bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Induced Radicle Rooting : An alternative Technique for&nbsp;Rapid and Mass screening of Rice Genetic Accessions for Deep Root system
Authors: Pichiah Gomathinayagam , Biri Beka 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Drought is a recurrent phenomenon in the fragile crop production environments. Drought resistant crop varieties strike roots deeper into the soil to withstand drought spells during the crop growth period better than the shallow rooted varieties. Thus the deeper they strike roots under stress, the better their survival. Plant breeding for less than ideal condition is very difficult especially for breeding resistance to drought. The existing screening techniques are based on lateral root or fibrous root development for monocots like rice or barley .This paper explains a new innovative approach called Induced Radicle Rooting (IRR) technique which is a novel technique in which radicle root is allowed to grow by suppressing the growth of the lateral roots. The induction of radicle rooting is achieved in three steps viz.(i) by allowing to touch the radicle of the germinated seed on the water level keeping other parts above. (ii) by reducing the water level of the well periodically then and there when the radicle starts growing (iii) by allowing the growth of the radicle down deeper in the capillary tube in such a way by arresting crown and lateral roots. As the moisture stress is artificially simulated right from the beginning in the capillary tubes, the varieties tend to put forth roots as deep as the water level is. The varietal difference in the radicle root length is so sharp that the shallow rooted varieties are differentiated from the deep rooted ones remarkably. It is a non destructive method and significantly correlated to field data ( r = 0.951). This technique a first of its kind shall be useful as a valuable tool to the scientific community engaged in searching for deep roots.
Autoencoders for Drug-Target Interaction Prediction
Authors: Chen Ming , Zhou Xiuze 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Background: Because it is so laborious and expensive to experimentally identify Drug-Target Interactions (DTIs), only a few DTIs have been verified. Computational methods are useful for identifying DTIs in biological studies of drug discovery and development. Results: For drug-target interaction prediction, we propose a novel neural network architecture, DAEi, extended from Denoising AutoEncoder (DAE). We assume that a set of verified DTIs is a corrupted version of the full interaction set. We use DAEi to learn latent features from corrupted DTIs to reconstruct the full input. Also, to better predict DTIs, we add some similarities to DAEi and adopt a new nonlinear method for calculation. Similarity information is very effective at improving the prediction of DTIs. Conclusion: Results of the extensive experiments we conducted on four real data sets show that our proposed methods are superior to other baseline approaches.Availability: All codes in this paper are open-sourced, and our projects are available at: https://github.com/XiuzeZhou/DAEi.
Association Between Apolipoprotein Gene Polymorphisms and Hyperlipidemia: A Meta-analysis
Authors: Zhao Xiao-Ning , Sun Quan , Cao You-Qin , Ran Xiao , Cao Yu 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Background: Hyperlipidemia plays an important role in the etiology of cardio-cerebrovascular disease. Over recent years, a number of studies have explored the impact of apolipoprotein genetic polymorphisms in hyperlipidemia, but considerable differences and uncertainty have been found in their association for different populations from different regions. Objective: To correlate apolipoprotein gene expression with hyperlipidemia through a systematic review of case-control studies. Methods: Comprehensive identification of relevant articles in Pubmed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, CNKI, Wangfang, and VIP published to June 9, 2020. A systematic review of hyperlipidemia case-control studies was conducted to evaluate the quality of data in articles included in the review, and a meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 11 software. Results: A total of 59 articles were included, containing in total 13843 hyperlipidemia patients in the case group and 15398 healthy controls in the control group. Meta-analysis of the data indicated that APOA5-1131T>C, APOA1 -75bp, APOB XbaⅠand APOE gene polymorphisms were significantly associated with hyperlipidemia, with OR values of 1.996, 1.228, 1.444 and 1.710, respectively, for allele models. All P values were less than 0.05. Conclusions: Meta-analysis of the data indicated that the C allele of APOA5 1131T>C, the A allele at APOA1-75bp, the APOB XbaⅠ T allele, and the ε4 allele of APOE were each a risk factor for susceptibility for hyperlipidemia.
