bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From Tragedy to Resilience in a University Hospital: Characteristics of Patients in the Aftermath of the 2023 Turkey Earthquake
Authors: Taşkın Ömer , Dişel Nezihat Rana
Published: April 2024

Objective:

This study focuses on adults affected by the February 2023 Turkey earthquakes, aiming to uncover demographic and clinical traits.

Methods:

A retrospective analysis of data from adult patients who sought emergency care between February 6 and February 21, 2023, following the earthquakes, was conducted.

Results:

Among 3072 patients, 1544 (50.3%) of whom were women, trauma (31.1%) was the most prevalent cause of emergency department presentations. The median age of all patients was 44 y (interquartile range [IQR] 31-61 y). Hatay province accounted for 65.2% of trauma patients as origin. Most of the patients (66.8%) presented to the emergency department by their own means, while this was opposite for trauma patients, of whom 54.5% was transferred by means of Ambulance Service. Half of the total trauma patients were rescued from the debris, and 75.9% sustained limb injuries. Crush syndrome affected 24.7%, and emergency hemodialysis was performed on 9.1%, whereas emergency surgery was performed on 22.8% of all trauma cases. Overall, 10.2% of trauma patients lacked any identification. The rate of emergency department admittions due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases was higher at the time of the earthquake compared with the previous year (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

The insights gained from this study hold valuable implications for disaster response strategies, emphasizing the importance of preparedness, timely intervention, and comprehensive patient care.
Trauma diagnostic-related target proteins and their detection techniques
Authors: Wei YiLiu , Ren Xiaohan , Yuan Zhitao , Hong Jie , Wang Tao , Chen Weizhi , Xu Yuqing , Ding Jinwang , Lin Jun , Jiang Wenqian , Zhang Peng , Wu Qiaoyi
Published: April 2024

Trauma is a significant health issue that not only leads to immediate death in many cases but also causes severe complications, such as sepsis, thrombosis, haemorrhage, acute respiratory distress syndrome and traumatic brain injury, among trauma patients. Target protein identification technology is a vital technique in the field of biomedical research, enabling the study of biomolecular interactions, drug discovery and disease treatment. It plays a crucial role in identifying key protein targets associated with specific diseases or biological processes, facilitating further research, drug design and the development of treatment strategies. The application of target protein technology in biomarker detection enables the timely identification of newly emerging infections and complications in trauma patients, facilitating expeditious medical interventions and leading to reduced post-trauma mortality rates and improved patient prognoses. This review provides an overview of the current applications of target protein identification technology in trauma-related complications and provides a brief overview of the current target protein identification technology, with the aim of reducing post-trauma mortality, improving diagnostic efficiency and prognostic outcomes for patients.
Solidaristic Listening
Authors: Jones Janet , Fulfer Katy
Published: April 2024

Storytelling in solidaristic communities can foster agency and challenge oppression. However, power imbalances among community members can undermine that potential by contributing to the production of loneliness, where a person loses their sense of self and their sense of belonging within the solidaristic community. To prevent loneliness and to protect the liberatory potential of storytelling, we consider how what we call solidaristic listening might be supported. We first consider, but ultimately reject, empathy as a central feature of solidaristic listening. Despite its popularity in feminist philosophy, empathy is often unable to maintain the relational distance needed between conversation partners to appreciate their differences. Instead, we suggest an ongoing embodied, relational approach to foster solidaristic listening. We draw on three philosophical ideas to motivate our account: visiting the perspectives of others (Arendt 1992), visiting as a reciprocal exchange that requires multiple trips (Simpson 2017), and solidarity as traveling together (Medina 2013).
The assessment of dietary carotenoid intake of the Cardio-Med FFQ using food records and biomarkers in an Australian cardiology cohort: a pilot validation
Authors: Kucianski Teagan , Mayr Hannah L. , Tierney Audrey , Vally Hassan , Thomas Colleen J. , Karimi Leila , Wood Lisa G. , Itsiopoulos Catherine
Published: April 2024

Dietary carotenoids are associated with lower risk of CHD. Assessment of dietary carotenoid intake using questionnaires can be susceptible to measurement error. Consequently, there is a need to validate data collected from FFQs which measure carotenoid intake. This study aimed to assess the performance of the Cardio-Med Survey Tool (CMST)-FFQ-version 2 (v2) as a measure of dietary carotenoid intake over 12-months against plasma carotenoids biomarkers and 7-Day Food Records (7DFR) in an Australian cardiology cohort. Dietary carotenoid intakes (β- and α-carotene, lycopene, β-cryptoxanthin and lutein/zeaxanthin) were assessed using the 105-item CMST-FFQ-v2 and compared to intakes measured by 7DFR and plasma carotenoid concentrations. Correlation coefficients were calculated between each dietary method, and validity coefficients (VCs) were calculated between each dietary method and theoretical true intake using the ‘methods of triads’. Thirty-nine participants aged 37–77 years with CHD participated in the cross-sectional study. The correlation between FFQ and plasma carotenoids were largest and significant for β-carotene (0.39, p=0.01), total carotenoids (0.37, p=0.02) and β-cryptoxanthin (0.33, p=0.04), with weakest correlations observed for α-carotene (0.21, p=0.21) and lycopene (0.21, p=0.21). The FFQ VCs were moderate (0.3–0.6) or larger for all measured carotenoids. The strongest were observed for total carotenoids (0.61) and β-carotene (0.59), while the weakest were observed for α-carotene (0.33) and lycopene (0.37). In conclusion, the CMST-FFQ-v2 measured dietary carotenoids intakes with moderate confidence for most carotenoids, however, there was less confidence in ability to measure α-carotene and lycopene intake, thus further research is warranted using a larger sample.
A mathematical model of semantic access in lexical and semantic decisions
Authors: Chaigneau Sergio E. , Marchant Nicolás , Canessa Enrique , Aldunate Nerea
Published: April 2024

