bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Eccentric exercise improves myocardial oxygen supply/demand balance with decelerating aortic diastolic pressure decay: The acute and chronic studies
Authors: Tagawa Kaname , Ra Song‐Gyu , Yoshikawa Toru , Maeda Seiji
Published: January 2022

Both eccentric (ECC) and concentric (CON) exercises improve energy expenditure and blood lipid profile. Although ECC exercise has a more beneficial effect on these factors than CON exercise, its benefits on vital organs are still unclear. This study investigated the mode‐of‐action‐dependent effects on myocardial perfusion index. Seventeen healthy men (age: 26 ± 5 years) were randomly enrolled in CON (n = 9) and ECC (n = 8) groups. Transient exercise and regular training (three‐day a week for 4‐week) included bicep curl comprising 5‐set of 10‐repetition, each using 75% one‐repetition maximum concentric loading. The ECC group performed one‐repetition of ECC for 3‐s and CON for 1‐s, while the CON group performed one‐repetition of CON for 3‐s and ECC for 1‐s. All participants were assessed for subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR, myocardial perfusion index) and aortic diastolic pressure decay. Before study, these were found to be same for both groups. Transient (ΔSEVR: 20.3 ± 13.3%, p = 0.01; Δdecay: −0.07 ± 0.02 s−1, p < .001) and regular (ΔSEVR: 18.5 ± 12.8%, p = .001; Δdecay: −0.06 ± 0.05 s−1, p = .004) ECC (but not CON) exercises significantly increased SEVR and decelerated decay. Increased SEVR with ECC exercise was associated with decelerated decay (transient ECC: r2 = 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.95 to −0.10, p = .03; regular ECC: r2 = 0.53, 95% CI = −0.95 to −0.05, p = .04). These findings suggest that ECC exercise improves myocardial perfusion and diastolic pressure contour is involved in physiological mechanisms.
Hybrid‐type, multicomponent interval training upregulates musculoskeletal fitness of adults with overweight and obesity in a volume‐dependent manner: A 1‐year dose‐response randomised controlled trial
Authors: Batrakoulis Alexios , Jamurtas Athanasios Z. , Tsimeas Panagiotis , Poulios Athanasios , Perivoliotis Konstantinos , Syrou Niki , Papanikolaou Konstantinos , Draganidis Dimitrios , Deli Charikleia K. , Metsios Georgios S. , Angelopoulos Theodore J. , Feito Yuri , Fatouros Ioannis G.
Published: January 2022

This study examined the dose‐response effects of a 1‐year hybrid‐type, multicomponent interval training programme (DoIT) on various musculoskeletal fitness parameters in inactive overweight and obese adults in a gym setting. Ninety‐seven middle‐aged (44.8 ± 5.2 years) individuals with overweight/obesity (31.2 ± 5.7 kg/m2) (66% female) were randomly assigned to the following groups: (i) no‐intervention control (CON, n = 29), (ii) DoIT performed once weekly (DoIT‐1, n = 24), (iii) DoIT performed twice weekly (DoIT‐2, n = 23) and (iv) DoIT performed thrice weekly (DoIT‐3, n = 21). DoIT was a time‐efficient, intermittent‐based, multicomponent exercise protocol using progressive loaded fundamental movement patterns with prescribed work‐to‐rest intervals (1:3–2:1) in a circuit format (2–3 rounds). Muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, passive range of motion (PRoM), static balance and functional movement screen (FMS®) were assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months following intervention. At post‐training, all exercise groups exhibited superior changes than CON in (i) muscular strength (+13%–38%, p < 0.001); (ii) muscular endurance (+42%–159%, p < 0.001); (iii) flexibility (+12%–42%, p < 0.001); (iv) PRoM (+6%–50%, p = 0.001–0.026); (v) static balance (+61%–163%, p < 0.001); and (vi) FMS (+18%–39%, p < 0.001). Although a single exercise session/week improved musculoskeletal fitness, changes demonstrated a step‐wise improvement with two and three sessions/week suggesting a dose‐dependent response. The response rate to training was 100% for all exercise groups. These findings suggest that a multicomponent exercise approach incorporating bodyweight drills and resistance‐based alternative modes performed under real‐world conditions may improve several musculoskeletal fitness indicators in a dose‐dependent manner in inactive, middle‐aged adults with overweight/obesity.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03759951.
Twisted quadratic foldings of root systems
Authors: Lanini M. , Zainoulline K.
Published: January 2022

The present paper is devoted to twisted foldings of root systems that generalize the involutive foldings corresponding to automorphisms of Dynkin diagrams. A motivating example is Lusztig’s projection of the root system of typeE8E_8onto the subring of icosians of the quaternion algebra, which gives the root system of typeH4H_4.