Increasing Ascomycin Yield in Streptomyces Hygroscopicus var. Ascomyceticus by Using Polyhydroxybutyrate as an Intracellular Carbon Supply Station
Authors: Wang Pan , Yin Ying , Wang Xin , Wen Jianping 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Background: Ascomycin is a multifunctional antibiotic produced by Streptomyces hygroscopicus var. ascomyceticus. As a secondary metabolite, the production of ascomycin is often limited by the shortage of precursors during the late fermentation phase. Polyhydroxybutyrate is an intracellular polymer accumulated by various microorganisms. The development of polyhydroxybutyrate as a useful carbon reservoir for precursor synthesis is of great significance for improving the yield of ascomycin.Results: The fermentation characteristics of the parent strain S. hygroscopicus var. ascomyceticus FS35 showed that the accumulation and decomposition of polyhydroxybutyrate were respectively correlated with the growth of strain and the production of ascomycin. The co-overexpression of exogenous polyhydroxybutyrate synthesis gene phaC and native polyhydroxybutyrate decomposition gene fkbU increased both strain biomass and ascomycin yield. Comparative transcription analysis showed that the storage of polyhydroxybutyrate during the exponential phase accelerated biosynthesis processes by stimulating the utilization of carbon sources, and the decomposition of polyhydroxybutyrate during the stationary phase increased the biosynthesis of ascomycin precursors by enhancing metabolic flux of primary pathways. The comparative analysis of cofactor concentration reflected that the biosynthesis of polyhydroxybutyrate depended on the supply of NADH pool. Under the condition of low sugar content in the later exponential phase, the optimization of carbon source addition further strengthened the polyhydroxybutyrate metabolism by increasing total concentration of cofactors. Finally, in the fermentation medium with 22 g/L starch and 52 g/L dextrin, the ascomycin yield of co-overexpression strain was increased to 626.30 mg/L, 2.11-fold higher than that of parent strain in the initial medium (296.29 mg/L). Conclusions: This paper reported for the first time that the polyhydroxybutyrate was beneficial to the growth of strain and the production of ascomycin by working as an intracellular carbon reservoir, storing as polymers when carbon sources are abundant and depolymerizing to monomers for the biosynthesis of precursors when carbon sources are insufficient. The successful application of polyhydroxybutyrate in increasing the output of ascomycin provided a new strategy for the high yield of other secondary metabolites.
Genetic Polymorphism of Cyp2d6 Gene Coding Region and Association Between Them With Vivax Malaria Relapse in Yunnan Province, China
Authors: Huang Herong , Dong Ying , Xu Yanchun , Deng Yan , Zhang Canglin , Liu Shuping , Chen Mengni , Liu Yan 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
BackgroundPrimaquine is one of two medications able to effectively eliminate the hypnozoites of P. vivax, and therefore has been recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) as the anti-relapsing drug for vivax malaria patients. However, the reduced CYP2D6 enzyme activity caused by gene mutations has been considered to result in the failure of primaquine relapse vivax malaria. Based on the analysis of CYP2D6 gene polymorphisms in vivax malaria cases the current study aims to determine the association between human CYP2D6 polymorphism and the relapse of vivax malaria. MethodsBlood samples of vivax malaria cases who received "chloroquine/primaquine eight-day therapy" from 2014 to 2018 in Yunnan Province were collected. The suspected relapsed cases were determined by epidemiology and gene sequence alignment. Human genomic DNA was extracted from the blood samples, nine exons of CYP2D6 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR products were then sequenced. The coding DNA sequence (CDS) of CYP2D6 gene was obtained by splicing and aligning with the non-mutation reference sequence. The mutation loci, haplotypes (star alleles) and genotypes of CYP2D6 gene were inferred and their association with vivax malaria relapse were analyzed. ResultsA total of 120 blood samples from 45 suspected relapsed cases of vivax malaria and 75 non-relapsed cases were collected and two nested-PCR products (2411bp and 2388bp) containing exon1-4 and exon5-9, were obtained from 119 samples. 