bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Leaf area – sapwood area relationship in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) under mistletoe (Viscum album ssp. austriacum) infection
Authors: Bilgili Ertugrul , Coskuner Kadir Alperen , Ozturk Murat
Published: November 2020

Leaf area is linearly correlated with sapwood area in trees. The linearity of this relationship can be affected by some biotic and abiotic factors. Mistletoes are hemi parasitic plants that take up water and mineral nutrients from their hosts and affect host physiological responses. There is no conclusive evidence to show the effect of pine mistletoe (Viscum album ssp. austriacum) on leaf area and sapwood area relationship in Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris L.) at tree level. The aim of this study is to determine and quantify the effect of pine mistletoe on the structural variation of leaf area and sapwood area relationship at tree level in Scots pine. A total of 18 mistletoe infected and 12 uninfected Scots pine trees were destructively sampled. All needles and mistletoes were completely removed from sampled trees to determine needle and mistletoe characteristics, biomass and leaf area. Sapwood areas at breast height (BH) and at crown base height (CBH) were determined from wood discs taken from BH (1.3m) and CBH. Sapwood area was delineated by benzidine staining method. Pearson correlation, t-test and regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between sapwood area and needle-mistletoe leaf area relationships. The results indicated that both the relationships between sapwood area and leaf area in uninfected, and sapwood area and total leaf area (needle plus mistletoe leaf only) in infected trees were linear. However, the slope of regression equation for mistletoe infected trees was considerably lower when compared to the uninfected trees. As for the variation of the sapwood area along the stem below live crown, there was a slight difference between sapwood area at BH and CBH. The study showed also that mistletoe infection led to a significant reduction in needle size (length, width, area and weight) in Scots pine trees. Significant relationships were found between the sapwood area and leaf area in this study. The results of this study may help fill the gap in the knowledge concerning the impacts of pine mistletoe on the dynamics of Scots pine trees.
Estimating the impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on childhood pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
Authors: Onwuchekwa Chukwuemeka , Edem Bassey , Williams Victor , Oga Emmanuel
Published: November 2020

Background: This study aimed to summarise the evidence on the impact of routine administration of 10-valent and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on pneumonia in children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: A systematic search of the literature was conducted including primary research reporting on the impact of 10- or 13-valent pneumococcal vaccines on childhood pneumonia in a sub-Saharan African country. Case-control, cohort, pre-post and time-series study designs were eligible for inclusion. Thematic narrative synthesis was carried out to summarise the findings.

Results: Eight records were included in the final analysis, 6 records were pre-post or time-series studies, 1 was a case-control study and 1 report combined pre-post and case-control studies. Vaccine impact on clinical pneumonia measured as percentage reduction in risk (%RR) was mostly non-significant. The reduction in risk was more consistent in radiological and pneumococcal pneumonia.

Conclusions: Evidence of the positive impact of routine infant pneumococcal vaccination on clinical pneumonia incidence in sub-Saharan Africa is inconclusive. Ongoing surveillance and further research is required to establish the long term trend in pneumonia epidemiology and aetiology after PCV introduction.

PROSPERO registration: CRD42019142369 30/09/19
Three datasets for nutrition environment measures of food outlets located in the Lower Mississippi Delta region of the United States
Authors: Thomson Jessica L. , Landry Alicia S.
Published: November 2020

This data note provides details of a research database containing 266 food outlets located in five rural towns in the Lower Mississippi Delta region of Mississippi, whose nutrition environments were measured from 2016 to 2018.  The food outlet types include grocery stores, convenience stores, full-service restaurants, and fast food restaurants.  The purpose of this publication is to describe the three datasets for external researchers who may be interested in making use of them.  The datasets are available from the USDA National Agricultural Library’s Ag Data Commons under a CC0 1.0 Universal License: https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1503704.
Evolution as an Unwrapping of the Gift of Freedom
Authors: McLeish Tom
Published: November 2020

Extending the approach to a ‘theology of science’ developed in Faith and Wisdom in Science (McLeish 2014), I expand its theme of the tension between chaos and emergent order, within the arc of the Biblical story of creation, towards a theology of evolutionary science. In addition to the material in Job, the book of Wisdomprovides a remarkable account of transmutation of species, within a recapitulation of the Exodus theme, that I juxtapose with a modern genotype-phenotype theory of evolutionary dynamics, exploiting analogies with statistical mechanics. The dual and connected structures of microscopic and macroscopic provide a locus for the Joban tensions of chaos and emergent order, and provide an interpretative narrative for the emergent directionality of evolution, and a theology that situates within a creation of freedom to explore the potential of the created order.
Seis palabras para escribir la Historia en la lengua española. Lección Inaugural leída en la Solemne Apertura del Curso Académico 2019-2020 en la Universidad de Sevilla
Authors: Pons Rodríguez Lola
Published: November 2020

