bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Identification of QTL&nbsp;and QEI&nbsp;for Fiber-related Traits in Gossypium Hirsutum L.&nbsp;
Authors: Sharkh Abdalla , Teng Zhonghua , Yang Peng , Ma Junrui , Athanase Nsabiyumva , Wang Wenwen , Liu Xueying , Zhang Zhengsheng 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background Cotton is one of the most important cash crops in the world, depending on fiber quality, yield, seed oil and protein content. Identifying QTL for fiber related and other agronomic traits will facilitate the genetic improvement in cotton. Results In this study, forty-seven QTL for fiber related traits were identified across four different environments and six of these QTL were detected in more than one environment, including two for lint percentage (qLP-D03-1 and qLP-D09-1), two for fiber length (qFL-A07-2 and qFL-D11-1), and two for fiber micronaire (qFM-A08-1 and qFM-D11-1), respectively. Four QTL clusters contained 12 QTL were distributed on four chromosomes including two in At subgenome and two in the Dt subgenome. Moreover, thirteen QTL by environment interactions (QEI) were recognized, including one for lint percentage, five for fiber length, three for fiber strength, two for fiber micronaire, one for fiber uniformity and one for fiber elongation, respectively. ConclusionSix QTL were detected in more than one environment and two environmentally stable QTL (qLP-D03-1 and qFM-A08-1) interacted significantly environment. The QTL detected in more than one environment could be useful for further fine-mapping and marker assisted selection in cotton.
Cross-sectional Study of the Ambulance Transport Between Healthcare Facilities With Medical Support via Telemedicine: Easy, Effective, Low-cost, and High-security Tool
Authors: Pedrotti Carlos , Accorsi Tarso A. D. , Amicis Karine De , Filho Jose R. de O. Silva , Morbeck Renata A. , Cordioli Eduardo 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background: Feasibility and safety of ambulance transport between healthcare facilities with medical support exclusively via telemedicine is unknown. Methods: This was a retrospective study with a single telemedicine center reference for satellite emergency departments of the same hospital. Study population was all critically ill patients admitted to one of the peripheral units, from November 2016 to May 2020, and who needed to be transferred to the main building. Telemedicine-assisted transportation was performed by an emergency specialist. For inclusion, the criteria demanded the patients above the age of 15 years and initial stabilization be performed at the emergency department. Unstable, intubated, ST-elevation myocardial infarction, and acute stroke patients were excluded. The primary endpoint was the number of telemedicine-guided interventions during transport. Results: 2840 patients were enrolled. The population was predominantly male (53.2%) with a median age of 60 years. Sepsis was the most prevalent diagnosis in 28% of patients, followed by acute coronary syndromes (8.5%), arrhythmia (6.7%), venous thromboembolism (6.1%), stroke (6.1%), acute abdomen (3.6%), respiratory distress (3.3%), and heart failure (2.5%). Only 22 (0.8%) patients required telemedicine-assisted support during transport. Administration of oxygen therapy and analgesics were the main remotely-oriented interventions. There were no communication problems in the telemedicine-assisted group. Conclusions: Telemedicine-assisted ambulance transportation of stabilized critically ill patients can effectively and safely substitute an onboard physician on most transfers between same-institution locations.
COVID-19 mortality risk factors in older people in a long-term care center.
Authors: Heras Eva , Garibaldi Pablo , Boix Maite , Valero Oliver , Castillo Jorge , Curbelo Yurisan , Gonzalez Elso , Mendoza Obilagilio , Anglada Maria , Miralles Joan Carles , Lllull Petra , Llovera Ricard , Pique Josep M. 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Objectives: Despite high rates of COVID-19 infection and increased related mortality have been reported among older adults admitted in long-term care facilities, a limited amount of information is available about the natural course of this pandemic and prognostic factors in this population. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the epidemiologic, demographics, clinical, or therapeutic factors that may predict the prognosis in a cohort of COVID-19 infected elderly in a nursing home.Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all COVID-19 confirmed institutionalized elderly in a nursing home transformed into a reference intermediate healthcare facility from March 15 to June 5, 2020. Epidemiological, demographic, and frailty status before infection, and clinical, laboratory, treatment, and outcome data during infection were collected. We used bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression to identify risk factors for mortality.Results: The analysis comprised all 100 COVID-19 confirmed cases during the study period. The median age was 85 years; 62% were female. The case fatality rate was 20%. In the bivariate analysis, male gender, fever, respiratory symptoms, severe cognitive decline, a low Barthel index, and lymphocytopenia were significantly associated with mortality. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified male gender, low Barthel index, no pharmacological treatment, and lymphocytopenia as independent risk factors associated with mortality.Conclusions and Implications: Male gender, low Barthel index, no pharmacological treatment and lymphocytopenia are independent risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in institutionalized elderly patients in long-term care nursing homes. Treatment with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was associated with lower mortality in these patients.
