bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Single-molecular insights into the breakpoint of cellulose nanofibers assembly during saccharification
Authors: Zhang Ran , Hu Zhen , Wang Yanting , Hu Huizhen , Li Fengcheng , Li Mi , Ragauskas Arthur , Xia Tao , Han Heyou , Tang Jingfeng , Yu Haizhong , Xu Bingqian , Peng Liangcai
Published: February 2023

Plant cellulose microfibrils are increasingly employed to produce functional nanofibers and nanocrystals for biomaterials, but their catalytic formation and conversion mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we characterize length-reduced cellulose nanofibers assembly in situ accounting for the high density of amorphous cellulose regions in the natural rice fragile culm 16 (Osfc16) mutant defective in cellulose biosynthesis using both classic and advanced atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques equipped with a single-molecular recognition system. By employing individual types of cellulases, we observe efficient enzymatic catalysis modes in the mutant, due to amorphous and inner-broken cellulose chains elevated as breakpoints for initiating and completing cellulose hydrolyses into higher-yield fermentable sugars. Furthermore, effective chemical catalysis mode is examined in vitro for cellulose nanofibers conversion into nanocrystals with reduced dimensions. Our study addresses how plant cellulose substrates are digestible and convertible, revealing a strategy for precise engineering of cellulose substrates toward cost-effective biofuels and high-quality bioproducts.
Point process microstructural model of metallic thin films with implications for coarsening
Authors: Rickman J. M. , Barmak K. , Epshteyn Y. , Liu C.
Published: February 2023

We develop a thin-film microstructural model that represents structural markers (i.e., triple junctions in the two-dimensional projections of the structure of films with columnar grains) in terms of a stochastic, marked point process and the microstructure itself in terms of a grain-boundary network. The advantage of this representation is that it is conveniently applicable to the characterization of microstructures obtained from crystal orientation mapping, leading to a picture of an ensemble of interacting triple junctions, while providing results that inform grain-growth models with experimental data. More specifically, calculated quantities such as pair, partial pair and mark correlation functions, along with the microstructural mutual information (entropy), highlight effective triple junction interactions that dictate microstructural evolution. To validate this approach, we characterize microstructures from Al thin films via crystal orientation mapping and formulate an approach, akin to classical density functional theory, to describe grain growth that embodies triple-junction interactions.
PDGF gene expression and p53 alterations contribute to the biology of diffuse astrocytic gliomas
Authors: Kumar Mehul , Meode Mathieu , Blough Michael , Cairncross Gregory , Bose Pinaki
Published: February 2023

Diffuse, histologically lower grade astrocytomas of adults (LGAs) are classified based on the mutational status of the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes. While wild-type (WT) LGAs often evolve quickly to glioblastoma (GBM), mutant tumors typically follow an indolent course. To find possible effectors of these different behaviors, we compared their respective transcriptomes. Unlike mutant LGAs, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling was significantly enriched in WT tumors, and PDGFA was the top overexpressed gene in the pathway. Moreover, methylation of the PDGFA and PDGFD promoters emerged as a possible mechanism for their low expression in mutant tumors. Copy number gain of chromosome 7 co-occurred with high expression of PDGFA in WT cases, and high expression of PDGFA was associated with aneuploidy, extracellular matrix (ECM)-related immunosuppressive features and poor prognosis. We also noted that high PDGFA expression in WT cases occurred irrespective of tumor grade and that multiple mechanisms of p53 pathway inactivation accompanied progression to GBM in PDGFA-overexpressing tumors. Conversely, TP53 point mutations were an early and constant feature of mutant LGAs. Our results suggest that members of the PDGF gene family, in concert with different p53 pathway alterations, underlie LGA behaviors.
A benchmarking procedure for quantum networks
Authors: Helsen Jonas , Wehner Stephanie
Published: February 2023

We propose network benchmarking: a procedure to efficiently benchmark the quality of a quantum network link connecting quantum processors in a quantum network. This procedure is based on the standard randomized benchmarking protocol and provides an estimate for the fidelity of a quantum network link. We provide statistical analysis of the protocol as well as a simulated implementation inspired by nitrogen-vacancy center systems using Netsquid, a special purpose simulator for noisy quantum networks.
Resting-state brain functional alterations and their genetic mechanisms in drug-naive first-episode psychosis
Authors: Li Qian , Xu Xiaotao , Qian Yinfeng , Cai Huanhuan , Zhao Wenming , Zhu Jiajia , Yu Yongqiang
Published: February 2023