En la escritura historiográfica se registran los hechos acontecidos en el pasado a través de la compilación de fuentes que los transmiten o a través del recurso al testimonio de quienes los presenciaron; esta clase de escritura conforma un universo discursivo, el discurso historiográfico, que está sometido, como cualquier otro discurso, a una historicidad que puede ser descrita, registrada y estudiada a través de su materialización en textos de muy distinta tipología y conformación interna. Anales, crónicas, memoriales, relaciones son nombres de algunos de los productos que consignamos como historiográficos en la escritura castellana. Las diferencias entre tales obras, la disparidad interna de sus contenidos o sus posibles (y frecuentes en algunos casos) solapamientos se nos revelan no solo a través de los textos sino también mediante las opiniones y valoraciones que los propios historiógrafos y los lectores avezados en el contacto con estos distintos géneros discursivos hacen sobre qué entienden por una crónica, qué esperan de un memorial o qué contenidos atribuyen a unos anales.
Instrumentos políticos y financieros de la UE para la prevención de conflictos. El inacabado camino de la fragmentación hacia la integración
Authors: Pérez de Armiño Karlos
Published: November 2020

Desde la década de 1990, la prevención de conflictos y la construcción de
la paz se han convertido en objetivos relevantes de la acción exterior de la UE.
Esta ha ido desarrollando un marco institucional compuesto por un entramado
de organismos, políticas e instrumentos financieros, que le permite actuar
en diferentes ámbitos y en todas las fases de un conflicto. Sin embargo, es un
marco caracterizado por la fragmentación y la descoordinación. Por ello, la
UE ha formulado los enfoques integral e integrado, y realizado varias reformasinstitucionales para dotar de mayor coherencia a sus políticas. Este objetivo se
ha conseguido solo en parte, más en el ámbito técnico que en el político. Así, las
políticas europeas están aún lejos de aprovechar todo su potencial, sobre todo en
materia de prevención de las causas de los conflictos a largo plazo.
La política europea de Trump y las relaciones transatlánticas
Authors: Tovar Ruiz Juan
Published: November 2020

La asunción de la presidencia por Donald Trump ha impactado profundamente
en las relaciones de Estados Unidos con sus aliados europeos en sus diferentes
ámbitos, dada la visión poco ortodoxa de este líder en asuntos relevantes como
el libre comercio, la OTAN, Rusia, el multilateralismo o el Brexit. El objetivo
principal de este artículo es analizar el estado de la relación transatlántica en
sus diferentes dimensiones, focalizándose en las rupturas y continuidades con
la política europea del presidente Obama, la posible existencia de una estrategia
regional y el análisis de sus potencialidades y perspectivas de futuro. El artículo
concluye que, pese a todas las controversias anteriores, la relación transatlántica
tendrá a medio y largo plazo un prominente rol que jugar a la hora de garantizar
la seguridad, estabilidad y prosperidad en Europa en ausencia de cualquier otra
alternativa realista.
La retirada del Reino Unido de la UE, un viaje hacia ninguna parte
Authors: Fernández Sánchez Pablo Antonio
Published: November 2020

Las relaciones entre el Reino Unido (RU) y la Unión Europea (UE) siempre
han sido tensas. Ya desde la más tierna infancia comunitaria, los británicos
pusieron sobre la mesa sus exigencias, de las que luego los polacos y los
checos aprendieron tanto. Esto siempre ha debilitado a la UE, lo que también ha
debilitado su posición como actor global.
Nada hay qué reprochar a una retirada que se ha hecho con escrupuloso
cumplimiento del derecho, aunque, a veces, haya sido un esperpento
insoportable.
El impacto del Brexit alcanza prácticamente a todos los temas en los que
tiene competencias la UE, que en menor o mayor medida son casi todos los que
pueda pensarse en cuanto a la regulación de la vida de las personas y de los
Estados. Por ello, hay que estar muy vigilantes para que las consecuencias en ambos espacios jurídicos sean los mínimos posibles. Para ello se requiere unas
relaciones jurídicas futuras que encajen en esos objetivos.
El control migratorio no le resultará fácil llevarlo a cabo al RU, porque
incidirá en sus propios intereses y los desafíos internos y externos de la UE, que
son desafíos globales que sólo podremos resolver si somos actores significativos;
será más difícil hacerlo sin el RU pero el RU quedará en la irrelevancia política
internacional.
Contribución al análisis del impacto de la creación de una red de vías ciclistas en la economía local y en la imagen turística de las ciudades. El caso de Sevilla
Authors: Marqués Ricardo , López-Peña Manuel , Hernández-Herrador Vicente
Published: November 2020

This paper analyzes the impact of the creation of a continuous network of segregated cycle paths on local economy and on the touristic image of cities, through the case study of the city of Seville by developing a methodology that could be applied to the analysis of other similar experiences. The implementation of a network of bike tracks in the city from 2007 onwards led to the revitalization of a sector, quite marginal until that date, turning it into a dynamic and growing sector in an environment of economic crisis, with high job creation rates per euro billed, something quite beneficial in a city with high rates of unemployment. The impact of the creation of the mentioned network of cycle paths in the touristic image of the city, something very important given the relevance of the tourism in its economy, is apparent from the inclusion of the aforementioned infrastructure in the main international tourist guides of the city. The microanalysis of the opinions of the visitors, users of said infrastructure, evidences a positive valuation, and its high multiplier power as an argument for recommending Seville as a tourist destination in their immediate social environments. However, some deficiencies that should still be corrected are detected, such as conservation problems, or the low level of knowledge of such infrastructure at the international level.
Zikloteka, centro de documentación de la bicicleta. Una iniciativa avan-zada de recopilación, tratamiento y difusión de documentación sobre la movilidad ciclista
Authors: Bergua Jiménez Edorta , González Baragaña Manu
Published: November 2020