In this work, we use a mathematical model of the property listing task dynamics and test its ability to predict processing time in semantic and lexical decision tasks. The study aims at exploring the temporal dynamics of semantic access in these tasks and showing that the mathematical model captures essential aspects of semantic access, beyond the original task for which it was developed. In two studies using the semantic and lexical decision tasks, we used the mathematical model’s coefficients to predict reaction times. Results showed that the model was able to predict processing time in both tasks, accounting for an independent portion of the total variance, relative to variance predicted by traditional psycholinguistic variables (i.e., frequency, familiarity, concreteness imageability). Overall, this study provides evidence of the mathematical model’s validity and generality, and offers insights regarding the characterization of concrete and abstract words.
Uniqueness of ground states to fractional nonlinear elliptic equations with harmonic potential
Authors: Gou Tianxiang
Published: April 2024

In this paper, we prove the uniqueness of ground states to the following fractional nonlinear elliptic equation with harmonic potential,

\[ (-\Delta)^s u+ \left(\omega+|x|^2\right) u=|u|^{p-2}u \quad \mbox{in}\ \mathbb{R}^n, \]

where

$n \geq 1$

,

$0< s<1$

,

$\omega >-\lambda _{1,s}$

,

$2< p< {2n}/{(n-2s)^+}$

,

$\lambda _{1,s}>0$

is the lowest eigenvalue of

$(-\Delta )^s + |x|^2$

. The fractional Laplacian

$(-\Delta )^s$

is characterized as

$\mathcal {F}((-\Delta )^{s}u)(\xi )=|\xi |^{2s} \mathcal {F}(u)(\xi )$

for

$\xi \in \mathbb {R}^n$

, where

$\mathcal {F}$

denotes the Fourier transform. This solves an open question in [M. Stanislavova and A. G. Stefanov. J. Evol. Equ. 21 (2021), 671–697.] concerning the uniqueness of ground states.
Impact ofAphis pomi-tendingFormica rufa(Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on biological parameters ofHippodamia variegata(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
Authors: Mir Arshid Ahmad , Khursheed Sheikh , Hussain Barkat , Dhekale Bhagyashree , Rather GH Hassan , Padder Bilal A. , Itoo Hamidullah , Bhat Zahoor Ahmad , Mir Mohd Amin , Shah Rafiq A.
Published: April 2024

One of the key reasons for the poor performance of natural enemies of honeydew-producing insect pests is mutualism between ants and some aphid species. The findings demonstrated that red wood ant,Formica rufaLinnaeus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) had a deleterious impact on different biological parameters of the lady beetle,Hippodamia variegataGoeze (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae).H. variegatalaid far fewer eggs in ant-tended aphid colonies, laying nearly 2.5 times more eggs in ant absence. Ants antennated and bit the lady beetle eggs, resulting in significantly low egg hatching of 66 per cent over 85 per cent in ant absent treatments. The presence of ants significantly reduced the development of all larval instars. The highest reduction was found in the fourth larval instar (31.33% reduction), and the lowest in the first larval instar (20% reduction). Later larval instars were more aggressively attacked by ants than earlier instars. The first and second larval instars stopped their feeding and movement in response to ant aggression. The third and fourth larval instars modified their mobility, resulting in increased ant aggression towards them. Adult lady beetles were shown to be more vulnerable to ant attacks than larvae. However,H. variegataadults demonstrated counterattacks in the form of diverse defensive reaction behaviours in response toF. rufaaggression.
The apple of God's eye: a biblical account of holiness
Authors: Lebens Samuel
Published: April 2024

In this article, an exercise in Jewish philosophy, I propose a taxonomy that can account for and organize all of the many species of holiness that we find in the Hebrew Bible. Each species admits of precise definition. Moreover, the genus as a whole can be unified by a guiding metaphor, suggested by the Bible itself. Holiness, according to this metaphor, is bestowed by a certain type of gaze, and ultimately by occupying the centre of the field of God's attention.
Bilingual oral language development among dual language immersion students: Use of a Bayesian approach with language learning progressions
Authors: Ryan Ève , Botter Preston , Luna Michelle L. , Bailey Alison L. , Darriet Clémence
Published: April 2024

The dual language development of dual language immersion (DLI) students, although often examined at the domain level (e.g., listening or reading), remains understudied for more specific skills (e.g., word, sentence, or discourse). This study examines the eleven-month progression of oral language skills in a picture description task in two languages (French and English) for early-elementary (Transitional Kindergarten through first grade) DLI students (N= 42). Using Bayesian methods, which estimate parameters using both the data and prior information, we describe French and English growth patterns as measured by learning progressions whose focus is on language features at the word, sentence, and discourse levels. For French oral language, we found evidence of meaningful positive linear growth for all language features, whereas for English oral language, meaningful linear positive growth was only detected for sophistication of topic vocabulary. Overall, coming from a French-speaking household was associated with steeper French oral language trajectories, but coming from an English-only household did not specifically impact English oral language trajectories. In both languages, grade level influenced the trajectories of some—but not all—features. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications, advocating for a language progression approach in instruction and research on bilingualism.
Crosslinguistic influence in bilingual morphosyntactic processing: Effects of language-common, language-contrasting, and language-specific information
Authors: Kim Hyunwoo
Published: April 2024

