bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Challenges in health service delivery under public-private partnership in Tanzania: stakeholders’ views from Dar es Salaam region
Authors: Nuhu Said , Mpambije Chakupewa Joseph , Ngussa Kinamhala 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background
Public-private partnership in the health sector was introduced to improve the delivery of health services in Tanzania. Contrary, the expected outcomes have not been fully realised. This study aimed at investigating challenges encountered in implementing public-private partnership institutional arrangements in health service delivery in Kinondoni Municipality, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Methods
A qualitative case study design was employed, where in-depth interviews with stakeholders were held and document reviews conducted. Fourteen (n = 14) participants engaged in this study. Eight (n = 8) and six (n = 6) of the fourteen participants were from the public and private sector respectively. The thematic approach was used to analyse data, and ethical principles in the research process were upheld.

Results
Findings revealed that although public-private partnerships are hailed for supplementing the government’s efforts in the provision of health services, institutional arrangements for the smooth provision of these services are lacking. Several challenges encumber smooth provision of health services and these include inadequate resources, ineffective monitoring and evaluation, and insufficient consultations between partners.

Conclusion
Inadequate legal and policy framework, or ineffective implementation practices may influence challenges facing institutional arrangements for public-private partnerships. Therefore, strengthening of public-private partnerships is recommended to improve implementation mechanisms and practices such as adherence to partnership agreements and compliance to the policies, laws and regulations.
Intranasal exposure of African green monkeys to SARS-CoV-2 results in acute phase pneumonia with shedding and lung injury still present in the early convalescence phase
Authors: Cross Robert W. , Agans Krystle N. , Prasad Abhishek N. , Borisevich Viktoriya , Woolsey Courtney , Deer Daniel J. , Dobias Natalie S. , Geisbert Joan B. , Fenton Karla A. , Geisbert Thomas W. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractWe recently reported the development of the first African green monkey (AGM) model for COVID-19 based on a combined liquid intranasal (i.n.) and intratracheal (i.t.) exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Here, we followed up on this work by assessing an i.n. particle only route of exposure using the LMA mucosal atomization device (MAD). Six AGMs were infected with SARS-CoV-2; three animals were euthanized near the peak stage of virus replication (day 5) and three animals were euthanized during the early convalescence period (day 34). All six AGMs supported robust SARS-CoV-2 replication and developed respiratory disease. Evidence of coagulation dysfunction as noted by a transient increases in aPTT and circulating levels of fibrinogen was observed in all AGMs. The level of SARS-CoV-2 replication and lung pathology was not quite as pronounced as previously reported with AGMs exposed by the combined i.n. and i.t. routes; however, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in nasal swabs of some animals as late as day 15 and rectal swabs as late as day 28 after virus challenge. Of particular importance to this study, all three AGMs that were followed until the early convalescence stage of COVID-19 showed substantial lung pathology at necropsy as evidenced by multifocal chronic interstitial pneumonia and increased collagen deposition in alveolar walls despite the absence of detectable SARS-CoV-2 in any of the lungs of these animals. These findings are consistent with human COVID-19 further demonstrating that the AGM faithfully reproduces the human condition.
Targeting EphA2 in cancer
Authors: Xiao Ta , Xiao Yuhang , Wang Wenxiang , Tang Yan Yan , Xiao Zhiqiang , Su Min 
Published: August 2020

