bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Application of QuantiFERON ELISA for Detection of Interferon-Gamma Autoantibodies in Adult-Onset Immunodeficiency Syndrome
Authors: Khositnithikul Rommanee , Laisuan Wannada , Setthaudom Chavachol , Sriwanichrak Kanchana , Kunakorn Mongkol , Srikhirin Toemsak , Lumjiaktase Putthapoom , Vongsakulyanon Apirom
Published: April 2021

Objective

Patients who develop interferon-gamma autoantibodies (IFN-ɤ autoAbs) in adult-onset immunodeficiency (AOID) syndrome are more likely to develop opportunistic and recurrent intracellular infections. The assay to detect IFN-ɤ autoAbs is essential for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of AOID syndrome. Therefore, this study applied the QuantiFERON assay for the detection of IFN-ɤ autoAbs.

Methods

Serum from patients with AOID syndrome (n = 19) and serum from healthy patients (n = 20) was collected and applied using 2 neutralizing platforms of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (the BD ELISA and the QuantiFERON ELISA) for IFN-ɤ autoAbs detection.

Results

The pooled serum from patients with AOID syndrome showed >50% inhibition at 1:5000 dilution (positive), whereas the pooled serum from healthy patients showed <50% inhibition at 1:5000 dilution (negative) according to the neutralizing QuantiFERON ELISA. Each specimen showed the same result according to both the neutralizing BD ELISA and the neutralizing QuantiFERON ELISA. Moreover, the patient serum showed a variation in titer ranging from 1:5000 to >1:5,000,000 according to the neutralizing QuantiFERON ELISA.

Conclusion

The QuantiFERON ELISA kit could be applied for the detection of IFN-ɤ autoAbs for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of AOID syndrome.
An adaptive mesh, GPU-accelerated, and error minimized special relativistic hydrodynamics code
Authors: Tseng Po-Hsun , Schive Hsi-Yu , Chiueh Tzihong
Published: April 2021

We present a new special relativistic hydrodynamics (SRHD) code capable of handling coexisting ultra-relativistically hot and non-relativistically cold gases. We achieve this by designing a new algorithm for conversion between primitive and conserved variables in the SRHD solver, which incorporates a realistic ideal-gas equation of state covering both the relativistic and non-relativistic regimes. The code can handle problems involving a Lorentz factor as high as 106 and optimally avoid the catastrophic cancellation. In addition, we have integrated this new SRHD solver into the code gamer (https://github.com/gamer-project/gamer) to support adaptive mesh refinement and hybrid OpenMP/MPI/GPU parallelization. It achieves a peak performance of 7 × 107 cell updates per second on a single Tesla P100 GPU and scales well to 2048 GPUs. We apply this code to two interesting astrophysical applications: (a) an asymmetric explosion source on the relativistic blast wave and (b) the flow acceleration and limb brightening of relativistic jets.
EFFECTIVE DOSE AND EFFECT OF DOSE MODULATION FOR LOCALIZER RADIOGRAPHS USING APPLIED AND ALTERNATIVE SETTINGS ON TOSHIBA/CANON CT SYSTEMS
Authors: Svahn Tony M , Ast Jennifer C
Published: April 2021

The purpose was to estimate the effective dose of Toshiba/Canon thorax localizer radiographs for available parameter settings, and to test their dose modulation ability. Localizer radiographs were acquired of anthropomorphic chest phantoms (body mass indices 29 and 23) using various settings (120–80 kV, 100–10 mA). The milliamperes values were compared from resulting helical scan data. Effective dose was computed for two computed tomography (CT) scanners (Aquilion Prime and One Genesis) using a Monte Carlo-based software. For the smaller phantom, all curves were superimposed. For the larger phantom, most curves were also superimposed, except for the one generated from the lowest parameters. The Aquilion Prime system yielded an effective dose of 0.40/0.56 mSv (male/female) using the default parameters. The localizer radiograph dose could be reduced by >90% without affecting the dose modulation. The dose was further reduced by 30–50% in the One Genesis CT system due to improved beam filtration.
Author’s Response: Targeting Treatments to Health Disparities
Authors: Hunter Sharon K , Hoffman M Camille , McCarthy Lizbeth , D’Alessandro Angelo , Wyrwa Anna , Noonan Kathleen , Christians Uwe , Nakimuli-Mpungu Etheldreda , Zeisel Steven H , Law Amanda J , Freedman Robert
Published: April 2021

These initial data suggest that with prenatal vitamins and choline supplements, we might decrease one risk factor associated with poorer health outcomes disproportionally affecting Black families, ie, preterm birth. Dissemination of this research fulfills the principle of Justice in the Belmont Report, to ensure that participants from different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups receive benefits from research directed to their specific problems.
CVA-Flow novel telestroke system preliminary trial: reliability in determining NIHSS for acute ischemic stroke
Authors: Mor Saban , Anner Moskovitz , Sona Ohanian , Anna Reznik , Marc Ribo , Rotem Sivan-Hoffmann
Published: April 2021

Background

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is the most recommended tool for objectively quantifying the impairment caused by a suspected stroke. Nevertheless, it is used almost solely by trained neurologists in the emergency departments (ED) setting. CVA-Flow (CVAid medical Ltd., Tel-Aviv, Israel) is a smartphone-based Telestroke system that captures the full NIHSS by video and enables a distant stroke physician to assess the patient’s neurological status, bringing forward the NIHSS to the pre-hospital setting.