This study investigated how second language (L2) learners process the Korean numeral quantifier construction by using transferable and nontransferable information. For Chinese-speaking learners of Korean (Chinese group), agreement between an honorific numeral quantifier and a noun in Korean constitutes transferable information in the canonical structure and nontransferable L2-specific information in the scrambled structure. For Japanese-speaking learners of Korean (Japanese group), this information gives rise to crosslinguistic conflicts in both structures. The results from a self-paced reading task showed that the Japanese group did not exhibit sensitivity to grammatical errors in both structures, whereas the Chinese group detected the agreement violation in the canonical but not in the scrambled structure. When a context sentence was provided to license scrambling in the test sentence, however, another group of Chinese-speaking learners of Korean showed sensitivity to the violation. These findings suggest varying degrees of crosslinguistic influence in L2 sentence processing.
Trends (2014–2018) in the healthiness of packaged food purchases of Australian consumers before and after the introduction of voluntary Health Star Rating nutrition labels
Authors: Seenivasan Satheesh , Nagpal Anish , Thomas Dominic , Sacks Gary
Published: April 2024

Objective:

To evaluate the trends in the healthiness of packaged food purchases of Australian consumers before and after the introduction of the Health Star Rating (HSR) nutrition labels.

Design:

Panel data analysis and difference-in-differences analysis.

Setting:

The Australian Government endorsed HSR nutrition labels for voluntary implementation on packaged foods in June 2014. We analyse the packaged food purchases of households across all major supermarkets before (January 2014 to June 2014) and after (June 2014–Dec 2018) the introduction of HSR.

Participants:

6284 members of a panel of households across Australia reporting their grocery purchases to a market research company (Nielsen Homescan panel).

Results:

The healthiness of household food purchases exhibited a U-shaped trend – decreasing from 2014 to 2017, and then increasing from 2018, corresponding to the time when a higher proportion of products were HSR-labelled. Households that purchased a higher proportion of HSR-labelled products had healthier household purchases overall. Further, the healthiness of households’ category-specific food purchases was positively associated with the proportion of HSR-labelled products in categories where HSR was adopted, relative to control categories where HSR was not adopted.

Conclusions:

In Australia, once a substantial number of packaged food products adopted the voluntary HSR summary indicator, we observed an increasing trend in the healthiness of household food purchases. Widespread adoption of a nutrition summary indicator, such as HSR, on packaged food is likely to be beneficial for population health.
Understanding mental health service needs and treatment characteristics for Latin American immigrants and refugees: A focus on CBT strategies for reducing acculturative stress
Authors: Nagy Gabriela A. , Zhan Chanel , Salcedo Rossitch Stephanie , Stafford Allison M. , Mendoza Andrea , Reyes Norma F. , Gonzalez-Guarda Rosa
Published: April 2024

Acculturative stress is a key social driver of health impacting the mental health of immigrants and refugees from Latin America, which contributes to inequities experienced by them. While there is a robust scientific literature describing and evaluating evidence-based treatments targeting a range of psychiatric disorders, these treatments often do not primarily target acculturative stress. Thus, the present study examined how psychotherapists ought to treat acculturative stress directly in their clinical practice. Ten therapists were interviewed using a qualitative descriptive approach. Rapid contemporary content analysis was used to describe Latino/Hispanic immigrants’ most common presenting problems, the context in which they provide care for these problems, and the psychotherapeutic approaches currently utilized or considered effective in mitigating acculturative stress. Findings revealed that common mental health conditions that therapists addressed among this population, including depression, anxiety and trauma-related somatization, including the unique context in which therapy was delivered. Additionally, specific strategies for addressing acculturative stress such as the importance of acknowledging this stressor, drawing out immigration journey narratives, and behavioural activation approaches were shared. The results from this study can be used to improve the effectiveness of mental health interventions addressing acculturative stress among immigrant and refugee populations.

Key learning aims

(1)

To explore how acculturative stress represents a key driver of mental health for immigrants and refugees from Latin America.

(2)

To consider ways that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) elements can be applied to treating acculturative stress and mental health problems among immigrants and refugees from Latin America.

(3)

To expand upon strategies that can be helpful in rapport-building and establishing trust with patients who are struggling with acculturative stress.
Die Welt wird auf den Kopf gestellt: Wie Eltern von Kindern mit Spina Bifida die Transition erleben
Authors: Wattinger Alexandra , Seliner Brigitte
Published: April 2024

