bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Diagnosis of Subungual Glomus Tumors with 18 MHz Ultrasound and CDFI
Authors: Chen Li , Gao Yi-Hui , Chen Jie , Yao Yi-Jing , Wang Rui , Yu Qian , Hu Bing , Jiang Li-Xin 
Published: October 2020

AbstractTo evaluate the imaging features of subungual glomus tumors using 18 MHz high-frequency ultrasound with CDFI (Color Doppler Flow Imaging). 20 patients treated by surgical resection and examined by ultrasound between January 2008 and December 2019. All eligible cases are divided into two groups: Group A used the probe frequency of 9–14 MHz from January 2008 to December 2014, and Group B used the probe frequency of 18 MHz from January 2015 to December 2019. Patient demographics, clinical records, pathologic specimens and sonography features were reviewed. 50% of tumors in Group A and 100% of tumors in Group B showed clear boundary and regular shape. Blood flow signals were identified inside 50% tumors in Group A (3 in 6), all 14 cases with blood flow signals detected in Group B (14 in 14,100%). 2 cases were misdiagnosed and 1 case escaped diagnosis in Group A, no case was misdiagnosed in Group B. The accuracy of diagnosis rate of Group B is significantly higher than that of Group A. 18-MHz ultrasound combined with CDFI may be a practical useful tool for detecting subungual glomus tumors. More importantly 18-MHz ultrasound can obviously improve the diagnostic accuracy.
A digital reconstruction of the 1630–1631 large plague outbreak in Venice
Authors: Lazzari Gianrocco , Colavizza Giovanni , Bortoluzzi Fabio , Drago Davide , Erboso Andrea , Zugno Francesca , Kaplan Frédéric , Salathé Marcel 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe plague, an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is widely considered to be responsible for the most devastating and deadly pandemics in human history. Starting with the infamous Black Death, plague outbreaks are estimated to have killed around 100 million people over multiple centuries, with local mortality rates as high as 60%. However, detailed pictures of the disease dynamics of these outbreaks centuries ago remain scarce, mainly due to the lack of high-quality historical data in digital form. Here, we present an analysis of the 1630–1631 plague outbreak in the city of Venice, using newly collected daily death records. We identify the presence of a two-peak pattern, for which we present two possible explanations based on computational models of disease dynamics. Systematically digitized historical records like the ones presented here promise to enrich our understanding of historical phenomena of enduring importance. This work contributes to the recently renewed interdisciplinary foray into the epidemiological and societal impact of pre-modern epidemics.
Low expression of Talin1 is associated with advanced pathological features in colorectal cancer patients
Authors: Vafaei Somayeh , Saeednejad Zanjani Leili , Habibi Shams Zohreh , Naseri Marzieh , Fattahi Fahimeh , Gheytanchi Elmira , Alemrajabi Mahdi , Ebrahimi Marzieh , Madjd Zahra 
Published: October 2020

AbstractTo explore the proper prognostic markers for the likelihood of metastasis in CRC patients. Seventy-seven fresh CRC samples were collected to evaluate the mRNA level of the selected marker using Real-time PCR. Moreover, 648 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded CRC tissues were gathered to evaluate protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on tissue microarrays. The results of Real-Time PCR showed that low expression of Talin1 was significantly associated with advanced TNM stage (p = 0.034) as well as gender (p = 0.029) in mRNA levels. Similarly, IHC results indicated that a low level of cytoplasmic expression of Talin1 was significantly associated with advanced TNM stage (p = 0.028) as well as gender (p = 0.009) in CRC patients. Moreover, decreased expression of cytoplasmic Talin1 protein was found to be a significant predictor of worse disease-specific survival (DSS) (p = 0.011) in the univariate analysis. In addition, a significant difference was achieved (p = 0.039) in 5-year survival rates of DSS: 65% for low, 72% for moderate, and 88% for high Talin1 protein expression. Observations showed that lower expression of Talin1 at both the gene and protein level may drive the disparity of CRC patients’ outcomes via worse DSS and provide new insights into the development of progression indicators because of its correlation with increased tumor aggressiveness.