Objective

We aimed to compare the reliability of an NIHSS score determined by a neurologist from afar, using the CVA-Flow platform, with a standard NIHSS assessment performed in the ED).

Methods

In this multi-center prospective trial, Patients admitted to the ED in Rambam hospital in Haifa, Israel, and Vall d’Hebron hospital (VdH) in Barcelona, Spain, had a neurological exam based on the NIHSS while being recorded by the system. A neurologist blinded to the results rated the NIHSS according to the videos offline.

Results

A total of 95 patients with a suspected stroke were included. Overall ICC was 0.936 (0.99 in VdH and 0.84 in Rambam), indicating excellent and good reliability, respectively.

Conclusion

Remote stroke assessment based on the NIHSS, using videos collected by the CVA-Flow platform, installed on a standard smartphone, is a reliable measurement as compared with bedside evaluation.
Companionship for women using English maternity services during COVID-19: National and organisational perspectives
Authors: Thomson Gill , Balaam Marie-Clare , Nowland Rebecca , Crossland Nicola , Moncrieff Gill , Heys Stephanie , Sarian Arni , Cull Joanne , Downe Soo ,   ASPIRE-COVID19 Collaborative Group
Published: April 2021

Objectives

To explore the impact of COVID-19 on companionship for women using maternity services in England, as part of the Achieving Safe and Personalised maternity care In Response to Epidemics (ASPIRE COVID-19 UK) study.

Setting

Maternity care provision in England.

Participants

Interviews were held with 26 national governmental, professional, and service-user organisation leads including representatives from the Royal College of Midwives, NHS England, Birthrights and AIMS (July-Dec). Other data included public-facing outputs logged from 25 maternity Trusts (Sept/Oct) and data extracted from 78 documents from 8 key governmental, professional and service-user organisations that informed national maternity care guidance and policy (Feb-Dec).

Results

Six themes emerged: ‘Postcode lottery of care’ highlights variations in companionship practices, ‘Confusion and stress around ‘rules’’ relates to a lack of and variable information concerning companionship, ‘Unintended consequences’ concerns the negative impacts of restricted companionship on service-users and staff, ‘Need for flexibility’ highlights concerns about applying companionship policies irrespective of need, ‘‘Acceptable’ time for support’ highlights variations in when and if companionship was ‘allowed’ antenatally and intrapartum; and ‘Loss of human rights for gain in infection control’ emphasizes how a predominant focus on infection control was at a cost to psychological safety and women’s human rights.

Conclusions

Policies concerning companionship have been inconsistently applied within English maternity services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In some cases, policies were not justified by the level of risk, and were applied indiscriminately regardless of need. This was associated with psychological harms for some women and staff. There is an urgent need to determine how to balance risks and benefits sensitively and flexibly and to optimise outcomes during the current and future crisis situations.

Strengths and limitations of this study

This is the first paper to consider links between policy and practice in companionship in maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic;

Data triangulation across stakeholders, policy and practice provides nuanced and context related perspectives on why and how companionship was impacted;

Stakeholders included representatives from all key agencies involved in maternity care;

Practice related issues were collected from the maternity Trust website and social media-based public facing information, which may or may not reflect actual care practices;

The study does not include information directly reported by parents and healthcare professionals.
RNA degradation analysis reveals ribosome dynamics in complex microbiome samples
Authors: Huch Susanne , Nersisyan Lilit , Ropat Maria , Barret Donal , Wang Jing , Huerta-Cepas Jaime , Wei Wu , Steinmetz Lars M , Engstrand Lars , Pelechano Vicent
Published: April 2021

Post-transcriptional regulation is essential for life, yet we are currently unable to investigate its role in complex microbiome samples. Here we discover that co-translational mRNA degradation, where the degradation machinery follows the last translating ribosome, is conserved across prokaryotes. By investigating 5’P mRNA decay intermediates, we obtainin vivoribosome protection information that allows the study of codon and gene specific ribosome stalling in response to stress and drug treatment at single nucleotide resolution. We use this approach to investigatein vivospecies-specific ribosome footprints of clinical and environmental microbiomes and show for the first time that ribosome protection patterns can be used to phenotype microbiome perturbations. Our work paves the way for the study of the metatranslatome, and enables the investigation of fast, species-specific, post-transcriptional responses to environmental and chemical perturbations in unculturable microbial communities.
A CENH3 mutation promotes meiotic exit and restores fertility in SMG7-deficient Arabidopsis
Authors: Capitao Claudio , Tanasa Sorin , Fulnecek Jaroslav , Raxwal Vivek K. , Akimcheva Svetlana , Bulankova Petra , Mikulkova Pavlina , Lermontova Inna , Scheid Ortrun Mittelsten , Riha Karel
Published: April 2021