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Das Erwachsenwerden des Kindes mit Spina bifida (SB) erfordert die Transition von der kindzentrierten in die erwachsenenorientierte Gesundheitsversorgung. Der Transitionsprozess (TP) verlangt Anpassungen der elterlichen Rolle, wobei Gesundheitsfachpersonen in der Begleitung der Familien eine zentrale Rolle einnehmen. Unklar ist, wie die Eltern den TP in Zeiten komplexer Veränderungen erleben und welcher Unterstützungsbedarf sich daraus ergibt. Ziel: Die Erfahrungen von Eltern in verschiedenen Phasen des TP zu verstehen und daraus Unterstützungsmaßnahmen abzuleiten. Methode: In dieser qualitativen Studie wurden mittels halbstrukturierten, leitfadengestützten Interviews die Erfahrungen von Eltern mit Kind mit SB vor und während des TP sowie nach dem Transfer eruiert. Die Analyse der zehn Interviews erfolgte durch offene und axiale Kodierung in Anlehnung an die Grounded Theory nach Strauss & Corbin (1996) . Ergebnisse: Der TP ist im Kontext der Gesundheit, der Schule und der Familie zu betrachten. Die Eltern erleben den TP als ein Kontinuum der Neuorientierung. Dieses ist von ambivalenten Gefühlen geprägt. So möchten die Eltern zwar Verantwortung abgeben, ihr Kind aber gleichzeitig weiterhin umfassend schützen. Schlussfolgerungen: Gesundheitsfachpersonen sollten das Ausmaß der Veränderung durch den TP und die ambivalenten Gefühle der Eltern anerkennen und sie im Umgang damit unterstützen. Kontinuierliche Begleitung, Koordination und Information durch Advanced Practice Fachpersonen stärken Eltern im TP und sind für deren Sicherheitsgefühl von zentraler Bedeutung.
Top-Down Modulation of Motor Priming by Belief About Animacy
Authors: Cracco Emiel , Liepelt Roman , Brass Marcel , Genschow Oliver
Published: April 2024

Abstract: Research has shown that people automatically imitate others and that this tendency is stronger when the other person is a human compared with a nonhuman agent. However, a controversial question is whether automatic imitation is also modulated by whether people believe the other person is a human. Although early research supported this hypothesis, not all studies reached the same conclusion and a recent meta-analysis found that there is currently neither evidence in favor nor against an influence of animacy beliefs on automatic imitation. One of the most prominent studies supporting such an influence is the study by Liepelt and Brass (2010) , who found that automatic imitation was stronger when participants believed an ambiguous, gloved hand to be human, as opposed to wooden. In this registered report, we provide a high-powered replication of this study ( N = 199). In contrast to Liepelt and Brass (2010) , we did not find an effect of animacy beliefs on automatic imitation. However, we did find a correlation between automatic imitation and perceived self-other similarity. Together, these results suggest that the gloved hand procedure does not reliably influence automatic imitation, but interindividual differences in perceived similarity do.
Fault Maturity or Orientation: Which Matters More for Quakes?
Authors: Stanley Sarah
Published: April 2024

Close examination of a 2021 earthquake on the Tibetan Plateau provides hints that, counter to prior assumptions, the influence of fault orientation can sometimes trump that of maturity.
Impact of genetic predisposition to late-onset neurodegenerative diseases on early life outcomes and brain structure
Authors: Ogonowski Natalia S. , García-Marín Luis M. , Fernando Amali S. , Flores-Ocampo Victor , Rentería Miguel E.
Published: April 2024

Most patients with late-onset neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s have a complex aetiology resulting from numerous genetic risk variants of small effects located across the genome, environmental factors, and the interaction between genes and environment. Over the last decade, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and post-GWAS analyses have shed light on the polygenic architecture of these diseases, enabling polygenic risk scores (PRS) to estimate an individual’s relative genetic liability for presenting with the disease. PRS can screen and stratify individuals based on their genetic risk, potentially years or even decades before the onset of clinical symptoms. An emerging body of evidence from various research studies suggests that genetic susceptibility to late-onset neurodegenerative diseases might impact early life outcomes, including cognitive function, brain structure and function, and behaviour. This article summarises recent findings exploring the potential impact of genetic susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases on early life outcomes. A better understanding of the impact of genetic susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases early in life could be valuable in disease screening, detection, and prevention and in informing treatment strategies before significant neural damage has occurred. However, ongoing studies have limitations. Overall, our review found several studies focused on APOE haplotypes and Alzheimer’s risk, but a limited number of studies leveraging polygenic risk scores or focused on genetic susceptibility to other late-onset conditions.
System-level time computation and representation in the suprachiasmatic nucleus revealed by large-scale calcium imaging and machine learning
Authors: Wang Zichen , Yu Jing , Zhai Muyue , Wang Zehua , Sheng Kaiwen , Zhu Yu , Wang Tianyu , Liu Mianzhi , Wang Lu , Yan Miao , Zhang Jue , Xu Ying , Wang Xianhua , Ma Lei , Hu Wei , Cheng Heping
Published: April 2024

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the mammalian central circadian pacemaker with heterogeneous neurons acting in concert while each neuron harbors a self-sustained molecular clockwork. Nevertheless, how system-level SCN signals encode time of the day remains enigmatic. Here we show that population-level Ca2+ signals predict hourly time, via a group decision-making mechanism coupled with a spatially modular time feature representation in the SCN. Specifically, we developed a high-speed dual-view two-photon microscope for volumetric Ca2+ imaging of up to 9000 GABAergic neurons in adult SCN slices, and leveraged machine learning methods to capture emergent properties from multiscale Ca2+ signals as a whole. We achieved hourly time prediction by polling random cohorts of SCN neurons, reaching 99.0% accuracy at a cohort size of 900. Further, we revealed that functional neuron subtypes identified by contrastive learning tend to aggregate separately in the SCN space, giving rise to bilaterally symmetrical ripple-like modular patterns. Individual modules represent distinctive time features, such that a module-specifically learned time predictor can also accurately decode hourly time from random polling of the same module. These findings open a new paradigm in deciphering the design principle of the biological clock at the system level.
The soluble (pro)renin receptor promotes a preeclampsia-like phenotype both in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Schofield Lachlan G. , Delforce Sarah J. , Pryor Jennifer C. , Endacott Saije K. , Lumbers Eugenie R. , Marshall Sarah A. , Pringle Kirsty G.
Published: April 2024

