bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The distribution of monolignol glucosides coincides with lignification during the formation of compression wood in Pinus thunbergii
Authors: Maeda Naoki , Aoki Dan , Fujiyasu Syunya , Matsushita Yasuyuki , Yoshida Masato , Hiraide Hideto , Mitsuda Hayato , Tobimatsu Yuki , Fukushima Kazuhiko 
Published: December 2024

SUMMARYThe distributions of monolignol glucosides (MLGs) in compression and opposite woods of Pinus thunbergii were assessed using cryo‐time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry to investigate their involvement in lignification. p‐Glucocoumaryl alcohol (PG) was identified in the region of the differentiating xylem adjacent to the cambial zone only in compression wood, whereas coniferin (CF) was similarly localized in both compression and opposite woods. Their distribution from the phloem to the xylem was evaluated by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using serial tangential sections. Variations in storage amounts of CF and PG in the stem of P. thunbergii agreed with lignification stages of the tracheid, supporting the idea that MLGs act as a storage and transportation form of lignin precursors. The imaging of monolignol (ML)‐dependent active lignification sites using fluorescence‐tagged MLs supported distinct distribution patterns of MLGs for lignification in compression and opposite woods. Methylation–thioacidolysis was applied to compression and opposite wood samples to examine the structural difference between the guaiacyl (G) and p‐hydroxyphenyl (H) units in lignin. Most of the H units in compression wood were detected as lignin end groups via thioacidolysis. PG was detected in opposite wood by HPLC; however, the H unit was not detected by thioacidolysis. The differences in ML and MLG distributions, enzyme activity, and resultant lignin structures between the G and H units suggest the possibility of individual mechanisms regulating the heterogeneous structures of G and H unit in lignin.
Platelet storage in small bags as a model of platelet function in full‐sized containers
Authors: Kelly Kathleen , Kanias Tamir , Leite Caroline , Stanley Crystal , Dumont Larry J. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractBackgroundEvaluation of additive solutions, storage containers, new collection and storage methods, and other potential modifications is resource intensive, resulting in diversion of platelets away from blood bank inventories and significant time to complete study recruitments. Our goal was to evaluate the feasibility of a small bag for the study of platelet storage, and, by using a standardized respirometry test, separate daily metabolic capacity from observations made in the dynamic storage environment of changing pH, fuels, and end products.MethodsSingle‐donor apheresis platelets collected in 100% plasma had small volumes removed to meet secondary processing requirements. Small volumes (23 ± 1.4 mL) were placed in 50‐mL bags constructed of platelet storage material, stored 7 days, and assessed with a panel of in vitro assays. Platelet bioenergetics (oxygen consumption and acid production rates) were measured with a respirometer.ResultsThe patterns of platelet pH decline, activation, and potency by thrombin generation were consistent with historical reports. Lactate production rates (54.1 ± 11.3 μmol/1012plt/h) were significantly correlated with pH decrease, increased activation, and thrombin generation potency by Day 7. Respirometry revealed a reduction of the glycolytic capacity and accumulating damage to the oxidative system for ATP production over storage.DiscussionSmall bags present a storage profile of metabolic changes and activation consistent with historical data for full bag storage. Therefore, this system has promise to provide a platform for scaling experiments of platelet storage in a manner that maximizes platelets collected in research settings and does not compromise availability for patient treatment as exercised in this study.
Immunotherapy using pullulan‐conjugated Der f 2 allergen in canine atopic dermatitis: An anti‐inflammatory agent‐sparing approach
Authors: Nagata Masahiko , Kozakai Jin , Yoshida Aya , Kameyama Kana , Oboso Hiromi , Muto Hisanori , Ogino Shoji , Tsukui Toshihiro 
Published: December 2024