AbstractEph receptors and the corresponding Eph receptor-interacting (ephrin) ligands jointly constitute a critical cell signaling network that has multiple functions. The tyrosine kinase EphA2, which belongs to the family of Eph receptors, is highly produced in tumor tissues, while found at relatively low levels in most normal adult tissues, indicating its potential application in cancer treatment. After 30 years of investigation, a large amount of data regarding EphA2 functions have been compiled. Meanwhile, several compounds targeting EphA2 have been evaluated and tested in clinical studies, albeit with limited clinical success. The present review briefly describes the contribution of EphA2-ephrin A1 signaling axis to carcinogenesis. In addition, the roles of EphA2 in resistance to molecular-targeted agents were examined. In particular, we focused on EphA2’s potential as a target for cancer treatment to provide insights into the application of EphA2 targeting in anticancer strategies. Overall, EphA2 represents a potential target for treating malignant tumors.
Unveiling the immunomodulatory properties of Haemonchus contortus adhesion regulating molecule 1 interacting with goat T cells
Authors: Lu Mingmin , Tian Xiaowei , Zhang Yang , Aimulajiang Kalibixiati , Wang Wenjuan , Ehsan Muhammad , Li Charles , Yan Ruofeng , Xu Lixin , Song Xiaokai , Li Xiangrui 
Published: August 2020

AbstractBackgroundGastrointestinal nematodes could release excretory-secretory (ES) proteins into the host environment to ensure their survival. These ES proteins act as immunomodulators to suppress or subvert the host immune responseviathe impairment of immune cell functions, especially in chronic infections. In our preliminary study,Haemonchus contortusadhesion-regulating molecule 1 (HcADRM1) was identified fromH. contortusES proteins (HcESPs) that interacted with host T cellsvialiquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. However, little is known about HcADRM1 as an ES protein which may play a pivotal role at the parasite-host interface.MethodsBased on bioinformatics approaches, multiple amino acid sequence alignment was conducted and the evolutionary relationship of HcADRM1 with ADRM1 orthologues was extrapolated. Employing RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry assays, temporal transcriptional and spatial expression profiles of HcADRM1 were investigated. Using immunostaining approaches integrated with immunological bioassays, the immunomodulatory potentials of HcADRM1 on goat T cells were assessed.ResultsWe hereby demonstrated that HcADRM1 with immunodiagnostic utility was a mammalian ADRM1 orthologue abundantly expressed at all developmental stages ofH. contortus. Given the implications of ADRM1 proteins in cell growth, survival and development, we further investigated the immunomodulatory property of HcADRM1 as an individual ES protein acting at the parasite-host interface. The rHcADRM1 stimuli notably suppressed T cell viability, promoted intrinsic and extrinsic T cell apoptosis, inhibited T cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. Simultaneously, rHcADRM1 stimuli exerted critical controls on T cell cytokine secretion profiles, predominantly by restraining the secretions of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10 and interferon-gamma.ConclusionsImportantly, HcADRM1 protein may have prophylactic potential for anti-H. contortusvaccine development. Together, these findings may contribute to the clarification of molecular and immunomodulatory traits of ES proteins, as well as improvement of our understanding of parasite immune evasion mechanism inH. contortus-host biology.
Dose-effect relationship and molecular mechanism by which BMSC-derived exosomes promote peripheral nerve regeneration after crush injury
Authors: Zhao Jiuhong , Ding Yali , He Rui , Huang Kui , Liu Lu , Jiang Chaona , Liu Zhuozhou , Wang Yuanlan , Yan Xiaokai , Cao Fuyang , Huang Xueying , Peng Yanan , Ren Rui , He Yuebin , Cui Tianwei , Zhang Quanpeng , Zhang Xianfang , Liu Qibing , Li Yunqing , Ma Zhijian , Yi Xinan 
Published: August 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe development of new treatment strategies to improve peripheral nerve repair after injury, especially those that accelerate axonal nerve regeneration, is very important. The aim of this study is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of how bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC)-derived exosomes (EXOs) participate in peripheral nerve regeneration and whether the regenerative effect of EXOs is correlated with dose.MethodBMSCs were transfected with or without an siRNA targeting Ago2 (SiAgo2). EXOs extracted from the BMSCs were administered to dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in vitro. After 48 h of culture, the neurite length was measured. Moreover, EXOs at four different doses were injected into the gastrocnemius muscles of rats with sciatic nerve crush injury. The sciatic nerve functional index (SFI) and latency of thermal pain (LTP) of the hind leg sciatic nerve were measured before the operation and at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after the operation. Then, the number and diameter of the regenerated fibers in the injured distal sciatic nerve were quantified. Seven genes associated with nerve regeneration were investigated by qRT-PCR in DRG neurons extracted from rats 7 days after the sciatic nerve crush.ResultsWe showed that after 48 h of culture, the mean number of neurites and the length of cultured DRG neurons in the SiAgo2-BMSC-EXO and SiAgo2-BMSC groups were smaller than that in the untreated and siRNA control groups. The average number and diameter of regenerated axons, LTP, and SFI in the group with 0.9 × 1010particles/ml EXOs were better than those in other groups, while the group that received a minimum EXO dose (0.4 × 1010particles/ml) was not significantly different from the PBS group. The expression of PMP22, VEGFA, NGFr, and S100b in DRGs from the EXO-treated group was significantly higher than that in the PBS control group. No significant difference was observed in the expression of HGF and Akt1 among the groups.ConclusionsThese results showed that BMSC-derived EXOs can promote the regeneration of peripheral nerves and that the mechanism may involve miRNA-mediated regulation of regeneration-related genes, such as VEGFA. Finally, a dose-effect relationship between EXO treatment and nerve regeneration was shown.
Treatment of severe COVID-19 with human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells
Authors: Shu Lei , Niu Changming , Li Ruyou , Huang Tingrong , Wang Yan , Huang Mao , Ji Ningfei , Zheng You , Chen Xiaolin , Shi Lei , Wu Mingjing , Deng Kaili , Wei Jing , Wang Xueli , Cao Yang , Yan Jiaxin , Feng Ganzhu 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background
COVID-19 is a highly infectious respiratory disease. No therapeutics have yet been proven effective for treating severe COVID-19.

