.15± 0.12, 0.17± 0.14 μm, respectively). RMS spherical aberration was lowest in the astigmatism group (0.00± 0.16 μm) with a statistically significant difference from that in the control groups (0.05± 0.07 μm, P = 0.049).Conclusion: The mean RMS values of total HOAs, trefoil and coma were highest in the astigmatism group and lowest in the control group. However, spherical aberration was minimal in the astigmatism group.
Physics-Informed Reinforcement Learning for Motion Control of a Fish-like Swimming Robot
Authors: Rodwell Colin , Tallapragada Phanindra
Published: July 2022

Motion control of fish-like swimming robots presents many challenges due to the unstructured environment and un-modelled governing physics of the fluid-robot interaction. Commonly used low-fidelity control models using simplified formulas for drag and lift force do not capture key physics that can play an important role in the dynamics of small-sized robots with limited actuation. Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) holds considerable promise for motion control of robots with complex dynamics. Reinforcement learning methods require large amounts of data exploring a large subset of the relevant state space, which can be expensive, time consuming or unsafe to obtain. Data from simulations can be used in the initial stages of DRL, but in the case of swimming robots, large numbers of simulations are also infeasible from a time and computational resources perspective. Surrogate models that capture the primary physics of the system can be a useful starting point for training a DRL agent which is subsequently transferred to train with a higher fidelity simulation. We demonstrate the utility of such physics-informed reinforcement learning to train a policy that can enable velocity and path tracking for a planar swimming (fish-like) rigid Joukowski hydrofoil. This is done through a curriculum where the DRL agent is first trained to track limit cycles in a velocity space for a representative nonholonomic system and then transferred to to train on a small simulation data set of the swimmer. The results show the utility of physics-informed reinforcement learning for the control of fish-like swimming robots.
Phase I study: safety and efficacy of ex vivo-expanded allogeneic natural killer cells (MG4101) with rituximab for relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Authors: Kim Won Seog , Yoon Dok Hyun , Koh Youngil , Jung Miyoung , Kwak Jeong-Eun , Shin Eui-Cheol , Hwang Yu K.
Published: July 2022

MG4101, an ex vivo-expanded allogeneic natural killer cell, can enhance rituximab antibody-dependent cytotoxicity in relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (r/rNHL). Its safety and efficacy were assessed in this phase I trial. Patients received escalating doses of intravenous MG4101 every 2 weeks plus rituximab. Interleukin-2 was administered subcutaneously after MG4101 treatment. Fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide was administered intravenously before rituximab in cycles 1, 3, and 5. A 3 + 3 design was used to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and maximum feasible dose (MFD). Assessments were performed over a six-cycle period, with an extended maintenance period of up to eight cycles. Nine patients received three different doses of MG4101 and rituximab. MTD could not be determined because of the absence of dose-limiting toxicity. Treatment-related adverse events, mostly grade 1 or 2, occurred in 89% patients. Only one patient experienced grade 1 cytokine release syndrome. MG4101 persisted for at least 7 days in seven patients. Four patients achieved a partial response, and one attained a complete response, yielding a 55.6% response rate. Two patients showed prolonged responses and low exhaustion marker levels in T cells. MG4101 plus rituximab presented a favorable safety profile and overall response rate in patients with r/rNHL.
Antimicrobial activity of ceftobiprole and comparator agents when tested against Gram-positive and -negative organisms collected across China (2016-2018)
Authors: yin dandan , Shi Wu , Yang Yang , Yonggui Zheng , Zhu Demei , Yan Guo , hu fupin
Published: July 2022

Background: Ceftobiprole is a fifth-generation cephalosporin which has been reported on the antibacterial spectrum when against bacteria collected from other countries except China. This study evaluated the in vitro activity of ceftobiprole in comparison with other comparators against clinically significant isolates collected across from China. Results: Susceptibility testing of ceftobiprole and comparators against 1163 clinically isolated Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was performed with broth micro dilution method following the CLSI guidelines. All 110 S. aureus were susceptible to ceftobiprole with MIC50/90 of 1/2 mg/L for MRSA and 0.5/1 mg/L for MSSA. For Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), MIC50/90 of ceftobiprole for MRCNS and MSCNS was 1/2 mg/L and 0.25/0.5 mg/L. Ceftobiprole demonstrated good potency against E. faecalis (MIC50/90 of 0.5/1 mg/L) but bad against E. faecium (MIC50/90 of >32/>32 mg/L). Ceftobiprole demonstrated potent activity against all 39 β-hemolytic Streptococcus with MIC50/90 ≤0.015/≤0.015-2 mg/L and 110 of PSSP with 98.2% susceptibility. Ceftobiprole inhibited all isolates of H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis at ≤ 1 mg/L. 91.8% and 98.2% of the ESBL-negative E. coli and K. pneumoniae were susceptible to ceftobiprole, but most of the ESBL-positive or carbapenem-resistant strains were also resistant to ceftobiprole. Ceftobiprole inhibited 84.2% of carbapenem-susceptible P. aeruginosa and 94.1% of carbapenem-susceptible A. baumannii at ≤8 mg/L, but only 52.6% of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa and 5.3% of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii. Conclusion: Ceftobiprole was active in vitro against a broad range of clinically relevant contemporary Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial isolates.