bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Novel Echocardiography-Derived Left Ventricular Stiffness Index in Low-Flow Versus Normal-Flow Severe Aortic Stenosis with Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction
Authors: Ngiam Jinghao Nicholas , Chew Nicholas WS , Tan Benjamin Yong-Qiang , Sim Hui Wen , Kong William K. F. , Yeo Tiong-Cheng , Chowdhury Shahryar M. , Poh Kian-Keong 
Published: June 2020

AbstractBackground Paradoxical low-flow (LF) severe aortic stenosis (AS) with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) may have poorer prognosis than normal-flow (NF) AS, though its pathophysiology remained unclear. In particular, LV stiffness has not been compared between LF vs NF. We used a novel echocardiography-derived index of LV stiffness to compare between these groups. Consecutive patients with medically-managed isolated severe AS (aortic valve area < 1 cm2) and preserved LVEF (>50%) were studied. Echocardiographic LV stiffness index was measured by a method previously validated against cardiac catheterization. We compared LF (stroke volume index, SVI < 35 ml/m2) and NF severe AS. Of the 352 patients, 121 (34%) were LF. Both LF and NF groups had similar demographics, valve areas and indices. Compared to NF, LF severe AS had higher LV stiffness indices (>0.11 ml−1 OR 3.067, 95% CI 1.825–5.128, p < 0.001). Increased LV stiffness was associated with concentric remodelling and more severe diastolic dysfunction, especially in LF AS. An LV stiffness index of > 0.11 ml−1 was independently associated with increased mortality, after adjusting for age, clinical and echocardiographic parameters (HR 2.283 95% CI 1.318–3.968, p = 0.003). Non-invasive echocardiographic-derived index of LV stiffness may be important in LF AS. Increased LV stiffness was related to LV concentric remodelling and diastolic dysfunction, and associated with poorer clinical outcomes in medically-managed AS.
The challenge of ionisation chamber dosimetry in ultra-short pulsed high dose-rate Very High Energy Electron beams
Authors: McManus M. , Romano F. , Lee N. D. , Farabolini W. , Gilardi A. , Royle G. , Palmans H. , Subiel A. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractHigh dose-rate radiotherapy, known as FLASH, has been shown to increase the differential response between healthy and tumour tissue. Moreover, Very High Energy Electrons (VHEEs) provide more favourable dose distributions than conventional radiotherapy electron and photon beams. Plane-parallel ionisation chambers are the recommended secondary standard systems for clinical reference dosimetry of electrons, therefore chamber response to these high energy and high dose-per-pulse beams must be well understood. Graphite calorimetry, the UK primary standard, has been employed to measure the dose delivered from a 200 MeV pulsed electron beam. This was compared to the charge measurements of a plane-parallel ionisation chamber to determine the absolute collection efficiency and infer the ion recombination factor. The dose-per-pulse measured by the calorimeter ranged between 0.03 Gy/pulse and 5.26 Gy/pulse, corresponding to collection efficiencies between 97% and 4%, respectively. Multiple recombination models currently available have been compared with experimental results. This work is directly applicable to the development of standard dosimetry protocols for VHEE radiotherapy, FLASH radiotherapy and other high dose-rate modalities. However, the use of secondary standard ionisation chambers for the dosimetry of high dose-per-pulse VHEEs has been shown to require large corrections for charge collection inefficiency.
Preparation of ELISA and Lateral Flow Kits for rapid Diagnosis of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in Poultry
Authors: Elyazeed Heidy Abo , Al-Atfeehy Nayera M. , Abotaleb Rasha , Sayed Rafik , Marouf Sherif 
Published: June 2020

