bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rapid isolation and resolution immune evasion and viral fitness across contemporary SARS-CoV-2 variants
Authors: Aggarwal Anupriya , Stella Alberto , Akerman Anouschka , Walker Gregory , Milogiannakis Vanessa , McAllery Samantha , Esneau Camille , Silva Mariana Ruiz , Lu Yonghui , Forster Charles , Hal Sebastiaan van , Mathivanan Vennila , Fitcher Christina , Hoppe Alexandra Carey , Munier C. Mee Ling , Darley David , Matthews Gail , Starck Damien , Robosa Roselle , Bartlett Nathan , Rawlinson William , Kelleher Anthony , Turville Stuart
Published: January 2022

From late 2020 the world observed the rapid emergence of many distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants. At the same time, pandemic responses coalesced into significant global vaccine roll-out that have now significantly lowered Covid-19 hospital and mortality rates in the developed world. Over this period, we developed a rapid platform (R-20) for viral isolation and characterisation using primary remnant diagnostic swabs. This combined with quarantine testing and genomics surveillance, enabled the rapid isolation and characterisation of all major SARS-CoV-2 variants (all variants of concern and 6 variants of interest) globally with a 4-month period. This platform facilitated viral variant isolation and enabled rapid resolution of variant phenotype by allowing determining end point viral titers from primary nasopharyngeal swabs and through ranking of evasion of neutralising antibodies. In late 2021, when the Delta variant was dominating, Omicron rapidly emerged. Using this platform, we isolated and tested the first cases of this variant within Australia. In this setting we observed Omicron to diverge from other variants at two levels: Firstly, it ranks at the mots evasive to neutralisation antibodies compared to all VOCs and major VUIs. Secondly, it no longer engages TMPRSS2 during the late stages of fusion.
Friction and slip measured at the bed of an Antarctic ice stream
Authors: Hudson Thomas , Kufner Sofia-Katerina , Brisbourne Alex , Kendall Michael , Smith Andrew , Alley Richard , Arthern Robert , Murray Tavi
Published: January 2022

The slip of glaciers over the underlying bed is the dominant mechanism governing the migration of ice from land into the oceans, contributing to sea-level rise. Yet glacier slip remains poorly understood or constrained by observations. Here we observe both frictional shear-stress and slip at the bed of an ice stream, using 100,000 repetitive stick-slip icequakes from Rutford Ice Stream, Antarctica. Basal shear-stresses and slip-rates vary from 10^4 to 10^7 Pa and 0.2 to 1.5 m day^(-1), respectively. Friction and slip vary temporally over the order of hours and spatially over 10s of meters, caused by corresponding variations in ice-bed interface material and effective-normal-stress. Our findings also suggest that the bed is substantially more complex than currently assumed in ice stream models and that basal effective-normal-stresses may be significantly higher than previously thought. The observations also provide previously unresolved constraint of the basal boundary conditions of ice dynamics models. This is critical for constraining the primary contribution of ice mass loss in Antarctica, and hence the endeavour to reduce uncertainty in sea-level rise projections.
Effect of cognitive & metacognitive Strategy developing reading comprehension emphasizing students’ linguality
Authors: Abbasi Peyman
Published: January 2022

Reading comprehension ability is potency of students to comprehend meaning of written texts, text details and main ideas. Furthermore, ability of reading comprehension activated learners to communicate with writers. To understand main ideas of written texts, help learners to be aware and to get particular messages from texts. Cognitive and metacognitive knowledges help readers to analyze, to summarize, to judge, and to distinguish main idea of reading texts and also more details about writer viewpoints to predicate and decision making to monitor text contents too. Monolingual students are those groups which must be aware about impacts of metacognitive strategy upon reading development and comprehension through to prepare and emanate bio feedbacks with teachers. Hence, monolingual groups have to be taught more than bilingual ones due to their low – proficiency levels and also their weak knowledge capacities about reading development strategies. Indeed, today understanding the effective strategies which help to learn language skills for all of scholars in TESOL domains is very significant, so every teacher that is aware about efficacy of those psychological strategies like cognitive and metacognitive or both; he or she is able to teach language skills particularly reading comprehension very conveniently and more productive language learning results. Without understanding reading strategy text comprehension to learn language skills is impossible.
Biodegradable MoSe 2 @polyvinylpyrrolidone Nanoparticles With Multi-enzyme Activity for Ameliorating Acute Pancreatitis
Authors: Xie Pei , Zhang liying , Shen Hui , Wu Hang , Zhao Jiulong , Wang Shige , Hu lianghao
Published: January 2022