Extensive research has established the presence of resting-state brain functional damage in psychosis. However, the genetic mechanisms of such disease phenotype are yet to be unveiled. We investigated resting-state brain functional alterations in patients with drug-naive first-episode psychosis (DFP) by performing a neuroimaging meta-analysis of 8 original studies comprising 500 patients and 469 controls. Combined with the Allen Human Brain Atlas, we further conducted transcriptome-neuroimaging spatial correlations to identify genes whose expression levels were linked to brain functional alterations in DFP, followed by a range of gene functional characteristic analyses. Meta-analysis revealed a mixture of increased and decreased brain function in widespread areas including the default-mode, visual, motor, striatal, and cerebellar systems in DFP. Moreover, these brain functional alterations were spatially associated with the expression of 1662 genes, which were enriched for molecular functions, cellular components, and biological processes of the cerebral cortex, as well as psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. Specific expression analyses demonstrated that these genes were specifically expressed in the brain tissue, in cortical neurons and immune cells, and during nearly all developmental periods. Concurrently, the genes could construct a protein-protein interaction network supported by hub genes and were linked to multiple behavioral domains including emotion, attention, perception, and motor. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the notion that brain functional damage in DFP involves a complex interaction of polygenes with various functional characteristics.
Incidence determinants and serological correlates of reactive symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination
Authors: Holt Hayley , Jolliffe David A. , Talaei Mohammad , Faustini Sian , Vivaldi Giulia , Greenig Matthew , Richter Alex G. , Lyons Ronan A. , Griffiths Christopher J. , Kee Frank , Sheikh Aziz , Davies Gwyneth A. , Shaheen Seif O. , Martineau Adrian R.
Published: February 2023

Prospective population-based studies investigating associations between reactive symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and serologic responses to vaccination are lacking. We therefore conducted a study in 9003 adults from the UK general population receiving SARS-CoV-2 vaccines as part of the national vaccination programme. Titres of combined IgG/IgA/IgM responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein were determined in eluates of dried blood spots collected from all participants before and after vaccination. 4262 (47.3%) participants experienced systemic reactive symptoms after a first vaccine dose. Factors associating with lower risk of such symptoms included older age (aOR per additional 10 years of age 0.85, 95% CI: 0.81–0.90), male vs. female sex (0.59, 0.53–0.65) and receipt of an mRNA vaccine vs. ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (0.29, 0.26–0.32 for BNT162b2; 0.06, 0.01–0.26 for mRNA-1273). Higher risk of such symptoms was associated with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and COVID-19 symptoms prior to vaccination (2.23, 1.78–2.81), but not with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in the absence of COVID-19 symptoms (0.94, 0.81–1.09). Presence vs. absence of self-reported anxiety or depression at enrolment associated with higher risk of such symptoms (1.24, 1.12–1.39). Post-vaccination anti-S titres were higher among participants who experienced reactive symptoms after vaccination vs. those who did not (P < 0.001). We conclude that factors influencing risk of systemic symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination include demographic characteristics, pre-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 serostatus and vaccine type. Participants experiencing reactive symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination had higher post-vaccination titres of IgG/A/M anti-S antibodies. Improved public understanding of the frequency of reactogenic symptoms and their positive association with vaccine immunogenicity could potentially increase vaccine uptake.
A fast privacy-preserving patient record linkage of time series data
Authors: Soliman Ahmed , Rajasekaran Sanguthevar , Toman Patrick , Ravishanker Nalini
Published: February 2023

Recent advances in technology have led to an explosion of data in virtually all domains of our lives. Modern biomedical devices can acquire a large number of physical readings from patients. Often, these readings are stored in the form of time series data. Such time series data can form the basis for important research to advance healthcare and well being. Due to several considerations including data size, patient privacy, etc., the original, full data may not be available to secondary parties or researchers. Instead, suppose that a subset of the data is made available. A fast and reliable record linkage algorithm enables us to accurately match patient records in the original and subset databases while maintaining privacy. The problem of record linkage when the attributes include time series has not been studied much in the literature. We introduce two main contributions in this paper. First, we propose a novel, very efficient, and scalable record linkage algorithm that is employed on time series data. This algorithm is 400× faster than the previous work. Second, we introduce a privacy preserving framework that enables health institutions to safely release their raw time series records to researchers with bare minimum amount of identifying information.
Removal of toxic lead from aqueous solution using a low-cost adsorbent
Authors: Dehghani Mohammad Hadi , Afsari Sardari Sahar , Afsharnia Mojtaba , Qasemi Mehdi , Shams Mahmoud
Published: February 2023

Valorization of waste materials and byproducts as adsorbents is a sustainable approach for water treatment systems. Pottery Granules (PG) without any chemical and thermal modification were used as a low-cost, abundant, and environmentally benign adsorbent against Pb(II), the toxic metal in drinking water. The porous structure and complex mineral composition of PG made it an efficient adsorbent material for Pb(II). The effect of key physicochemical factors was investigated to determine the significance of contact time, PG dose, pH, solution temperature, and coexisting ions, on the process. Pb(II) removal increased by PG dose in the range of 5–15 g/L, and agitation time from 5 to 60 min. Increasing Pb(II) concentration led to a drop in Pb(II) removal, however, adsorption capacity increased significantly as concentration elevated. Pb(II) removal also increased significantly from ~ 45% to ~ 97% by pH from 2 to 12. A ~ 20% improvement in Pb(II) adsorption after rising the solution temperature by 30˚C, indicated the endothermic nature of the process. The sorption was described to be a favorable process in which Pb(II) was adsorbed in a multilayer onto the heterogeneous PG surface. The qmax of 9.47 mg/g obtained by the Langmuir model was superior among many reported low-cost adsorbents. The Pb(II) adsorption was described well by the Pseudo- first-order kinetic model. Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cd2+, and Zn2+ showed a negligible effect on Pb(II) adsorption. However, the presence of Mn2+ and Fe2+ significantly hindered the process efficacy. In conclusion, the use of waste material such as PG against Pb(II) is a viable option from the economic and effectiveness points of view.
Real-time automatic temperature regulation during in vivo MRI-guided laser-induced thermotherapy (MR-LITT)
Authors: Desclides Manon , Ozenne Valéry , Bour Pierre , Faller Thibaut , Machinet Guillaume , Pierre Christophe , Chemouny Stéphane , Quesson Bruno
Published: February 2023