During the last two decades, a significant volume of materials related to everyday cycling have been produced in Gipuzkoa. This documentation, scattered in many locations until now, represents a considerable heritage of administrative, scientific, technical and citizens’ knowledge produced in this area, as well as underlining the effort undertaken to normalize the use of the bicycle as a means of transport in this territory. The Gipuzkoa Provincial Council and the Cristina Enea Foundation set up the Zikloteka in 2015, a specialized documentation centre in cycle mobility in Gipuzkoa, in order to identify, compile, preserve and disseminate this heritage, which currently contains over 3,800 references. The article presents the main characteristics, services, management system and takes stock of its trajectory. The glossary drawn up to classify the materials is its main contribution in the technical documentation area specialized in mobility. It underlines the collaboration with different entities, such as the Red de Ciudades por la Bicicleta (Cities for Cycling Network), ConBici, and the Network of Environmental Information and Documentation Centres which, complemented by a lengthy search, collection and management process, make it a unique specialized documentation centre in cycle mobility in Europe.
Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Different Types of Livestock and Poultry Manure During Storage
Authors: Zhu Zhiping , Li Lulu , Dong Hongmin , Wang Yue
Published: November 2020

Highlights

Carbon and nitrogen gas emissions from manure storage were influenced by manure characteristics.

The main GHG contributor for dairy cattle, beef cattle, and broiler manure was methane.

The main GHG contributor for laying hen manure was nitrous oxide (N2O).

N2O emissions of the five types of manure were comparable with the IPCC recommended value.

Abstract. Livestock manure management is an important source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and ammonia (NH3) emissions from agriculture. Large amounts of manure are produced in China, while little research is available on the gas emission characteristics from different manure sources. The GHG and NH3 emissions from pig manure (PM), dairy cattle manure (DCM), beef cattle manure (BCM), layer manure (LM), and broiler manure (BM) during storage were monitored using the dynamic emission chamber method to compare the differences in gas emission characteristics among the five manure types and elucidate the key factors causing the differences. The results indicated that C and N gas emissions from manure storage were influenced by manure characteristics. The total CO2-eq (without CO2) emissions from PM, DCM, BCM, LM, BM were, respectively, 49.98 ±3.53, 1160.4 ±55.22, 692.16 ±42.98, 61.99 ±1.92, and 72.52 ±3.45 g per kg of dry basis manure during 77-day storage. The main GHG contributor for DCM, BCM, and BM was methane (CH4), accounting for 65% to 94%, and the main GHG contributor for LM was nitrous oxide (N2O). For PM, CH4 and N2O contributed equally to the total emissions. The N2O emissions of the five manure types were 0.002 to 0.013 kg N2O-N kg-1 N and were comparable with the IPCC recommended value. Keywords: Ammonia, Animal manure, Emission, Methane, Nitrous oxide.
MODELING OF WATER EROSION IN A SUB-BASIN IN RIO GRANDE DO SUL USING THE RUSLE MODEL
Authors: Silva Thais Palumbo , Nachtigall Stefan Domingues , Nunes Maria Cândida Moitinho , Lima Cláudia Liane Rodrigues , Knapp Ana Paula
Published: November 2020

The intense use of farming land has caused many consequences to the environment, among them, water erosion. The scale study of river basins through modeling allows the identification and estimation of soil losses, aiming at the conservationist planning of the site. The objective of this work was to predict soil loss in the Micaela sub-basin, with an area of ??37 km2 located in the municipality of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul. For the prediction of soil loss, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was used. Erosivity was obtained from data from the literature and erodibility was estimated by means of the inherent soil attributes and the topographic factor calculated according to the accumulated flow and declivity in each pixel. For the cover factor, data from the literature were used, according to use recommendation and existing soil cover. The study area shows a strong erosivity, which ranged from 8,045 to 8,833 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1. The Argissolos occupy 81.31% of the sub-basin and present high erodibility, varying from 0.0369 to 0.0422 Mg ha h ha-1 MJ-1 mm -1. The sites with the largest vegetation cover were those with the lowest soil losses. However, in more than 36% of the area, the soil losses are above the tolerable therehsold, indicating that they are more prone to degradation and, therefore, the systems of land use and adopted management should be reviewed.
Application of laser cleaning in postwelding treatment of aluminum alloy
Authors: Zhu Guodong , Wang Shouren , Zhang Mingyuan , Yang Xuefeng , Liu Wentao , Wang Gaoqi
Published: November 2020

This paper presents a new method of postweld treatment. The 5154 aluminum alloy was cleaned by Nd:YAG laser after welding. The surface morphology, energy spectrum, friction and wear properties, hardness, and residual stress of the welded joint at different cleaning speeds were studied. The results show that an Nd:YAG laser can effectively remove the welding slag and eliminate the pores in the weld under a certain cleaning speed. When the cleaning speed is in the range of 5.2–20.7 mm/s, laser cleaning can improve the heat-affected zone’s tribological characteristics. Laser cleaning can eliminate the residual stress of the welded joint and improve the welding joint’s strength, which provides a reference for laser cleaning instead of traditional heat treatment.
Self-registration shape measurement based on fringe projection and structure from motion
Authors: Wang Peng , Zhang Liyan
Published: November 2020