Preeclampsia is classified as new-onset hypertension coupled with gross endothelial dysfunction. Placental (pro)renin receptor ((P)RR) and plasma soluble (P)RR (s(P)RR) are elevated in patients with preeclampsia. Thus, we aimed to interrogate the role (P)RR may play in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Human uterine microvascular endothelial cells (HUtMECs, n = 4) were cultured with either; vehicle (PBS), 25–100 nM recombinant s(P)RR, or 10 ng/ml TNF-a (positive control) for 24 h. Conditioned media and cells were assessed for endothelial dysfunction markers via qPCR, ELISA, and immunoblot. Angiogenic capacity was assessed through tube formation and adhesion assays. Additionally, pregnant rats were injected with an adenovirus overexpressing s(P)RR from mid-pregnancy (day 8.5), until term (n = 6–7 dams/treatment). Maternal and fetal tissues were assessed. HUtMECs treated with recombinant s(P)RR displayed increased expression of endothelial dysfunction makers including vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intracellular adhesion molecule-1, and endothelin-1 mRNA expression (P = 0.003, P = 0.001, P = 0.009, respectively), along with elevated endothelin-1 protein secretion (P < 0.001) compared with controls. Recombinant s(P)RR impaired angiogenic capacity decreasing the number of branches, total branch length, and mesh area (P < 0.001, P = 0.004, and P = 0.009, respectively), while also increasing vascular adhesion (P = 0.032). +ADV rats exhibited increased systolic (P = 0.001), diastolic (P = 0.010), and mean arterial pressures (P = 0.012), compared with -ADV pregnancies. Renal arteries from +ADV-treated rats had decreased sensitivity to acetylcholine-induced relaxation (P = 0.030), compared with -ADV pregnancies. Our data show that treatment with s(P)RR caused hypertension and growth restriction in vivo and caused marked endothelial dysfunction in vitro. These findings demonstrate the significant adverse actions of s(P)RR on vascular dysfunction that is characteristic of the preeclamptic phenotype.
Nardilysin-regulated scission mechanism activates polo-like kinase 3 to suppress the development of pancreatic cancer
Authors: Fu Jie , Ling Jianhua , Li Ching-Fei , Tsai Chi-Lin , Yin Wenjuan , Hou Junwei , Chen Ping , Cao Yu , Kang Ya’an , Sun Yichen , Xia Xianghou , Jiang Zhou , Furukawa Kenei , Lu Yu , Wu Min , Huang Qian , Yao Jun , Hawke David H. , Pan Bih-Fang , Zhao Jun , Huang Jiaxing , Wang Huamin , Bahassi E. I. Mustapha , Stambrook Peter J. , Huang Peng , Fleming Jason B. , Maitra Anirban , Tainer John A. , Hung Mien-Chie , Lin Chunru , Chiao Paul J.
Published: April 2024

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) develops through step-wise genetic and molecular alterations including Kras mutation and inactivation of various apoptotic pathways. Here, we find that development of apoptotic resistance and metastasis of KrasG12D-driven PDAC in mice is accelerated by deleting Plk3, explaining the often-reduced Plk3 expression in human PDAC. Importantly, a 41-kDa Plk3 (p41Plk3) that contains the entire kinase domain at the N-terminus (1-353 aa) is activated by scission of the precursor p72Plk3 at Arg354 by metalloendopeptidase nardilysin (NRDC), and the resulting p32Plk3 C-terminal Polo-box domain (PBD) is removed by proteasome degradation, preventing the inhibition of p41Plk3 by PBD. We find that p41Plk3 is the activated form of Plk3 that regulates a feed-forward mechanism to promote apoptosis and suppress PDAC and metastasis. p41Plk3 phosphorylates c-Fos on Thr164, which in turn induces expression of Plk3 and pro-apoptotic genes. These findings uncover an NRDC-regulated post-translational mechanism that activates Plk3, establishing a prototypic regulation by scission mechanism.
Deficiency of the HGF/Met pathway leads to thyroid dysgenesis by impeding late thyroid expansion
Authors: Fang Ya , Wan Jia-Ping , Wang Zheng , Song Shi-Yang , Zhang Cao-Xu , Yang Liu , Zhang Qian-Yue , Yan Chen-Yan , Wu Feng-Yao , Lu Sang-Yu , Sun Feng , Han Bing , Zhao Shuang-Xia , Dong Mei , Song Huai-Dong
Published: April 2024