AbstractAvian mycoplasmas were mainly the cause of poultry industry economic losses; reduced meat and egg production and increases the antibiotic treatment cost.Mycoplasma gallisepticum(MG) infection is designated as infectious sinusitis of turkeys and chronic respiratory disease of chickens (gasping, depression, semi closed eyes, infraorbital sinuses edema and decrease in egg production). This study aimed to prepare, evaluate and Compare in-house ELISA kits and lateral flow assay (LFA) from a local strain of MG with commercial ELISA kits and PCR consequently. A total of 54 samples (27 tracheal swabs, 10 trachea and 17 lung) and 50 serum samples collected from birds suffering from chronic respiratory disease were tested by prepared in-house ELISA, commercial ELISA kits, PCR and LFA; a high correlation coefficient between in-house ELISA using whole antigen or sonicated antigen and commercial kit was recorded. Lateral Flow assay (LFA) performance indicate a low sensitivity (77.5%) but maintain a high specificity (92%) compared to PCR. The in-house ELISA kits and LFA prepared could be used as a fast diagnostic technique for detection of MG in Egypt. According to the available knowledge the prepared LFA for diagnosis of MG infection in chickens was developed for the first time in Egypt.
Applying Serum Proteins and MicroRNA as Novel Biomarkers for Early-Stage Cervical Cancer Detection
Authors: Du Shengye , Zhao Yinghui , Lv Changyu , Wei Meiling , Gao Zheng , Meng Xianhua 
Published: June 2020

AbstractRecently, we have been seeing emerging applications of non-invasive approaches using serum biomarkers including miRNA and proteins in detection of multiple cancers. Currently, majority of these methods only use solitary type of biomarkers, which often lead to non-satisfactory sensitivity and specificity in clinical applications. To this end, we established a unique biomarker panel in this study, which determined both squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC Ag) degree and miRNA-29a, miRNA-25, miRNA-486-5p levels in blood for detection of early-stage cervical cancer. We designed our study with two phases: a biomarker discovery phase, followed by an independent validation phase. In total of 140 early-stage cervical cancer patients (i.e., AJCC stage I and II) and 140 healthy controls recruited in the biomarker discovery phase, we achieved sensitivity of 88.6% and specificity of 92.9%. To further assess the predictive power of our panel, we used it to an independent patient cohort that consisted of 60 early-stage cervical cancer individuals as well as 60 healthy controls, and successfully achieved both high sensitivity (80.0%) and high specificity (96.7%). Our study indicated combining analyses of multiple serum biomarkers could improve the accuracy of non-invasive detection of early-stage cervical cancer, and potentially serve as a new liquid biopsy approach for detecting early-stage cervical cancer.
Soluble programmed death-ligand 1 rather than PD-L1 on tumor cells effectively predicts metastasis and prognosis in soft tissue sarcomas
Authors: Asanuma Kunihiro , Nakamura Tomoki , Hayashi Akinobu , Okamoto Takayuki , Iino Takahiro , Asanuma Yumiko , Hagi Tomohito , Kita Kouji , Nakamura Kouichi , Sudo Akihiro 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe soluble form of PD-L1 (sPD-L1) is related to a poor prognosis in various cancers. Comparisons of sPD-L1 and PD-L1 expressed on tumor cells in soft tissue tumor patients have not been reported. The purpose of this study was to analyze serum sPD-L1 and PD-L1 levels in soft tissue tumor patients. A total of 135 patients with primary soft tissue tumors were enrolled in this study. The sPD-L1 level was quantitatively measured by enzyme immunoassay, and PD-L1 expression on high grade sarcoma cells was analyzed immunohistologically. There were no significant differences in sPD-L1 levels between benign (48) and soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients (87). In STS, the high sPD-L1 (>44.26 pg/mL) group had significantly lower metastasis-free survival (MS) and lower overall survival (OS) than the low sPD-L1 group (≤44.26 pg/mL) at 5 years using the log-rank test. On multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis, the high sPD-L1 group had significant differences in MS and OS compared to the low sPD-L1 group. Between positive and negative immunostaining groups, recurrence-free survival (RS), MS, and OS were not significantly different. No correlation was found between immunostaining and sPD-L1 with the Kappa coefficient. The sPD-L1 concentration could predict future metastasis and prognosis in STS patients. High sPD-L1 in STS patients may be a target for treatment with checkpoint inhibitors.
Micelle-stabilized Olfactory Receptors for a Bioelectronic Nose Detecting Butter Flavors in Real Fermented Alcoholic Beverages
Authors: Shin Narae , Lee Seung Hwan , Pham Ba Viet Anh , Park Tai Hyun , Hong Seunghun 
Published: June 2020