119 CDS chains (1491bp length) were formed by splicing and combining sequencing sequences, A total of 12 mutation loci were identified in 238 CDS chains (including 119 chains from direct sequencing and another 119 chains identified from sister chromosome). Among them, the mutation locus at c.886 has the closest relationship with the relapse of vivax malaria (OR=2.167, 95%CI: 1.104~4.252, P<0.05). There were 23 haplotypes (Hap_1~Hap_23) to be identified and be defined as 23 alleles of CYP2D6 gene, Among them, the 5 star alleles (*1, *2, *4, *10 and *39) were confirmed by comparison, and the CYP2D6*10 allele accounted for the most (45.4%, 108/238). the frequency of CYP2D6*2 allele in the SR group was significantly higher than that in the NR group (P<0.05). However, among the defined 24 genotypes, there were 8 genotypes (*4/*4, *4/*o, *2/*39, *39/*m, *39/*x, *1/*r, *1/*n, and *v/*10) appeared only in the SR group.ConclusionAmong the numerous mutations of CYP2D6 gene，CYP2D6*10 allele accounts for the highest proportion of vivax malaria cases in Yunnan Province. The mutation at c. 886 locus is most closely related to the relapse of vivax malaria. In addition, there was the genotype *4/*4 with null CYP2D6 enzyme function. These results suggest that Yunnan Province should pay attention to the risk of reduced CYP2D6 enzyme activity on the radical cure therapeutic effect of primaquine
ZrO2 Negtive Capacitance Field-Effect Transistor with Sub-60 Subthreshold Swing Behavior
Authors: Zhang Siqing , Liu Huan , Zhou Jiuren , Liu Yan , Han Genquan , Hao Yue 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Here we report the ZrO2 - based Negative capacitance (NC) FETs with 45.06 mV/decade subthreshold swing (SS) under ±1 V V GS range, which can achieve new opportunities in furture voltage-scalable NCFET applications. The ferroelectric-like behavior of the Ge/ZrO2/TaN capacitors is proposed to be originated from the oxygen vacancy dipoles. The NC effect of the amorphous HfO2 and ZrO2 films devices can be proved by the sudden drop of gate leakage, the negative differential resistance (NDR) phenomenon, the enhancement of I DS and sub-60 subthreshold swing. 5 nm ZrO2 - based NCFETs achieve a clockwise hysteresis of of 0.24 V, lower than 60 mV/decade SS and an 12% I DS enhancement compared to the control device without ZrO2 . The suppressed NC effect of Al2O3/HfO2 NCFET compared with ZrO2 NCFET is related to the partical swiching of oxygen vacancy dipoles in the forward sweeping due to negative interfical dipoles at the Al2O3 /HfO2 interface.
Prognostic Predictors Do Not Equate to Predictors of Chemotherapy Benefit in HR-Positive, HER2-Negative Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Study
Authors: Fu Jianfei , Lin Haiping , Zheng Hongjuan , Ge Chenyang , Ling LiXian , Ying RuiHua , Wang Qinghua , Tang Wanfen , Zhang Xia , Zhou Shishi , Jin Xiayun , Xu Xifeng , Yu Shian 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Background: Patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-), early breast cancer had a favorable prognosis. We conducted a study to identify patients benefiting from adjuvant chemotherapy in this cohort.Methods: Patients with HR+, HER2-, early breast cancer were identified from the SEER database and were classified into the chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy groups. A propensity score matching (PSM) was performed and subgroup analyses were conducted in the after-matched patients to explore which subgroups benefited from chemotherapy. Gene expression RNA-seq data and phenotypic data of HR+, HER2-, early breast cancer were identified from the TCGA database, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from paired tumor and normal samples were identified, and DGEs were filtered through interactions between chemotherapy and gene expression level to obtain genes associated with chemotherapy benefits. A chemotherapy predictive clinical score (CPCS) and a chemotherapy predictive genetic score (CPGS) were established respectively based on variables or genes identified.Results: In total, 86158 patients with HR+, HER2-, early breast cancer were identified from the SEER database and there were 15259 patients in each after-matched group. Race, T stage and N stage were associated with chemotherapy benefits and entered into the establishment of CPCS. Amongst the 29 normal samples and 254 tumor samples of HR+, HER2-, early breast cancer in the TCGA database, 29 pairs of samples were identified to filter 1709 DEGs, of which 84 DGEs were associated with chemotherapy benefits. SOWAHA、RP11-205M3.3、IRX6、PPBP and EMX1 were chosen to establish the CPGS according to their P-values for interaction.Conclusions: Nodal status was an important indicator for chemotherapy decisions in HR+, HER2-, early breast cancer and most patients without nodes involved could be spared chemotherapy. In addition, a CPCS and a CPGS were established respectively using a completely new method to identify patients benefiting from chemotherapy.