As an accurate and efficient shape measurement method, fringe-projection-based three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction has been extensively studied. However, patchwise point cloud registration without extra assistance is still a challenging task. We present a flexible and robust self-registration shape measurement method based on fringe projection and structure from motion (SfM). Other than ordinary structured-light measurement devices in which the camera and the projector are rigidly connected together, the camera and the projector in our method can be moved independently. An image-capturing scheme and underlying image-matching strategy are proposed. By selectively utilizing some sparse correspondence points across the fringe images as virtual markers, the global positions of the camera and the projector corresponding to each image are calculated and optimized under the framework of SfM. Dense global 3D points all over the object surface are finally calculated via forward intersection. Experimental results on different objects demonstrate that the proposed method can obtain a self-registered 3D point cloud with comparable accuracy to the state-of-the-art techniques by using only one camera and one projector, requiring no post-registration procedures and no assistant markers.
Design of all-optical reversible logic gates using photonic crystal waveguides for optical computing and photonic integrated circuits
Authors: Rao Dalai Gowri Sankar , Swarnakar Sandip , Kumar Santosh
Published: November 2020

Reversible logic gates are capable of designing lossless digital systems, which have received a great deal of attention in photonic integrated circuits due to their advantages, such as less heat generation and low power dissipation. In this paper, all-optical reversible Feynman and Toffoli logic gates are designed for optical computing devices and low-power integrated circuits. Proposed designs of all-optical reversible logic gates are implemented with two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides without using any nonlinear material. The finite-difference time-domain method is used to simulate and verify the proposed design, and it is operated at a wavelength of 1550 nm. The structure of all-optical reversible logic gates requires much less area, and Feynman logic gates offer a contrast ratio (CR) of 12.4 dB, transmittance of 0.96, and less insertion loss of

−

0.015

d
B

, while Toffoli logic gates offer a CR of 32.5 dB, transmittance of 0.9, and less insertion loss of

−

0.04

d
B

.
Study on the impact of clustering for non-orthogonal multiple access based on multilevel code for radio-over-fiber fronthaul application
Authors: Tao Yijie , Lim Christina , Nirmalathas Ampalavanapillai
Published: November 2020

With the stringent requirements of fifth-generation and beyond wireless communications technology coupled with the potential bottleneck in the optical fronthaul, radio-over-fiber (RoF) technology offers an alternative solution to distribute the wireless signals while meeting these requirements. The inherent centralized architecture of RoF enables advanced coordination functionality to be performed within the fronthaul network. Advanced coordination functionality such as non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has gained traction as a means to improve spectral efficiency for larger user-base networks. Among various NOMA implementations, the recently proposed multilevel code (MLC) was found to be superior to the commonly investigated superposition coding successive interference cancellation scheme in a two-user scenario. In this paper, we generalize the definition of the MLC to

n

user cases and discuss two power allocation schemes for the generalized MLC definition, which are based on the spectral efficiency (SE) criterion and symbol error rate (SER) criterion, respectively. Simulation-based performance analysis on the MLC–SE and the MLC–SER schemes was conducted over different cluster sizes and randomly generated user distributions. The results show, to the best of our knowledge, that the best performance in terms of user fairness and bit error rate can be obtained in a two-user MLC–SER scheme.
Far-field signature of sub-wavelength microscopic objects
Authors: Bancerek Maria , Czajkowski Krzysztof M. , Kotyński Rafał
Published: November 2020

Information about microscopic objects with features smaller than the diffraction limit is almost entirely lost in a far-field diffraction image but could be partly recovered with data completition techniques. Any such approach critically depends on the level of noise. This new path to superresolution has been recently investigated with use of compressed sensing and machine learning. We demonstrate a two-stage technique based on deconvolution and genetic optimization which enables the recovery of objects with features of 1/10 of the wavelength. We indicate that l1-norm based optimization in the Fourier domain unrelated to sparsity is more robust to noise than its l2-based counterpart. We also introduce an extremely fast general purpose restricted domain calculation method for Fourier transform based iterative algorithms operating on sparse data.
Fabrication of three-dimensional high-aspect-ratio structures by oblique-incidence Talbot lithography
Authors: Ezaki Ryu , Mizutani Yasuhiro , Ura Naoki , Uenohara Tsutomu , Makiura Yoshihiko , Takaya Yasuhiro
Published: November 2020