AbstractA bioelectronic nose device based on micelle-stabilized olfactory receptors is developed for the selective discrimination of a butter flavor substance in commercial fermented alcoholic beverages. In this work, we have successfully overexpressed ODR-10, a type of olfactory receptor, from Caenorhabditis elegans using a bacterial expression system at a low cost and high productivity. The highly-purified ODR-10 was stabilized in micelle structures, and it was immobilized on a carbon nanotube field-effect transistor to build a bioelectronic nose for the detection of diacetyl, a butter flavor substance, via the specific interaction between diacetyl and ODR-10. The bioelectronic nose device can sensitively detect diacetyl down to 10 fM, and selectively discriminate it from other substances. In addition, this sensor could directly evaluate diacetyl levels in a variety of real fermented alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and makgeolli (fermented Korean wine), while the sensor did not respond to soju (Korean style liquor without diacetyl). In this respect, our sensor should be a powerful tool for versatile food industrial applications such as the quality control of alcoholic beverages and foods.
Fabrication of superconducting niobium nitride nanowire with high aspect ratio for X-ray photon detection
Authors: Guo Shuya , Chen Qi , Pan Danfeng , Wu Yaojun , Tu Xuecou , He Guanglong , Han Hang , Li Feiyan , Jia Xiaoqing , Zhao Qingyuan , Zhang Hengbin , Bei Xiaomin , Xie Jun , Zhang Labao , Chen Jian , Kang Lin , Wu Peiheng 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe niobium nitride (NbN) nanowires fabricated with the high-quality ultra-thin NbN film with a thickness of 3 nm–6 nm were widely used for single photon detectors. These nanowires had a low aspect ratio, less than 1:20. However, increasing the thickness and the aspect ratio of highly-uniformed NbN nanowires without reducing the superconductivity is crucial for the device in detecting high-energy photons. In this paper, a high-quality superconducting nanowire with aspect ratio of 1:1 was fabricated with optimized process, which produced a superconducting critical current of 550 μA and a hysteresis of 36 μA at 2.2 K. With the optimization of the electron beam lithography process of AR-P6200.13 and the adjustion of the chamber pressure, the discharge power, as well as the auxiliary gas in the process of reactive ion etching (RIE), the meandered NbN nanowire structure with the minimum width of 80 nm, the duty cycle of 1:1 and the depth of 100 nm were finally obtained on the silicon nitride substrate. Simultaneously, the sidewall of nanowire was vertical and smooth, and the corresponding depth-width ratio was more than 1:1. The fabricated NbN nanowire will be applied to the detection of soft X-ray photon emitted from pulsars with a sub-10 ps time resolution.
Adherence to a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style Diet in Relation to Preeclampsia: A Case-Control Study
Authors: Cao Yuan , Liu Yanhua , Zhao Xianlan , Duan Dandan , Dou Weifeng , Fu Wenjun , Chen Huanan , Bo Yacong , Qiu Yanfang , Chen Gaiyun , Lyu Quanjun 
Published: June 2020