Precise control of tissue temperature during Laser-Induced Thermotherapy (LITT) procedures has the potential to improve the clinical efficiency and safety of such minimally invasive therapies. We present a method to automatically regulate in vivo the temperature increase during LITT using real-time rapid volumetric Magnetic Resonance thermometry (8 slices acquired every second, with an in-plane resolution of 1.4 mmx1.4 mm and a slice thickness of 3 mm) using the proton-resonance frequency (PRF) shift technique. The laser output power is adjusted every second using a feedback control algorithm (proportional-integral-derivative controller) to force maximal tissue temperature in the targeted region to follow a predefined temperature–time profile. The root-mean-square of the difference between the target temperature and the measured temperature ranged between 0.5 °C and 1.4 °C, for temperature increases between + 5 °C to + 30 °C above body temperature and a long heating duration (up to 15 min), showing excellent accuracy and stability of the method. These results were obtained on a 1.5 T clinical MRI scanner, showing a potential immediate clinical application of such a temperature controller during MR-guided LITT.
Evidence for avoidance tendencies linked to anxiety about specific types of thinking
Authors: Daker Richard J. , Slipenkyj Michael S. , Green Adam E. , Lyons Ian M.
Published: February 2023

Anxieties that are specific to a particular kind of thinking have been demonstrated for a variety of cognitive domains. One hypothesized consequence of these anxieties is reduced interest in pursuing activities and, consequentially, careers that involve the type of thinking in question in an effort to avoid engaging in that type of thinking. There is little research addressing this avoidance hypothesis, possibly because it is difficult to categorize pursuits as objectively “creative” or “spatial”. Here, we measured the perceptions that participants, themselves, hold about how much pursuits (careers and activities) involve different types of thinking. We developed a novel framework for calculating “affinity coefficients”, within-person associations between perceived cognitive involvement and interest across several pursuits. Having a negative creative affinity coefficient, for instance, means being less interested in pursuits the more they are perceived as involving creative thinking. Results across three separate cognitive domains (creativity, mathematics, and spatial reasoning) reliably showed that higher anxiety in a domain uniquely predicted a lower affinity coefficient in that domain, providing consistent evidence of avoidance tendencies linked to cognition-specific anxieties. These findings suggest that feeling anxious about particular types of thinking may play a significant role in shaping our interests, both big and small.
Impact of timing to initiate adjuvant therapy on survival of elderly glioblastoma patients using the SEER-Medicare and national cancer databases
Authors: Zhu Ping , Du Xianglin L. , Hwang Lu-yu , Lairson David , Li Ruosha , Esquenazi Yoshua , Zhu Jay-Jiguang
Published: February 2023

The optimal time to initiate adjuvant therapy (AT) in elderly patients with glioblastoma (GBM) remains unclear. We investigated the impact of timing to start AT on overall survival (OS) using two national-scale datasets covering elderly GBM populations in the United States. A total of 3159 and 8161 eligible elderly GBM patients were derived from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)—Medicare linked dataset (2004–2013) and the National Cancer Database (NCDB) (2004–2014), respectively. The intervals in days from the diagnosis to the initiation of AT were categorized based on two scenarios: Scenario I (quartiles), ≤ 15, 16–26, 27–37, and ≥ 38 days; Scenario II (median), < 27, and ≥ 27 days. The primary outcome was OS. We performed the Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression methods for survival analysis. A sensitivity analysis was performed using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method to achieve well-balanced characteristics between early-timing and delayed-timing in Scenario II. Improved OS was observed among patients who underwent resection and initiated AT with either a modest delay (27–37 days) or a longer delay (≥ 38 days) compared to those who received AT immediately (≤ 15 days) from both the SEER-Medicare dataset [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.74, 95% CI 0.64–0.84, P < 0.001; and aHR 0.81, 95% CI 0.71–0.92, P = 0.002] and the NCDB (aHR 0.83, 95% CI 0.74–0.93, P = 0.001; and aHR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77–0.98, P = 0.017). The survival advantage is observed in delayed-timing group as well in Scenario II. For elderly patients who had biopsy only, improved OS was only detected in a longer delay (Scenario I: ≥ 38 days vs. ≤ 15 days) or the delayed-timing group (Scenario II: ≥ 27 days vs. < 27 days) in the NCDB while no survival difference was seen in SEER-Medicare population. For the best timing to start AT in elderly GBM patients, superior survivals were observed among those who had craniotomy and initiated AT with a modest (27–37 days) or longer delays (≥ 38 days) following diagnosis using both the SEER-Medicare and NCDB datasets (Scenario I). Such survival advantage was confirmed when categorizing delayed-timing vs. early-timing with the cut-off at 27 day in both datasets (Scenario II). The increased likelihood of receiving delayed AT (≥ 27 days) was significantly associated with tumor resection (STR/GTR), years of diagnosis after 2006, African American and Hispanics races, treatments at academic facilities, and being referred. There is no difference in timing of AT on survival among elderly GBM patients who had biopsy in the SEER-Medicare dataset. In conclusion, initiating AT with a modest delay (27–37 days) or a longer delay (≥ 38 days) after craniotomy may be the preferred timing in the elderly GBM population.
Horses discriminate human body odors between fear and joy contexts in a habituation-discrimination protocol
Authors: Jardat Plotine , Destrez Alexandra , Damon Fabrice , Menard--Peroy Zoé , Parias Céline , Barrière Philippe , Keller Matthieu , Calandreau Ludovic , Lansade Léa
Published: February 2023