Online single-shot pulse reconstruction for optimizing a seeded X-ray free-electron laser
Authors: Zeng Li , Gu Duan , Feng Chao , Liu Bo , Zhao Zhentang 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) hold promising prospects for opening up opportunities for ultra-fast sciences at the atomic and molecular system. A precise knowledge of temporal information of FEL pulses is the central issue for experiments. Here we demonstrated an online diagnostic method to determine the FEL temporal profiles at the Shanghai Soft X-ray FEL facility. This robust method, designed for seeded FELs, allows researchers to acquire real-time longitudinal profiles of FEL pulses with a resolution better than 3fs. Based on this method, for the first time, we can directly observe the generation and evolution of a seeded FEL online. This helps us to further understand the physics and realize the lasing of a stable, nearly fully coherent soft X-ray FEL through a two-stage harmonic up-shift configuration. This method also provides an intuitive way for precise detection and control of the relative timing between electron beams and external optical lasers.
Detection of Depression and Its High-Risk Group using Scanpath Comparison Based on Semantic Information
Authors: Wang Yan , Zheng Xiujuan , Huang Shen , Liu Huaqian , Zhang Yun , Liu Kai , Miao Danmin 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background: Depression is a burdensome, recurring mental health disorder with high prevalence. The traditional detection of depression relies on structured interviews and questionnaires, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Also, the detection results are affected by subjective factors such as the subject's honesty and the psychologists' experiences. It lacks objective and quantitative metrics.Methods: To solve the above problems, we develop a convenient and objective system to detect depression and its high-risk group using eye-tracking data. In this system, subjects are required to answer the self-rating scale, and their scanpaths are recorded as a series of gaze points and saccades by the eye-tracking technology. Then, the similarity of scanpaths are compared and quantified with the guide of semantic information. Finally, according to the similarity scores of their scanpaths, the subjects are classified into three groups: normal, high-risk group, and depression.Results: The classification accuracy based on each item of the self-rating scale is 86.79% on average, while the detection accuracy is 95.63%.Conclusion: The experimental results show that (1)There are obvious eye movement differences among normal people, high-risk groups of depression, and depression patients while answering the questionnaire. (2)The early screening system for depression provides a novel and efficient solution to detect depression and its high-risk group by integrating traditional scale assessment and quantitative scanpath comparison algorithm.
Universal adversarial attacks on deep neural networks for medical image classification
Authors: Hirano Hokuto , Minagi Akinori , Takemoto Kazuhiro 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background. Deep neural networks (DNNs) are widely investigated in medical image classification to achieve ﻿automated support for clinical diagnosis. It is necessary to evaluate the robustness of medical DNN tasks against adversarial attacks, as high-stake decision making will be made based on the diagnosis. Several previous studies have considered simple adversarial attacks. However, the vulnerability of DNNs to more realistic and higher risk attacks have not been evaluated yet, i.e., universal adversarial perturbation (UAP), which is a single perturbation that can induce DNN failure in most classification tasks.Methods. We focus on three representative DNN-based medical image classification tasks (i.e., skin cancer, referable diabetic retinopathy, and pneumonia classifications) and investigate their vulnerability of DNNs with various model architectures to UAPs.Results. We demonstrate that the DNNs are vulnerable to both nontargeted UAPs, which cause a task failure resulting in an input being assigned an incorrect class, and to targeted UAPs, which cause the DNN to classify an input into a specific class. The almost imperceptible UAPs achieved > 80% success rates for nontargeted and targeted attacks. The vulnerability to UAPs barely depended on model architecture. Moreover, we discovered that adversarial retraining, which is known to be an effective method for adversarial defenses, increased the robustness of DNNs against UAPs in only limited cases. Conclusion. Unlike previous assumptions, the results indicate that DNN-based clinical diagnosis is easier to deceive because of adversarial attacks. Adversaries can result in failed diagnoses at lower costs (e.g., without consideration of data distribution); moreover, they can affect the diagnosis. The effects of adversarial defenses may be not limited. Our findings emphasize that more careful consideration is required in developing DNNs for medical imaging and their practical applications.