By using moment graph techniques for any such folding, a map at the equivariant cohomology level is constructed. It is shown that this map commutes with characteristic classes and Borel maps. Restrictions of this map to the usual cohomology of projective homogeneous varieties, to group cohomology and to their virtual analogues for finite reflection groups are also introduced and studied.
ORI-Deep: improving the accuracy for predicting origin of replication sites by using a blend of features and long short-term memory network
Authors: Shahid Mahwish , Ilyas Maham , Hussain Waqar , Khan Yaser Daanial
Published: January 2022

Replication of DNA is an important process for the cell division cycle, gene expression regulation and other biological evolution processes. It also has a crucial role in a living organism’s physical growth and structure. Replication of DNA comprises of three stages known as initiation, elongation and termination, whereas the origin of replication sites (ORI) is the location of initiation of the DNA replication process. There exist various methodologies to identify ORIs in the genomic sequences, however, these methods have used either extensive computations for execution, or have limited optimization for the large datasets. Herein, a model called ORI-Deep is proposed to identify ORIs from the multiple cell type genomic sequence benchmark data. An efficient method is proposed using a deep neural network to identify ORIs for four different eukaryotic species. For better representation of data, a feature vector is constructed using statistical moments for the training and testing of data and is further fed to a long short-term memory (LSTM) network. To prove the effectiveness of the proposed model, we applied several validation techniques at different levels to obtain seven accuracy metrics, and the accuracy score for self-consistency, 10-fold cross-validation, jackknife and the independent set test is observed to be 0.977, 0.948, 0.976 and 0.977, respectively. Based on the results, it can be concluded that ORI-Deep can efficiently predict the sites of origin replication in DNA sequence with high accuracy. Webserver for ORI-Deep is available at (https://share.streamlit.io/waqarhusain/orideep/main/app.py), whereas source code is available at (https://github.com/WaqarHusain/OriDeep).
STonKGs: a sophisticated transformer trained on biomedical text and knowledge graphs
Authors: Balabin Helena , Hoyt Charles Tapley , Birkenbihl Colin , Gyori Benjamin M , Bachman John , Kodamullil Alpha Tom , Plöger Paul G , Hofmann-Apitius Martin , Domingo-Fernández Daniel
Published: January 2022

Motivation

The majority of biomedical knowledge is stored in structured databases or as unstructured text in scientific publications. This vast amount of information has led to numerous machine learning-based biological applications using either text through natural language processing (NLP) or structured data through knowledge graph embedding models. However, representations based on a single modality are inherently limited.

Results

To generate better representations of biological knowledge, we propose STonKGs, a Sophisticated Transformer trained on biomedical text and Knowledge Graphs (KGs). This multimodal Transformer uses combined input sequences of structured information from KGs and unstructured text data from biomedical literature to learn joint representations in a shared embedding space. First, we pre-trained STonKGs on a knowledge base assembled by the Integrated Network and Dynamical Reasoning Assembler consisting of millions of text-triple pairs extracted from biomedical literature by multiple NLP systems. Then, we benchmarked STonKGs against three baseline models trained on either one of the modalities (i.e. text or KG) across eight different classification tasks, each corresponding to a different biological application. Our results demonstrate that STonKGs outperforms both baselines, especially on the more challenging tasks with respect to the number of classes, improving upon the F1-score of the best baseline by up to 0.084 (i.e. from 0.881 to 0.965). Finally, our pre-trained model as well as the model architecture can be adapted to various other transfer learning applications.

Availability and implementation

We make the source code and the Python package of STonKGs available at GitHub (https://github.com/stonkgs/stonkgs) and PyPI (https://pypi.org/project/stonkgs/). The pre-trained STonKGs models and the task-specific classification models are respectively available at https://huggingface.co/stonkgs/stonkgs-150k and https://zenodo.org/communities/stonkgs.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Preference for animate domain sounds in the fusiform gyrus of blind individuals is modulated by shape–action mapping
Authors: Bola Łukasz , Yang Huichao , Caramazza Alfonso , Bi Yanchao
Published: January 2022

In high-level visual areas in the human brain, preference for inanimate objects is observed regardless of stimulation modality (visual/auditory/tactile) and individual’s visual experience (sighted/blind) whereas preference for animate entities seems robust mainly in the visual modality. Here, we test a hypothesis explaining this domain difference: Object representations can be activated through nonvisual stimulation when their shapes are systematically related to action system representations, a quality typical of most inanimate objects but of only specific animate entities. We studied functional magnetic resonance imaging activations in congenitally blind and sighted individuals listening to animal, object, and human sounds. In blind individuals, the typical location of the fusiform face area preferentially responded to human facial expression sounds clearly related to specific facial actions and resulting face shapes but not to speech or animal sounds. No univariate preference for any sound category was observed in the fusiform gyrus in sighted individuals, but the expected multivoxel effects were present. We conclude that nonvisual signals can activate shape representations of those stimuli—inanimate or animate—for which shape and action computations are transparently related. However, absence of potentially competing visual inputs seems necessary for this effect to be clearly detectable in the case of animate representation.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 Messenger RNA Vaccines Associated With Delayed Onset of Breakthrough Infections and Fewer Radiographic Abnormalities
Authors: Li Xin , Chan Jacky Man Chun , Lam Bosco , Lung David Christopher , Lung Kwok Cheung , Chow Christina Kin Yi , Tam Tracey , Chiu Kelvin Hei Yeung , Hung Ling Lung , Hung Ivan Fan Ngai , Cheng Vincent Chi Chung , To Kelvin Kai Wang , Yuen Kwok Yung
Published: January 2022