Animals are widely believed to sense human emotions through smell. Chemoreception is the most primitive and ubiquitous sense, and brain regions responsible for processing smells are among the oldest structures in mammalian evolution. Thus, chemosignals might be involved in interspecies communication. The communication of emotions is essential for social interactions, but very few studies have clearly shown that animals can sense human emotions through smell. We used a habituation-discrimination protocol to test whether horses can discriminate between human odors produced while feeling fear vs. joy. Horses were presented with sweat odors of humans who reported feeling fear or joy while watching a horror movie or a comedy, respectively. A first odor was presented twice in successive trials (habituation), and then, the same odor and a novel odor were presented simultaneously (discrimination). The two odors were from the same human in the fear or joy condition; the experimenter and the observer were blinded to the condition. Horses sniffed the novel odor longer than the repeated odor, indicating they discriminated between human odors produced in fear and joy contexts. Moreover, differences in habituation speed and asymmetric nostril use according to odor suggest differences in the emotional processing of the two odors.
Radiogenomic classification for MGMT promoter methylation status using multi-omics fused feature space for least invasive diagnosis through mpMRI scans
Authors: Qureshi Shahzad Ahmad , Hussain Lal , Ibrar Usama , Alabdulkreem Eatedal , Nour Mohamed K. , Alqahtani Mohammed S. , Nafie Faisal Mohammed , Mohamed Abdullah , Mohammed Gouse Pasha , Duong Tim Q.
Published: February 2023

Accurate radiogenomic classification of brain tumors is important to improve the standard of diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning for patients with glioblastoma. In this study, we propose a novel two-stage MGMT Promoter Methylation Prediction (MGMT-PMP) system that extracts latent features fused with radiomic features predicting the genetic subtype of glioblastoma. A novel fine-tuned deep learning architecture, namely Deep Learning Radiomic Feature Extraction (DLRFE) module, is proposed for latent feature extraction that fuses the quantitative knowledge to the spatial distribution and the size of tumorous structure through radiomic features: (GLCM, HOG, and LBP). The application of the novice rejection algorithm has been found significantly effective in selecting and isolating the negative training instances out of the original dataset. The fused feature vectors are then used for training and testing byk-NN and SVM classifiers. The 2021 RSNA Brain Tumor challenge dataset (BraTS-2021) consists of four structural mpMRIs, viz. fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery, T1-weighted, T1-weighted contrast enhancement, and T2-weighted. We evaluated the classification performance, for the very first time in published form, in terms of measures like accuracy, F1-score, and Matthews correlation coefficient. The Jackknife tenfold cross-validation was used for training and testing BraTS-2021 dataset validation. The highest classification performance is (96.84 ± 0.09)%, (96.08 ± 0.10)%, and (97.44 ± 0.14)% as accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity respectively to detect MGMT methylation status for patients suffering from glioblastoma. Deep learning feature extraction with radiogenomic features, fusing imaging phenotypes and molecular structure, using rejection algorithm has been found to perform outclass capable of detecting MGMT methylation status of glioblastoma patients. The approach relates the genomic variation with radiomic features forming a bridge between two areas of research that may prove useful for clinical treatment planning leading to better outcomes.
Movement characteristics impact decision-making and vice versa
Authors: Carsten Thomas , Fievez Fanny , Duque Julie
Published: February 2023

Previous studies suggest that humans are capable of coregulating the speed of decisions and movements if promoted by task incentives. It is unclear however whether such behavior is inherent to the process of translating decisional information into movements, beyond posing a valid strategy in some task contexts. Therefore, in a behavioral online study we imposed time constraints to either decision- or movement phases of a sensorimotor task, ensuring that coregulating decisions and movements was not promoted by task incentives. We found that participants indeed moved faster when fast decisions were promoted and decided faster when subsequent finger tapping movements had to be executed swiftly. These results were further supported by drift diffusion modelling and inspection of psychophysical kernels: Sensorimotor delays related to initiating the finger tapping sequence were shorter in fast-decision as compared to slow-decision blocks. Likewise, the decisional speed-accuracy tradeoff shifted in favor of faster decisions in fast-tapping as compared to slow-tapping blocks. These findings suggest that decisions not only impact movement characteristics, but that properties of movement impact the time taken to decide. We interpret these behavioral results in the context of embodied decision-making, whereby shared neural mechanisms may modulate decisions and movements in a joint fashion.
Short-term outcome of adrenal radiofrequency ablation of adrenal cysts: a single-center experience
Authors: Pak Shin Jeong , Lee Yu-mi , Kim Pyo Nyun , Kim Byung-Chang , Cho Jae Won , Kim Won Woong , Sung Tae-Yon , Chung Ki-wook , Hong Suck Joon
Published: February 2023