Objectives
To determine whether human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell infusion may be effective and safe for the treatment of severe COVID-19.

Methods
Patients with severe COVID-19 were randomly divided into 2 groups: the standard treatment group and the standard treatment plus hUC-MSC infusion group. The incidence of progression from severe to critical illness, 28-day mortality, clinical symptom improvement, time to clinical symptom improvement, hematologic indicators including C-reactive protein, lymphocyte number, and interleukin 6, and imaging changes were observed and compared between the two groups.

Measurements and main results
The incidence of progression from severe to critical illness and the 28-day mortality rate were 0 in the hUC-MSC treatment group, while 4 patients in the control group deteriorated to critical condition and received invasive ventilation; 3 of them died, and the 28-day mortality rate was 10.34%. In the hUC-MSC treatment group, the time to clinical improvement was shorter than that in the control group. Clinical symptoms of weakness and fatigue, shortness of breath, and low oxygen saturation obviously improved beginning on the third day of stem cell infusion and reached a significant difference on day 7. CRP and IL-6 levels were significantly lower from day 3 of infusion, the time for the lymphocyte count to return to the normal range was significantly faster, and lung inflammation absorption was significantly shorter on CT imaging in the hUC-MSC group than in the control group.

Conclusions
Intravenous transplantation of hUC-MSCs is a safe and effective method that can be considered a salvage and priority treatment option for severe COVID-19.