Reference transcriptomes and comparative analyses of six species in the threatened rosewood genus Dalbergia
Authors: Hung Tin Hang , So Thea , Sreng Syneath , Thammavong Bansa , Boounithiphonh Chaloun , Boshier David H. , MacKay John J. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractDalbergiais a pantropical genus with more than 250 species, many of which are highly threatened due to overexploitation for their rosewood timber, along with general deforestation. ManyDalbergiaspecies have received international attention for conservation, but the lack of genomic resources forDalbergiahinders evolutionary studies and conservation applications, which are important for adaptive management. This study produced the first reference transcriptomes for 6Dalbergiaspecies with different geographical origins and predicted ~ 32 to 49 K unique genes. We showed the utility of these transcriptomes by phylogenomic analyses with other Fabaceae species, estimating the divergence time of extantDalbergiaspecies to ~ 14.78 MYA. We detected over-representation in 13 Pfam terms including HSP, ALDH and ubiquitin families inDalbergia. We also compared the gene families of geographically co-occurringD. cochinchinensisandD. oliveriand observed that more genes underwent positive selection and there were more diverged disease resistance proteins in the more widely distributedD. oliveri, consistent with reports that it occupies a wider ecological niche and has higher genetic diversity. We anticipate that the reference transcriptomes will facilitate future population genomics and gene-environment association studies onDalbergia, as well as contributing to the genomic database where plants, particularly threatened ones, are currently underrepresented.
Inhibition of ecto-5′-nucleotidase and adenosine deaminase is able to reverse long-term behavioural effects of early ethanol exposure in zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Authors: Lutte Aline Haab , Majolo Julia Huppes , Da Silva Rosane Souza 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe behavioural impacts of prenatal exposure to ethanol include a lower IQ, learning problems, anxiety and conduct disorders. Several components of the neurochemical network could contribute to the long-lasting effects of ethanol embryonic exposure. Adenosine is an important neuromodulator, that has been indicated to be affected by acute and chronic exposure to ethanol. Here, embryos of zebrafish exposed to 1% ethanol during the developmental stages of gastrula/segmentation or pharyngula exhibited anxiolytic effect, increased aggressiveness, and decreased social interaction. The exposure during pharyngula stage was able to affect all behavioural parameters analysed at 3 months-post fertilization (mpf), while the treatment during gastrula stage affected the anxiety and social interaction parameters. The aggressiveness was the only behavioural effect of early ethanol exposure that lasted to 12 mpf. The use of a specific inhibitor of adenosine production, the inhibitor of ecto-5′-nucleotidase (AMPCP/150 mg/kg), and the specific inhibitor of adenosine degradation, the inhibitor of adenosine deaminase, EHNA (100 mg/kg) did not affect the effects over anxiety. However, AMPCP at 3 mpf, but not EHNA, reversed aggressive parameters. AMPCP also recovered the social interaction parameter at 3 mpf in animals treated in both stages, while EHNA recovered this parameter just in those animals treated with ethanol during the gastrula stage. These results suggest that long-lasting behavioural effects of ethanol can be modulated by intervention on ecto-5′-nucleotidase and adenosine deaminase activities.
Valproic acid inhibits interferon-γ production by NK cells and increases susceptibility to Listeria monocytogenes infection
Authors: Soria-Castro Rodolfo , Chávez-Blanco Alma D. , García-Pérez Blanca Estela , Wong-Baeza Isabel , Flores-Mejía Raúl , Flores-Borja Fabián , Estrada-Parra Sergio , Estrada-García Iris , Serafín-López Jeanet , Chacón-Salinas Rommel 
Published: October 2020

AbstractValproic acid (VPA) is a drug commonly used for epileptic seizure control. Recently, it has been shown that VPA alters the activation of several immune cells, including Natural Killer (NK) cells, which play an important role in the containment of viruses and intracellular bacteria. Although VPA can increase susceptibility to extracellular pathogens, it is unknown whether the suppressor effect of VPA could affect the course of intracellular bacterial infection. This study aimed to evaluate the role of VPA duringListeria monocytogenes(L.m) infection, and whether NK cell activation was affected. We found that VPA significantly augmented mortality in L.m infected mice. This effect was associated with increased bacterial load in the spleen, liver, and blood. Concurrently, decreased levels of IFN-γ in serum and lower splenic indexes were observed. Moreover, in vitro analysis showed that VPA treatment decreased the frequency of IFN-γ-producing NK cells within L.m infected splenocytes. Similarly, VPA inhibited the production of IFN-γ by NK cells stimulated with IL-12 and IL-18, which is a crucial system for early IFN-γ production in listeriosis. Finally, VPA decreased the phosphorylation of STAT4, p65, and p38, without affecting the expression of IL-12 and IL-18 receptors. Altogether, our results indicate that VPA increases the susceptibility toListeria monocytogenesinfection and suggest that NK cell is one of the main targets of VPA, but further work is needed to ascertain this effect.