Percutaneous thermal ablation is a minimally invasive treatment for liver, kidney, lung, bone, and thyroid tumors. This treatment also has been used to treat adrenal tumors in patients, but there is no evidence for the efficacy of thermal ablation of adrenal cysts. The present study was performed to analyze the experience of a single center with percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of adrenal cysts and to evaluate its efficacy. The present study enrolled all patients who underwent percutaneous RFA for unilateral adrenal cysts from 2019 to 2021. All patients underwent USG-guided percutaneous aspiration of cystic fluid, followed by RFA. A total nine patients with adrenal cysts were included in this study. All of them underwent technically successful percutaneous RFA, with no immediate complication. Follow-up CT 3 months after RFA showed that six of the nine adrenal cysts showed good responses, with reductions in cyst volume ranging from 86.4 to 97.9%. One patient had poor response in the cyst size (volume reduction rate 11.2%). She underwent secondary RFA with resulting that the cyst volume reduced by 91.1%. After a median follow-up period of 17.2 months, eight patients showed no evidence of regrowth. The patient, who showed evidence of regrowth, declined any other treatment and has been under regular surveillance. None of the nine patients developed adrenal insufficiency during the follow-up period. In conclusion, percutaneous RFA is a safe and effective minimally invasive treatment for adrenal cysts, suggesting that percutaneous RFA may be a good alternative option in selected patients.
Spatio-temporal visualization and forecasting of $${\text {PM}}_{10}$$ in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais
Authors: da Silva Kim Leone Souza , López-Gonzales Javier Linkolk , Turpo-Chaparro Josue E. , Tocto-Cano Esteban , Rodrigues Paulo Canas
Published: February 2023

Air pollution due to air contamination by gases, liquids, and solid particles in suspension, is a great environmental and public health concern nowadays. An important type of air pollution is particulate matter with a diameter of 10 microns or less ($${\text {PM}}_{10}$$

PM
10

) because one of the determining factors that affect human health is the size of particles in the atmosphere due to the degree of permanence and penetration they have in the respiratory system. Therefore, it is extremely interesting to monitor and understand the behavior of $${\text {PM}}_{10}$$

PM
10

concentrations so that they do not exceed the established critical levels. In this work, we will study the $${\text {PM}}_{10}$$

PM
10

concentrations in all available monitoring stations in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. To better understand its behavior, we will provide a spatio-temporal visualization of the $${\text {PM}}_{10}$$

PM
10

concentrations. Besides the descriptive and visualization analysis, we consider six standard and advanced time series models that will be used to fit and forecast $${\text {PM}}_{10}$$

PM
10

concentrations, with application to three locations, one in Belo Horizonte, the Minas Gerais state capital, and the monitoring stations with the lowest and highest average $${\text {PM}}_{10}$$

PM
10

concentration levels.
Influence of aldo–keto reductase 1C3 polymorphisms in early-onset female psoriasis patients
Authors: Nojiri Yuka , Nakamura Motoki , Magara Tetsuya , Yamamoto Aya , Ikumi Kyoko , Nakamura Reiko , Nishida Emi , Haarmann-Stemmann Thomas , Morita Akimichi
Published: February 2023

The principal pathology of psoriasis is impaired skin barrier function, epidermal thickening, and granular layer loss. Exposure to extrinsic factors such as tobacco smoke and air pollutants is associated with the development of psoriasis. Aryl hydrocarbon receptors (AHRs) are activated by extrinsic factors associated with the development of psoriasis and act as transcriptional regulators. Expression of aldo–keto reductase (AKR) 1C3 in the epidermal spinous layer regulates epidermal keratinocyte differentiation via the AHR signaling pathway. We investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in AKR1C3 are associated with the pathogenesis of psoriasis. The proportions of rs12529 G/C, C/C variants, and rs12387 A/A, A/G variants were twofold higher in Japanese psoriasis patients (n = 231) compared with a Japanese healthy cohort. The SNPs were significantly more common than the majority variants in female patients with disease onset ≤ 22 years of age. Patients with rs12529 G > C and rs12387 A > G SNPs exhibited significantly lower AKR1C3 expression and higher expression of late differentiation markers. In conclusion, AKR1C3 downregulation caused by rs12529 G > C and rs12387 A > G SNPs in the epidermis induces abnormal early differentiation of keratinocytes and skin barrier dysfunction, which may contribute to the genetic pathogenesis of psoriasis in young females.
Cross-platform normalization enables machine learning model training on microarray and RNA-seq data simultaneously
Authors: Foltz Steven M. , Greene Casey S. , Taroni Jaclyn N.
Published: February 2023