Trial registration
Chinese Clinical Trial Registration; ChiCTR2000031494; Registered on 2 April 2020; http://www.medresman.org
MicroRNA-1179 suppresses the proliferation and enhances vincristine sensitivity of oral cancer cells via induction of apoptosis and modulation of MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signalling pathways
Authors: Gao Yanmei , Xu Hanmei , Pu Tiemin 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe role of miR-1179 in the development of cancer has been proved by different studies. However, the expression profile and role of miR-1179 is yet to be explored in human oral cancer. Consistently, this study was undertaken to explore the molecular role of miR-1179 in regulation of the human oral cancer development and progression. The results showed miR-1179 to be significantly (p < 0.05) overexpressed in all the oral cancer cell lines relative to normal cells. The repression of miR-1179 transcript levels not only suppressed the proliferation of oral cancer cells but also increased their sensitivity to vincristine. The decline in proliferative rates was attributed to induction of autophagy in oral cancer cells as confirmed by transmission electron microscopic analysis. Western blot analysis showed that the expression of LC3B-II increased and that of beclin 1 decreased while LC3B-I expression remained constant upon miR-1179 inhibition. Inhibition of miR-1179 caused significant decrease in the migration and invasion of the oral cancer cells. The migration and invasion found to be 47% and 32% for SCC-9 and 24% and 28% for SCC-25 cells upon miR-1179 inhibition. At molecular level, the miR-1179 was shown to exert its anticancer effects via deactivation of MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signalling cascades. In conclusion, the findings point towards the potential of miR-1179 in the treatment of oral cancer.
Wavelet based algorithm for numerical study of $(1+2)$-dimensional time fractional diffusion problems
Authors: Ghafoor Abdul , Haq Sirajul , Hussain Manzoor , Kumam Poom 
Published: August 2020

AbstractAn effective and robust scheme is developed for solutions of two-dimensional time fractional heat flow problems. The proposed scheme is based on two-dimensional Haar wavelets coupled with finite differences. The time fractional derivative is approximated by an $L_{1}$

L
1

-formula while spatial part is approximated by two-dimensional Haar wavelets. The proposed methodology first converts the problem to a discrete form and then with collocation approach to a system of linear equations which is easily solvable. To check the efficiency of the scheme, two error norms, $E_{\infty }$

E
∞

an $E_{\mathrm{rms}}$

E
rms

, have been computed. The stability of the scheme has been discussed which is an important part of the manuscript. It is also observed that the spectral radius of the amplification matrix satisfies a stability condition. From computation it is clear that computed results are comparable with the exact solution.
Difference equations related to majorization theorems via Montgomery identity and Green’s functions with application to the Shannon entropy
Authors: Siddique Nouman , Imran Muhammad , Khan Khuram Ali , Pečarić Josip 
Published: August 2020

AbstractIn this paper we give generalized results of a majorization inequality by using extension of the Montgomery identity and newly defined Green’s functions (Mehmood et al. in J. Inequal. Appl. 2017(1):108, 2017). We obtain a generalized majorization theorem for the class ofn-convex functions. We use Csiszárf-divergence and generalized majorization-type inequalities to obtain new generalized results. We further discuss our obtained generalized results in terms of the Shannon entropy and the Kullback–Leibler distance.
On the new type of degenerate poly-Genocchi numbers and polynomials
Authors: Lee Dae Sik , Kim Hye Kyung 
Published: August 2020

AbstractKim and Kim (J. Math. Anal. Appl. 487:124017, 2020) introduced the degenerate logarithm function, which is the inverse of the degenerate exponential function, and defined the degenerate polylogarithm function. They also studied a new type of the degenerate Bernoulli polynomials and numbers by using the degenerate polylogarithm function. Motivated by their research, we subdivide this paper into two parts. In Sect. 2, we construct a new type of degenerate Genocchi polynomials and numbers by using the degenerate polylogarithm function, called the degenerate poly-Genocchi polynomials and numbers, deriving several combinatorial identities related to the degenerate poly-Genocchi numbers and polynomials. Then, in Sect. 3, we also consider the degenerate unipoly Genocchi polynomials attached to an arithmetic function by using the degenerate polylogarithm function. In particular, we provide some new explicit computational identities of degenerate unipoly polynomials related to special numbers and polynomials.
Reducing human pressure on farmland could rescue China’s declining wintering geese
Authors: Si Yali , Wei Jie , Wu Wenzhao , Zhang Wenyuan , Hou Lin , Yu Le , Wielstra Ben 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background
While goose populations worldwide benefit from food provided by farmland, China’s threatened wintering goose populations have failed to capitalize on farmland. It has been proposed that, due to an exceptionally intense human pressure on Chinese farmland, geese cannot exploit farmland in their wintering sites and hence are confined to their deteriorating natural habitat. If this were true, locally decreasing this human pressure on farmland ‘refuges’ would represent a promising conservation measure.