Point mutation bias in SARS-CoV-2 variants results in increased ability to stimulate inflammatory responses
Authors: Kosuge Masato , Furusawa-Nishii Emi , Ito Koyu , Saito Yoshiro , Ogasawara Kouetsu 
Published: October 2020

AbstractSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection induces severe pneumonia and is the cause of a worldwide pandemic. Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, have RNA proofreading enzymes in their genomes, resulting in fewer gene mutations than other RNA viruses. Nevertheless, variants of SARS-CoV-2 exist and may induce different symptoms; however, the factors and the impacts of these mutations are not well understood. We found that there is a bias to the mutations occurring in SARS-CoV-2 variants, with disproportionate mutation to uracil (U). These point mutations to U are mainly derived from cytosine (C), which is consistent with the substrate specificity of host RNA editing enzymes, APOBECs. We also found the point mutations which are consistent with other RNA editing enzymes, ADARs. For the C-to-U mutations, the context of the upstream uracil and downstream guanine from mutated position was found to be most prevalent. Further, the degree of increase of U in SARS-CoV-2 variants correlates with enhanced production of cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-6, in cell lines when compared with stimulation by the ssRNA sequence of the isolated virus in Wuhan. Therefore, RNA editing is a factor for mutation bias in SARS-CoV-2 variants, which affects host inflammatory cytokines production.
Fibers-based temporal super-resolved imaging
Authors: Asraf Sagie , Fridman Moti , Zalevsky Zeev 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn this paper we present a new technique for a fiber-based temporal super resolving system allowing to improve the resolution of a temporal imaging system. The proposed super resolving concept is based upon translating the field of view multiplexing method that is used to increase resolution in spatial imaging systems from the spatial domain to the temporal domain. In this paper, an optical realization of our proposed system is presented, using optical fibers and electro-optic modulators. In addition, we show how one can apply this method using low-rate electronics for the required modulation. We also show simulation results that demonstrate the high resolution accepted in our method compares to the basic temporal imaging system. Experimental results which demonstrate resolution improvement by a factor of 1.5 based on the proposed method are presented together with an additional experiment that shows the ability to generate the desired modulation with low rate electronics.
1H NMR serum metabolomic profiling of patients at risk of cardiovascular diseases performing stress test
Authors: Lema Camila , Andrés Mireia , Aguadé-Bruix Santiago , Consegal Marta , Rodriguez-Sinovas Antonio , Benito Begoña , Ferreira-Gonzalez Ignacio , Barba Ignasi 
Published: October 2020

AbstractCardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Changes in lifestyle and/or pharmacological treatment are able to reduce the burden of coronary artery diseases (CAD) and early diagnosis is crucial for the timely and optimal management of the disease. Stress testing is a good method to measure the burden of CAD but it is time consuming and pharmacological testing may not fully mimic exercise test. The objectives of the present project were to characterize the metabolic profile of the population undergoing pharmacological and exercise stress testing to evaluate possible differences between them, and to assess the capacity of 1H NMR spectroscopy to predict positive stress testing. Pattern recognition was applied to 1H NMR spectra from serum of patients undergoing stress test and metabolites were quantified. The effects of the stress test, confounding variables and the ability to predict ischemia were evaluated using OPLS-DA. There was an increase in lactate and alanine concentrations in post-test samples in patients undergoing exercise test, but not in those submitted to pharmacological testing. However, when considering only pharmacological patients, those with a positive test result, showed increased serum lactate, that was masked by the much larger amount of lactate associated to exercise testing. In conclusion, we have established that pharmacological stress test does not reproduce the dynamic changes observed in exercise stress. Although there is promising evidence suggesting that 1H NMR based metabolomics could predict stress test results, further studies with much larger populations will be required in order to obtain a definitive answer.
Picosecond Yb-doped tapered fiber laser system with 1.26 MW peak power and 200 W average output power
Authors: Petrov Andrey , Odnoblyudov Maxim , Gumenyuk Regina , Minyonok Lidiya , Chumachenko Andrey , Filippov Valery 
Published: October 2020

AbstractWe demonstrate a compact picosecond master-oscillator power-amplifier (MOPA) system based on an Yb-doped polarization-maintaining double-clad tapered fiber (T-DCF) delivering pulses with over 1.26 MW peak power and average output power up to 200 W preserving near diffraction limited beam quality. The unique properties of an active tapered fiber enable to amplify the seed pulses directly with no need for applying of additional stretching technique. This simplified laser system can find the practical implementation in industrial micromachining.