AbstractBackgroundAllergen immunotherapy is used as aetiological treatment for canine atopic dermatitis (cAD).ObjectiveTo assess the anti‐inflammatory agent‐sparing effect over 1 year of immunotherapy using pullulan‐conjugated recombinant Der f 2 (rDf2‐P).AnimalsTwenty‐one privately owned dogs with cAD.Materials and MethodsDogs with mild clinical signs after ≥4 weeks of anti‐inflammatory drug treatment received rDf2‐P immunotherapy for 1 year. A monthly medication score (MS) was calculated, and clinical signs were assessed using Canine Atopic Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index (CADESI)‐04, cAD Eczema Area and Severity for Shiba Inu and pruritus scores. Serum thymus and activation‐regulated chemokine (TARC)/C‐C Motif Chemokine Ligand‐17 (CCL17) concentrations were assessed at the initial and final doses during the 6‐week induction phase and every 3 months for 1 year thereafter in 16 cases.ResultsThe mean MS decreased significantly by 43.0% (p = 0.022), 60.9% (p = 0.003), 70.0% (p = 0.0004), 58.7% (p = 0.0004) and 49.3% (p = 0.029) at 2.5, 4.5, 7.5, 10.5 and 13.5 months, respectively. Drug‐sparing effects, assessed with MS and adjusted by clinical scores were rated as excellent for 12 (57.1%) and 11 (52.4%) dogs, good for 3 (14.3%) and 1 (4.8%) dogs, fair for 0 and 3 (14.3%) dogs, and poor for 6 (28.6%) and 5 (23.8%) dogs at 4.5 and 13.5 months, respectively. The serum TARC/CCL17 concentrations were significantly lower in the samples with lower CADESI‐04 scores (<17) than in those with higher CADESI‐04 scores (>17) (p = 0.0002).Conclusions and Clinical RelevanceDer f 2‐P immunotherapy can lead to a rapid reduction in anti‐inflammatory drug use and serve as an effective proactive therapy for cAD.
Grip force control under sudden change of friction
Authors: Willemet Laurence , Roël Felix , Abbink David , Birznieks Ingvars , Wiertlewski Michaël 
Published: December 2024

AbstractA task as simple as holding a cup between your fingers generates complex motor commands to finely regulate the forces applied by muscles. These fine force adjustments ensure the stability and integrity of the object by preventing it from slipping out of grip during manipulation and by reacting to perturbations. To do so, our sensorimotor system constantly monitors tactile and proprioceptive information about the force object exerts on fingertips and the friction of the surfaces to determine the optimal grip force. While the literature describes the transient responses, humans can generate to react to perturbations in load force, it is yet to be determined if humans can also react to abrupt changes in friction while already holding an object. Only recently technology using imperceivable ultrasonic vibrations became available to modulate friction in real time to investigate this question. In this study, we used an object with an integrated friction modulation device suspended in a pulley system controlling the load. With this device, we explored the rapid adaptation of the sensorimotor system to changes in friction alone and in combination with changes in load. When load force and friction changed simultaneously, the grip force response was regulated based on the grip safety requirements. Participants increased their grip force in response to decrease in friction. However, they did not adjust their grip force when the friction increased, which is expected based on our biomechanical model of friction sensing mechanisms.
imageKey points
Simple tasks like pouring water into a glass mobilize intricate interactions between fingertip sensory inputs and motor commands to account for the weight change and friction.
It has been investigated how humans react to force perturbations when holding an object, but very little is known about how frictional changes are sensed and acted upon while holding an object, for example, due to sweating or condensation.
We engineered a unique experimental object that utilizes imperceivable ultrasonic vibrations to change the frictional properties of the surface in a few milliseconds. This apparatus enabled us to study how human subjects react to change of friction when gripping or holding an object.
We showed that humans adjust the strength of their grasp when forces in the direction of gravity either increase or decrease; however, frictional change evokes adjustments only when friction decreases.
Factors associated with late hospital arrival in acute stroke patients of Bangladesh
Authors: Iktidar Mohammad Azmain , Manna Ridwana Maher , Akhter Muntasrina , Roy Simanta , Bonna Atia Sharmin , Chowdhury Sreshtha , Yousuf Renessa , Mimi Farzana Ahammad , Sayed MD Samee U , Haque Miah MD Akiful , Hawlader Mohammad Delwer Hossain 
Published: December 2024