AbstractMaternal diet is an important potential factor associated with the risk of preeclampsia. However, it is unclear whether adherence to a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style diet can reduce the development of preeclampsia. To examine the potential association, we conducted a hospital-based case-control study at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, China. A total of 449 cases with preeclampsia and 449 controls were studied. Dietary information was collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). DASH scores were calculated according to nutrients/food emphasised or minimised in the DASH diet. The calculated DASH scores ranged from 11 to 38 for all of the participants, and the DASH scores of the cases were significantly lower than those of the controls (23.48 ± 4.58 vs 24.51 ± 4.51; p = 0.001). Participants in the fourth quartile of the DASH score were 45% less likely to have preeclampsia than those in the first quartile in the crude model (Q4 vs Q1, odds ratio [OR]: 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.38, 0.80; ptrend = 0.001). The relationship remained significant in the model adjusted for multiple confounders, especially for major risk factors of preeclampsia (OR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.36, 0.78; ptrend = 0.001). Our findings suggest an inverse relationship between adherence to a DASH-style diet and the odds of preeclampsia. Further larger-scale cohort studies or randomised controlled trials are warranted to confirm these relationships.
GATA2 Regulates Constitutive PD-L1 and PD-L2 Expression in Brain Tumors
Authors: Fu Yujie , Liu Connor J. , Kobayashi Dale K. , Johanns Tanner M. , Bowman-Kirigin Jay A. , Schaettler Maximilian O. , Mao Diane D. , Bender Diane , Kelley Diane G. , Uppaluri Ravindra , Bi Wenya Linda , Dunn Ian F. , Tao Yu , Luo Jingqin , Kim Albert H. , Dunn Gavin P. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractEncouraging clinical results using immune checkpoint therapies to target the PD-1 axis in a variety of cancer types have paved the way for new immune therapy trials in brain tumor patients. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate expression of the PD-1 pathway ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, remain poorly understood. To address this, we explored the cell-intrinsic mechanisms of constitutive PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression in brain tumors. PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression was assessed by flow cytometry and qRT-PCR in brain tumor cell lines and patient tumor-derived brain tumor-initiating cells (BTICs). Immunologic effects of PD-L2 overexpression were evaluated by IFN-γ ELISPOT. CD274 and PDCD1LG2 cis-regulatory regions were cloned from genomic DNA and assessed in full or by mutating and/or deleting regulatory elements by luciferase assays. Correlations between clinical responses and PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression status were evaluated in TCGA datasets in LGG and GBM patients. We found that a subset of brain tumor cell lines and BTICs expressed high constitutive levels of PD-L1 and PD-L2 and that PD-L2 overexpression inhibited neoantigen specific T cell IFN-γ production. Characterization of novel cis-regulatory regions in CD274 and PDCD1LG2 lead us to identify that GATA2 is sufficient to drive PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression and is necessary for PD-L2 expression. Importantly, in TCGA datasets, PD-L2 correlated with worse clinical outcomes in glioma patients.. By perturbing GATA2 biology, targeted therapies may be useful to decrease inhibitory effects of PD-L2 in the microenvironment.
CircRNA_101237 promotes NSCLC progression via the miRNA-490-3p/MAPK1 axis
Authors: Zhang Zhi-ye , Gao Xiao-hui , Ma Ming-ying , Zhao Chun-ling , Zhang Ya-li , Guo Shuang-shuang 
Published: June 2020

AbstractNon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common type of lung cancer, characterized by a poor prognosis. In the last several years, more and more studies have demonstrated the significant roles played by circular RNAs (circRNAs) in different human tumors progression including NSCLC. The present study was to explore the mechanism of hsa_circ_101237 in regulating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Totally 303 NSCLC cases were enrolled. A549 and H1299 cells were transfected. Cells viability, migration and invasion were determined by CCK-8 assay and transwell experiment, respectively. Luciferase reporter gene assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were performed. hsa_circ_101237, miR-490-3p and MAPK1 expression in tissues/cells were detected by qRT-PCR. The study found an elevation in the expression of Hsa_circRNA_101237 in both NSCLC tissues and cell line. High Hsa_circRNA_101237 expression predicted poor survival in NSCLC. Meanwhile, we found that hsa_circRNA_101237 expression sponged miR-490-3p to enhance MAPK1 expression, thus significantly promoting NSCLC cell lines proliferation, migration, and invasion. MAPK1 restoration prevented NSCLC cells proliferation, migration, and invasion to be repressed due to hsa_circRNA_101237 knockdown. To sum up, as revealed by the study, hsa_circRNA_101237 promoted the expression of MAPK1 via miRNA-490-3p sponge, thus affecting the NSCLC as an important onco-circRNA.
Effects of rainfall manipulation and nitrogen addition on plant biomass allocation in a semiarid sandy grassland
Authors: Zhang Jing , Zuo Xiaoan , Zhao Xueyong , Ma Jianxia , Medina-Roldán Eduardo 
Published: June 2020