The mechanisms of bifurcation, a key step in thyroid development, are largely unknown. Here we find three zebrafish lines from a forward genetic screening with similar thyroid dysgenesis phenotypes and identify a stop-gain mutation inhgfaand two missense mutations inmetby positional cloning from these zebrafish lines. The elongation of the thyroid primordium along the pharyngeal midline was dramatically disrupted in these zebrafish lines carrying a mutation inhgfaormet. Further studies show that MAPK inhibitor U0126 could mimic thyroid dysgenesis in zebrafish, and the phenotypes are rescued by overexpression of constitutively active MEK or Snail, downstream molecules of the HGF/Met pathway, in thyrocytes. Moreover, HGF promotes thyrocyte migration, which is probably mediated by downregulation ofE-cadherinexpression. The delayed bifurcation of the thyroid primordium is also observed in thyroid-specific Met knockout mice. Together, our findings reveal that HGF/Met is indispensable for the bifurcation of the thyroid primordium during thyroid development mediated by downregulation ofE-cadherinin thyrocytes via MAPK-snail pathway.
Structural basis for dimerization of a paramyxovirus polymerase complex
Authors: Xie Jin , Ouizougun-Oubari Mohamed , Wang Li , Zhai Guanglei , Wu Daitze , Lin Zhaohu , Wang Manfu , Ludeke Barbara , Yan Xiaodong , Nilsson Tobias , Gao Lu , Huang Xinyi , Fearns Rachel , Chen Shuai
Published: April 2024

The transcription and replication processes of non-segmented, negative-strand RNA viruses (nsNSVs) are catalyzed by a multi-functional polymerase complex composed of the large protein (L) and a cofactor protein, such as phosphoprotein (P). Previous studies have shown that the nsNSV polymerase can adopt a dimeric form, however, the structure of the dimer and its function are poorly understood. Here we determine a 2.7 Å cryo-EM structure of human parainfluenza virus type 3 (hPIV3) L–P complex with the connector domain (CD′) of a second L built, while reconstruction of the rest of the second L–P obtains a low-resolution map of the ring-like L core region. This study reveals detailed atomic features of nsNSV polymerase active site and distinct conformation of hPIV3 L with a unique β-strand latch. Furthermore, we report the structural basis of L–L dimerization, with CD′ located at the putative template entry of the adjoining L. Disruption of the L–L interface causes a defect in RNA replication that can be overcome by complementation, demonstrating that L dimerization is necessary for hPIV3 genome replication. These findings provide further insight into how nsNSV polymerases perform their functions, and suggest a new avenue for rational drug design.
Enhancing NSCLC recurrence prediction with PET/CT habitat imaging, ctDNA, and integrative radiogenomics-blood insights
Authors: Sujit Sheeba J. , Aminu Muhammad , Karpinets Tatiana V. , Chen Pingjun , Saad Maliazurina B. , Salehjahromi Morteza , Boom John D. , Qayati Mohamed , George James M. , Allen Haley , Antonoff Mara B. , Hong Lingzhi , Hu Xin , Heeke Simon , Tran Hai T. , Le Xiuning , Elamin Yasir Y. , Altan Mehmet , Vokes Natalie I. , Sheshadri Ajay , Lin Julie , Zhang Jianhua , Lu Yang , Behrens Carmen , Godoy Myrna C. B. , Wu Carol C. , Chang Joe Y. , Chung Caroline , Jaffray David A. , Wistuba Ignacio I. , Lee J. Jack , Vaporciyan Ara A. , Gibbons Don L. , Heymach John , Zhang Jianjun , Cascone Tina , Wu Jia
Published: April 2024

While we recognize the prognostic importance of clinicopathological measures and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), the independent contribution of quantitative image markers to prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains underexplored. In our multi-institutional study of 394 NSCLC patients, we utilize pre-treatment computed tomography (CT) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) to establish a habitat imaging framework for assessing regional heterogeneity within individual tumors. This framework identifies three PET/CT subtypes, which maintain prognostic value after adjusting for clinicopathologic risk factors including tumor volume. Additionally, these subtypes complement ctDNA in predicting disease recurrence. Radiogenomics analysis unveil the molecular underpinnings of these imaging subtypes, highlighting downregulation in interferon alpha and gamma pathways in the high-risk subtype. In summary, our study demonstrates that these habitat imaging subtypes effectively stratify NSCLC patients based on their risk levels for disease recurrence after initial curative surgery or radiotherapy, providing valuable insights for personalized treatment approaches.
KSNP: a fast de Bruijn graph-based haplotyping tool approaching data-in time cost
Authors: Zhou Qian , Ji Fahu , Lin Dongxiao , Liu Xianming , Zhu Zexuan , Ruan Jue
Published: April 2024

Long reads that cover more variants per read raise opportunities for accurate haplotype construction, whereas the genotype errors of single nucleotide polymorphisms pose great computational challenges for haplotyping tools. Here we introduce KSNP, an efficient haplotype construction tool based on the de Bruijn graph (DBG). KSNP leverages the ability of DBG in handling high-throughput erroneous reads to tackle the challenges. Compared to other notable tools in this field, KSNP achieves at least 5-fold speedup while producing comparable haplotype results. The time required for assembling human haplotypes is reduced to nearly the data-in time.
Noncanonical assembly, neddylation and chimeric cullin–RING/RBR ubiquitylation by the 1.8 MDa CUL9 E3 ligase complex
Authors: Horn-Ghetko Daniel , Hopf Linus V. M. , Tripathi-Giesgen Ishita , Du Jiale , Kostrhon Sebastian , Vu D. Tung , Beier Viola , Steigenberger Barbara , Prabu J. Rajan , Stier Luca , Bruss Elias M. , Mann Matthias , Xiong Yue , Schulman Brenda A.
Published: April 2024