Metabolomics analysis of the ameliorative effect of enhanced proline metabolism on hypoxia-induced injury in cardiomyocytes
Authors: Wang Jiacheng , Xue Zhimin , Hua Chunting , Lin Jun , Ying Hangying , Lv Qingbo , Shen Zhida , Wang Meihui , Zhou Binquan 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background

Coronary heart disease is currently the leading cause of death in humans. Its poor prognosis and high mortality are associated with myocardial ischemia, which leads to metabolic disorder-related cardiomyocyte apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Previous cardiovascular metabolomics studies in humans and mice have shown that proline metabolism is severely altered after cardiomyocyte hypoxia. Proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) is an enzyme that catalyzes the first step of proline catabolism, which plays an important role in improving the cellular redox state. In vitro oxygen-glucose deprivation can mimic in vivo myocardial ischemic injury. This study aimed to investigate whether enhancing proline metabolism by overexpressing PRODH can ameliorate hypoxia-induced injury in cardiomyocytes and to reveal the related altered metabolites and mechanistic pathway via untargeted metabolomics analysis.
Results

First, through public database analysis and RT-qPCR and western blot analyses in a cardiomyocyte hypoxia model, we found that the expression of the proline-degrading enzyme PRODH was downregulated after myocardial infarction and hypoxia exposure. Second, LDH assays, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL), DHE staining, flow cytometric apoptosis analysis with DCFH and Annexin V-FITC/PI, and western blot analysis were used to assess the injury level in cardiomyocytes. Enhanced proline metabolism induced by PRODH overexpression reduced the levels of reactive oxidative stress and apoptosis, whereas PRODH knockdown had the opposite effects. Third, untargeted metabolomics analysis revealed that the protective effect was associated with significant changes in metabolism linked to sphingolipid signaling pathways, unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, phosphocreatine, glutathione disulfide, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, and ABC transporters.
Conclusions

Our study demonstrated a protective effect of enhanced proline metabolism in cardiomyocytes under hypoxia, providing a novel strategy for exploring new treatments for coronary heart disease.
Electrical Conductive Fluidized Zones and Their Influence on the Earthquake Nucleation, Growth, and Arrest Processes of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake Sequence, Kyushu Island, Japan
Authors: Aizawa Koki , Takakura Shinichi , Asaue Hisafumi , Koike Katsuaki , Yoshimura Ryokei , Yamazaki Ken'ichi , Komatsu Shintaro , Utsugi Mitsuru , Inoue Hiroyuki , Tsukamoto Kaori , Uyeshima Makoto , Koyama Takao , Kanda Wataru , Yoshinaga Tohru , Matsushima Nobuo , Uchida Kazunari , Tsukashima Yuko , Matsushima Takeshi , Ichihara Hiroshi , Muramatsu Dan , Teguri Yoshiko , Shito Azusa , Matsumoto Satoshi , Shimizu Hiroshi 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Crustal earthquake ruptures tend to nucleate near fluidized zones. However, it is relatively unknown whether fluidized zones can further promote or arrest these ruptures. We image the electrical resistivity structure around the focal area of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence by using 200 sites broad-band magnetotelluric data, and discuss its quantitative relationship to earthquake nucleation, growth, and arrest processes. The result shows that the earthquake hypocenters are all located within 10 km from low-resistivity fluidized zones < 30Ωm. The ruptures that nucleated along the outer edge of the low-resistivity fluidized zones tended to become large earthquakes, whereas those that initiated either distal to or within the fluidized zones did not. The ruptures were arrested by high-temperature (>400°C) fluidized zones, whereas shallower low-temperature (200°C–400°C) fluidized zones either promoted or arrested the ruptures. These results suggest that the distribution of mid-crustal fluids contributes to the nucleation, growth, and arrest of crustal earthquakes.