Large compendia of gene expression data have proven valuable for the discovery of novel biological relationships. Historically, most available RNA assays were run on microarray, while RNA-seq is now the platform of choice for many new experiments. The data structure and distributions between the platforms differ, making it challenging to combine them directly. Here we perform supervised and unsupervised machine learning evaluations to assess which existing normalization methods are best suited for combining microarray and RNA-seq data. We find that quantile and Training Distribution Matching normalization allow for supervised and unsupervised model training on microarray and RNA-seq data simultaneously. Nonparanormal normalization and z-scores are also appropriate for some applications, including pathway analysis with Pathway-Level Information Extractor (PLIER). We demonstrate that it is possible to perform effective cross-platform normalization using existing methods to combine microarray and RNA-seq data for machine learning applications.
Dissociation kinetics of small-molecule inhibitors in Escherichia coli is coupled to physiological state of cells
Authors: Le Dai , Akiyama Tatsuya , Weiss David , Kim Minsu
Published: February 2023

Bioactive small-molecule inhibitors represent a treasure chest for future drugs. In vitro high-throughput screening is a common approach to identify the small-molecule inhibitors that bind tightly to purified targets. Here, we investigate the inhibitor-target binding/unbinding kinetics in E. coli cells using a benzimidazole-derivative DNA inhibitor as a model system. We find that its unbinding rate is not constant but depends on cell growth rate. This dependence is mediated by the cellular activity, forming a feedback loop with the inhibitor’s activity. In accordance with this feedback, we find cell-to-cell heterogeneity in inhibitor-target interaction, leading to co-existence of two distinct subpopulations: actively growing cells that dissociate the inhibitors from the targets and non-growing cells that do not. We find similar heterogeneity for other clinical DNA inhibitors. Our studies reveal a mechanism that couples inhibitor-target kinetics to cell physiology and demonstrate the significant effect of this coupling on drug efficacy.
Atroposelective desymmetrization of 2-arylresorcinols via Tsuji-Trost allylation
Authors: Kim Sangji , Kim Aram , Lee Chanhee , Moon Junsoo , Hong Eun Jeong , Lee Duck-Hyung , Kwon Yongseok
Published: February 2023

Palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation has proven to be a powerful method for the preparation of a wide variety of chiral molecules. However, the catalytic and atroposelective allylic alkylation is still rare and challenging, especially for biaryl substrates. Herein, we report the palladium-catalyzed desymmetric and atroposelective allylation, in which the palladium complex with a chiral phosphoramidite ligand enables desymmetrization of nucleophilic 2-arylresorcinols in a highly enantioselective manner. With the aid of the secondary kinetic resolution effect, a wide variety of substrates containing a hydroxymethyl group at the bottom aromatic ring are able to provideO-allylated products up to 98:2 er. Computational studies show an accessible quadrant of the allylpalladium complex and provide three plausible transition states with intra- or intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The energetically favorable transition state is in good agreement with the observed enantioselectivity and suggests that the catalytic reaction would proceed with an intramolecular hydrogen bond.
Energy and environmental impacts of shared autonomous vehicles under different pricing strategies
Authors: Zhong Shaopeng , Liu Ao , Jiang Yu , Hu Simon , Xiao Feng , Huang Hai-Jun , Song Yan
Published: February 2023

The introduction of vehicle automation, shared mobility, and vehicle electrification will bring about changes in urban transportation, land use, energy, and the environment. The accurate estimation of these effects is therefore essential for sustainable urban development. However, existing research on estimating the energy and environmental effects of shared autonomous electric vehicles generally ignores the interaction between land-use and transportation systems. This study, therefore, analyzes the long-term effects of shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) from the perspective of land use and transportation integration. Different SAV pricing scenarios are also developed to explore the optimal pricing strategy for low carbon–oriented SAVs. Moreover, the study has further assessed the effect of vehicle electrification on vehicle emissions and energy consumption. The results have shown a nonlinear relationship between SAV fares and their transportation, land-use, energy, and environmental effects. Under an appropriate pricing strategy, SAV deployment could reduce PM2.5 emission and energy consumption by 56–64% and 53–61%, respectively. With the further introduction of vehicle electrification, these can rise to 76% and 74%.
Ice nucleation catalyzed by the photosynthesis enzyme RuBisCO and other abundant biomolecules
Authors: Alsante Alyssa N. , Thornton Daniel C. O. , Brooks Sarah D.
Published: February 2023

Atmospheric aerosol and the cloud droplets and ice crystals that grow on them remain major sources of uncertainty in global climate models. A subset of aerosol, ice nucleating particles, catalyze the freezing of water droplets at temperatures warmer than −38 °C. Here we show that RuBisCO, one of the most abundant proteins in plants and phytoplankton, is one of the most efficient known immersion ice nucleating particles with a mean freezing temperature of −7.9 ± 0.3 °C. Further, we demonstrate RuBisCO is present in ambient continental aerosol where it can serve as an ice nucleating particle. Other biogenic molecules act as immersion ice nucleating particles, in the range of −19 to −26 °C. In addition, our results indicate heat denaturation is not a universal indicator of the proteinaceous origin of ice nucleating particles, suggesting current studies may fail to accurately quantify biological ice nucleating particle concentrations and their global importance.
Reactivity of vinylidene-π-allyl palladium(ii) species
Authors: Li Can , Zhou Zhengnan , Li Yuling , Guo Yinlong , Ma Shengming
Published: February 2023