This retrospective study of incoming travelers with coronavirus disease 2019 showed that individuals immunized by messenger RNA vaccines had significantly longer postvaccination intervals (median, 30.5 days) to breakthrough infection, lower white blood cell counts and lactate dehydrogenase levels on admission, and fewer radiographic abnormalities than those immunized by inactivated virus vaccine, who paradoxically had lower respiratory viral load.
Investigational Antifungal Agents for Invasive Mycoses: A Clinical Perspective
Authors: Lamoth Frederic , Lewis Russell E , Kontoyiannis Dimitrios P
Published: January 2022

Treatment of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) remains challenging, because of the limitations of the current antifungal agents (ie, mode of administration, toxicity, and drug-drug interactions) and the emergence of resistant fungal pathogens. Therefore, there is an urgent need to expand our antifungal armamentarium. Several compounds are reaching the stage of phase II or III clinical assessment. These include new drugs within the existing antifungal classes or displaying similar mechanism of activity with improved pharmacologic properties (rezafungin and ibrexafungerp) or first-in-class drugs with novel mechanisms of action (olorofim and fosmanogepix). Although critical information regarding the performance of these agents in heavily immunosuppressed patients is pending, they may provide useful additions to current therapies in some clinical scenarios, including IFIs caused by azole-resistant Aspergillus or multiresistant fungal pathogens (eg, Candida auris, Lomentospora prolificans). However, their limited activity against Mucorales and some other opportunistic molds (eg, some Fusarium spp.) persists as a major unmet need.
Early vegetation recovery of a burned Mediterranean forest in relation to post-fire management strategies
Authors: Carrari Elisa , Biagini Patrizio , Selvi Federico
Published: January 2022

The risk of wildfires in the Mediterranean region is expected to increase with climate change. Fire is one of the main drivers of plant diversity and composition, triggering succession processes that vary according to the fire regime and species’ regeneration traits. Human management can modulate these processes to promote the recovery of the burned soil-vegetation system, through the application of practices such as salvage logging. Effects of these managements have been studied mostly for coniferous forests, with contrasting results, while little is known about the responses of evergreen broadleaved woodlands. Here, we analysed the 34-month recovery processes of a Quercus ilex forest and an adjacent Pinus pinaster stand in central Italy with respect to their diversity, composition and plant fire-related traits, in relation to three different management strategies applied after fire. These were: (1) no intervention (NT), (2) salvage logging and mulching (SM and SMP for the pine stand), (3) salvage logging, mulching and erosion control measures (e.g. fascines for hill slope stabilization; EC). Overall, the increase of post-fire vegetation cover was negatively affected by SM and EC treatments, while their effects on ɣ- and α-diversity were positive. Species diversity was significantly lower in pine than in broadleaved plots and compositional differences associated with forest type were significant. Abundance of woody species was higher in the unsalvaged sites, except for a few species (e.g. Q. ilex), while herbaceous plants were not affected. Species composition in managed plots was different from control plots after 10 and 22 months, while differences decreased after 34 months. Effects of management strategies on the frequency of resprouters as well as on the proportion of species with persistent vs transient soil seed bank were minor; these traits were mainly driven by forest type. Our findings suggest that non-treatment is the best post-fire management strategy for a fast recovery of woody species in typical Mediterranean broadleaved forests. However, the EC strategy promoted a high diversity level, while not apparently altering species composition compared with the natural post-fire succession process.
Nordic responses to covid-19 from a health promotion perspective
Authors: Thualagant Nicole , Simonsen Nina , Sarvimäki Anneli , Stenbock-Hult Bettina , Olafsdottir Helga S , Fosse Elisabeth , Torp Steffen , Ringsberg Karin C , Forrinder Ulla , Tillgren Per
Published: January 2022

On 30 January 2020, the disease covid-19 was declared by the World Health Organization to be an international threat to human health and on 11 March 2020, the outbreak was declared a pandemic.

The aim of this study was to analyse policy strategies developed by the five Nordic countries during the first 3 months of the pandemic from a health promotion perspective in order to identify Nordic responses to the crisis. Although the Nordic countries have a long tradition of co-operation as well as similar social welfare policies and legislation, each country developed their own strategies towards the crisis. The strategies identified were analysed from a health promotion perspective emanating from five principles: intersectorality, sustainability, equity, empowerment and a lifecourse perspective.

Denmark, Finland and Norway had lockdowns to varying degrees, whereas Sweden and Iceland had no lockdowns. Iceland implemented a test and tracking strategy from the very beginning. All countries based their recommendations and restrictions on appeals to solidarity and trust in institutions and fellow citizens. The analysis showed that the strategies in all countries could be related to health promotion principles with some differences between the countries especially regarding equity and sustainability. The Nordic governments took responsibility for protecting their citizens by developing policy strategies based on restrictions and recommendations congruent with the principles of health promotion. The findings also identified issues that will pose challenges for future pandemic strategies.
Deleterious Genetic Variation Across the NOD Signaling Pathway Is Associated With Reduced NFKB Signaling Transcription and Upregulation of Alternative Inflammatory Transcripts in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: Ashton James J , Boukas Konstantinos , Stafford Imogen S , Cheng Guo , Haggarty Rachel , Coelho Tracy A F , Batra Akshay , Afzal Nadeem A , Williams Anthony P , Polak Marta E , Beattie R Mark , Ennis Sarah
Published: January 2022

Background

Inflammatory bowel disease may arise with inadequate immune response to intestinal bacteria. NOD2 is an established gene in Crohn’s disease pathogenesis, with deleterious variation associated with reduced NFKB signaling. We hypothesized that deleterious variation across the NOD2 signaling pathway impacts on transcription.