Exogenous antioxidant materials mimicking endogenous antioxidant systems are commonly used for the treatment of oxidative stress-induced injuries. Thus, artificial enzymes have emerged as promising candidates for balancing and treating the dysregulation of redox homeostasis in vivo. Herein, a one-pot hydrothermal strategy for the facile preparation of MoSe2@polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) nanoparticles (NPs) is reported. The synthesized NPs were biodegradable due to their exposure to oxygen and exhibited high stability. Moreover, they effectively mimicked various naturally occurring enzymes (including catalase, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and glutathione peroxidase) and scavenged free radicals, such as 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid, ·OH, ·O2−, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical. Further apoptosis detection studies revealed that MoSe2@PVP NPs significantly increased the cell survival probability in H2O2 in a concentration-dependent manner. The cytoprotective effect of MoSe2@PVP NPs was explored for an animal model of acute pancreatitis, which confirmed its remarkable therapeutic efficacy. Owing to the biodegradable and biocompatible nature of MoSe2@PVP NPs, the findings of this work can stimulate the development of other artificial nanoenzymes for antioxidant therapies.
Necrolytic migratory erythema: an important visual cutaneous clue of glucagonoma
Authors: Li Wei , Yang Xue , Deng Yuan , Jiang Yina , Xu Guiping , Li Enxiao , Wu Yinying , Ren Juan , Ma Zhenhua , Dong Shunbin , Han Liang , Wu Zheng , Wang Zheng
Published: January 2022

Objective: Glucagonoma is an extremely rare neuroendocrine tumor that arises from pancreatic islet alpha cells. Although glucagonoma is usually accompanied by a variety of characteristic clinical symptoms, early diagnosis is still difficult due to the scarcity of the disease. Methods: In this study, we present the cumulative experiences, clinical characteristics and treatments of seven patients diagnosed with glucagonoma during the past 10 years at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University. Results: The seven patients in our cohort consisted of six females and one male with an average diagnosis age of 40.1 years (range 23-51). The average time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis of glucagonoma was 14 months (range 2-36 months). All the patients visited dermatology firstly for necrolytic migratory erythema (NME) 7/7 (100%), other presenting symptoms included: diabetes mellitus (DM) 4/7 (57%), stomatitis 2/7 (28%), weight loss 4/7 (57%), anemia 4/7 (57%), diarrhea 1/7 (14%), DVT1/7 (14%). Plasma glucagon levels were increased in all patients (range 216.92–3155 pg/mL), and declined after surgery. Imaging studies revealed that four of seven patients had liver metastasis. Six of seven patients received surgical resection, and all of them received somatostatin analogue therapy. Symptoms improved significantly in 6 out of 7 patients. Three of seven patients died of this disease by the time of follow-up. Conclusion: Our data suggest that if persistent NME is associated with DM and high glucagon levels, timely abdominal imaging should be performed to confirm glucagonoma. Once diagnosed, surgery and somatostatin analogues are effective for symptom relief and tumor control.
Luminescent Cavity Design for High Ambient Contrast Ratio, High Efficiency Displays
Authors: Cifci Osman , Yoder Mikayla , Xu Lu , Chen Hao , Beck Christopher , He Junwen , Koscher Brent , Nett Zachary , Swabeck Joseph , Alivisatos A. Paul , Nuzzo Ralph , Braun Paul
Published: January 2022

A key display characteristic is its efficiency (emitted light power divided by input power). While display efficiencies are being improved through emissive (e.g., quantum dot and organic light emitting display (OLED) designs1,2, which remove the highly inefficient color filters found in traditional liquid crystal displays (LCDs)3,4, polarization filters, which block about 50% of the light, remain required to inhibit ambient light reflection. We introduce a luminescent cavity design to replace both the color and polarization filters. Narrow-band, large Stokes shift, CdSe/CdS quantum dot emitters are embedded in a reflective cavity pixel element with a small top aperture. The remainder of the top surface is coated black reducing ambient light reflection. A single pixel demonstrates an extraction efficiency of 40.9% from a cavity with an 11% aperture opening. A simple proof-of-concept multi-pixel array is demonstrated.
Postoperative Adjuvant Chemotherapy Cancel Out the Negative Survival Impact on Stage II/III Gastric Cancer Patients With Postoperative Complications
Authors: Shen Li-li , Lu Jun , Lin Jia , Xu Bin-bin , Xue Zhen , Wu Dong , Zheng Hua-long , Lin Guo-sheng , Huang Jiao-bao , Xie Jian-wei , Li Ping , Huang Chang-ming , Zheng Chao-hui
Published: January 2022

Purpose The potential additive influence of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) on prognosis of patients with stage II/III gastric cancer (GC) who experienced complications after radical surgery is unclear.Methods The whole group was divided into a postoperative complication (PC) group and a postoperative non-complication (NPC) group, and the overall survival (OS) rate, recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate and recurrence rate were compared between the two groups of patients. Results A total of 1563 patients between January 2010 and December 2015 in our center were included in this analysis. There were 268 patients (17.14%) in the PC group and 1295 patients (82.86%) in the NPC group. The 5-year OS rate of the PC group was 55.2%, the NPC group was 63.3%; and the 5-year RFS rate of the PC group was 53.7%, the non-PC group was 58.8%. Recurrence patterns showed no significant difference between the two group (all p>0.05). Adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) significantly improved the OS and RFS rates of patients with and without PCs (both p<0.05), and it showed no significant difference between the PC group and the NPC group who received AC (both p> 0.05). Stratified analysis showed that AC only improve the OS or RFS rates of stage III patients (both p<0.05). Further stratified analysis of the time interval (TI) from operation to initiation of AC in the PC group showed that a TI after 6 weeks (≥6eeks) improved only the OS and RFS rates of stage III patients, while when a TI within 6 weeks (＜6weeks), a benefit was observed in stage II and III patients (both p<0.05).Conclusion AC can abolish the negative effect of PCs on the long-term survival of patients with stage III GC; for stage II patients, the above offset effect is affected by the TI. Delaying AC initiation after 6 weeks may not improve the survival of patients experienced stage II GC with complications.
Testing the Effectiveness of a Future Selves Intervention for Increasing Retirement Saving: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Mexico
Authors: Shah Avni , Hershfield Hal , Gomez David Munguia , Fishbane Alissa
Published: January 2022