A novel strategy for the construction of functionalized 1,2,3-butatriene compounds via a new vinylidene-π-allyl palladium species has been developed.
A CaCO3-based synergistic immunotherapy strategy for treating primary and distal tumors
Authors: Tang Kun , Zhang Xia , Yin Jiaqi , Pan Wei , Li Yanhua , Li Na , Tang Bo
Published: February 2023

A CaCO3-based synergistic immunotherapy strategy was developed to induce immunogenic cell death for treating primary and distal tumors.
Effects of layer-by-layer coating on activated carbon electrodes for capacitive deionization
Authors: Orozco-Barrera Sergio , Iglesias Guillermo R. , Delgado Ángel V. , García-Larios Sergio , Ahualli Silvia
Published: February 2023

Polyelectrolyte-coating of the electrode surface by means of layer-by-layer technique improves the capacitive deionization performance.
Facile surface defect engineering on perovskite oxides for enhanced OER performance
Authors: Li Shu-Fang , Zheng Jie , Hu Liang , Ma Yao , Yan Dong
Published: February 2023

Reconstruction on the surface of an SCFO perovskite oxide by acid treatment leads to improved OER performance.
A multifunctional cobalt–organic framework for proton conduction and selective sensing of Fe3+ ions
Authors: Zhang Wen-Sha , Wang Guang-Qing , Wang Yu-Xin , Yang Yan-Li , Bai Xue , Cui Hong , Lu Ying , Liu Shu-Xia
Published: February 2023

A cobalt-organic framework was synthesized successfully and it shows both remarkable proton-conductive ability and fluorescence sensing performance towards Fe3+ ions.
Development of immunochromatographic strips for the rapid detection of diquat in apples and strawberries
Authors: Zhou Jian , Wu Aihong , Xu Liguang , Kuang Hua , Liu Liqiang , Xu Chuanlai , Xu Xinxin
Published: February 2023

We fabricated a highly specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) against DQ and the half maximal inhibitory concentration of mAb was 0.63 ng mL−1 with a limit of detection of 0.14 ng mL−1.
One pot synthesis and characterization of binary and ternary metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as tri-modal catalysts for thiophene electrooxidation, water splitting and 4-nitrophenol reduction
Authors: Manivannan Mahendran , Rajagopal Venkatachalam , Krishnamoorthy Lalithambigai , Dhanasurya Selvam , Suryanarayanan Vembu , Kathiresan Murugavel , Raju Thasan , Jones Lathe A.
Published: February 2023

MOFs containing Co, Ni, and Al were used for the electrocatalysis of the OER, the HER, 4-nitrophenol reduction and oxidation of sulfide.
Design of fluorescent polymeric thermometers based on anthrapyrazolone functionalized oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates
Authors: Saravanan S. , Babu Anashwara , Merckx Ronald , Zhong Zifu , Anandan Mageshwari , Nutalapati Venkatramaiah , De Geest Bruno G. , Hoogenboom Richard , Jerca Valentin Victor , Maji Samarendra
Published: February 2023

Oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates functionalized with anthrapyrazolone are reported as fluorescent polymeric thermometers with a broad linear temperature sensing regime.
Decentralized high‐resolution direction finding in partly calibrated arrays
Authors: Zhang Guangbin , Huang Tianyao , Chen Chengzeng , Liu Yimin , Wang Xiqin , Eldar Yonina C.
Published: February 2023

The problem of high‐resolution direction finding is considered using a distributed array network with array position errors, called partly calibrated array. These errors are common in practice, and significantly affect high angular resolution. Existing calibration methods rely on centralized data transmission, which requires all the measurements to be transmitted to a computation center. This centralized mode leads to communication bottlenecks and system inflexibility. Here, a decentralized mode is designed, where each sensor only communicates locally with their neighboring sensors. Based on this mode, a corresponding direction‐finding approach is proposed using sequential methods that process data one by one, which corresponds to the decentralized signal processing sensor by sensor. Simulations verify that the proposed method achieves decentralization with minor cost in estimation accuracy.
Classification of voltage sags causes in industrial power networks using multivariate time‐series
Authors: Veizaga Maria , Delpha Claude , Diallo Demba , Bercu Sophie , Bertin Ludovic
Published: February 2023

Voltage sags are the most frequent and impactful disturbances in industrial power grids, leading to high financial losses for industrial clients. The identification of the cause and its relative location is crucial for the contractual relation between the energy provider and the industrial customers. This paper proposes a methodology to identify the origins of voltage sags based on instantaneous symmetrical components and dynamic time warping. Short‐Time Fourier and Fortescue transform are implemented in the pre‐processing step using the voltage and current waveforms. Then, a distance‐based classification strategy to identify the sources of voltage sags is used. It relies on a four‐dimension time‐series signature used as features. Moreover, a confidence index associated with the classification output is provided. The proposal offers an easy implementation in industrial applications with no previous recorded data. It has the benefit of using a reduced‐size reference database entirely composed of synthetic data. The main advantages of the proposed method are its generalization capabilities and the possibility of raising an alert based on the confidence index. The obtained classification accuracy on synthetic data with seven causes is 100%. The method reaches a classification F1‐score higher than 99% with field measurements representing five classes obtained from three different industrial sites.
The traction network design of the new three‐phase 3‐kV traction power supply system based on the limits of receiving‐end voltages and negative sequence voltage unbalance factor
Authors: Xiong Jinfei , Zhou Fulin , Yang Dongliang , Li Qunzhan
Published: February 2023