Childhood Overweight and Obesity Among the Saudi Population: A Case-Control Study Among School Children
Authors: AlJassim Hanan Abdulsalam , Jr Hoda 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
BackgroundChildhood obesity is a global public health concern with major consequences. In Saudi Arabia, the percentage of children who are overweight or obese have significantly increased in the past 2 decades, raising concerns about the physical and psychosocial consequences of this burden. This study aimed at investigating the different risk factors contributing to childhood obesity in Saudi Arabia.Methods A case-control study was conducted among 492 school children (246 overweight/obese cases and 246 normal control aged 5-9 years old). Using valid and reliable instruments, parental and children characteristics, behavioural practices, screen use, and other activities were assessed as risk factors for childhood obesity using logistic regression analysis. Results An unemployed father (OR=11.90; 95%CI: 7.47-18.93), an overweight/obese father (OR=2.04; 95%CI: 1.40-2.96), an incorrect parental perception of child’s weight status (OR=2.54; 95%CI: 1.75-3.68), Caesarean delivery (OR=2.52; 95%CI: 1.56-4.09), daily time in active play for less than 30 minutes (OR=2.18; 95%CI: 1.44-3.28), , frequent snacking (OR=1.74; 95%CI: 1.05-2.93), and screen time use for more than 2 hours per day outside of school (OR=1.62; 95%CI: 1.12-2.34) were all independent risk factors for being overweight or obese among the selected cases. ConclusionEfforts to prevent childhood overweight and obesity in this population should focus primarily on the early identification and addressing of risk factors, such as parental characteristics and awareness of the magnitude of the burden of obesity, behavioural practices such as frequent snacking, screen time use, and physical activity.
WITHDRAWN: Rucaparib in patients presenting a metastatic breast cancer with Homologous Recombination Deficiency, without germline BRCA1/2 mutation
Authors: Patsouris Anne , DIOP M'boyba Khadija , Tredan Olivier , Nenciu Daniel , Goncalves Anthony , Arnedos Monica , Sablin Marie-Paule , Jézéquel Pascal , Jimenez Marta , Droin Nathalie , Bieche Ivan , Callens Celine , Loehr Andrea , Vicier Cecile , Seegers Valérie , Filleron Thomas , André Fabrice 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Breast cancer may present genomic alterations leading to homologous recombination deficiency. PARP inhibitors have proved their efficacy in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (mBC) harboring germline (g) BRCA1/2 mutations. We conducted the phase 2 RUBY trial to assess the efficacy of rucaparib in HER2-negative mBC with high genomic loss of heterozygosity (LOH) score or somatic, without gBRCA1/2 mutation. 220 of 711 patients with mBC screened for LOH presented high LOH score which was associated with a higher likelihood of death (HR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.11-1.75, p = 0.005). The primary objective was not reached with a clinical benefit rate (objective response or SD>16 weeks) of 13.5%. Two LOH-high patients, without somatic BRCA1/2 mutation, presented a complete and durable response (14 and 32 months). HRDetect tended to be associated with response to rucaparib, whithout reaching statistical significance (median HRDetect responders versus non responders: 0.465 versus, 0.040, p = 0.2135). Our data suggests that a small subset of patients with high LOH score could derive benefit from PARP inhibitors.