One psychological barrier impeding saving behavior is the inability to fully empathize with one’s future self. Future self interventions have improved savings by helping people overcome this obstacle. Despite the promise of such interventions, previous research has focused predominantly on hypothetical contexts and western settings where the target sample has been predominantly undergraduate. Do interventions that encourage people to more concretely consider their future selves during retirement still have a positive effect on behavior in consequential, real-world savings decisions? Using a field experiment in Mexico (N = 7,603), where less than 1% make a voluntary savings contribution annually, we developed a low-cost, easy-to-implement intervention to test whether concrete thinking about one’s future life improves recurring retirement savings signups relative to a status quo, control group. We find that future self decision aids significantly improved the likelihood of signing up for an automatic recurring savings plan by nearly four times compared to the control.
High serum levels of CML are associated with poor coronary collateralization in type 2 diabetic patients with chronic total occlusion of coronary artery
Authors: Li Le Ying , Shen Ying , Chen Shuai , Li Fei Fei , Wu Zhi Ming , Ding Feng Hua , Wang Xiao Qun , Shen Wei Feng , Chen Qiu Jing , Dai Yang , Lu Lin
Published: January 2022

Background: The formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) is a crucial risk factor for the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. We investigated whether N-e-carboxy-methyl-lysine (CML), a major form of AGEs in vivo, was associated with poor coronary collateral vessel (CCV) formation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic total occlusion (CTO) of coronary artery.Methods: This study consisted of 242 T2DM patients with angiographically documented CTO. Blood samples were obtained and demographic/clinical characteristics were documented. The collateralization of these patients was defined according to Rentrop score. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and multivariable regression analysis were performed.Results: 242 patients were categorized into poor CCV group (Rentrop score 0 and 1)(n = 107) and good CCV group (Rentrop score 2 and 3)(n = 135). Serum CML levels were significantly higher in poor CCV group (110.0 ± 83.35 ng/ml) than in good CCV group (62.95 ± 58.83 ng/ml, P<0.001). Moreover, these CML levels were also significantly different across the Rentrop score 0, 1, 2 and 3 groups (P <0.001). In ROC curve for ascertaining poor CCV, AUCs were 0.70 (95% CI 0.64-0.77) for CML. In multivariable logistic regression, CML levels (P<0.001) remained independent determinants of poor CCV after adjustment of traditional risk factors. Conclusions: This study suggests that higher CML levels are associated to poor CCV in T2DM patients with CTO. Inhibition of AGEs including CML is a strategy in antagonizing poor CCV in diabetic patients.
Comparison of Operative Outcomes Between Monopolar and Bipolar Coagulation in Hepatectomy: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis in a Single Center
Authors: Muraki Ryuta , Morita Yoshifumi , Ida Shinya , Kitajima Ryo , Furuhashi Satoru , Takeda Makoto , Kikuchi Hirotoshi , Hiramatsu Yoshihiro , Fukazawa Atsuko , Sakaguchi Takanori , Fukushima Mayu , Okada Eisaku , Takeuchi Hiroya
Published: January 2022

Background: Various hemostatic devices have been utilized to reduce blood loss during hepatectomy. Nonetheless, a comparison between monopolar and bipolar coagulation, particularly their usefulness or inferiority, has been poorly documented. The aim of this study is to reveal the characteristics of these hemostatic devices.Methods: A total of 264 patients who underwent open hepatectomy at our institution from January 2009 to December 2018 were included. Monopolar and bipolar hemostatic devices were used in 160 (monopolar group) and 104 (bipolar group) cases, respectively. Operative outcomes and thermal damage to the resected specimens were compared between these groups using propensity score matching according to background factors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictive factors for postoperative complications.Results: After propensity score matching, 73 patients per group were enrolled. The monopolar group had significantly lower total operative time (239 vs. 275 min; P=0.013) and intraoperative blood loss (487 vs. 790 mL; P<0.001). However, the incidence rates of ascites (27.4% vs. 8.2%; P=0.002) and grade ≥3 intra-abdominal infection (12.3% vs. 2.7%; P=0.028) were significantly higher in the monopolar group. Thermal damage to the resected specimens was significantly longer in the monopolar group (4.6 vs. 1.2 mm; P<0.001). Use of monopolar hemostatic device was an independent risk factor for ascites (odds ratio, 5.626, 95% confidence interval 1.881–16.827; P=0.002) and severe intra-abdominal infection (odds ratio, 5.905, 95% confidence interval 1.096–31.825; P=0.039).Conclusions: Although monopolar devices have an excellent hemostatic ability, they might damage the remnant liver. The use of monopolar devices can be one of the factors that increase the frequency of complications.
Analysis of 3D Plastic Deformation in Vertical Rolling Based on Global Weighted Velocity Field
Authors: Yang Boxin , Xu Haojie , An Qi
Published: January 2022