The characteristics of traction network (TN) of the three‐phase 3‐kV traction power supply system (TPSS) are: three‐phase conductors are flat layout (layout‐1, layout‐2); the material and cross‐section of conductors are ferromagnetic and irregular, respectively. So the phase impedance matrix (PIM) is unbalanced and the closed‐form formula for conductor impedance is hard to get. To address these issues, firstly, the PIM is derived, and the cause of unbalance is revealed. From the perspective of structure optimization, a new flat layout (layout‐3) and an equilateral triangle layout (layout‐4) is proposed. Then, to calculate the wideband frequency self‐ and mutual impedances of the special phase conductors, a frequency‐ and current‐dependent closed‐form formula based on 4‐parameters equivalent tubular conductor (ETC) model is proposed. Furthermore, an equivalent TN circuit model at 50 Hz is established to calculate the receiving‐end voltage and its negative sequence voltage unbalance factor (NSVUF). Finally, using these two indexes, the performances of the layout‐1 to 4 are evaluated and compared. The results show that the conductor spacing and power supply frequency affect the two indexes much while the dimension of the power supply rail (PSR) not; layout‐4 can completely balance the receiving‐end voltage and improve its magnitude which can enhance the power supply capability.
Copper-Catalyzed Carbonylative Cross-Coupling of Alkyl Iodides with Alcohols and Sodium Hydroxide: Synthesis of Esters and Carboxylic Acids
Authors: Evano Gwilherm , Adaoudi Omaïma , Le Bescont Julie , Bruneau-Voisine Antoine
Published: February 2023

A general and inexpensive catalytic system is reported for the copper-catalyzed carbonylative coupling between alkyl iodides and alcohols or sodium hydroxide. Upon reaction with catalytic amounts of copper(I) chloride and N,N,N′,N′′,N′′-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine under a mild pressure of carbon monoxide (5 bar), a range of secondary and tertiary alkyl iodides are readily converted into the corresponding esters and carboxylic acids without competing direct nucleophilic substitution. Main advantages of this procedure include its broad applicability, the use of an especially inexpensive and available catalytic system, and its user-friendliness.
One-Pot Iron-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions of Aryl Chlorides and Aryl Bromides
Authors: Peng Xiao-Shui , Wong Henry N. C. , Yin Yi-Bing
Published: February 2023

A one-pot iron-catalyzed cross-coupling protocol involving aryl chlorides, aryl bromides and magnesium metal was developed towards the construction of unsymmetrical biaryls. The key procedure of this reaction is the in situ generation of Grignard reagents.
Synthesis of 1-(Trifluoromethyl)alkenes through Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Alkylation and Arylation of 1-Chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-ene (HCFO-1233zd)
Authors: Zhang Xingang , Zhou Wei , Zhao Qing-Wei , Luo Yun-Cheng
Published: February 2023

The synthesis of 1-(trifluoromethyl)alkenes through nickel-catalyzed alkylation/arylation of 1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-ene (HCFO-1233zd) with alkyl/aryl zinc reagents and cobalt-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling between HCFO-1233zd and aryl bromides has been developed. These approaches feature broad substrate scope, high functional group tolerance, and the use of industrial feedstocks and low-cost nickel/cobalt catalysts, providing facile routes to access 1-(trifluoromethyl)alkenes. Diverse transformations of the resulting 1-(trifluoromethyl)alkenes demonstrated the synthetic utility of the current approaches.
Endoscopic vacuum therapy for esophageal perforation: a multicenter retrospective cohort study
Authors: Luttikhold Joanna , Pattynama Lisanne M. D. , Seewald Stefan , Groth Stefan , Morell Bernhard K. , Gutschow Christian A. , Ida Satoshi , Nilsson Magnus , Eshuis Wietse J. , Pouw Roos E.
Published: February 2023

Background Endoscopic vacuum therapy (EVT) is a novel treatment for esophageal perforations. This study aimed to describe initial experience with EVT of esophageal perforations due to iatrogenic cause, Boerhaave syndrome, or other perforations not related to prior upper gastrointestinal surgery.

Methods Data from patients treated with EVT for esophageal perforation at five hospitals in three European countries, between January 2018 and October 2021, were retrospectively collected. The primary end point was successful defect closure by EVT, with or without the use of other endoscopic treatment modalities. Secondary end points included mortality and adverse events.

Results 27 patients were included (median age 71 years). The success rate was 89 % (24/27, 95 %CI 77–100). EVT failed in three patients: two deceased during EVT (septic embolic stroke, pulmonary embolism) and one underwent esophagectomy due to a persisting defect. Two adverse events occurred: one iatrogenic defect expansion during sponge exchange and one hemorrhage during sponge removal. Median treatment duration was 12 days (interquartile range [IQR] 6–16) with 1 sponge exchange (IQR 1–3).

Conclusion EVT is a promising organ-preserving treatment for esophageal perforations, with a success rate of 89 %. More experience with the technique and indications will likely improve success rates.