ObjectivesUnderutilisation of thrombolysis is a major problem in patients with stroke in Bangladesh as patients do not arrive within the therapeutic window due to delays in their way to emergency department. This study aims to assess the time delay from patients’ symptom onset to arrival in the hospital and the factors that are associated with it.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey of a prospective cohort of stroke patients was conducted between January and March 2023. 448 stroke patients meeting the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study from five tertiary-level hospitals in Bangladesh. After obtaining informed consent, trained data collectors conducted face-to-face interviews of the patient/patients’ guardians via a pretested structured questionnaire. Stata (V.16) was used to analyse data. Median and IQRs were used to summarise quantitative variables, and qualitative variables were summarised using frequency and relative frequency. Pearson’s χ2test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to explore the bivariate relationship between predictor and outcome variables. Finally, a binary logistic regression model was fit to explore the factors associated with delayed arrival (>4.5 hours) at the hospital.ResultsThe median age of the patients was 61 years (54–70) and 63% were men. The majority hailed from rural (59.6%) areas and had primary (25.89%) education. The patients had an overall median prehospital delay of 14 (8–28) hours, 3 (1–6) hours of decision delay, 1 (0–2) hours of medical contact delay, and 14 (6.5–25.75) hours of referral delay. Patients with master’s education (adjusted OR (AOR): 0.04, p=0.023) and private transport (AOR: 0.26, p=0.029) had a lower chance of late arrival. However, patients having unknown onset, self-medicating, having a previous history of stroke, and being admitted to a private hospital had a significantly higher chance of late arrival.ConclusionNearly 90% of the patients were late to arrive (>4.5 hours) at hospital and referral delay comprises the majority of the prehospital delay. Therefore, fast symptom recognition and the urgency of seeking healthcare as soon as symptoms appear should be the focus of public awareness efforts.
Validation of the NCCN/Yale criteria for the identification ofCDH1pathogenic variant carriers
Authors: Lerner Benjamin A , Giner-Calabuig Mar , Carraway Cassidy , Richardson Marcy , Krahn Karl , Susswein Lisa , Nielsen Sarah M , Karam Rachid , Xicola Rosa M , Llor Xavier 
Published: December 2024

BackgroundDiffuse gastric and lobular breast cancer (LBC) syndrome is an autosomal-dominant syndrome characterised by early-onset diffuse gastric cancer and LBC most often caused by germline pathogenic variants (PVs) inCDH1. We previously showed the International Gastric Cancer Linkage Consortium (IGCLC) criteria for genetic testing to have poor sensitivity forCDH1PV and proposed our own simpler and more sensitive Yale criteria. The European Reference Network on Genetic Tumour Risk Syndromes subsequently proposed expanding the IGCLC criteria and showed its LBC-expanded criteria to be more sensitive than the IGCLC criteria in a European cohort ofCDH1PV carriers.MethodsWe aggregated demographic and clinical data of allCDH1PV carriers identified at three US commercial laboratories. These data were used to calculate the sensitivity of the IGCLC, LBC-expanded and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)/Yale criteria.ResultsData on 708 probands and their 4318 family members were included in the analysis. In this cohort, the sensitivities for detectingCDH1PVs were 23.6% for IGCLC criteria, 35.7% for LBC-expanded criteria and 82.2% for NCCN/Yale criteria.ConclusionIn a large cohort ofCDH1PV carriers to date, the IGCLC and LBC-expanded criteria called for genetic testing in a minority ofCDH1PV carriers while the Yale criteria detected the large majority. Along with their superior sensitivity, the NCCN/Yale criteria address critical practical challenges in cancer genetics by not depending heavily on pathology information from family members which is often lacking and by incorporating recommendations from other cancer genetics guidelines.
Healthcare workers’ well-being and perspectives on support during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies
Authors: Zhang Siyuan , Gu Xiuzhu 
Published: December 2024