Energy method is an essential theoretical approach to analyze plastic forming, which is widely used in rolling. An analysis model for vertical rolling process is established according to energy theory. By using global weighted method firstly, the 3D continuous velocity field, strain rate field and the corresponding power functional are proposed. The unknown variables are solved numerically based on the principle of minimum energy. Then, deformation parameters and rolling force are determined. The analysis on specific examples with the width reduction rate of 0.03~0.05 shows that the theoretical prediction value of weighted model is in good agreement with experimental results. Moreover, the effects of several shape and rolling parameters on rolling force, rolling power and edge deformation are studied. Both the width reduction rate and initial slab thickness have significant influences on dog-bone size and rolling force. A wider slab slightly increases the nonuniformity of dog-bone deformation. An increase of vertical roller radius can weaken the edge deformation.
Application of Whole Exome-trio Analysis Reveals Rare Variants Associated With Congenital Pouch Colon
Authors: Gupta Sonal , Mathur Praveen , Mishra Ashwani Kumar , Medicherla Krishna Mohan , Bandapalli Obul Reddy , Suravajhala Prashanth
Published: January 2022

Anorectal malformations (ARMs) are individually common, but congenital pouch colon (CPC), a rare anorectal anomaly, causes a dilated pouch in the genitourinary tract. In this work, we attempted to identify de novo heterozygous missense variants and further discovered variants of unknown significance (VUS), which could provide insights into CPC manifestation and its etiology. From whole exome sequencing (WES) performed earlier, the trio exomes were analyzed from those who were admitted to J.K. Lon Hospital, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, India between 2011-2017. The proband exomes were compared with the unaffected sibling/family members, and we sought to ask whether any variants of significant interest are associated with the CPC manifestation. The WES data from a total of 64 samples, including 16 affected neonates with their parents and unaffected siblings, were used for the study. Although all samples had unaffected sibling samples and data, we restricted our pool of analyses to all probands (11 male and 5 female) and unaffected parents/siblings. We previously attempted to understand the genetic makeup of CPC and identified genes responsible for the disease using WES. We examined the role of rare allelic variation associated with CPC in a 16 proband/parent trio family comparing the mutations to those of their unaffected parents/siblings. Our study across 16 probands revealed extremely rare variants, viz. TAF1B, MUC5B and FRG1. The variants were further validated to reveal disease-causing mutations associated with CPC and genitourinary diseases that could close the gaps of surgery by bringing intervention in therapies.
Airway to Lung Volume Ratio on CT is Associated with Pulmonary Function Transition from Obstructive to Restrictive Pattern in Obesity
Authors: Yu Xin , Zhang Ming-Hui , Huang Yan-Hao , Deng Yu , Feng You-Zhen , Gu Yun , Cai Xiang-Ran
Published: January 2022

Background: Obesity is associated with excessive airway collapse and reduced lung volume; it is unknown whether it affects airway-lung interactions. We sought to compare the airway tree to lung volume ratio, assessed by CT, in obese individuals with and without ventilation disorders.Methods: Participants underwent inspiratory chest CT and pulmonary function. The percentage ratio of the whole airway tree to lung volume, automatically segmented via deep learning, was defined as CT airway volume percent (AWV%). Total airway count (TAC), airway wall area percent (WA%), and other CT indexes were also measured. Results: We evaluated 88 participants including adolescents(age: 14-18, n= 12) and adults (age: 19-25, n= 17; age: 26-35, n= 39; age> 35, n= 20). Obese adolescents had higher forced vital capacity (FVC) (P = 0.001) and lower AWV% (P = 0.008) than obese adults (age >35). Among obese adults, participants with restrictive disorders had larger AWV% (P < 0.001) and those with obstructive disorders showed smaller AWV% (P < 0.001) compared to participants with normal ventilation. AWV% was positively correlated with age and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/FVC and adversely related to FVC (P< 0.05 for all), and in multivariate models, AWV% independently predicted FEV1/FVC (R2 = 0.49, P < 0.001) and FVC (R2 = 0.60, P < 0.001).Conclusion: Transitions in lung function patterns between obese adolescents and adults are associated with airway to lung ratios. The obesity-induced disproportion between the airway tree and lung volume may adversely affect and complicate lung ventilation.
Deciphering single- and multi-particle trapping dynamics under femtosecond pulsed excitation with simultaneous spatial and temporal resolution
Authors: Devi Anita , Yadav Sumit , De Arijit
Published: January 2022

Recent theoretical and experimental studies have shed light on how optical trapping dynamics under femtosecond pulsed excitation are fine-tuned by optical and thermal nonlinearities. Here, we present experimental results of nonlinear optical trapping of single and multiple polystyrene beads (of 1 μm diameter). We show how integration and synchronization of bright-filed video microscopy with confocal detection of backscatter provide both spatial and temporal resolution required to capture intricate details of trapping dynamics. Such spatiotemporal detection is promising to have far-reaching applications in exploring controlled optical trapping and manipulations harnessed by optical and thermal nonlinearities.
Seismic Behaviour of High-rise Frame-core Tube Structures Considering Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction
Authors: Zhang Xiaofeng , Far Harry
Published: January 2022