Meiosis in angiosperm plants is followed by mitotic divisions to form multicellular haploid gametophytes. Termination of meiosis and transition to gametophytic development is, in Arabidopsis, governed by a dedicated mechanism that involves SMG7 and TDM1 proteins. Mutants carrying thesmg7-6allele are semi-fertile due to reduced pollen production. We found that instead of forming tetrads,smg7-6pollen mother cells undergo multiple rounds of chromosome condensation and spindle assembly at the end of meiosis, resembling aberrant attempts to undergo additional meiotic divisions. A suppressor screen uncovered a mutation in centromeric histone H3 (CENH3) that increased fertility and promoted meiotic exit insmg7-6plants. The mutation led to inefficient splicing of the CENH3 mRNA and a substantial decrease of CENH3, resulting in smaller centromeres. The reduced level of CENH3 delayed formation of the mitotic spindle but did not have an apparent effect on plant growth and development. We suggest that impaired spindle re-assembly at the end of meiosis limits aberrant divisions insmg7-6plants and promotes formation of tetrads and viable pollen. Furthermore, the reduced level of CENH3 did not induce haploid plants in crosses with wild plants, indicating that differences in centromere size is not the key determinant of centromere-mediate genome elimination.
Uhrf1 governs the proliferation and differentiation of muscle satellite cells
Authors: Sakai Hiroshi , Sawada Yuichiro , Tokunaga Naohito , Nakagawa So , Sakakibara Iori , Ono Yusuke , Fukada So-ichiro , Kikugawa Tadahiko , Saika Takashi , Imai Yuuki
Published: April 2021

DNA methylation is an essential form of epigenetic regulation responsible for cellular identity. In muscle stem cells, termed satellite cells, DNA methylation patterns are tightly regulated during differentiation. However, it is unclear how these DNA methylation patterns are maintained. We demonstrate that a key epigenetic regulator, ubiquitin like with PHD and RING finger domains 1 (Uhrf1), is activated in proliferating myogenic cells but not expressed in quiescent or differentiated myogenic cells in mice. Ablation of Uhrf1 in mouse satellite cells impairs their proliferation and differentiation, leading to failed muscle regeneration. Loss of Uhrf1 in satellite cells alters transcriptional programs, leading to DNA hypomethylation with activation of Cdkn1a and Notch signaling. Although down-regulation of Cdkn1a rescued proliferation but not differentiation, inhibition of Notch signaling rescued impaired differentiation of Uhrf1-deficient satellite cells. These findings point to Uhrf1 as a regulator of self-renewal and differentiation of satellite cells via genome-wide DNA methylation patterning.
Intergenerational Stress Transmission is Associated with Brain
Metabotranscriptome Remodeling and Mitochondrial Dysfunction
Authors: Alhassen Sammy , Chen Siwei , Alhassen Lamees , Phan Alvin , Khoudari Mohammad , De Silva Angele , Barhoosh Huda , Wang Zitong , Parrocha Chelsea , Shapiro Emily , Henrich Charity , Wang Zicheng , Mutesa Leon , Baldi Pierre , Abbott Geoffrey W. , Alachkar Amal
Published: April 2021

Intergenerational stress increases lifetime susceptibility to depression and
other psychiatric disorders. Whether intergenerational stress transmission is a
consequence of in utero neurodevelopmental
disruptions vs early-life mother-infant interaction is largely unknown. Here, we
demonstrated that exposure to traumatic stress in mice during pregnancy, through
predator scent exposure, induces in the offspring social deficits and
depressive-like behavior. We found, through cross-fostering experiments, that
raising of normal pups by traumatized mothers produced a similar behavioral
phenotype to that induced in pups raised by their biological traumatized
mothers. Good caregiving (by non-traumatized mothers), however, did not
completely protect against the prenatal trauma-induced behavioral deficits.
These findings support a two-hit stress mechanism of both in
utero and early-life parenting (poor caregiving by the
traumatized mothers) environments. Associated with the behavioral deficits, we
found profound changes in brain metabolomics and transcriptomic
(metabotranscriptome). Striking increases in the mitochondrial hypoxia marker
and epigenetic modifier 2-hydroxyglutaric acid, in the brains of neonatal and
adult pups whose mothers were exposed to stress during pregnancy, indicated
mitochondrial metabolism dysfunctions and epigenetic mechanisms. Bioinformatic
analyses revealed mechanisms involving stress- and hypoxia-response metabolic
pathways in the brains of the neonatal mice, which appear to lead to
long-lasting alterations in mitochondrial-energy metabolism, and epigenetic
processes pertaining to DNA and chromatin modifications. Most strikingly, we
demonstrated that an early pharmacological intervention that can correct
mitochondria metabolism - lipid metabolism and epigenetic modifications with
acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) supplementation - produces long-lasting protection
against the behavioral deficits associated with intergenerational transmission
of traumatic stress.
Genetic mechanisms for tissue-specific essential genes
Authors: Dvir Elad , Shohat Shahar , Shifman Sagiv
Published: April 2021