Methods
We investigate habitat use of two declining migratory goose species in their core wintering (Yangtze River Floodplain) and stopover (Northeast China Plain) regions, compare the human pressure level at both regions, and adopt a mixed-effect resource selection function model to test how human pressure, food resource type (farmland or wetland/grass), distance to roosts, and their interaction terms influence the utilization of food resources for each species and region. To this aim we use satellite tracking of 28 tundra bean geese Anser serrirostris and 55 greater white-fronted geese A. albifrons, a newly produced 30 m land cover map, and the terrestrial human footprint map.

Results
Geese use farmland intensively at their stopover site, but hardly at their wintering site, though both regions have farmland available at a similar proportion. The human pressure on both farmland and wetland/grass is significantly lower at the stopover region compared to the wintering region. At both sites, the two goose species actively select for farmland and/or wetland/grass with a relatively low human pressure, positioned relatively close to their roosting sites.

Conclusions
Our findings suggest that if human pressure were to decrease in the farmlands close to the roost, China’s wintering geese could benefit from farmland. We recommend setting aside farmland near roosting sites that already experiences a relatively low human pressure as goose refuges, and adopt measures to further reduce human pressure and increase food quality and quantity, to help counter the decline of China’s wintering goose populations. Our study has important conservation implications and offers a practical measure for migratory waterfowl conservation in areas of high human-wildlife conflict.
Cervicofacial and mediastinal emphysema following minor dental procedure: A case report and review of the literature
Authors: Busuladzic Adnan , Patry Melissa , Fradet Laurent , Turgeon Valérie , Bussieres Marie 
Published: August 2020

Background Subcutaneous cervical emphysema is a clinical sign associated with many conditions, including laryngotracheal trauma, pneumothorax and necrotizing deep tissue infections. Case presentation We discuss a case of a 76-year-old man presenting with extensive cervical emphysema a few hours after a minor dental filling procedure. The CT-scan revealed a significant amount of air within the cervical and mediastinal spaces, reaching lobar bronchi. Vitals were within normal values Bloodwork demonstrated an elevation of creatinine kinase (3718; normal < 150) and mild leukocytosis (WBC = 11.6). We decided to proceed to an urgent cervical exploration to exclude necrotizing fasciitis. This revealed air but no tissue necrosis nor abnormal fluid. The patient improved clinically and was discharged two days later with oral antibiotics. Although cervicofacial subcutaneous emphysema following dental procedures has been reported, it is usually less extensive and involving more invasive procedures using air-driven handpieces. Conclusion As an otolaryngologist confronted with extensive subcutaneous emphysema following a potential entry route for an aggressive infection, given the seriousness of this diagnosis, the decision of whether or not to perform a diagnostic surgical exploration should remain.
An alternative approach to mapping pigments in paintings with hyperspectral reflectance image cubes using artificial intelligence
Authors: Kleynhans Tania , Schmidt Patterson Catherine M. , Dooley Kathryn A. , Messinger David W. , Delaney John K. 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Spectral imaging modalities, including reflectance and X-ray fluorescence, play an important role in conservation science. In reflectance hyperspectral imaging, the data are classified into areas having similar spectra and turned into labeled pigment maps using spectral features and fusing with other information. Direct classification and labeling remain challenging because many paints are intimate pigment mixtures that require a non-linear unmixing model for a robust solution. Neural networks have been successful in modeling non-linear mixtures in remote sensing with large training datasets. For paintings, however, existing spectral databases are small and do not encompass the diversity encountered. Given that painting practices are relatively consistent within schools of artistic practices, we tested the suitability of using reflectance spectra from a subgroup of well-characterized paintings to build a large database to train a one-dimensional (spectral) convolutional neural network. The labeled pigment maps produced were found to be robust within similar styles of paintings.