As the population grows and land prices rise, high-rise buildings are becoming more and more common and popular in urban cities. Traditional high-rise building design method generally assumes the structure is fixed at the base, because the influence of soil-structure interaction is considered to be beneficial to the response of structures under the earthquake excitation. However, recent earthquakes and studies indicated that SSI may exert detrimental effects on commonly used structural systems. In this study, a numerical soil-structure model is established in Abaqus software to explore the impacts of SSI on high-rise frame-core tube structures. The seismic response of frame-core tube structures with various structural heights, height-width ratios, foundation types and soil types is studied. The numerical simulation results including maximum lateral deflections, foundation rocking, inter-storey drifts and base shears of rigid and flexible base buildings are discussed and compared. The results reveal the lateral displacement and inter-storey drifts of the superstructure can be amplified when SSI is taking into account, while the base shears are not necessarily reduced. Increasing the stiffness of the foundation and the subsoil can generally increase the seismic demand of structures. It has been concluded that it is neither safe nor economical to consider only the beneficial effects of SSI or to ignore them in structural design practice.
Photovoltage Oscillations in Encapsulated Graphene
Authors: Iñarrea Jesús , Platero Gloria
Published: January 2022

We theoretically analyze the rise of photovoltage oscillations in hexagonal boron-nitride (h-BN) encapsulated monolayer graphene (h-BN/graphene/h-BN) when irradiated with terahertz radiation. We use an extension of the radiation-driven electron orbit model, successfully applied to study the oscillations obtained in irradiated magnetotransport of GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures. The extension takes mainly into account that now the carriers are massive Dirac fermions. Our simulations reveal that the photovoltage in these graphene systems presents important oscillations similar to the ones of irradiated magnetoresistance in semiconductor platforms but in the terahertz range. We also obtain that these oscillations are clearly affected by the voltages applied to the sandwiched graphene: a vertical gate voltage between the two hBN layers and an external positive voltage applied to one of the sample sides. The former steers the carrier effective mass and the latter the photovoltage intensity and the oscillations amplitude. The frequency dependence of the photo-oscillations is also investigated.
Repositioning Doxycycline for treating Parkinson’s Disease: evidence from a pre-clinical mouse model
Authors: Vitola Pietro La , Artioli Luisa , Cerovic Milica , Poletto Cristian , Dacomo Letizia , Leva Susanna , Balducci Claudia , Forloni Gianluigi
Published: January 2022

Background
Parkinson’s disease remains orphan of valuable therapies capable to interfere with the disease pathogenesis despite the large number of symptomatic approaches adopted in clinical practice to manage this disease. Treatments simultaneously affecting α-synuclein (α-syn) oligomerization and neuroinflammation may counteract Parkinson’s disease. Recent data demonstrated that Doxycycline an antibiotic of the tetracycline class, can inhibit α-syn aggregation and exert anti-inflammatory activity. We herein investigate, for the first time, the potential therapeutic properties of Doxy in a human α-syn A53T transgenic Parkinson’s disease mouse model by the evaluation of behavioural, biochemical and histopathological parameters.
Methods
human α-syn A53T transgenic mice were treated with Doxycycline (10 mg/Kg daily ip) for 30 days, the effect of treatment on motor and cognitive behaviour impairment and daily live activity of mice were examined, successively immunocytochemical, electrophysiological and biochemical analysis of cerebral tissue was performed.
Results
Doxy treatment abolished cognitive and daily life activity deficiencies in A53T mice. The effect on cognitive functions was associated with neuroprotection, inhibition of α-syn oligomerization and gliosis both in the cortex and hippocampus. Doxy treatment restored hippocampal long-term potentiation in association with inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines expression. Moreover, Doxy ameliorated motor impairment and reduced striatal glial activation in A53T mice.
Conclusions
Our findings promote Doxy as a valuable multi-target therapeutic approach counteracting both symptoms and neuropathology in the complex scenario of α-synucleinopathies
Valganciclovir as Add-on to Second Line Therapy in Patients with Recurrent Glioblastoma
Authors: Pantalone Mattia Russel , Rahbar Afsar , Söderberg-Naucler Cecilia , Stragliotto Giuseppe
Published: January 2022

IntroductionGlioblastoma invariably recurs despite aggressive and multimodal first line treatment and no standardized second line therapy exists. We previously reported that treatment with the antiviral drug valganciclovir as an add-on to standard therapy significantly prolonged overall survival in 102 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Here we present the results of retrospective survival analyses including patients with glioblastoma that initiated valganciclovir therapy after recurrence. MethodsBetween April 13, 2007 and March 31, 2021, 29 patients with recurrent glioblastoma received valganciclovir as an add-on to second line therapy. Contemporary controls were 111 patients with glioblastoma who received similar second line therapy at our institution. We retrospectively analyzed survival data of these patients. ResultsPatients with recurrent glioblastoma who received valganciclovir had longer median overall survival after recurrence than controls (12.1 vs 7.4 months, respectively, p=0.0017). The drug was well tolerated. Both patients who underwent re-operation and patients that were not re-operated after recurrence benefitted significantly from valganciclovir therapy. Valganciclovir prolonged survival after recurrence both in patients with an unmethylated or methylated MGMT promoter gene. ConclusionValganciclovir was safe to use and prolonged median survival after recurrence of patients with recurrent glioblastoma, re-operated or not after recurrence and with methylated or unmethylated MGMT promoter gene.
Tactile Stimulation in Adult Rats Modulates Dopaminergic Molecular Parameters in the Nucleus Accumbens Preventing Amphetamine Relapse.
Authors: Rossato Domênika Rubert , Rosa Higor Zuchetto , Rosa Jéssica Leandra Oliveira , Milanesi Laura Hautrive , Metz Vinícia Garzella , D'Ávila Lívia , ME Burger Escobar
Published: January 2022