Developing a suitable production method for three-dimensional periodic nanostructures with high aspect ratios is a subject of growing interest. For mass production, Talbot lithography offers many advantages. However, one disadvantage is that the minimum period of the light intensity distribution is limited by the period of the diffraction grating used. To enhance the aspect ratio of fabricated nanostructures, in the present study we focus on multiple wave interference between diffracted waves created using the Talbot effect. We propose a unique exposure method to generate multiple wave interference between adjacent diffraction orders by controlling the angle of incidence of an ultraviolet (UV) light source. Using finite-difference time-domain simulations, we obtain fringe patterns with a sub-wavelength period using a one-dimensional periodic grating mask. Moreover, we demonstrate the practical application of this approach by using UV lithography to fabricate sub-wavelength periodic photopolymer-based structures with an aspect ratio of 30 in millimeter-scale areas, indicating its suitability for mass production.
400  MHz ultrafast optical coherence tomography
Authors: Huang Dongmei , Li Feng , He Zijian , Cheng Zihao , Shang Chao , Wai P. K. A.
Published: November 2020

An ultrafast time-stretched swept source with a sweep rate of 400 MHz is demonstrated based on the buffering of a 100 MHz femtosecond laser pulse train. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest sweep rate of swept sources for optical coherence tomography (OCT) that has been reported. With a 10 dB sweep range of

∼

100

n
m

, an axial resolution of 19 µm is obtained in the OCT. OCT imaging of high-speed rotating disks is demonstrated. A composite complex apodization method is proposed and demonstrated to enhance the signal to noise ratio in the OCT imaging.
Challenges in the care of patients with Chagas disease in the Brazilian public health system: A qualitative study with primary health care doctors
Authors: Damasceno Renata Fiúza , Sabino Ester Cerdeira , Ferreira Ariela Mota , Ribeiro Antonio Luiz Pinho , Moreira Hugo Fonseca , Prates Thalita Emily Cezário , Sampaio Cristina Andrade , Haikal Desirée Sant´Ana
Published: November 2020

Background

Care to patients with Chagas disease (CD) is still a challenge for health systems in endemic and non-endemic countries. In the Brazilian public health system, the expansion of Primary Health Care (PHC) services to remote and disadvantaged areas has facilitated the access of patients with CD to medical care, however this is in a context where care gaps remain, with insufficient public funding and inadequate distribution of services. Considering the need for studies on care to patients with CD in different settings, this study explored the challenges of family doctors to provide care to patients with CD in an endemic region in Brazil with high coverage of public PHC services.

Methods and findings

This is a qualitative study. A focus group with 15 family doctors was conducted in a municipality participating in a multicenter cohort that monitors almost two thousand patients with CD in an endemic region in Brazil. The data were analyzed using a thematic content analysis technique. The family doctors pointed out the following challenges for care to patients with CD: unsatisfactory medical training (academic education not suitable for the clinical management of the disease, and lack of training on CD in PHC); uncertainties regarding antiparasitic treatment in the chronic phase of the disease; difficulty in patients’ access to specialized care when necessary, especially to the cardiologist; and trivialization of the disease by patients as a barrier to seeking care.

Conclusion

The access of CD patients to adequate medical care, even in regions with high coverage of public PHC services, still represents an important challenge for health systems. The results of this study may contribute to the development of strategies to improve the clinical management of CD in PHC.
COVID-19 unfolding filariasis: The first case of SARS-CoV-2 and Wuchereria bancrofti coinfection
Authors: Mohamed Mouhand F. H. , Mohamed Sara F. , Yousaf Zohaib , Kohla Samah , Howady Faraj , Imam Yahia
Published: November 2020

With the evolution of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of patients brought to medical attention has increased. This has led to the unmasking of many coexisting occult infections and comorbidities such as tuberculosis, dengue, human immunodeficiency viral infection, diabetes, and hypertension. We report the first case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, unveiling the diagnosis of asymptomatic filariasis. A 37-year-old gentleman presented with shortness of breath, fever, and cough. He was found to have COVID-19 pneumonia. During his stay, microfilaria of Wuchereria bancrofti was detected incidentally on a blood smear exam. Consequently, the patient received appropriate treatment for both conditions. In order not to miss relevant concomitant diagnoses, it is prudent to keep a broad differential diagnosis when faced with SARS-CoV-2–infected patients; this is especially true when atypical symptoms are present or in areas endemic with other infections.
Regeneration of a full-thickness defect in rotator cuff tendon with umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells in a rat model
Authors: Yea Ji-Hye , Kim InJa , Sym Gayoung , Park Jin-Kyung , Lee Ah-Young , Cho Byeong Chan , Bae Tae Soo , Kim Byoung Jae , Jo Chris Hyunchul
Published: November 2020

Although rotator cuff disease is a common cause of shoulder pain, there is still no treatment method that could halt or reveres its development and progression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC MSCs) on the regeneration of a full-thickness rotator cuff defect (FTD) in a rat model. We injected either UC MSCs or saline to the FTD and investigated macroscopic, histological and biomechanical results and cell trafficking. Treatment with UC MSCs improved macroscopic appearance in terms of tendon thickness at two weeks, and inflammation, defect size, swelling/redness and connection surrounding tissue and slidability at four weeks compared to the saline group. Histologically, UC MSCs induced the tendon matrix formation recovering collagen organization, nuclear aspect ratio and orientation angle of fibroblast as well as suppressing cartilage-related glycosaminoglycan compared to saline group at four weeks. The UC MSCs group also improved ultimate failure load by 25.0% and 19.0% and ultimate stress by 27.3% and 26.8% at two and four weeks compared to saline group. UC MSCs labeled with PKH26 exhibited 5.3% survival at four weeks compared to three hours after injection. This study demonstrated that UC MSCs regenerated the FTD with tendon tissue similar properties to the normal tendon in terms of macroscopic, histological and biomechanical characteristics in a rat model.
Sites of vulnerability on ricin B chain revealed through epitope mapping of toxin-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies
Authors: Vance David J. , Poon Amanda Y. , Mantis Nicholas J.
Published: November 2020