AbstractExtreme climate events and nitrogen (N) deposition are increasingly affecting the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the response of plant biomass to variations to these global change drivers is still unclear in semi-arid regions, especially in degraded sandy grasslands. In this study, a manipulative field experiment run over two years (from 2017 to 2018) was conducted to examine the effect of rainfall alteration and nitrogen addition on biomass allocation of annuals and perennial plants in Horqin sandy grassland, Northern China. Our experiment simulated extreme rainfall and extreme drought (a 60% reduction or increment in the growing season rainfall with respect to a control background) and N addition (20 g/m2) during the growing seasons. We found that the sufficient rainfall during late July and August compensates for biomass losses caused by insufficient water in May and June. When rainfall distribution is relatively uniform during the growing season, extreme rainfall increased aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) of annuals, while extreme drought reduced AGB and BGB of perennials. Rainfall alteration had no significant impacts on the root-shoot ratio (R/S) of sandy grassland plants, while N addition reduced R/S of grassland species when there was sufficient rainfall in the early growing season. The biomass of annuals was more sensitive to rainfall alteration and nitrogen addition than the biomass of perennials. Our findings emphasize the importance of monthly rainfall distribution patterns during the growing season, which not only directly affect the growth and development of grassland plants, but also affect the nitrogen availability of grassland plants.
CX3CL1 homo-oligomerization drives cell-to-cell adherence
Authors: Ostuni Mariano A. , Hermand Patricia , Saindoy Emeline , Guillou Noëlline , Guellec Julie , Coens Audrey , Hattab Claude , Desuzinges-Mandon Elodie , Jawhari Anass , Iatmanen-Harbi Soria , Lequin Olivier , Fuchs Patrick , Lacapere Jean-Jacques , Combadière Christophe , Pincet Frédéric , Deterre Philippe 
Published: June 2020

AbstractDuring inflammatory response, blood leukocytes adhere to the endothelium. This process involves numerous adhesion molecules, including a transmembrane chemokine, CX3CL1, which behaves as a molecular cluster. How this cluster assembles and whether this association has a functional role remain unknown. The analysis of CX3CL1 clusters using native electrophoresis and single molecule fluorescence kinetics shows that CX3CL1 is a homo-oligomer of 3 to 7 monomers. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching assays reveal that the CX3CL1-transmembrane domain peptide self-associates in both cellular and acellular lipid environments, while its random counterpart (i.e. peptide with the same residues in a different order) does not. This strongly indicates that CX3CL1 oligomerization is driven by its intrinsic properties. According to the molecular modeling, CX3CL1 does not associate in compact bundles but rather with monomers linearly assembled side by side. Finally, the CX3CL1 transmembrane peptide inhibits both the CX3CL1 oligomerization and the adhesive function, while its random counterpart does not. This demonstrates that CX3CL1 oligomerization is mandatory for its adhesive potency. Our results provide a new direction to control CX3CL1-dependent cellular adherence in key immune processes.
Removal mechanism of Pb(II) by Penicillium polonicum: immobilization, adsorption, and bioaccumulation
Authors: Xu Xiyang , Hao Ruixia , Xu Hui , Lu Anhuai 
Published: June 2020

AbstractCurrently, lead (Pb) has become a severe environmental pollutant and fungi hold a promising potential for the remediation of Pb-containing wastewater. The present study showed that Penicillium polonicum was able to tolerate 4 mmol/L Pb(II), and remove 90.3% of them in 12 days through three mechanisms: extracellular immobilization, cell wall adsorption, and intracellular bioaccumulation. In this paper. the three mechanisms were studied by Raman, X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that Pb(II) was immobilized as lead oxalate outside the fungal cell, bound with phosphate, nitro, halide, hydroxyl, amino, and carboxyl groups on the cell wall, precipitated as pyromorphite [Pb5(PO4)3Cl] on the cell wall, and reduced to Pb(0) inside the cell. These combined results provide a basis for additionally understanding the mechanisms of Pb(II) removal by P. polonicum and developing remediation strategies using this fungus for lead-polluted water.
Extended Bose-Hubbard Model with Cavity-Mediated Infinite-Range Interactions at Finite Temperatures
Authors: Chen Huang-Jie , Yu Yan-Qiang , Zheng Dong-Chen , Liao Renyuan 
Published: June 2020

AbstractWe consider the finite-temperature properties of the extended Bose-Hubbard model realized recently in an ETH experiment [Nature 532, 476 (2016)]. Competing short- and global-range interactions accommodate fascinating collective phenomena. We formulate a self-consistent mean-field theory to describe the behaviors of the system at finite temperatures. At a fixed chemical potential, we map out the distributions of the superfluid order parameters and number densities with respect to the temperatures. For a charge density wave, we find that the global-range interaction enhances the charge order by increasing the transition temperature at which the charge order melts out, while for a supersolid phase, we find that the disappearance of the charge order and the superfluid order occurs at different temperature. At a fixed number-density filling factor, we extract the temperature dependence of the thermodynamic functions such as internal energy, specific heat and entropy. Across the superfluid phase transition, the specific heat has a discontinuous jump.