Genetic diseases often manifest in specific tissues despite having the genetic risk variants in all cells. The most commonly assumed mechanism is selective expression of the causal gene in the pathogenic tissues, but other mechanisms are less explored. Using CRISPR screens from 789 cell lines and 27 lineages, we identified 1274 lineage-specific essential genes (LSEGs). We show that only a minority of LSEGs are explained by preferential expression (n = 115), and a big proportion of them (n = 509) is explained by lineage-specific gene amplification. Three other mechanisms were identified by genome-wide expression analysis. First, lineage-specific expression of paralogs leads to reduced functional redundancy and can account for 153 LSEGs. Second, for 45 LSEGs, the paralog expression increases vulnerability, implying functional codependency. Third, we suggest that the transfer of small molecules to mutant cells could explain blood-specific essentiality. Overall, LSEGs were more likely to be associated with human diseases than common essential genes, were highly intolerant to mutations and function in developmental pathways. Analysis of diverse human cell types found that the expression specificity of LSEGs and their paralogs is consistent with preferential expression and functional redundancy being a general phenomenon. Our findings offer important insights into genetic mechanisms for tissue specificity of human diseases.
Chromosome-level genome assembly and transcriptome- based annotation of the oleaginous yeastRhodotorula toruloidesCBS 14
Authors: Martín-Hernández Giselle C. , Müller Bettina , Chmielarz Mikołaj , Brandt Christian , Hölzer Martin , Viehweger Adrian , Passoth Volkmar
Published: April 2021

Rhodotorula toruloidesis an oleaginous yeast with high biotechnological potential. In order to understand the molecular physiology of lipid synthesis inR. toruloidesand to advance metabolic engineering, a high-resolution genome is required. We constructed a genome draft ofR. toruloidesCBS 14, using a hybrid assembly approach, consisting of short and long reads generated by Illumina and Nanopore sequencing, respectively. The genome draft consists of 23 contigs and 3 scaffolds, with a N50 length of 1,529,952 bp, thus largely representing chromosomal organization. The total size is 20,534,857 bp with a GC content of 61.83%. Transcriptomic data from different growth conditions was used to aid species-specific gene annotation. In total we annotated 9,464 genes and identified 11,691 transcripts. Furthermore, we demonstrated the presence of a potential plasmid, an extrachromosomal circular structure of about 11 kb with a copy number about three times as high as the other chromosomes.

Significance

This obtained high-quality draft genome provides the suitable framework needed for genetic manipulations, and future studies of lipid metabolism and evolution of oleaginous yeasts. The identified extrachromosomal circular DNA may be useful for developing efficient episomal vectors for the manipulation ofRhodotorulayeasts.

Data deposition

This project has been deposited at ENA under the accession PRJEB-40807.
An assembly-free method of phylogeny reconstruction using short-read sequences from pooled samples without barcodes
Authors: Wong Thomas K. F. , Li Teng , Ranjard Louis , Wu Steven , Sukumaran Jeet , Rodrigo Allen G.
Published: April 2021

A current strategy for obtaining haplotype information from several individuals involves short-read sequencing of pooled amplicons, where fragments from each individual is identified by a unique DNA barcode. In this paper, we report a new method to recover the phylogeny of haplotypes from short-read sequences obtained using pooled amplicons from a mixture of individuals, without barcoding. The method, AFPhyloMix, accepts an alignment of the mixture of reads against a reference sequence, obtains the single-nucleotide-polymorphisms (SNP) patterns along the alignment, and constructs the phylogenetic tree according to the SNP patterns. AFPhyloMix adopts a Bayesian model of inference to estimates the phylogeny of the haplotypes and their relative frequencies, given that the number of haplotypes is known. In our simulations, AFPhyloMix achieved at least 80% accuracy at recovering the phylogenies and frequencies of the constituent haplotypes, for mixtures with up to 15 haplotypes. AFPhyloMix also worked well on a real data set of kangaroo mitochondrial DNA sequences.
A global phylogenetic regionalisation of vascular plants reveals a deep split between Gondwanan and Laurasian biotas
Authors: Carta Angelino , Peruzzi Lorenzo , Ramírez-Barahona Santiago
Published: April 2021

Existing global regionalisation schemes for plants consider the compositional affinities among biotas, but these have not considered phylogenetic information explicitly. Incorporating phylogenetic information may substantially advance our understanding of the relationships among regions and the synopsis of biogeographical schemes, because phylogeny captures information on the evolutionary history of taxa. Here, we present the first phytogeographical delineation of the global vascular flora based on the evolutionary relationships of species.

We analysed 8,738,520 geographical occurrence records for vascular plant species together with a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree including 67,420 species. We estimated species composition within 200 × 200 km grid cells across the world, and used a metric of phylogenetic beta diversity to generate a phylogenetic delineation of floristic regions. We contrasted these results with a regionalisation generated using a taxonomic beta diversity metric.

We identified 16 phylogenetically distinct phytogeographical units, deeply split into two main clusters that broadly correspond to the Laurasia-Gondwana separation. Our regionalisation broadly matches currently recognized phytogeographical classifications, but also highlights that the Gondwanan area is split into a large Holotropical cluster and an Australian-NeoZelandic-Patagonian cluster. In turn, we found that the northernmost and southernmost units have the most evolutionarily distinct vascular plant assemblages. In contrast, taxonomic dissimilarity returned a regionalisation composed of 23 units with a high degree of shared taxa between Laurasian and Gondwanan areas, with no clear split among their biotas.