Amphetamine (AMPH) is a psychostimulant drug frequently related to addiction, which is characterized by functional and molecular changes in the brain reward system, favoring relapse development and pharmacotherapies have shown low effectiveness. Considering the beneficial influences of tactile stimulation (TS) in different diseases that affect the central nervous system (CNS), here we evaluated if TS applied in adult rats could prevent or minimize the AMPH-relapse behavior also accessing molecular neuroadaptations in the Nucleus accumbens (NAc). Following AMPH conditioning in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm, male rats were submitted to TS (15-min session, 3 times a day, for 8 days) during the drug abstinence period, which were re-exposed to the drug in the CPP paradigm for additional 3 days for relapse observation and molecular assessment. Our findings showed that besides AMPH relapse; TS prevented the dopamine transporter (DAT), dopamine 1 receptor (D1R), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), mu opioid receptor (MOR) increase and AMPH-induced delta FosB (ΔFosB). Based on these outcomes, we propose TS as a useful tool to treat psychostimulant addiction, which subsequent to clinical studies; it could be included in detoxification programs together with pharmacotherapies and psychological treatments already conventionally established.
Electronic thermodynamics part 1: Thermo-electromechanical system modeling, instrumentation, and simulation
Authors: Morgado-González Irving , Cobos-Murcia Jose Angel , Marquez-Vera Marco Antonio , Dominguez-Ramirez Omar Arturo
Published: January 2022

This research proposes to obtain a mathematical model that describes the dynamic operation of a brushed DC motor, to obtain a state function considering the electrical, mechanical, and thermal effects of the DC motor. The dynamic evolution of the proposed function is evaluated by simulation using Matlab software, and by applying different values of the step type inputs for the brushed motor excitation employing pulse width modulation (PWM) to obtain a wide range of operations. Experimental results show that the developed state function, provides a reliable approximation to estimate the voltage, armature current, mechanical torque, and temperature of the brushed DC motor, showing an error percentage of 0.2%.
Effects on mammalian cell transcriptome reveal a plant extract's medicinal properties: Potential anti-COVID-19 and anti-cancer properties of Sarcopoterium spinosum
Authors: Gahramanov Valid , Oz Moria , Aouizerat Tzemach , Salmon-Divon Mali , Rosenzweig Tovit , Gorelick Jonathan , Drori Elyashiv , Sherman Michael Y. , Lubin Bat Chen. R.
Published: January 2022

Plants with medicinal properties are usually identified based on traditional medicine knowledge or using low-throughput screens for specific pharmacological activities. Here, we suggest a different approach to uncover a range of pharmacological activities of a chosen plant extract without the need for functional screening. This tactic predicts biological activities of a plant extract based on pathway analysis of transcriptome changes caused by the extract in mammalian cell culture. In this work, we identified transcriptome changes after exposure of cultured cells to an extract of the medicinal plant Sarcopoterium spinosum. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) confirmed known anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities of the extract and predicted novel biological effects on oxidative phosphorylation and interferon pathways. Experimental validation of these pathways uncovered strong activation of autophagy, including mitophagy, and astounding protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our study shows that gene expression analysis alone is insufficient for predicting biological effects since some of the changes reflect compensatory effects, and additional biochemical tests provide necessary corrections. In conclusion, this study defines the advantages and limitations of an approach towards predicting the biological and medicinal effects of plant extracts based on transcriptome changes caused by these extracts in mammalian cells.
Soil loss estimation and severity mapping using RUSLE model and GIS: a case study in Megech Watershed, Ethiopia
Authors: Getu Legese Abebaw , Nagy Attila , Addis Hailu Kendie
Published: January 2022

AbstractBackground: Soil erosion is the most serious problem that affects economic development, food security, and ecosystem services which is the main concern in Ethiopia. This study focused on quantifying soil erosion rate and severity mapping of the Megech watershed for effective planning and decision-making processes to implement protection measures. The RUSLE model integrated with ArcGIS software was used to conduct the present study. The six RUSLE model parameters: erosivity, erodibility, slope length and steepness, cover management, and erosion control practices were used as input parameters to predict the average annual soil loss and identify erosion hotspots in the watershed. Results: The RUSLE estimated 1,399,210 tons yr-1 total soil loss from the watershed with a mean annual soil loss of 32.84 tons ha-1yr-1. The soil erosion rate was varied from 0.08 to greater than 500 tons ha-1yr-1. A severity map with seven severity classes was created for 27 sub-watersheds: low (below 10), moderate (10-20), high (20-30), very high (30-35), severe (35-40), very severe (40-45) and extremely severe (above 45) in which the values are in tons ha-1yr-1. The area coverage was 6.5%, 11.1%, 8.7%, 22%, 30.9%, 13.4%, and 7.4% for low, moderate, high, very high, severe, very severe, and extremely severe erosion classes respectively. Conclusion: About 82 % of the watershed was found in more than the high-risk category which reflects the need for immediate land management action. This paper could be important for decision-makers to prioritize critical erosion hotspot areas for comprehensive and sustainable management of the watershed.
Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Poultry Farmers on Antimicrobial Use, Resistance and Farm Hygiene Management in Bangladesh
Authors: Siddiky Nure Alam , Islam Shariful , Sarker Md Samun , Begum Ruhena , Samad Mohammed A.
Published: January 2022