Methods

Treatment-naïve pediatric inflammatory bowel disease patients had ileal biopsies for targeted autoimmune RNA-sequencing and blood for whole exome sequencing collected at diagnostic endoscopy. Utilizing GenePy, a per-individual, per-gene score, genes within the NOD signaling pathway were assigned a quantitative score representing total variant burden. Where multiple genes formed complexes, GenePy scores were summed to create a “complex” score. Normalized transcript expression of 95 genes within this pathway was retrieved. Regression analysis was performed to determine the impact of genomic variation on gene transcription.

Results

Thirty-nine patients were included. Limited clustering of patients based on NOD signaling transcripts was related to underlying genomic variation. Patients harboring deleterious variation in NOD2 had reduced NOD2 (β = -0.702, P = 4.3 × 10-5) and increased NFKBIA (β = 0.486, P = .001), reflecting reduced NFKB signal activation. Deleterious variation in the NOD2-RIPK2 complex was associated with increased NLRP3 (β = 0.8, P = 3.1475 × 10-8) and TXN (β = -0.417, P = 8.4 × 10-5) transcription, components of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Deleterious variation in the TAK1-TAB complex resulted in reduced MAPK14 transcription (β = -0.677, P = 1.7 × 10-5), a key signal transduction protein in the NOD2 signaling cascade and increased IFNA1 (β = 0.479, P = .001), indicating reduced transcription of NFKB activators and alternative interferon transcription in these patients.

Conclusions

Data integration identified perturbation of NOD2 signaling transcription correlated with genomic variation. A hypoimmune NFKB signaling transcription response was observed. Alternative inflammatory pathways were activated and may represent therapeutic targets in specific patients.
Model analysis of energy consumption data for green building using deep learning neural network
Authors: Yu Mingyu , Li Lihong , Guo Zhenxu
Published: January 2022

The purposes are to solve the defects of traditional backpropagation neural network (BPNN), such as inclined local extremum and slow convergence, as well as the incomplete data acquisition of building energy consumption (EC). Firstly, a green building (GB)-oriented EC data generation model based on generative adversarial networks (GANs) is implemented; GAN can learn the hidden laws of raw data and produce enhanced virtual data. Secondly, the GB-oriented EC prediction model based on Levenberg Marquardt-optimized BPNN is implemented and used for building EC prediction. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed model is verified by real building EC data. The results show that the data enhanced by the GAN model can reduce the model prediction error; the optimized BPNN model has lower prediction error and better performance than other models. The purpose of this study is to provide important technical support for the improvement and prediction of GB energy data.
Description of novel microsatellite markers for the giant mud crab Scylla serrata (Forskål, 1775) (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae), with an evaluation for applications in stock structure and parentage assignment
Authors: Renshaw Mark A , Delos Santos Miguel A , Moss Dustin R
Published: January 2022

The giant mud crab, Scylla serrata (Forskål, 1775), is a targeted fishery along its geographic distribution, both for domestic and international markets. Population genetic data, evaluated with genetic markers such as microsatellites, can be used to identify management units (stocks) based on genetic dissimilarities between locations, informing localized management decisions for targeted fisheries. Additionally, microsatellite loci can be used to identify released individuals from stock enhancement programs, while simultaneously monitoring genetic impacts of hatchery-releases on wild populations. We isolated and characterized 16 novel microsatellite markers; fourteen of the markers were further evaluated for population structure among three localities in the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands: Palau, Pohnpei, and Kosrae. The significant genetic differentiation observed between Palau and Kosrae/Pohnpei suggests the newly described markers would be capable of elucidating structure across the broader scope of the geographic distribution of the species. Given the international trade for live mud crab, the evaluation of structure would highlight potential issues regarding the transport of live animals between locations with genetically differentiated stocks. Additionally, a multilocus exclusion probability of 0.999, with as few as three markers, suggests the novel microsatellite markers would be capable of identifying hatchery-sourced individuals as part of a stock enhancement program.
Spatiotemporal Distribution of Two Euschistus spp. Stink Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Southeastern Farmscapes
Authors: Grabarczyk Erin E , Mizell Russell F , Greene Jeremy K , Herzog Gary A , Tillman P Glynn , Cottrell Ted E
Published: January 2022

Stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are ubiquitous, cryptic, phytophagous pests that are found in many crops. In agroecosystems, individuals disperse from adjacent noncrop hosts and tend to aggregate or cluster within fields. In this study, we characterized the distribution of Euschistus servus (Say) and Euschistus tristigmus (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) over 2 yr at three southeastern United States farmscapes. Stink bugs were captured in pheromone-baited traps, and Spatial Analysis by Distance Indices (SADIE) used to identify the location of significant aggregations by habitat type and season. Euschistus servus adults were more likely to be captured in pecan orchards, cotton, other crops, or unmanaged habitats than in woodland habitats. Significant aggregations of E. servus were detected in a variety of habitats including pecan, corn, cotton, peanut, and tobacco, as well as fallow and hay fields, pastures, and hedgerows. Fewer adult E. tristigmus were captured than E. servus adults, and E. tristigmus adults were typically trapped and aggregated in woodland habitats. The resulting data provide an important understanding regarding the seasonal movement and relative abundance levels of stink bug populations, which are critical to the development of integrated pest management strategies.
Post-cholecystectomy clip migration—a unique method of retrieval
Authors: Aaron Ezekiel , Palamuthusingam Pranavan
Published: January 2022