The integration of phylogenetic information provided new insights into the historical relationships among phytogeographical units, enabling the identification of three large, clearly differentiated biotas, here referred to as kingdoms: Holarctic, Holotropical, and Austral. Our regionalization scheme provides further evidence for delineating transition zones between the Holarctic and Holotropical kingdoms. The latitudinal patterns of evolutionary distinctiveness of vascular plant assemblages are consistent with recent evidence of higher and more recent diversification of flowering plants outside tropical regions.
A trimeric hydrophobic zipper mediates the intramembrane assembly of SARS-CoV-2 spike
Authors: Fu Qingshan , Chou James J.
Published: April 2021

The S protein of the SARS-CoV-2 is a Type I membrane protein that mediates membrane fusion and viral entry. A vast amount of structural information is available for the ectodomain of S, a primary target by the host immune system, but much less is known regarding its transmembrane domain (TMD) and its membrane-proximal regions. Here, we determined the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure of the S protein TMD in bicelles that closely mimic a lipid bilayer. The TMD structure is a transmembrane α-helix (TMH) trimer that assembles spontaneously in membrane. The trimer structure shows an extensive hydrophobic core along the 3-fold axis that resembles that of a trimeric leucine/isoleucine zipper, but with tetrad, not heptad, repeat. The trimeric core is strong in bicelles, resisting hydrogen-deuterium exchange for weeks. Although highly stable, structural guided mutagenesis identified single mutations that can completely dissociate the TMD trimer. Multiple studies have shown that the membrane anchor of viral fusion protein can form highly specific oligomers, but the exact function of these oligomers remain unclear. Our findings should guide future experiments to address the above question for SARS coronaviruses.
Thyroid hormone regulates abrupt skin morphogenesis during zebrafish postembryonic development
Authors: Aman Andrew J. , Kim Margaret , Saunders Lauren M. , Parichy David M.
Published: April 2021

Thyroid hormone is a key regulator of post-embryonic vertebrate development. Skin is a biomedically important thyroid hormone target organ, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying skin pathologies associated with thyroid dysfunction remain obscure. The transparent skin of zebrafish is an accessible model system for studying vertebrate skin development. During post-embryonic development of the zebrafish, scales emerge in the skin from a hexagonally patterned array of dermal papillae, like other vertebrate skin appendages such as feathers and hair follicles. We show here that thyroid hormone regulates the rate of post-embryonic dermal development through interaction with nuclear hormone receptors. This couples skin development with body growth to generate a well ordered array of correctly proportioned scales. This work extends our knowledge of thyroid hormone actions on skin by providing in-vivo evidence that thyroid hormone regulates multiple aspects of dermal development.

Highlights

Thyroid hormone (TH) is necessary for normal squamation patterning in zebrafish.

Stratified dermis develops by migration of primary hypodermal cells.

Dermis stratifies in an invariant wave.

TH regulates the rates of multiple aspects of dermis development.

Scale size and density are sensitive to skin size at onset of squamation.
Branding “Halal”: application of a certain religious emotion to attract a specific customer segment
Authors: Hosain Md Sajjad
Published: April 2021

Purpose

The main purpose of this conceptual paper is to identify and explain the technique of branding “Halal” as a marketing strategy to reach and capture a certain market segment (niche), particularly Muslims.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach of this paper is descriptive based on literature survey as well as the author’s own opinion, experience and judgment.

Findings

In many cases, particularly in food market, the term “Halal” is being used to attract the Muslim customers’ religious feelings rather than providing them cost-effective value products.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is expected to contribute to the theoretical base, as it focuses on the use of religious sentiments in marketing that is worth further research conduction.

Practical implications

The arguments of this paper can be used by the producers of “Halal” products in including certain features that might satisfy the demands of religious Muslims regarding food products.

Social implications

This paper can be contributive for the greater needs regarding societal and Islamic values.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the initial attempts to highlight the religious feelings to attract a specific market segment.
Preparation of a photocurable hydrogel with adjustable mechanical properties for 3D printing
Authors: Xu Yifan , Gu Xiang , Meng Qinghua , Wang Bin , Fan Jun
Published: April 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to show a series of hydrogels with adjustable mechanical properties, which can be cured quickly with visible light. The hydrogel is prepared conveniently with hydroxyethyl acrylate, cross-linker, gelatin and photoinitiator, and can be printed into certain 3D patterns with the direct ink write (DIW) 3D printer designed and developed by the research group.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors designed a composite sensitization initiation system that is suitable for hydrogels. The concentration of photoinitiator, gelatin and cross-linker was studied to optimize the curing efficiency and adjust the mechanical properties. A DIW 3D printer was designed for the printing of hydrogel. Pre-gel solution was loaded into printer for printing into established models. The models were made and sliced with software.

Findings

The hydrogels can be cured efficiently with 405-nm visible light. While adding various content of gelatin and cross-linker, the mechanical properties of hydrogels show from soft and fragile (elastic modulus of 121.18 kPa and work of tension of 218.11 kJ·m−3) to rigid and tough (elastic modulus of 505.15 kPa and work of tension of 969.00 kJ·m−3). The hydrogels have high capacity of water absorption. With the DIW 3D printer, pre-gel hydrogel solution can be printed into objects with certain dimension.