Ricin toxin’s B subunit (RTB) is a multifunctional galactose (Gal)-/N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNac)-specific lectin that promotes uptake and intracellular trafficking of ricin’s ribosome-inactivating subunit (RTA) into mammalian cells. Structurally, RTB consists of two globular domains (RTB-D1, RTB-D2), each divided into three homologous sub-domains (α, β, γ). The two carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs) are situated on opposite sides of RTB (sub-domains 1α and 2γ) and function non-cooperatively. Previous studies have revealed two distinct classes of toxin-neutralizing, anti-RTB monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Type I mAbs, exemplified by SylH3, inhibit (~90%) toxin attachment to cell surfaces, while type II mAbs, epitomized by 24B11, interfere with intracellular toxin transport between the plasma membrane and the trans-Golgi network (TGN). Localizing the epitopes recognized by these two classes of mAbs has proven difficult, in part because of RTB’s duplicative structure. To circumvent this problem, RTB-D1 and RTB-D2 were expressed as pIII fusion proteins on the surface of filamentous phage M13 and subsequently used as “bait” in mAb capture assays. We found that SylH3 captured RTB-D1 (but not RTB-D2) in a dose-dependent manner, while 24B11 captured RTB-D2 (but not RTB-D1) in a dose-dependent manner. We confirmed these domain assignments by competition studies with an additional 8 RTB-specific mAbs along with a dozen a single chain antibodies (VHHs). Collectively, these results demonstrate that type I and type II mAbs segregate on the basis of domain specificity and suggest that RTB’s two domains may contribute to distinct steps in the intoxication pathway.
Severity of bovine tuberculosis is associated with innate immune-biased transcriptional signatures of whole blood in early weeks after experimental Mycobacterium bovis infection
Authors: Wiarda Jayne E. , Boggiatto Paola M. , Bayles Darrell O. , Waters W. Ray , Thacker Tyler C. , Palmer Mitchell V.
Published: November 2020

Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis, is a pathogen that impacts both animal and human health. Consequently, there is a need to improve understanding of disease dynamics, identification of infected animals, and characterization of the basis of immune protection. This study assessed the transcriptional changes occurring in cattle during the early weeks following aM.bovisinfection. RNA-seq analysis of whole blood-cell transcriptomes revealed two distinct transcriptional clusters of infected cattle at both 4- and 10-weeks post-infection that correlated with disease severity. Cattle exhibiting more severe disease were transcriptionally divergent from uninfected animals. At 4-weeks post-infection, 25 genes had commonly increased expression in infected cattle compared to uninfected cattle regardless of disease severity. Ten weeks post-infection, differential gene expression was only observed when severely-affected cattle were compared to uninfected cattle. This indicates a transcriptional divergence based on clinical status following infection. In cattle with more severe disease, biological processes and cell type enrichment analyses revealed overrepresentation of innate immune-related processes and cell types in infected animals. Collectively, our findings demonstrate two distinct transcriptional profiles occur in cattle followingM.bovisinfection, which correlate to clinical status.
Generation of 2-mode scale-free graphs for link-level internet topology modeling
Authors: Bakhshaliyev Khalid , Gunes Mehmet Hadi
Published: November 2020

Comprehensive analysis that aims to understand the topology of real-world networks and the development of algorithms that replicate their characteristics has been significant research issues. Although the accuracy of newly developed network protocols or algorithms does not depend on the underlying topology, the performance generally depends on the topology. As a result, network practitioners have concentrated on generating representative synthetic topologies and utilize them to investigate the performance of their design in simulation or emulation environments. Network generators typically represent the Internet topology as a graph composed of point-to-point links. In this study, we discuss the implications of multi-access links on the synthetic network generation and modeling of the networks as bi-partite graphs to represent both subnetworks and routers. We then analyze the characteristics of sampled Internet topology data sets from backbone Autonomous Systems (AS) and observe that in addition to the commonly recognized power-law node degree distribution, the subnetwork size and the router interface distributions often exhibit power-law characteristics. We introduce a SubNetwork Generator (SubNetG) topology generation approach that incorporates the observed measurements to produce bipartite network topologies. In particular, generated topologies capture the 2-mode relation between the layer-2 (i.e., the subnetwork and interface distributions) and the layer-3 (i.e., the degree distribution) that is missing from the current network generators that produce 1-mode graphs. The SubNetG source code and experimental data is available athttps://github.com/netml/sonet.
Persistent fatigue following SARS-CoV-2 infection is common and independent of severity of initial infection
Authors: Townsend Liam , Dyer Adam H. , Jones Karen , Dunne Jean , Mooney Aoife , Gaffney Fiona , O'Connor Laura , Leavy Deirdre , O'Brien Kate , Dowds Joanne , Sugrue Jamie A. , Hopkins David , Martin-Loeches Ignacio , Ni Cheallaigh Cliona , Nadarajan Parthiban , McLaughlin Anne Marie , Bourke Nollaig M. , Bergin Colm , O'Farrelly Cliona , Bannan Ciaran , Conlon Niall
Published: November 2020