BackgroundSince the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) have faced multiple difficulties in their work and personal lives. However, most of the quantitative reviews have focused on the extent of the pandemic’s impact on the HCWs and have thus failed to fully capture the HCWs’ experiences and the complexity of the problems they encountered. Therefore, this qualitative systematic review elucidates the HCWs’ challenges brought about by the pandemic, their perceptions of the existing support and the support that require further attention.MethodsThe literature search spanned five databases: Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL and PsycInfo, targeting qualitative studies of HCWs’ pandemic experiences from December 2019 to December 2023. These studies underwent strict quality and relevance assessment, emphasising critical appraisal and selection. Findings were unified through meta-synthesis, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The study was registered in PROSPERO.ResultsThis study analysed 29 qualitative studies on HCWs’ experiences during the pandemic and their perceptions of support, identifying four themes of HCWs’ physical and mental well-being, the impact of the pandemic on their professional and personal lives, their work environments and the support they received. These themes encompassed 8 main categories and 25 codes. The research revealed that the pandemic and work conditions negatively influenced their health, affecting their professional and personal lives. Current support has lessened the pandemic’s effects on HCWs but should also address future requirements like long-term psychological support.ConclusionThe studies identified the challenges faced by HCWs during the pandemic, and the existing support. However, due to the complex interactions between the work and environmental factors, the effectiveness of the existing support remains challenging. To improve their effectiveness, the future support should target the interactions between the HCWs and the work system.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42023426238.
Classifying southern stingray activity states across abiotic factors in Belize coral reef ecosystems
Authors: Flowers Kathryn I. , Babcock Elizabeth A. , Chapman Demian D. , Lamb Norlan , Miranda Ashbert , Nuñez Randolph , Kelley Megan C. , Papastamatiou Yannis P. 
Published: December 2024

Elasmobranchs often exhibit nocturnal or crepuscular activity, with shark diel patterns being better understood than ray diel patterns. We used accelerometry and hidden Markov models (HMMs) to classify female southern stingray ( Hypanus americanus Hildebrand & Schroeder, 1928) activity states across diel periods and environmental conditions in Belize. Three state (low, medium, and high activity) HMMs were constructed for all individuals together and separately ( N = 9). Combined, stingrays were most likely to be highly active at night and in low and medium activity states in the morning. However, there was individual variation in diel activity. In contrast, all stingrays consistently used shallow water (<4 m) during periods of high activity. Temperature had less influence on activity patterns, although three individuals exhibited high activity in cooler water. Generally, high stingray activity was driven by diel cycles and depth. Future research should link activity states to specific behaviours, include a larger sample size, extend tag deployment durations, and explore the impact of predator and prey dynamics on stingray activity.
Radiative Heat Transfer and Thermo-Diffusion Effects in Chemically Reactive Magnetized Mixed Convective Flow of Gold Nanofluid
Authors: Sharma Tarun , Sharma Pooja , Chaudhary Ravi 
Published: December 2024

In this work, chemically reactive and mixed convective magnetized AuNF flow in a saturated porous medium inclined channel due to radiative heat transfer and thermo-diffusion/Soret effects is investigated. The prototype is designed and nondimensional partial differential equations are formulated and solved systematically. Also, the heat transfer rate for cylindrical-shaped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is evaluated and comparative analysis is done with other shapes (platelet, brick and blade) and previous studies. It is evaluated that the cylindrical shape of AuNPs within base fluid kerosene (C[Formula: see text]H[Formula: see text]C[Formula: see text]H[Formula: see text] enhances the heat transfer capacity of conventional fluids. The transient velocity and concentration profile of AuNF also increased due to a rise in the thermo-diffusion effect, whereas an increase in magnetic field, volume fraction, inclination angle and chemical reaction suppressed the AuNF velocity profile. The elucidated prototype and found results are prominently useful in engineering applications, such as microchannel heat exchangers, advanced cooling in electronic devices, solar thermal systems, aerospace applications and various chemical processes in chemical industries.
VQEG Column: Emerging Technologies Group (ETG)
Authors: Barman Nabajeet , Zadtootaghaj Saman 
Published: December 2024