The poultry farming is considered one of the hotspots for the use of antimicrobials. The knowledge, attitude and practices of poultry farmers are closely associated with the prudent use of antimicrobials in poultry farm practices. A cross sectional study was conducted among seventy-four commercial poultry farms using a pretested structured questionnaire survey to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of the poultry farmers regarding antimicrobial use, resistance and farm hygiene management. According to demographics, more farmers were secondary holders (29.72%), followed by higher secondary (22.97%) and illiterate (12.16%) with least number (13.51%) had training on antibiotics but no one had training on AMR. Farmers had sufficient knowledge about antibiotics (86.49%) but inadequate knowledge about antimicrobials (14.86%), AMR (51.35%), and animal and fish feed act (20.27%). The majority of farmers strongly agreed that AMR had a negative impact on production (40.54%), human health (36.49%), environment (33.78%) and economy (52.7%). Farm hygiene management revealed that most of them (90.54%) thrown the expired and leftover antibiotics in the open environments. Furthermore, the farm litter was managed diversely with 39.19% kept in open pit; 33.78% used in fish farm and 5.41% used for agricultural land. It was observed that the dead birds were disposed in a variety of ways, buried into ground (58.10%), thrown into field (9.45%), thrown into bush (6.75%), thrown into garbage (9.45%) and thrown in the water (13.51%). A significant higher association was found between the level of education and knowledge; level of education with farm practices such as choice of antibiotics, determining doses and duration of antibiotics, disposal of farm wastages, disposal of dead birds, farm biosecurity and vaccination coverage (p<0.05). Continuous education, hands-on training, awareness, and motivation of farmers along with good biosecurity, mass vaccination and proper hygienic measures can minimize the uses of antimicrobials in farm operations.
What impact have Covid-19 pandemic era on violence against women in India from January 2020 to December 2021- A Retrospective comparative research study
Authors: Kumar Piyush , Anupama Advocate
Published: January 2022

BackgroundThe safety of women is of significance and prime concern in India due to a huge female population, equity issues, gender issues, lack of positive deviance at community level, illiteracy, socio-economic factors, migration from rural to urban areas, inaccessibility to legal help and of course many more factors. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had presented a challenge even for developed nations around the world regarding women’s protection in the ongoing pandemic era & especially in the lockdown period when it’s really difficult to go out and shout for help. Aim and ObjectivesThe main aim of this research is to find out impact of SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 Pandemic on violence against women in India across different states and union territories from the beginning of pandemic i.e. January 2020. The objective is to find out that the covid-19 era has a positive or negative impact over violence against women. Data from various accredited sources were continuously collected, observed and analysed for this research study.Settings & DesignThe month-wise and state-wise data indicating number of complaints registered with National Commission for Women in India(NCW) under different categories are presented in different table 1, 2, 3, 4,5,6,7,8 will be discussed and displayed. The period of study is from January 2018 to 2021 December. This is a retrospective cross-sectional continuous observational qualitative and quantitative as well as comparative study. The two years of covid-19 pandemic i.e. 2020 and 2021 is compared two previous two years to know the impact of covid-19 on violence against women in India.Materials & MethodologyThe data is collected from accredited and reliable sources of National commission for women, India as well as various other sources listed in this research study. The data obtained is analysed by using Microsoft Office software. To reduce the length of article the detailed description and analysis is not provided in this version.ResultIncrease in violence against women in India is seen in this covid-19 pandemic era as compared to pre-pandemic years under observation. See Figure 1 and figure 2:- comparison of number of cases of domestic violence and various forms of violence to know the impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and lockdown situations in India. During the second year of pandemic i.e. 2021 the total numbers of Nature-Wise Report of the Complaints Received by NCW was 30865 which is an increase by 55.03 % compared to 2018 and 56.43 % as compared to 2019.ConclusionIndia should have various strategies to ensure safety of women and their mental health issues in such pandemic like situations. It seems that present laws and regulations are insufficient to give the desired results. The barriers of legal and protective system and delivery of helpful services etc. constraints should be rectified added with a proper dynamic plan to carry on usual women protection services even in pandemics and natural disasters.
A GPCR-based yeast biosensor for biomedical, biotechnological, and point-of-use cannabinoid determination
Authors: Miettinen Karel , Leelahakorn Nattawat , Almeida Aldo , Zhao Yong , Hansen Lukas , Nikolajsen Iben , Andersen Jens , Givskov Michael , Stærk Dan , Bak Søren , Kampranis Sotirios
Published: January 2022