Organizational Rewards and Performance of Health Centre IV Workers in Greater Mbarara District, Uganda
Authors: Atwiine Johnson , Atukunda Gershom , Tumwesigye Wycliffe , Asasira Justus 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study relationship between organizational rewards, andperformance of Health Centre IV workers in greater Mbarara District.MethodsThis study used cross-sectional, explanatory and correlational approaches, and it utilised healthcenter IV’s workers’ data that were collected by using a questionnaire survey from a sample of 200 healthworkers from 11 health centres from greater Mbarara district.FindingsResults revealed that rewards, were significantly associated with health workers’ performances.Contrary to previous thinking, organizational rewards and constructs do not significantly predict healthworkers’ performance. Once health centre IV’s have appropriate reward strategies for their health workersin health facilities, they are likely to work hard by meeting deadlines, being available at their work stationand they would eventually enhance on job performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses on rewards, and performance of health workers’ inhealth centres iv in greater Mbarara and it is possible that these results are only applicable to the publichealth centres iv in greater Mbarara. More research is therefore needed to further understand the relationshipbetween rewards, and performance of health workers in other sectors such as the private health sector andin other areas of the country like northern, central and eastern Uganda.Practical implicationsThe results are important for health policy development and implementation, forexample, in terms of primary health care and reporting lines for the health workers so as to enhance on theirperformance in public health sector.Originality/valueAs far as the authors are aware, no research has hitherto been undertaken thatinvestigates the relationship between reward practices on health workers’ performance in health centres IVin greater Mbarara district. Thus the results of this study will provide health practitioners with better insightsin some reward practices that could be adopted by government/health practitioners so as to improve theperformance of health centres IV workers.Paper typeResearch paper
Mapping Freezing Tolerance QTL in Alfalfa Based on Indoor Phenotyping
Authors: Adhikari Laxman , Makaju Shiva O. , Lindstrom Orville M. , Missaoui Ali Mekki 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Background Winter freezing temperature impacts alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) persistence and seasonal yield and can lead to the death of the plant. Understanding the genetic mechanisms of alfalfa freezing tolerance (FT) using high-throughput phenotyping and genotyping is crucial to select suitable germplasm and develop winter-hardy cultivars. Several clones of an alfalfa F1 mapping population (3010 x CW 1010) were phenotyped for FT using a cold chamber. The population was genotyped with SNP markers identified using genotyping by sequencing (GBS) and the QTL associated with FT were mapped on the parent-specific linkage maps. The ultimate goal is to develop non-dormant and winter-hardy alfalfa cultivars that can produce extended growth in the areas where winters are often mild. Results Alfalfa FT screening method optimized in this experiment comprises three major steps; clone preparation, acclimation, and freezing test. Twenty clones of each genotype were tested, where 10 samples were treated with freezing temperature, and 10 were used as controls. A moderate positive correlation (r ~ 0.36, P < 0.01) was observed between indoor FT and field-based winter hardiness (WH), suggesting that the indoor FT test is useful as an indirect selection method for winter hardiness of alfalfa germplasm. We detected a total of 20 QTL for four traits; visual rating-based FT, percentage survival (PS), treated to control regrowth ratio (RR), and treated to control biomass ratio (BR). Some QTL overlapped with WH QTL reported previously, suggesting a genetic relationship between FT and WH. Some favorable QTL from the winter-hardy parent (3010) potentially represented the genic region of a cold tolerance gene, the c-repeat binding factor (CBF). These QTL were located on the terminal end of chromosome 6 which is considered a location of the CBF homologs in alfalfa.Conclusions The indoor freezing tolerance selection method reported here is valuable for alfalfa breeders to accelerate breeding cycles through indirect selection. The QTL and associated markers add to the genomic resources needed by the alfalfa research community and can be used in marker-assisted selection (MAS) for alfalfa cold tolerance improvement.
Testing the Halophila Stipulacea Environmental Threat as A Potential Antioxidant Agent
Authors: Sansone Clementina , Galasso Christian , Martire Marco Lo , Fernández Tomás Vega , Musco Luigi , Dell’Anno Antonio , Bruno Antonino , Noonan Douglas M. , Albini Adriana , Brunet Christophe 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Marine biotechnology is promising to provide new solutions to society and humans, such as for health protection or natural treatments against diseases. In this framework, different strategies are explored to select marine organisms to initiate the pipeline, hopefully ended by the product development. Organisms with fast growth rates and great biological adaptive capacity are of biotechnological interests, since competitiveness might rely on increased physiological or biochemical processes’ capability seeking to protect, defend on repair intracellular damages. This study focussed on the fast-growing and invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea, a non-indigenous species widespread in the Mediterranean Sea to investigate its antioxidant activity, both in scavenging reactive oxygen species and in repairing damages from oxidative stress on human fibroblast cells. Results indicated that the ethanol/water extracts of the leaves of H. stipulacea were able to scavenge reactive oxygen species and in repair damages from oxidative stress. Moreover, greater bioactivities were observed in old leaves compared to young ones, paralleled with a higher content in carotenoids and carbohydrate contribution to organic matter content. Our results suggest a potential of the (old) leaves of H. stipulacea as skin-protective and/or oxidative stress damage repair agents. This study paves the way to transmute the invasive H. stipulacea environmental threat in goods for human health.