Post-cholecystectomy clip migration with formation of bile duct stones is a known but rare complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This report discusses the case of a 64-year-old lady who presented with biliary colic symptoms 12 years post laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Computed tomography of the abdomen demonstrated one surgical clip located in the distal common bile duct, with a bile stone formed around it. This was removed via ERCP with spyglass cholangioscopy and lithotripsy.
The obliterated ureteric orifice: a nightmare for the pelvic surgeon or a routine-job for the endo-urologist? Case report of a standardized endoscopic approach
Authors: Balakrishnan Sahana S , Kailavasan Mithun M , Alevizopoulos Aristeidis A
Published: January 2022

We present the endoscopic management of two cases of complete ureteric occlusion at vesico-ureteral junction (VUJ) level following iatrogenic injury. Case 1 is a 60-year-old man who developed bilateral ureteric injury at the level of the VUJ following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for Gleason 3 + 4 = 7 T2bN0 prostate cancer. Case 2 is an 81-year-old man with history of recurrent G2pTa transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder originally diagnosed in 2005 and history of radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer. At his most recent transurethral resection of bladder tumour, the left ureteric orifice was not visualized. We describe step-by-step our technique in restoring continuity of the ureter with minimally invasive endoscopic approach, resulting in excellent long-term upper tract drainage for our patients. To our knowledge, combined utilization of a Collins knife to incise the area around the ureteric orifice to unearth them is not reported. We aim to report our technique and its outcomes.
Clinical observations of osteoporosis in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Furuya Takefumi
Published: January 2022

Osteoporosis is one of the major adverse outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, we and others have been reported many clinical observations related to osteoporosis in Japanese RA patients. In this article, I reviewed these findings. Japanese patients with RA have a 2-fold risk of fractures compared with those without RA. Among the fractures in Japanese RA patients, three-quarters of the fractures were non-vertebral fractures. The incidence of non-vertebral fractures did not change, despite an improvement in RA disease activity. Older age, female gender, history of fractures, history of total knee replacements, disease activity scores in 28 joints (DAS28), health assessment questionnaire disability index (HAQ-DI), low bone mineral density, glucocorticoid dose, and vitamin D deficiency were significantly associated with fractures. Older age, high body mass index (BMI), HAQ-DI, and polypharmacy were significantly associated with falls. BMI (both overweight and underweight), DAS28, and HAQ-DI were significantly associated with frailty. Half and three-quarters of Japanese men and women with RA had vitamin D deficiency, respectively. The incidence of osteonecrosis of the jaw may be higher in Japanese RA patients than in those without RA. Undertreatment of osteoporosis appears to exist in Japanese patients with RA.
Mitochondrial DNA copy number as a prognostic marker is age-dependent in adult glioblastoma
Authors: Sourty Baptiste , Dardaud Laure-Marie , Bris Céline , Desquiret-Dumas Valérie , Boisselier Blandine , Basset Laëtitia , Figarella-Branger Dominique , Morel Alain , Sanson Marc , Procaccio Vincent , Rousseau Audrey
Published: January 2022

Background

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive form of glioma. GBM frequently displays chromosome (chr) 7 gain, chr 10 loss and/or EGFR amplification (chr7+/chr10-/EGFRamp). Overall survival (OS) is 15 months after treatment. In young adults, IDH1/2 mutations are associated with longer survival. In children, histone H3 mutations portend a dismal prognosis. Novel reliable prognostic markers are needed in GBM. We assessed the prognostic value of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number in adult GBM.

Methods

mtDNA copy number was assessed using real-time quantitative PCR in 232 primary GBM. Methylation of POLG and TFAM genes, involved in mtDNA replication, was assessed by bisulfite-pyrosequencing in 44 and 51 cases, respectively.

Results

Median age at diagnosis was 56.6 years-old and median OS, 13.3 months. 153/232 GBM (66 %) displayed chr7+/chr10-/EGFRamp, 23 (9.9 %) IDH1/2 mutation, 3 (1.3 %) H3 mutation and 53 (22.8 %) no key genetic alterations. GBM were divided into two groups, “Low” (n = 116) and “High” (n = 116), according to the median mtDNA/nuclear DNA ratio (237.7). There was no significant difference in OS between the two groups. By dividing the whole cohort according to the median age at diagnosis, OS was longer in the “High” vs “Low” subgroup (27.3 vs 15 months, P = .0203) in young adult GBM (n = 117) and longer in the “Low” vs “High” subgroup (14.5 vs 10.2 months, P = .0116) in older adult GBM (n = 115). POLG was highly methylated, whereas TFAM remained unmethylated.