Gα3 subunit Thga3&nbsp;positively regulates conidiation, mycoparasitism,&nbsp;chitinase&nbsp;activity, and hydrophobicity of Trichoderma harzianum
Authors: Ding Jie , Mei Jie , Huang Pei , Tian Ying , Liang Yao , Jiang Xiliang , Li Mei 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Heterotrimeric G-proteins are key elements of signal transduction pathways, which participate in regulating multiple biological processes in fungi including growth, conidiation, antagonism, and mycoparasitism. Among G protein subunits, Gα3 showed diverse regulatory functions in different fungi. In this study, we cloned a Gα3 subunit coding gene thga3 from T. harzianum Th33 that can antagonize Rhizoctonia solani and some other plant pathogenic fungi. A thga3 deletion strain Δ thga3 was generated using the double-crossover homologous recombination strategy, and R thga3 was generated by transforming thga3 -expressing vector into the protoplasts of Δ thga3 by the PEG/CaCl 2 -mediated method. The biological characteristics of wild-type Th33, Δ thga3 and R thga3 were evaluated. Compared with wild-type Th33, Δ thga3 showed 15%, 94%, and 23% decrease in hyphal growth, conidia yield, and chitinase activity, respectively, and Δ thga3 showed lower antagonistic and mycoparasitism abilities, while there were no significant differences between wild-type Th33 and R thga3 . The hyphal surface hydrophobicity of Δ thga3 significantly decreased compared with those of the wild-type Th33 and R thga3 . qRT-PCR analysis revealed that transcript abundance of the hydrophobin gene (tha_09745) of Δ thga3 decreased by 80% compared with that of wild-type Th33 and R thga3 . The results showed that thga3 positively regulates the growth, conidiation, hydrophobicity, chitinase activities, and mycoparasitism of Th33 towards R. solani . We hence deduced that the expression level of Tha_09745 is correlated to the hyphal hydrophobicity of Th33 and therefore affects the other biological characteristics of Th33. The findings of this report provide a foundation for elucidating the G-protein signal regulatory mechanisms of fungi.
TREM2 Levels Are Increased in Neurodegenerative Disease Patients and in an Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model
Authors: Zhang Xiaomin , Liu Jing , Cao Min , Yang Tingting , Wang Yaqi , Hou Yuli , Song Qiao , Cui Yuting , Wang Peichang 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background: Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is expressed on microglia, and it plays an important role in neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease (AD).This study aimed to elucidate the potential value of TREM2 as biomarker for the diagnosis of AD.Methods: Serum TREM2 levels in human subjects and mice were detected by ELISA. TREM2 mRNA and protein expressions in leukocytes and mouse brain tissues were detected using real-time quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis. The cognitive ability of patients was measured by MMSE/MoCA score. The cognitive ability of mice was evaluated by the Morris water maze (MWM) test.Results: Our results showed that the serum concentration and expression levels of TREM2 in leukocytes were increased both in neurodegenerative patients and in an AD model mice.TREM2 expression was correlated with the cognitive impairment in AD patients and APP/PS1 mice.Conclusion: This study indicates that TREM2 is a novel potential biomarker for AD diagnosis.
Carthamin yellow protected rats from cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury by improving neuronal dendritic plasticity via antiferroptosis mediated NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway deactivation
Authors: Guo Hui-Hui , Zhu Li-Li , Tang Ping-Ping , Chen Dong , Li Yan-Cai , Li Jian-Bing , Bao Chao 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background: Carthamin yellow (CY), a flavonoid compound extracted from safflower, has been reported to attenuate cardiac ischemia and reperfusion injury. It is unclear whether CY could ameliorate ischemic stroke. Methods: We examined the preventive effects of CY in experimental ischemic stroke using middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats model. Neurological function, brain edema and infarct area were assessed to elucidate the effects of CY on neurological function and ischemic brain injury. MAP-2 Immunofluorescence activity, expressions in NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway and ferroptosis were determined to reveal its underlying mechanism. Results: A 2-week CY treatment attenuated the neurological deficit score, brain water content and infarct area in MCAO rats. Meanwhile, CY intervention increased the MAP-2 Immunofluorescence activity and deactivated NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway in the cortex. Declined serum TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 concentrations were detected following CY administration. Furthermore, CY treatment inhibited Fe2+ and ROS accumulation, and restored the protein expressions of ACSL4, TFR1, GPX4 and FTH1 in the brain. The levels of GSH, SOD and MDA in the serum were reversed by CY intervention. Conclusion: CY protected rats from ischemic stroke, which was associated with the improvement of neuronal dendritic plasticity through antiferroptosis mediated NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway deactivation.