The decriminalization of cannabis and the growing interest in cannabinoids as therapeutics require efficient methods to discover novel compounds and monitor cannabinoid levels in human samples and products. However, current methods are limited by the structural diversity of the active compounds. Here, we construct a G-protein coupled receptor-based yeast whole-cell biosensor, optimize it to achieve high sensitivity and dynamic range, and prove its effectiveness in three real-life applications. First, we screen a library of compounds to discover two novel agonists and four antagonists and demonstrate that our biosensor can democratize GPCR drug discovery by enabling low-cost high-throughput analysis using open-source automation. Subsequently, we bioprospect 54 plants to discover a novel phytocannabinoid, dugesialactone. Finally, we develop a robust portable device, analyze body-fluid samples, and confidently detect illicit synthetic drugs like “Spice”/“K2”. Taking advantage of the extensive sensing repertoire of GPCRs, this technology can be extended to detect numerous other compounds.
Role of the habenulo-interpeduncular system in the neurodevelopmental basis of susceptibility and resilience to stressinduced anxiety
Authors: Rakotobe Malalaniaina , Fjerdingstad Niels , Ruiz-Reig Nuria , Lamonerie Thomas , D'Autréaux Fabien
Published: January 2022

Experiencing stress during sensitive periods of brain development has a major impact on how individuals cope with later stress. Although many become more prone to develop anxiety or depression, some appear resilient. The mechanisms underlying these differences are unknown. Key answers may lie in how genetic and environmental stressors interact to shape the circuits controlling emotions. Here we studied the role of the habenulo-interpeducuncular system (HIPS), a critical node of reward circuits, in early stress-induced anxiety. We found that a subcircuit of this system, characterized by Otx2 expression, is particularly responsive to chronic stress during puberty, which induces HIPS hypersensitivity to later stress and susceptibility to develop anxiety. We further show that Otx2 deletion restricted to the HIPS counteracts these effects of stress.
Together, these results demonstrate that Otx2 and stress interact, around puberty, to shape the HIPS stress-response, revealed here as a key modulator of susceptibility/resilience to develop anxiety.
SIRT7 is a prognostic biomarker in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma that is correlated with immune cell infiltration
Authors: Zhang Wei , Qian Yue , Jin Xue , Wang Yixian , Mu Lili
Published: January 2022

Background: SIRT7 has been shown to be expressed in many cancer types, including kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), but its functional role in this oncogenic context remains to be firmly defined. This study was designed to explore correlations between SIRT7 and KIRC characteristics using the TCGA database. Methods: Relationships between SIRT7 expression and KIRC patient clinicopathological characteristics were assessed through Kruskal-Wallis tests, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and logistic regression analyses. Area under the ROC curve (AUC) values were used to assess the prognostic value of SIRT7 as a means of classifying KIRC patients. The functional role of SIRT7 in this cancer type was assessed through GO/KEGG enrichment analyses and immune cell infiltration analyses. Results: In KIRC patients, higher levels of SIRT7 expression were associated with Race, M stage, T stage (all P < 0.05). SIRT7 offered significant diagnostic value in ROC curve analyses (AUC = 0.912), and elevated SIRT7 levels were linked to worse patient overall survival (OS; P < 0.001). The expression of SIRT7 was independently related with KIRC patient OS (HR: 1.827; 95%CI: 1.346-2.481; P<0.001). In GO/KEGG analyses, SIRT7 was found to be associated with ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and nucleotide excision repair. Higher SIRT7 expression was related to the enhanced infiltration of certain immune cells.Conclusions: Increased SIRT7 expression was associated with a worse KIRC patient prognosis, and immune infiltrates, suggesting it may offer value as a prognostic biomarker for this cancer type.
Chris Armstrong on Global Equality and Special Claims to Resources
Authors: Angell Kim
Published: January 2022

In ‘Justice and Natural Resources,’ Chris Armstrong offers a rich and sophisticated egalitarian theory of resource justice, according to which the benefits and burdens flowing from natural (and non-natural) resources are ideally distributed with a view to equalize people’s access to wellbeing, unless there are compelling reasons that justify departures from that egalitarian default. Armstrong discusses two such reasons: special claims from ‘improvement’ and ‘attachment.’ In this paper, I critically assess the account he gives of these potential constraints on global equality. I argue that his recognition of them has implications that Armstrong does not anticipate, and which challenge some important theses in his book. First, special claims from improvement will justify larger departures from the egalitarian default than Armstrong believes. Second, a consistent application of Armstrong’s life plan-foundation for special claims from attachment implies that nation-states may move closer to justify ‘permanent sovereignty’ over the resources within their territories than what his analysis suggests.
Attachment, Sustainability, and Control over Natural Resources
Authors: Lo Coco Laura , Schuppert Fabian
Published: January 2022

In this paper, we discuss Armstrong’s account of attachment-based claims to natural resources, the kind of rights that follow from attachment-based claims, and the limits we should impose on such claims. We hope to clarify how and why attachment matters in the discourse on resource rights by presenting three challenges to Armstrong’s theory. First, we question the normative basis for certain attachment claims, by trying to distinguish more clearly between different kinds of attachment and other kinds of claims. Second, we highlight the need to supplement Armstrong’s account with a theory of how to weigh different attachment claims so as to establish the normative standing that different kinds of attachment claims should have. Third, we propose that sustainability must be a necessary requirement for making attachment claims to natural resources legitimate. Based on these three challenges and the solutions we propose, we argue that attachment claims are on the one hand narrower than Armstrong suggests, while on the other hand they can justify more far-reaching rights to control than Armstrong initially considers, because of the particular weight that certain attachment claims have.