Conclusion

mtDNA copy number may be a novel prognostic biomarker in GBM, its impact depending on age.
Understanding the Emergence of Extreme Right Parties in Portugal in the Late 2010s
Authors: Carvalho João
Published: January 2022

After more than four decades of immunity to the extreme-right party family, this Portuguese exceptionalism came to an end after the electoral breakthrough of the Chega party in the 2019 general elections. Drawing on a case study approach, this article discusses different explanations for the timing of Chega’s emergence in Portuguese mainstream politics in the late 2010s. Considering this late success, Portugal can be seen as a crucial case study to assess the available theories. This investigation employs a popular schema that implies the distinction between explanations focused on ‘demand-side’ factors (the protest voting thesis and the public salience of immigration) from those concerned with ‘supply-side’ factors (the spatial competition theory and internal supply factors). Through the employment of the congruence method, this article highlights the interaction between party-centric factors as a more appropriate explanation for understanding the timing of Chega’s electoral breakthrough than demand-side approaches.
Anandamide Hydrolysis Inhibition Reverses the Long-Term Behavioral and Gene Expression Alterations Induced by MK-801 in Male Rats: Differential CB1 and CB2 Receptor-Mediated Effects
Authors: Bauminger Hagar , Zaidan Hiba , Akirav Irit , Gaisler-Salomon Inna
Published: January 2022

NMDA receptor blockade in rodents is commonly used to induce schizophrenia-like behavioral abnormalities, including cognitive deficits and social dysfunction. Aberrant glutamate and GABA transmission, particularly in adolescence, is implicated in these behavioral abnormalities. The endocannabinoid system modulates glutamate and GABA transmission, but the impact of endocannabinoid modulation on cognitive and social dysfunction is unclear. Here, we asked whether late-adolescence administration of the anandamide hydrolysis inhibitor URB597 can reverse behavioral deficits induced by early-adolescence administration of the NMDA receptor blocker MK-801. In parallel, we assessed the impact of MK-801 and URB597 on mRNA expression of glutamate and GABA markers. We found that URB597 prevented MK-801-induced novel object recognition deficits and social interaction abnormalities in adult rats, and reversed glutamate and GABA aberrations in the prelimbic PFC. URB597-mediated reversal of MK-801-induced social interaction deficits was mediated by the CB1 receptor, whereas the reversal of cognitive deficits was mediated by the CB2 receptor. This was paralleled by the reversal of CB1 and CB2 receptor expression abnormalities in the basolateral amygdala and prelimbic PFC, respectively. Together, our findings show that interfering with NMDA receptor function in early adolescence has a lasting impact on phenotypes resembling the negative symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia and on glutamate and GABA marker expression in the PFC. Prevention of behavioral and molecular abnormalities by late-adolescence URB597 via CB1 and CB2 receptors suggests that endocannabinoid stimulation may have therapeutic potential in addressing treatment-resistant symptoms.
Activation of canonical inflammasome complex by acute silica exposure in experimental rat model
Authors: Niu Yingmei , Yang Shuangli , Hu Xiumei
Published: January 2022

Silicosis is a chronic irreversible pulmonary disease caused by the inhalation of silica crystals in occupational settings in most cases. Persistent inflammation in the alveolar space is considered to be the major reason for tissue damage and lung fibrogenesis. The mechanisms by which silica exposure activates immune cells are not well understood. Here, we employed an in vivo silicosis disease model by intratracheal instillation of a large dose of silica suspension in rats and explored the involvement of inflammasome activation. Marked leukocyte infiltration and edema were observed 3 days following silica exposure in treated animals compared to controls. Using this model, we compared the expression of inflammasome sensors (AIM2 and NLRP3) and effector protein (caspase-1) by western blot and immunohistochemical staining using the lung homogenates and lung tissue sections. Our results demonstrated that following acute silica exposure, AIM2, NLRP3 and caspase-1 expressions were increased in macrophages or/and lung epithelial cells compared to control animals. We also analyzed interleukin 1β expression using lung homogenates, and significant increase in interleukin 1β was observed in 3-day silica-exposed rats. The activation of inflammasome sensors AIM2 and NLRP3 suggested to us that blocking these activators may attenuate silica-associated tissue damage and inflammation.
The skull of Sanajeh indicus, a Cretaceous snake with an upper temporal bar, and the origin of ophidian wide-gaped feeding
Authors: Zaher Hussam , Mohabey Dhananjay M , Grazziotin Felipe G , Wilson Mantilla Jeffrey A
Published: January 2022

Recent phylogenetic analyses differ in their interpretations of the origin and interrelationships of snakes, resulting in polarized views of snake ecology, habit and acquisition of features associated with wide-gaped feeding (macrostomy). Here, we report a new specimen of the Late Cretaceous nest predator Sanajeh indicus that helps to resolve the origin of macrostomy. The new specimen preserves an ossified upper temporal bar and a posteriorly expanded otooccipital region that lacks a free-ending supratemporal bone and retains a lizard-like palatomaxillary arch that allows limited movements during swallowing. Phylogenetic analyses of a large-scale total evidence dataset resolve Sanajeh near the base of Pan-Serpentes, as the sister group of Najash, Dinilysia and crown-group Serpentes. The Cretaceous Tetrapodophis and Coniophis represent the earliest-diverging members of Pan-Serpentes. The Cretaceous hindlimbed pachyophiids and Cenozoic Australian ‘madtsoiids’ are inside crown Alethinophidia, whereas mosasaurs are recovered invariably within anguimorphs. Our results suggest that the wide-gape condition in mosasaurs and snakes might have evolved independently, as functionally distinct mechanisms of prey ingestion. The intermediate morphology preserved in Sanajeh indicates that ingestion of large prey items (macrophagy) preceded wide-gaped, unilateral feeding (macrostomy), which appeared 35 Myr later, in the common ancestor of pachyophiids, Cenozoic Australian ‘madtsoiids’ and alethinophidians.
DNA-Based Quantification ofFusarium oxysporumf. sp.vasinfectumin Environmental Soils to Describe Spatial Variation in Inoculum Density
Authors: Davis Roy L. , Isakeit Thomas , Chappell Thomas M.
Published: January 2022