Originality/value

In this work, a composite sensitization initiation system was designed, and fast curing hydrogels with adjustable mechanical properties had been prepared conveniently, which has high equilibrium water content and 3D printability with the DIW 3D printer.
Synthesis of bulk silicon oxynitride glass through nitridation of SiO2 aerogels and determination of Tg
Authors: Osawa Yuta , Iwasaki Kenichiro , Nakanishi Takayuki , Yasumori Atsuo , Matsui Yoshio , Nishimura Toshiyuki , Ohsawa Takeo , Segawa Hiroyo , Ohashi Naoki
Published: April 2021

The development of transparent glass for use in high‐temperature applications is continuing. In this study, we synthesized bulk silicon oxynitride glasses (a‐Si(O,N)x) through the nitridation of SiO2 aerogels containing methyl (CH3‐) groups and evaluated their bulk properties, including their glass transition temperature (Tg). Tetramethyl orthosilicate and methyltrimethoxysilane were added into the precursor gels, and those gels were subjected to a supercritical CO2 drying process. The presence of CH3‐group in the gel avoided cracking during ammonolysis at 750°C–1400°C, and the transparency of the gel was remained even after ammonolysis at 1300°C. The ammonolysis successfully introduced nitrogen into the gels even at relatively low temperatures, for example, 750°C, and the highest nitrogen content (11.7 mass%) was achieved in the gel after ammonolysis at 1300°C. As the nitrogen‐related signals in electron spectroscopy indicated presence of nitride ions (N3−) after ammonolysis and the infrared absorption signals attributed to Si–N bonds were enhanced with the increase of nitrogen concentration, we successfully obtained oxynitride glasses. Those oxynitride glasses showed increase of Tg with their nitrogen concentration.
Trends in hepatitis C virus‐associated mortality rates in Japan, 1998–2017
Authors: Hagiya Hideharu , Koyama Toshihiro , Deguchi Matsuo , Minato Yusuke , Miura Satomi , Funahashi Tomoko , Teratani Yusuke , Zamami Yoshito , Shinomiya Kazuaki , Kitamura Yoshihisa , Sendo Toshiaki , Hinotsu Shiro , Kano Mitsunobu
Published: April 2021

Background and Aim

The current prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and hepatitis C virus‐associated mortality in Japan falls short of the World Health Organization goal of viral hepatitis elimination by 2030. We aimed to evaluate the trends in hepatitis C virus‐associated mortality in Japan.

Methods

This nationwide observational study used the Japanese Vital Statistics from 1998 to 2017 and included all Japanese hepatitis C virus‐associated deaths (84 936) of adults aged ≥ 40 years. We calculated the crude and age‐standardized mortality rates per 100 000 persons by age and sex. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to identify significant changing points in trends and to estimate the annual percentage changes and the average annual percentage changes for the entire study period.

Results

The crude mortality rate per 100 000 persons (annual death number) increased from 5.5 (3548) in 1998 to 7.0 (4843) in 2005 and decreased to 4.0 (3095) in 2017. By 2017, the crude mortality rates per 100 000 persons among men and women had dropped to 3.6 and 4.3, respectively. The age‐standardized mortality rate was higher in women than in men. The average annual percentage change was −3.8% (95% confidence interval: −5.0 to −2.5). The declining trend was more rapid in men (−4.5%, 95% confidence interval: −5.3 to −3.6) than in women (−2.7%, 95% confidence interval: −3.8 to −1.6).

Conclusions

Trends in hepatitis C virus‐associated mortality rates have declined in an accelerating manner in Japan, especially among men.
MiR319‐targeted OsTCP21 and OsGAmyb regulate tillering and grain yield in rice
Authors: Wang Rongna , Yang Xiuyan , Guo Shuang , Wang Zhaohui , Zhang Zhanhui , Fang Zhongming
Published: April 2021

Multiple genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) improve grain yield by promoting tillering. MiR319s are known to regulate several aspects of plant development; however, whether miR319s are essential for tillering regulation remains unclear. Here, we report that miR319 is highly expressed in the basal part of rice plant at different development stages. The miR319 knockdown line Short Tandem Target Mimic 319 (STTM319) showed higher tiller bud length in seedlings under low nitrogen (N) condition and higher tiller bud number under high N condition compared with the miR319a‐overexpression line. Through targets prediction, we identified OsTCP21 and OsGAmyb as downstream targets of miR319. Moreover, OsTCP21 and OsGAmyb overexpression lines and STTM319 had increased tiller bud length and biomass, whereas both were decreased in OsTCP21 and OsGAmyb knockout lines and OE319a. These data suggest that miR319 regulates rice tiller bud development and tillering through targeting OsTCP21 and OsGAmyb. Notably, the tiller number and grain yield increased in STTM319 and overexpression lines of OsTCP21 and OsGAmyb but decreased in OE319a and knockout lines of OsTCP21 and OsGAmyb. Taken together, our findings indicate that miR319s negatively affect tiller number and grain yield by targeting OsTCP21 and OsGAmyb, revealing a novel function for miR319 in rice.
Environmental drivers of three neighbouring monodominant stands in Pantanal wetland
Authors: Damasceno‐Junior Geraldo Alves , Oldeland Jens , de Andrade Amador Gisaine , Casagrande Jose Carlos , Twerski Alina
Published: April 2021

Questions

Inundation is an important feature linked to monodominance in tropical wetlands. The occurrence of neighbouring monodominant species indicates that soil can also have an important role. This study aimed to determine if variations in densities of three neighbouring monodominant species, Byrsonima cydoniifolia, Copernicia alba and Tabebuia aurea, are related primarily to variation of flooding patterns and secondarily to soil physicochemical variations in the Pantanal.