This column provides an overview of the new Video Quality Experts Group (VQEG) group called the Emerging Technologies Group (ETG), which was created during the last VQEG plenary meeting in December 2022. For an introduction to VQEG, please check the VQEG homepage or this presentation.
The works addressed by this new group can be of interest for the SIGMM community since they are related to AI-based technologies for image and video processing, greening of streaming, blockchain in media and entertainment, and ongoing related standardization activities.
Oxidative Stress and Cancer Risk in Schistosomiasis
Authors: Afrifa Justice , Ofori Eric Gyamerah , Opoku Yeboah Kwaku , Asare Kwame Kumi , Sorkpor Rosemary Doe , Naveh-Fio Ibrahim W. , Armah Richard , Ofori Sandra , Ephraim Richard K. D. 
Published: December 2024

Background: Schistosomiasis is considered one of the most devastating parasitic diseases globally, coming second only to malaria in terms of morbidity. The disease‐causing parasite can inhabit the body for over a decade, leading to imbalances in the host’s metabolic systems. The flukes and their eggs can illicit various immunological and metabolic complications resulting in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These are known to have several devastating effects on the host through increased oxidative stress, DNA mutation, and gene modifications, which can lead to fibrosis and cancer.Main Body: Here, we discuss oxidative stress and cancer risk in Schistosoma infection. The concept of ROS generation and the complex antioxidant systems that enable the parasite to evade oxidant insults and prolong its life span in the host are explored. Further, the various roles of ROS during the initiation and progression of schistosomiasis and its influence on the host are discussed. Finally, mechanisms linked to the risk of bladder cancer in Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium) infections are elucidated.Conclusion: Finally, we provide an opinion on how some of these mechanisms could give directions for future studies as well as provide a springboard for diagnostics and drug targeting in schistosomiasis.
Electrophysiological Signatures in Global Cerebral Ischemia: Neuroprotection Via Chemogenetic Inhibition of CA1 Pyramidal Neurons in Rats
Authors: Liu Penglai , Xu Jiang , Chen Yilan , Xu Qi , Zhang Wei , Hu Bin , Li Anan , Zhu Qiuju 
Published: December 2024

Background
Although there has been limited research into the perturbation of electrophysiological activity in the brain after ischemia, the activity signatures during ischemia and reperfusion remain to be fully elucidated. We aim to comprehensively describe these electrophysiological signatures and interrogate their correlation with ischemic damage during global cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.

Methods and Results
We used the 4‐vessel occlusion method of inducing global cerebral ischemia in rats. We used in vivo electrophysiological techniques to simultaneously record single units, scalp electroencephalogram, and local field potentials in awake animals. Neuronal damage and astrocyte reactivation were examined by immunofluorescence, immunoblotting, and quantitative real‐time reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction under chemogenetic inhibition of glutamatergic neurons. Electroencephalogram/local field potentials power and phase‐amplitude coupling of the theta and low‐gamma bands were reduced during ischemia and the acute phase of reperfusion. The firing rate of single units was enhanced by ischemia–reperfusion, and the phase relationship between the local field potentials theta band and neuronal firing was altered. Precise inhibition of hippocampus CA1 pyramidal neuron hyperactivity by chemogenetics rescued the firing dysfunction, ischemic neuronal damage, and A1 astrocyte activation.

Conclusions
Our results provide a comprehensive description of the characteristics of electrophysiological activity that accompany ischemia–reperfusion and highlight the significance of this activity in ischemic damage.