Fusarium wilt of cotton, caused by the soilborne fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (FOV), occurs in regions of the United States where cotton (Gossypium spp.) is grown. Race 4 of this pathogen (FOV4) is especially aggressive, and does not require the co-occurrence of the root knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) to infect cotton. Its sudden appearance in far-west Texas in 2016 after many years of being restricted to California is of great concern, as is the threat of its continued spread through the cotton-producing regions of the United States. The aim of this research was to analyze the spatial variability of FOV4 inoculum density in the location where FOV4 is locally emerging, using quantitative and droplet digital PCR methods. Soil samples collected from a field with known FOV4 incidence in Fabens, Texas, were analyzed. Appreciable variation in inoculum density was found to occur at spatial scales smaller than the size of plots involved in cultivar trial research, and was spatially autocorrelated (Moran’s I, Z = 17.73, P < 0.0001). These findings indicate that, for cultivar trials, accounting for the spatial distribution of inoculum, either by directly quantifying it or through the use of densely distributed calibration checks, is important to the interpretation of results.
Aggressiveness of Small-Spored Alternaria spp. and Their Sensitivity to Succinate Dehydrogenase Inhibitor Fungicides
Authors: Budde-Rodriguez Sarah , Pasche Julie S. , Shahoveisi Fereshteh , Mallik Ipsita , Gudmestad Neil C.
Published: January 2022

Brown leaf spot of potato is caused by a number of small-spored Alternaria spp. Alternaria alternata sensu stricto, A. arborescens, and A. tenuissima have been reported with increasing frequency in commercial potato fields. Potato cultivars with resistance to small-spored Alternaria spp. have yet to be developed; therefore, the application of foliar fungicides is a primary management strategy. Greenhouse inoculation assays demonstrated that isolates of these three small-spored Alternaria spp. were pathogenic. Significant differences in aggressiveness were observed across isolates; however, there was no trend in aggressiveness based on species. Significant fungicide by isolate interactions in in vitro fungicide sensitivity and significant differences between baseline and nonbaseline isolates were observed in all three small-spored Alternaria spp. The ranges of in vitro sensitivity of A. alternata baseline isolates to boscalid (EC50 <0.010 to 0.89 µg/ml), fluopyram (<0.010 to 1.14 µg/ml) and solatenol (<0.010 to 1.14 µg/ml) were relatively wide when compared with adepidyn (<0.010 to 0.023 µg/ml). The baseline sensitivities of A. arborescens and A. tenuissima isolates to all four fungicides were <0.065 µg/ml. Between 10 and 21% of nonbaseline A. alternata isolates fell outside the baseline range established for the four succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicides evaluated. In A. arborescens, 10 to 80% of nonbaseline isolates had higher sensitivities than the baseline. A. tenuissima isolates fell outside the baseline for boscalid (55%), fluopyram (14%), and solatenol (14%), but none fell outside the baseline range for adepidyn. Evaluations of in vivo fungicide efficacy demonstrated that most isolates were equally controlled by the four SDHI fungicides. However, reduced boscalid efficacy was observed for four isolates (two each of A. arborescens and A. tenuissima) and reduced fluopyram control was observed in one A. alternata isolate. Results of these studies demonstrate that isolates of all three species could be contributing to the brown leaf spot pathogen complex and that monitoring both species diversity and fungicide sensitivity could be advantageous for the management of brown leaf spot in potatoes with SDHI fungicides.
Outcomes of a senior RN student virtual clinical practicum
Authors: Letourneau Rayna M. , Halstead Valerie
Published: January 2022

Closing the academic-practice gap during a global pandemic
Identifying pediatric malnutrition using STRONGkids
Authors: Coop Kathryn , Potthoff Meghan
Published: January 2022

Pediatric malnutrition can impact a patient's length of hospital stay, rates of infection and complications, cognitive development, and overall quality of life. This article compares nutritional screening tools to determine their efficiency and reliability in identifying patients with increased malnutrition risk at the time of hospital admission.
Strategies to improve nurses' stress response during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Meehan Carolyn D. , Schlamb Cheryl D. , Nair Julie McCulloh
Published: January 2022

Pandemic-related stress factors have been profoundly impacting the wellness of nurses, resulting in job burnout, moral distress, and some nurses deciding to leave the profession. This article examines strategies to identify stressors and develop self-care and coping skills.
LncRNA GAS5 promotes abdominal aortic aneurysm formation through regulating the miR-185-5p/ADCY7 axis
Authors: Wang Yulong , Zhai Shuiting , Xing Jianwu , He Yingkun , Li Tianxiao
Published: January 2022