Discovery of a role for the single START-domain protein Mtsp17 in transcriptional regulation
Authors: Zhou Ying , Zhong Tianying , Wei Wenjing , Wu Zhuhua , Yang Anping , Wang Ming , Zhang Xiaoli 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background

Tuberculosis caused by the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), remains a significant threat to global health. Elucidating the mechanism of essential MTB genes will provide a theoretical basis for drug exploitation. Gene mtsp17 is essential and conserved in the Mycobacterium genus. Although the structure of Mtsp17 exhibits as a typical steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer (START) family protein, its biological function is different from other START proteins. This study characterized the transcriptomes of Mycobacterium smegmatis to address the problem how suppressing mtsp17 reduces bacterial growth rate.
Results

3% down- and 1% up-regulated protein-coding genes were significantly differentiated expressed by suppressing mtsp17 gene. Among them, desA1, an essential gene involved in mycolic acid synthesis, was found to be significantly depressed (3.1-fold). Further analyses showed that mstp17 can activate desA1 to regulate the bacterial growth. In addition, the anti-anti-SigF gene was dramatically decreased (8.9-fold) and 70 of the 79 differentially expressed genes showed the same change trends in the SigF knockout strain. The data indicate that Mtsp17 regulates SigF regulon by modulating mRNA abundance of the anti-sigma factor antagonist.
Conclusions

Our findings discover the role of Mtsp17 in transcriptional regulation that was unknown before, which provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms of START family and introduces a new node to the regulatory network of mycobacteria.
TCONS_00230836 silencing restores stearic acid-induced β-cell dysfunction through alleviating endoplasmic reticulum stress via a PERK/eIF2α-dependent pathway rather than apoptosis
Authors: Guo Rui , Zhang Yunjin , Yu Yue , Su Shenghan , Zhao Qingrui , Chu Xia , Lu Huimin , Sun Changhao 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background: Chronic exposure of pancreatic β cells to high levels of stearic acid (C18:0) leads to impaired insulin secretion, which accelerates the progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were found to participate in saturated fatty acid-induced metabolism dysfunction. However, their contribution to stearic acid-induced β-cell dysfunction remains largely unknown. This study evaluated the possible role of the lncRNA TCONS_00230836 in stearic acid-stimulated lipotoxicity to β cells. Method: Using high-throughput RNA-sequencing, TCONS_00230836 was screened out as being exclusively differentially expressed in stearic acid-treated mouse β-TC6 cells. Co-expression network was constructed to reveal the potential mRNAs targeted for lncRNA TCONS_00230836. Changes in this lncRNA’s and candidate mRNAs’levels were further assessed by real-time PCR in stearic acid-treated β-TC6 cells and islets of mice fed a high-stearic-acid diet (HSD). The localization of TCONS_00230836 was detected by fluorescent in situ hybridization. The endogenous lncRNA TCONS_00230836 in β-TC6 cells was abrogated by its Smart Silencer. Results: The lncRNA TCONS_00230836 was enriched in mouse islets and mainly localized in the cytoplasm. Its expression was significantly increased in stearic acid-treated β-TC6 cells and HSD-fed mouse islets. Knockdown of TCONS_00230836 apparently restored stearic acid-impaired GSIS through alleviating endoplasmic reticulum stress via a PERK/eIF2α-dependent pathway. However, stearic acid-induced β-cell apoptosis was not obviously recovered. Conclusion: Our findings suggest the involvement of the lncRNA TCONS_00230836 in stearic acid-induced β-cell dysfunction, which provides novel insight into stearic acid-induced lipotoxicity to β cells. Anti-lncRNA TCONS_00230836 might be a new therapeutic strategy for alleviating stearic acid-induced β-cell dysfunction in the progression of T2DM.