Location

This study was performed in the southern Pantanal subregion of Miranda.

Methods

We sampled 74 plots of 25 m × 25 m distributed among 15 patches of these species (five patches of each species). In each plot, we sampled all individuals of all shrub and tree species, checked the water mark left on tree trunks by the last flooding, and collected soil samples. Data were analyzed using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and regression trees.

Results

We found that the main driver splitting these monodominant stands is soil, and that the secondary driver is inundation. The main drivers for Copernicia alba were higher soil pH, higher inundation and soil contents of Mg. For Byrsonima cydoniifolia, the main drivers were low Ca and Mg contents and high content of fine sand. Tabebuia aurea was the only species for which inundation was the main driver.

Conclusions

We reject the hypothesis that inundation is the main driver splitting these monodominant stands. Differences in flooding levels were not crucial for two of the three species. Except for Tabebuia aurea, which was more influenced by inundation, soils were found to play an essential role in this spatial separation.
Discovery of the novel HLA‐C*06:195 allele in a Singaporean unrelated hematopoietic stem cell donor
Authors: Cho Louise , Seng Zi‐Jing , Cereb Nezih , Lin Py‐Yu , Yang Kuo‐Liang
Published: April 2021

One nucleotide substitution in Codon 58 of HLA‐C*06:02:01:01 results in a novel allele, HLA‐C*06:195.
Muscle strength cut-points for metabolic syndrome detection among adults and the elderly from Brazil
Authors: Lima Tiago Rodrigues de , González-Chica David Alejandro , D’Orsi Eleonora , Sui Xuemei , Silva Diego Augusto Santos
Published: April 2021

We aimed to determine cut-points for muscle strength based on metabolic syndrome diagnosis. This cross-sectional analysis comprised data from 2 cohorts in Brazil (EpiFloripa Adult, n = 626, 44.0 ± 11.1 years; EpiFloripa Aging, n = 365, 71.6 ± 6.1 years). Metabolic syndrome was assessed by relative handgrip strength (kgf/kg). Metabolic syndrome was defined as including ≥3 of the 5 metabolic abnormalities according to the Joint Interim Statement. Optimal cut-points from Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were determined. Adjusted logistic regression was used to test the association between metabolic syndrome and the cut-points created. The cut-point identified for muscle strength was 1.07 kgf/kg (Youden index = 0.310; area under the curve (AUC)) = 0.693, 95% CI 0.614–0.764) for men and 0.73 kgf/kg (Youden index = 0.481; AUC = 0.768, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.709–0.821) for women (age group 25 to < 50 years). The best cut-points for men and women aged 50+ years were 0.99 kgf/kg (Youden index = 0.312; AUC = 0.651; 95% CI = 0.583–0.714) and 0.58 kgf/kg (Youden index = 0.378; AUC = 0.743; 95% CI = 0.696–0.786), respectively. Cut-points derived from ROC analysis have good discriminatory power for metabolic syndrome among adults aged 25 to <50 years but not for adults aged 50+ years.

Novelty:

First-line management recommendation for metabolic syndrome is lifestyle modification, including improvement of muscle strength. Cut-points for muscle strength levels according to sex and age range based on metabolic syndrome were created. Cut-points for muscle strength can assist in the identification of adults at risk for cardiometabolic disease.
Evolution Characteristics of a High‐Level Asymmetric Fracture‐Seepage Community and Precise Coalbed Methane Drainage Technology during Mining of Outburst‐Prone Coal Seam Groups
Authors: Wang Hongbing , Cheng Zhiheng , Li Tie , Chen Liang , Zou Quanle , Yang Shengli , Cao Jialin
Published: April 2021

The aim of this study is to explore the coupling relationship between fractures in overlying strata and gas seepage fields for pressure relief during mining of outburst‐prone coal seam groups and to quantitatively characterize the distribution characteristics of favorable areas for coalbed methane (CBM) drainage in mining‐induced fractures of overlying strata. For these purposes, by taking Shaqu No. 1 Coal Mine (Lvliang City, Shanxi Province, China) as a research object, this research studied migration and caving characteristics of overlying strata by combining physical similar material simulation, numerical simulation, and field measurement. Moreover, this study analyzed spatial distribution patterns of mining‐induced fractures in overlaying strata, quantitatively characterized distribution parameters of asymmetric‐oblique‐quadrilateral fracture development zones in overlying strata, and precisely divided areas favorable for CBM drainage. On this basis, evolution laws of an asymmetric fracture‐seepage community in overlying strata in outburst‐prone coal seam groups were obtained, thus optimizing design parameters for directional drilling in the fracture zone in overlying strata. The research results demonstrate that, due to mining‐induced influences, strata present different migration and rupture patterns along rupture lines on both sides. Because of different rupture angles α and β, mining‐induced fractures in overlying strata are distributed as an asymmetric‐oblique‐quadrilateral fracture development body in space. Furthermore, based on the coupling relationship between fracture development states and pressure‐relief gas seepage in the fracture development zone in overlying strata of the 4305 rear working face in the mine, this research obtained rupture angles α ∈ [74, 90) and ß ∈ (70, 82] on both sides of the fracture development zone. Moreover, the intervals favorable for CBM drainage for pressure relief on both sides of the fracture development zone in overlying strata of 4305 rear working face in the mine were separately determined as xaj ≤ 22.68 m and 24 m ≤ xβj ≤ 37.8 m. If the gas drainage system is designed in this zone, it is of great significance to precise and efficient pressure‐relief CBM drainage in the fracture zone and ensure production safety in the mining space.
OFM-SLAM: A Visual Semantic SLAM for Dynamic Indoor Environments
Authors: Zhao Xiong , Zuo Tao , Hu Xinyu
Published: April 2021