One of the causes of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells. Many long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs) have been implicated in AAA formation. However, the mechanism of growth arrest-specific 5 (GAS5) in AAA formation is not yet clear. The expression levels of GAS5, microRNA-185-5p (miR-185-5p) and adenylate cyclase 7 (ADCY7) were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Angiotensin II (ANGII) was used to induce AAA cell models. Cell viability was detected by MTT assay, and cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was used to test the protein expression levels. Besides, a dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to identify the mechanism of GAS5. GAS5 was upregulated in AAA tissues and ANGII-induced human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs). GAS5 overexpression inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis and inflammatory response in ANGII-induced HASMCs, while its knockdown had the opposite effects. MiR-185-5p could be absorbed by GAS5, and its inhibitor could invert the effects of GAS5 silencing on proliferation, apoptosis and inflammatory response in ANGII-induced HASMCs. ADCY7 was a target of miR-185-5p. ADCY7 knockdown increased proliferation, while decreased apoptosis and inflammatory response in ANGII-induced HASMCs. Also, overexpressed ADCY7 reversed the effect of miR-185-5p overexpression on proliferation, apoptosis and inflammatory response in ANGII-induced HASMCs. GAS5 positively regulated the ADCY7 expression to inhibit the activity of the AKT signaling pathway by sponging miR-185-5p. LncRNA GAS5 contributed to AAA formation through regulating HASMCs proliferation, apoptosis and inflammatory response, which might provide new ideas for the treatment of AAA.
Pediatric Osteoarticular Infections Caused by Mycobacteria Tuberculosis Complex: A 26-Year Review of Cases in San Diego, CA
Authors: Drobish Ian , Ramchandar Nanda , Raabe Vanessa , Pong Alice , Bradley John , Cannavino Christopher
Published: January 2022

Background:

Osteoarticular infections (OAIs) account for 10%–20% of extrapulmonary Mycobacteria tuberculosis (MTB) complex infections in children and 1%–2% of all pediatric tuberculosis infections. Treatment regimens and durations typically mirror recommendations for other types of extrapulmonary MTB, but there are significant variations in practice, with some experts suggesting a treatment course of 12 months or longer.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective review of children diagnosed with MTB complex OAI and cared for between December 31, 1992, and December 31, 2018, at a tertiary care pediatric hospital near the United States–Mexico border.

Results:

We identified 21 children with MTB complex OAI during the study period. Concurrent pulmonary disease (9.5%), meningitis (9.5%), and intra-abdominal involvement (14.3%) were all observed. MTB complex was identified by culture from operative samples in 15/21 children (71.4%); 8/15 (53.3%) cultures were positive for Mycobacterium bovis. Open bone biopsy was the most common procedure for procurement of a tissue sample and had the highest culture yield. The median duration of antimicrobial therapy was 52 weeks (interquartile range, 46–58). Successful completion of therapy was documented in 15 children (71.4%). Nine children (42.9%) experienced long-term sequelae related to their infection.

Conclusion:

Among the 21 children with MTB complex OAI assessed, 8 of 15 (53.3%) children with a positive tissue culture had M. bovis, representing a higher percentage than in previous reports and potentially reflecting its presence in unpasteurized dairy products in the California-Baja region. Bone biopsy produced the highest culture yield in this study. Given the rarity of this disease, multicenter collaborative studies are needed to improve our understanding of the presentation and management of pediatric MTB complex OAI.
Differences in Image Quality after Three Laser Keratorefractive Procedures for Myopia
Authors: Sarkar Samrat , Devi Preetirupa , Vaddavalli Pravin Krishna , Reddy Jagadesh C. , Bharadwaj Shrikant R.
Published: January 2022

SIGNIFICANCE

Psychophysical estimates of spatial and depth vision have been shown to be better after bilateral ReLEx small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) refractive surgery for myopia, relative to photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK). The present study provides the optical basis for these findings using computational image quality analysis.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to compare longitudinal changes in higher-order wavefront aberrations and image quality before and after bilateral PRK, FS-LASIK, and SMILE refractive procedures for correcting myopia.

METHODS

Wavefront aberrations and image quality of both the eyes of 106 subjects (n = 40 for FS-LASIK and SMILE and n = 26 for PRK) were determined pre-operatively and at 1-week, 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month post-operative intervals using computational through-focus analysis for a 6-mm pupil diameter. Image quality was quantified in terms of its peak value and its interocular difference, residual defocus that was needed to achieve peak image quality (best focus), and the depth of focus.

RESULTS

The increase in root mean squared deviations of higher-order aberrations post-operatively was lesser after SMILE (1-month visit median [25th to 75th interquartile range], 0.34 μm (0.28 to 0.39 μm]) than after PRK (0.80 μm [0.74 to 0.87 μm]) and FS-LASIK (0.74 μm [0.59 to 0.83 μm]; P ≤ .001), all relative to pre-operative values (0.20 μm [0.15 to 0.30 μm]). The peak image quality dropped and its interocular difference increased, best focus shifted myopically by 0.5 to 0.75 D, and depth of focus widened significantly after PRK and FS-LASIK surgeries, all relative to pre-operative values (P < .001). All these changes were negligible but statistically significant in a minority of instances after SMILE surgery (P ≥ .01).

CONCLUSIONS

Although all three refractive surgeries correct myopia, the image quality and its similarity between eyes are better and closer to pre-operative values after SMILE, compared with FS-LASIK and PRK. These results can be explained from the underlying increase in higher-order wavefront aberrations experienced by the eye post-operatively.