Fatigue is a common symptom in those presenting with symptomatic COVID-19 infection. However, it is unknown if COVID-19 results in persistent fatigue in those recovered from acute infection. We examined the prevalence of fatigue in individuals recovered from the acute phase of COVID-19 illness using the Chalder Fatigue Score (CFQ-11). We further examined potential predictors of fatigue following COVID-19 infection, evaluating indicators of COVID-19 severity, markers of peripheral immune activation and circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines. Of 128 participants (49.5 ± 15 years; 54% female), more than half reported persistent fatigue (67/128; 52.3%) at median of 10 weeks after initial COVID-19 symptoms. There was no association between COVID-19 severity (need for inpatient admission, supplemental oxygen or critical care) and fatigue following COVID-19. Additionally, there was no association between routine laboratory markers of inflammation and cell turnover (leukocyte, neutrophil or lymphocyte counts, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein) or pro-inflammatory molecules (IL-6 or sCD25) and fatigue post COVID-19. Female gender and those with a pre-existing diagnosis of depression/anxiety were over-represented in those with fatigue. Our findings demonstrate a significant burden of post-viral fatigue in individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection after the acute phase of COVID-19 illness. This study highlights the importance of assessing those recovering from COVID-19 for symptoms of severe fatigue, irrespective of severity of initial illness, and may identify a group worthy of further study and early intervention.
Identifying genetic variants associated with ritodrine-induced pulmonary edema
Authors: Lee Seung Mi , Park Yoomi , Kim Young Ju , Hwang Han-Sung , Seo Heewon , Min Byung-Joo , Lee Kye Hwa , Kim So Yeon , Jung Young Mi , Lee Suehyun , Park Chan-Wook , Kim Ju Han , Park Joong Shin
Published: November 2020

Introduction

Ritodrine is one of the most commonly used tocolytics in preterm labor, acting as a ß2-adrenergic agonist that reduces intracellular calcium levels and prevents myometrial activation. Ritodrine infusion can result in serious maternal complications, and pulmonary edema is a particular concern among these. The cause of pulmonary edema following ritodrine treatment is multifactorial; however, the contributing genetic factors remain poorly understood. This study investigates the genetic variants associated with ritodrine-induced pulmonary edema.

Methods

In this case-control study, 16 patients who developed pulmonary edema during ritodrine infusion [case], and 16 pregnant women who were treated with ritodrine and did not develop pulmonary edema [control] were included. The control pregnant women were selected after matching for plurality and gestational age at the time of tocolytic use. Maternal blood was collected during admission for tocolytic treatment, and whole exome sequencing was performed with the stored blood samples.

Results

Gene-wise variant burden (GVB) analysis resulted in a total of 71 candidate genes by comparing the cumulative effects of multiple coding variants for 19729 protein-coding genes between the patients with pulmonary edema and the matched controls. Subsequent data analysis selected only the statistically significant and deleterious variants compatible with ritodrine-induced pulmonary edema. Two final candidate variants inCPT2andADRA1Awere confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

Conclusions

We identified new potential variants in genes that play a role in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA) regulation, which supports their putative involvement in the predisposition to ritodrine-induced pulmonary edema in pregnant women.
Phasmarhabditis zhejiangensis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae), a new rhabditid nematode from Zhejiang, China
Authors: Zhang Chao-nan , Liu Qi-zhi
Published: November 2020

A new nematode species of the genusPhasmarhabditiswas isolated from the body surface of a slug (Philomycus bilineatusBenson, PB). Morphological and molecular analyses confirmed this nematode as a new species. The nematode was namedPhasmarhabditis zhejiangensissp. nov. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) and is dioecious. In males, the open bursa with genital papillae is characterized by the formula 1-1-1-2-1-3, and the spicule length is 58μm. In female, the vulva is located approximately in the middle of the body. The nematode belongs to papillosa group because of its tail shape pointed with filiform tip. The phasmids are rod-shaped. The posterior anus is slightly swollen.P.zhejiangensiswas further characterized by internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 18S rDNA and 28S rDNA sequences. After the sequencing results were compared with sequences available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the maximum similarities of ITS, 18S and 28S sequences were 89.81%, 96.22% and 95.28%, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses placedPhasmarhabditis zhejiangensissp. nov. in the genusPhasmarhabditis.
Molecular strategy for the direct detection and identification of human enteroviruses in clinical specimens associated with hand, foot and mouth disease
Authors: Zhou Yonghong , Qiu Qi , Luo Kaiwei , Liao Qiaohong , Li Yu , Cui Peng , Liang Lu , Cheng Yibing , Wang Lili , Wang Kai , Van Tan Le , Rogier van Doorn H. , Yu Hongjie
Published: November 2020

Background

Diseases caused by human enteroviruses (EVs) are a major global public health problem. Thus, the effective diagnosis of all human EVs infections and the monitoring of epidemiological and ecological dynamic changes are urgently needed.