Ubiquitin ligation is typically executed by hallmark E3 catalytic domains. Two such domains, ‘cullin–RING’ and ‘RBR’, are individually found in several hundred human E3 ligases, and collaborate with E2 enzymes to catalyze ubiquitylation. However, the vertebrate-specific CUL9 complex with RBX1 (also called ROC1), of interest due to its tumor suppressive interaction with TP53, uniquely encompasses both cullin–RING and RBR domains. Here, cryo-EM, biochemistry and cellular assays elucidate a 1.8-MDa hexameric human CUL9–RBX1 assembly. Within one dimeric subcomplex, an E2-bound RBR domain is activated by neddylation of its own cullin domain and positioning from the adjacent CUL9–RBX1 in trans. Our data show CUL9 as unique among RBX1-bound cullins in dependence on the metazoan-specific UBE2F neddylation enzyme, while the RBR domain protects it from deneddylation. Substrates are recruited to various upstream domains, while ubiquitylation relies on both CUL9’s neddylated cullin and RBR domains achieving self-assembled and chimeric cullin–RING/RBR E3 ligase activity.
A document-level information extraction pipeline for layered cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries
Authors: Gou Yuxiao , Zhang Yiping , Zhu Jian , Shu Yidan
Published: April 2024

Natural language processing techniques enable extraction of valuable information from large amounts of published literature for the application of data science and technology, i.e. machine learning in the field of materials science. Nevertheless, the automated extraction of data from full-text documents remains a complex task. We propose a document-level natural language processing pipeline for literature extraction of comprehensive information on layered cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries. The pipeline enhances entity recognition with contextual supplementary information while capturing the article structure. Finally, a heuristic multi-level relationship extraction algorithm is employed in relation extraction to extract experimental parameters and complex performance relationships respectively. We successfully extracted a comprehensive dataset containing 5265 records from 1747 documents, encompassing essential information such as chemical composition, synthesis parameters, and electrochemical properties. By implementing our pipeline, we have made significant progress in overcoming the challenges associated with data scarcity in battery informatics. The extracted datasets provide a valuable resource for further research and development in the field of layered cathode materials.
A bicoherence approach to analyze multi-dimensional cross-frequency coupling in EEG/MEG data
Authors: Basti Alessio , Nolte Guido , Guidotti Roberto , Ilmoniemi Risto J. , Romani Gian Luca , Pizzella Vittorio , Marzetti Laura
Published: April 2024

We introduce a blockwise generalisation of the Antisymmetric Cross-Bicoherence (ACB), a statistical method based on bispectral analysis. The Multi-dimensional ACB (MACB) is an approach that aims at detecting quadratic lagged phase-interactions between vector time series in the frequency domain. Such a coupling can be empirically observed in functional neuroimaging data, e.g., in electro/magnetoencephalographic signals. MACB is invariant under orthogonal trasformations of the data, which makes it independent, e.g., on the choice of the physical coordinate system in the neuro-electromagnetic inverse procedure. In extensive synthetic experiments, we prove that MACB performance is significantly better than that obtained by ACB. Specifically, the shorter the data length, or the higher the dimension of the single data space, the larger the difference between the two methods.
Anticancer, antioxidant, and antibacterial activity of chemically fingerprinted extract from Cyclamen persicum Mill.
Authors: Al-Rimawi Fuad , Khalid Mahmoud , Salah Zaidoun , Zawahreh Malak A. A. , Alnasser Sulaiman Mohammed , Alshammari Shifaa O. , Wedian Fadel , Karimulla Shaik , Almutairi Abdulrahman , Alanazi Fadi Ibrahim B. , Alanazi Hamad Owijan , Al-Mazaideh Ghassab M. , Nafidi Hiba-Allah , Salamatullah Ahmad Mohammad , Mekonnen Amare Bitew , Bourhia Mohammed
Published: April 2024

In the last few decades, researchers have thoroughly studied the use of plants in Palestine, one of them is Cyclamen persicum Mill. (C. persicum). Cyclamen persicum has been historically cultivated since the 1700s due to its tuber. The tuber is known to stimulate the nasal receptors, thus triggering the sensory neurons. Cyclamen persicum has anti-inflammatory effects, reduces cholesterol levels, treats diabetes, and inhibits tumor growth. In this respect, in-vitro examination of antibacterial and anticancer activities and antioxidative potency of C. persicum ethanolic extract were evaluated. The antioxidative potency of the extracted plant material was determined spectrophotometrically using the DPPH free radical scavenging method and the HPLC–PDA method to evaluate its total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC). The experimental results demonstrated limited antibacterial activity of C. persicum extract against both gram negative (E. coli) and gram positive (Streptococcus and S. aureus) bacterial strains, with the observed zones of inhibition measuring less than 8 mm. On the other hand, powerful activity against MCF7 breast cancer as well as HT29 colon cancer cell lines was obtained. The findings also revealed potent inhibition of free radicals and the presence of maximal levels of natural products such as phenolic compounds and flavonoids, which supportits biological activities and powerful ability to scavenge free radicals. HPLC results showed the presence of numerous flavonoid and phenolic compounds such as rutin, chlorogenic acid, kaempferol, trans-cinnamic acid, quercetin, sinapic acid, and p-coumaric acid.
Using Mendelian randomization provides genetic insights into potential targets for sepsis treatment
Authors: Xia Rui , Sun Meng , Yin Jing , Zhang Xu , Li Jianhua
Published: April 2024