Most of the current visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms are designed based on the assumption of a static environment, and their robustness and accuracy in the dynamic environment do not behave well. The reason is that moving objects in the scene will cause the mismatch of features in the pose estimation process, which further affects its positioning and mapping accuracy. In the meantime, the three-dimensional semantic map plays a key role in mobile robot navigation, path planning, and other tasks. In this paper, we present OFM-SLAM: Optical Flow combining MASK-RCNN SLAM, a novel visual SLAM for semantic mapping in dynamic indoor environments. Firstly, we use the Mask-RCNN network to detect potential moving objects which can generate masks of dynamic objects. Secondly, an optical flow method is adopted to detect dynamic feature points. Then, we combine the optical flow method and the MASK-RCNN for full dynamic points’ culling, and the SLAM system is able to track without these dynamic points. Finally, the semantic labels obtained from MASK-RCNN are mapped to the point cloud for generating a three-dimensional semantic map that only contains the static parts of the scenes and their semantic information. We evaluate our system in public TUM datasets. The results of our experiments demonstrate that our system is more effective in dynamic scenarios, and the OFM-SLAM can estimate the camera pose more accurately and acquire a more precise localization in the high dynamic environment.
Compressive Spectrum Sensing with Temporal‐Correlated Prior Knowledge Mining
Authors: Liu Jianfeng , Huang Xin-Lin , Wang Ping
Published: April 2021

Cognitive radio (CR) has been proposed to mitigate the spectrum scarcity issue to support heavy wireless services on sub‐3GHz. Recently, broadband spectrum sensing becomes a hot topic with the help of compressive sensing technology, which will reduce the high‐speed sampling rate requirement of analog‐to‐digital converter. This paper considers sequential compressive spectrum sensing, where the temporal correlation information between neighboring compressive sensing data will be exploited. Different from conventional compressive sensing, the previous compressive sensing data will be fused into prior knowledge in current spectrum estimation. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve 98.7% detection probability under 3.5% false alarm probability and performs the best compared with the typical BPDN and OMP schemes.
New Nonlinear Cumulative Fatigue Damage Model Based on Ecological Quality Dissipation of Materials
Authors: Li Hongsong , Liu Yongbao , He Xing , Yin Wangtian
Published: April 2021

The failure of many aircraft structures and materials is caused by the accumulation of fatigue damage under variable-amplitude cyclic loading wherein the damage evolution of materials is complicated. Therefore, to study the cumulative fatigue damage of materials under variable-amplitude cyclic loading, a new nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation model is proposed based on the ecological quality dissipation of materials by considering the effects of load interaction and sequence. The proposed new model is validated by the test data obtained for three kinds of material under multilevel fatigue loading. Compared with the Miner model and Kwofie model, the proposed model can more effectively analyse the accumulative damage and predict fatigue life of different materials under variable-amplitude cyclic loading than others. The study provides a basis for predicting fatigue life accurately and determining reasonable maintenance periods of aircraft structures.
The Comparison of Short-Term Postoperative Pain in Single- versus Multiple-Visit Root Canal Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study
Authors: Izadpanah Armin , Javaheripour Ailar , Maleki Azam , Alipour Mahdieh , Hosseinifard Hossein , Sharifi Simin , Maleki Dizaj Solmaz
Published: April 2021

Postoperative pain after root canal therapy (RoCT) is an unpleasant experience for patients, and it could be affected by different factors. The times of visits could be one of these factors that were evaluated in various studies. However, there is inconsistent evidence on the relation between postoperative pain and the times of visits. Therefore, the current systematic review aimed to summarize the results of these studies and meta-analyze them. For this purpose, a comprehensive search was conducted in four main databases (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases) for related English articles from 1978 to August 2020. The quality of studies was evaluated using the Delphi checklist. The heterogeneity of studies was determined by I2 statistic, and publication bias was assessed using the funnel plot and the Begg test. The results were presented by using relative ratio (RR) estimates and standard mean difference (SMD) with its 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a random-effects model. Initial searches from mentioned databases identified 1480 papers; of which only 27 of them met the inclusion criteria. In quality assessment, thirteen studies had quality scores of more than 7, two studies had 4 scores, and the rest had 5 scores. Overall, based on the available evidence, the meta-analysis showed that the risk of postoperative pain in single-visit was 1.02 times (CI 95% (0.99, 1.19), I2 = 60.7%,

p
=
0.001

) higher than that of the multiple-visit treatment. The mean difference of postoperative pain in single-visit was −0.30 (CI 95% (−0.36, −0.25), I2 = 0.94.4,

p
=
0.001

) compared with the multiple-visit treatment. Based on the results of this meta-analysis, the risk of postoperative pain in single-visit RoCT was higher than that in multiple-visit RoCT with acceptable statistical heterogeneity and moderate quality of the studies.