Methods

Based on two comprehensive virological surveillance systems of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), real-time PCR and nested RT-PCR (RT-snPCR) methods based on the enteroviral VP1, VP4-VP2 and VP4 regions were designed to directly detect all human EVs serotypes in clinical specimens.

Results

The results showed that the proposed serotyping strategy exhibit very high diagnostic efficiency (Study 1: 99.9%; Study 2: 89.5%), and the variance between the study was due to inclusion of the specific Coxsackie virus A6 (CVA6) real-time RT-PCR and VP4 RT-snPCR in Study 1 but not Study 2. Furthermore, only throat swabs were collected and analyzed in Study 2, whereas in Study 1, if a specific EV serotype was not identified in the primary stool sample, other sample types (rectal swab and throat swab) were further tested where available. During the study period from 2013 to 2018, CVA6 became one of the main HFMD causative agents, whereas the level of enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) declined in 2017.

Conclusion

The findings of this study demonstrate the appropriate application of PCR methods and the combination of biological sample types that are useful for etiological studies and propose a molecular strategy for the direct detection of human EVs in clinical specimens associated with HFMD.
Survival status and its predictors among multi-drug resistance tuberculosis treated patients in Ethiopia: Multicenter observational study
Authors: Bade Asnake Balche , Mega Teshale Ayele
Published: November 2020

Background

Although substantial progress has been made in combating the crisis of multi-drug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB), it remained the major public health threat globally.

Objective

To assess patients’ survival and its predictors among patients receiving multi-drug resistance tuberculosis treatment at MDR-TB treatment centers of southern and southwestern Ethiopia.

Methods

A multicenter retrospective observational study was conducted from April 14 to May 14, 2019, among patients receiving MDR-TB treatment at three MDR-TB treatment centers, Butajira, Arbaminch and Shenengibe Hospitals, located in south and southwestern Ethiopia. A total of 200 records were reviewed using a check list adopted from the national MDR-TB treatment charts and other relevant documents. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 4.2.0 for cleaning and exported to STATA-13 for analysis. Descriptive analysis was carried out and results were presented by text, tables, and charts. Kaplan-Meier (log-rank test) and Cox regression were used to compare baseline survival experience and to determine predictors of patients’ survival (death), respectively. The adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) was used to measure the strength of association and a p-value of <0.05 was considered to declare statistical significance.

Results

Of 200 patients, 108 (54%) of them were males. The mean (+ standard deviation) age of the study population was 32.9±9.5years. During follow-up, 22 (11%) deaths were reported. The overall incidence density of death was 11.99, 95% CI [7.89–18.21] per 100,000person-years. The median (interquartile range (IQR)) survival time was 375(249–457) days. Comorbidity (AHR = 23.68, 95% CI [4.85–115.46]), alcohol consumption (AHR = 4.53, 95% CI [1.21–16.97]), and history of poor adherence (AHR = 12.27, 95% CI [2.83–53.21]) were independently associated with patients’ survival (death).

Conclusion

In this study, the incidence density of mortality was very high. Alcohol consumption, poor adherence, and the presence of comorbidity were independently associated with death. Hence, alcohol users, patients with comorbidity and poor adherence should be given due attention during therapy.
Using a Respectful Approach to Child-centred Healthcare (ReACH) in a paediatric clinical trial: A feasibility study
Authors: Nicholl Analise , Evelegh Kate , Deering Kane Evan , Russell Kate , Lawrence David , Lyons-Wall Philippa , O’Sullivan Therese Anne
Published: November 2020

Background

There is a growing momentum in paediatric ethics to develop respectful research and healthcare protocols. We developed, tested and refined our ‘Respectful Approach to Child-centred Healthcare’ (ReACH), to underpin respectful participant interactions in a clinical trial.

Objective

To determine whether a ReACH-based approach is acceptable to children and parents, and effective in obtaining compliance with common healthcare assessments in a clinical trial of healthy 4-6-year-old children.

Methods

ReACH-based child assessments were evaluated at two baseline clinics and one post-intervention, using mixed methods. Children (n = 49; 46.9% female; mean age = 5.24±0.88 years at baseline) and their parents provided independent evaluation, via customised 5-point Likert scales and qualitative feedback. A dedicated child researcher evaluated adherence to the study ReACH principles.

Results

Children achieved compliance rates of 95% for body composition (BodPod) assessments; 89% for blood pressure measurements, and 92% (baseline) and 87% (post-intervention) for blood draws. Adherence to ReACH principles during clinic visits was positively associated with child compliance, significantly for baseline BodPod (p = 0.002) and blood test (p = 0.009) clinics. Satisfaction with BodPod protocols was positively associated with compliance, for children at baseline (p = 0.029) and for parents post-intervention (p <0.001). Parents rated the study itself very highly, with 91.7% satisfied at baseline and 100% post-intervention. Qualitative feedback reflected an enjoyable study experience for both parents and children.

Conclusions

Adherence to our emerging ReACH approach was associated with high child compliance rates for common healthcare assessments, although no causality can be inferred at this preliminary stage of development. Participants expressed satisfaction with all aspects of the study. Our use of child-centred methods throughout a research intervention appears feasible and acceptable to children and their parents.