Sepsis is recognized as a major contributor to the global disease burden, but there is a lack of specific and effective therapeutic agents. Utilizing Mendelian randomization (MR) methods alongside evidence of causal genetics presents a chance to discover novel targets for therapeutic intervention. MR approach was employed to investigate potential drug targets for sepsis. Pooled statistics from IEU-B-4980 comprising 11,643 cases and 474,841 controls were initially utilized, and the findings were subsequently replicated in the IEU-B-69 (10,154 cases and 454,764 controls). Causal associations were then validated through colocalization. Furthermore, a range of sensitivity analyses, including MR-Egger intercept tests and Cochran's Q tests, were conducted to evaluate the outcomes of the MR analyses. Three drug targets (PSMA4, IFNAR2, and LY9) exhibited noteworthy MR outcomes in two separate datasets. Notably, PSMA4 demonstrated not only an elevated susceptibility to sepsis (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.20–1.45, p = 1.66E−08) but also exhibited a robust colocalization with sepsis (PPH4 = 0.74). According to the present MR analysis, PSMA4 emerges as a highly encouraging pharmaceutical target for addressing sepsis. Suppression of PSMA4 could potentially decrease the likelihood of sepsis.
Design of efficient binary multiplier architecture using hybrid compressor with FPGA implementation
Authors: Thamizharasan V. , Parthipan V.
Published: April 2024

In signal processing applications, the multipliers are essential component of arithmetic functional units in many applications, like digital signal processors, image/video processing, Machine Learning, Cryptography and Arithmetic & Logical units (ALU). In recent years, Profuse multipliers are there. In that, Vedic multiplier is one of the high-performance multiplications and it is used to signal/image processing applications. In order to ameliorate the performance of this multiplier further, by proposed a novel multiplier using hybrid compressor. The proposed hybrid compressor-based multiplier is designed and implemented in Field programmable Gate Array (FPGA—spartan 6). The synthesis result shows that the speed of proposed hybrid compressor-based multiplier gets improved as compared to Array multiplier (35.83%), Wallace tree multiplier (34.58%), Vedic Multiplier based on Carry look ahead adder (CLA) (28.49%), Vedic Multiplier based on Ripple carry adder (RCA) (20.65%), Booth Multiplication (21.65%) and Vedic Multiplication based on Han-Carlson Adder (HCA) (20.10%) and Hybrid multiplier using Carry Select Adder (CSELA) (17.81%) and Hybrid Vedic Multiplier (7.15%).
Slow response of surface water temperature to fast atmospheric variability reveals mixing heterogeneity in a deep lake
Authors: Amadori Marina , Bresciani Mariano , Giardino Claudia , Dijkstra Henk A.
Published: April 2024

Slow and long-term variations of sea surface temperature anomalies have been interpreted as a red-noise response of the ocean surface mixed layer to fast and random atmospheric perturbations. How fast the atmospheric noise is damped depends on the mixed layer depth. In this work we apply this theory to determine the relevant spatial and temporal scales of surface layer thermal inertia in lakes. We fit a first order auto-regressive model to the satellite-derived Lake Surface Water Temperature (LSWT) anomalies in Lake Garda, Italy. The fit provides a time scale, from which we determine the mixed layer depth. The obtained result shows a clear spatial pattern resembling the morphological features of the lake, with larger values (7.18± 0.3 m) in the deeper northwestern basin, and smaller values (3.18 ± 0.24 m) in the southern shallower basin. Such variations are confirmed by in-situ measurements in three monitoring points in the lake and connect to the first Empirical Orthogonal Function of satellite-derived LSWT and chlorophyll-a concentration. Evidence from our case study open a new perspective for interpreting lake-atmosphere interactions and confirm that remotely sensed variables, typically associated with properties of the surface layers, also carry information on the relevant spatial and temporal scales of mixed-layer processes.
Identifying influential nodes based on the disassortativity and community structure of complex network
Authors: Wang Zuxi , Huang Ruixiang , Yang Dian , Peng Yuqiang , Zhou Boyun , Chen Zhong
Published: April 2024

The complex networks exhibit significant heterogeneity in node connections, resulting in a few nodes playing critical roles in various scenarios, including decision-making, disease control, and population immunity. Therefore, accurately identifying these influential nodes that play crucial roles in networks is very important. Many methods have been proposed in different fields to solve this issue. This paper focuses on the different types of disassortativity existing in networks and innovatively introduces the concept of disassortativity of the node, namely, the inconsistency between the degree of a node and the degrees of its neighboring nodes, and proposes a measure of disassortativity of the node (DoN) by a step function. Furthermore, the paper analyzes and indicates that in many real-world network applications, such as online social networks, the influence of nodes within the network is often associated with disassortativity of the node and the community boundary structure of the network. Thus, the influential metric of node based on disassortativity and community structure (mDC) is proposed. Extensive experiments are conducted in synthetic and real networks, and the performance of the DoN and mDC is validated through network robustness experiments and immune experiment of disease infection. Experimental and analytical results demonstrate that compared to other state-of-the-art centrality measures, the proposed methods (DoN and mDC) exhibits superior identification performance and efficiency, particularly in non-disassortative networks and networks with clear community structures. Furthermore, we find that the DoN and mDC exhibit high stability to network noise and inaccuracies of the network data.