Gastrointestinal symptoms and fecal nucleic acid testing of children with 2019 coronavirus disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Wang Ji-gan , Cui Hai-rong , Tang Hua-bo , Deng Xiu-li 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn order to understand the clinical manifestations and incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in children and discuss the importance of fecal nucleic acid testing.We retrospectively analyzed studies on gastrointestinal symptoms and fecal nucleic acid detection in pediatric COVID-19 patients from January 1, 2020 to August 10, 2020, including prospective clinical studies and case reports. The results of fecal nucleic acid detection were analyzed systematically. Stata12.0 software was used for meta-analysis.The results showed that the most common gastrointestinal symptoms in children with COVID-19 were vomiting and diarrhea, with a total incidence of 17.7% (95% Cl 13.9–21.5%). However, the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in other countries (21.1%, 95% CI 16.5–25.7%) was higher compared to China (12.9%, 95% CI 8–17.7%). In Wuhan, the pooled prevalence was much higher (41.3%, 95% CI 3.2–79.4%) compared to areas outside Wuhan in China (7.1%, 95% CI 4.0–10.3%). The positive rate of fecal nucleic acid testing in COVID-19 children was relatively high at 85.8% (91/106). Additionally, 71.2% (52/73) were still positive for fecal nucleic acid after respiratory tract specimens turned negative. One and two weeks after the respiratory tract specimens turned nucleic acid-negative, 45.2% (33/73) and 34.2% (25/73) patients, respectively, remained fecal nucleic acid-positive. The longest interval between the respiratory tract specimens turning negative and fecal specimens turning negative exceeded 70 days. Conclusions and relevance: gastrointestinal symptoms in pediatric COVID-19 are relatively common. Attention should be paid to the detection of fecal nucleic acids in children. Fecal nucleic acid-negative status should be considered as one of the desegregation standards.
Reduction behavior of chromium(VI) with oxalic acid in aqueous solution
Authors: Peng Hao , Guo Jing 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe direct Cr(VI) reduction process by oxalic acid was conducted. The existence of Cr(VI) in the reaction medium was measured by software Visual MINTEQ and the concentration of Cr(VI) was measured by ICP-OES. The results showed that the Cr(VI) was efficiently reduced by oxalic acid at high reaction temperature and high dosage of oxalic acid. The reduced product, Cr(III), was easily generated stable complex compounds (Cr(HC2O4)3) with oxalate, which displayed a negative effect on the reduction process. The high reaction temperature and high acidic medium could destroy the stable structure of a complex compound to release oxalate, and facilitate the reduction of Cr(VI). Generally, the results showed in this paper provided a versatile strategy for Cr(VI) reduction and exhibited a bright application future for real wastewater treatment.
Interleukin-11 is important for vascular smooth muscle phenotypic switching and aortic inflammation, fibrosis and remodeling in mouse models
Authors: Lim Wei-Wen , Corden Ben , Ng Benjamin , Vanezis Konstantinos , D’Agostino Giuseppe , Widjaja Anissa A. , Song Wei-Hua , Xie Chen , Su Liping , Kwek Xiu-Yi , Tee Nicole G. Z. , Dong Jinrui , Ko Nicole S. J. , Wang Mao , Pua Chee Jian , Jamal Muhammad H. , Soh Beeyong , Viswanathan Sivakumar , Schafer Sebastian , Cook Stuart A. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractTransforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFβ1) is a major driver of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotypic switching, an important pathobiology in arterial disease. We performed RNA-sequencing of TGFβ1-stimulated human aortic or arterial VSMCs which revealed large and consistent upregulation of Interleukin 11(IL11). IL11 has an unknown function in VSMCs, which highly express the IL11 receptor alpha, suggestive of an autocrine loop. In vitro, IL11 activated ERK signaling, but inhibited STAT3 activity, and caused VSMC phenotypic switching to a similar extent as TGFβ1 or angiotensin II (ANGII) stimulation. Genetic or therapeutic inhibition of IL11 signaling reduced TGFβ1- or ANGII-induced VSMC phenotypic switching, placing IL11 activity downstream of these factors. Aortas of mice withMyh11-driven IL11 expression were remodeled and had reduced contractile but increased matrix and inflammatory genes expression. In two models of arterial pressure loading, IL11 was upregulated in the aorta and neutralizing IL11 antibodies reduced remodeling along with matrix and pro-inflammatory gene expression. These data show that IL11 plays an important role in VSMC phenotype switching, vascular inflammation and aortic pathobiology.
Microbial community dynamics during alfalfa silage with or without clostridial fermentation
Authors: Li Rongrong , Jiang Di , Zheng Mingli , Tian Pengjiao , Zheng Menghu , Xu Chuncheng 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThis study was conducted to examine the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) and sucrose (S) on clostridial community dynamics and correlation between clostridia and other bacteria in alfalfa silage during ensiling. Fresh alfalfa was directly ensiled without (CK) or with additives (LP, S, LP + S) for 7, 14, 28 and 56 days. Clostridial and bacterial communities were evaluated by next-generation sequencing. Severe clostridial fermentation occurred in CK, as evidenced by the high contents of butyric acid, ammonia nitrogen, and clostridia counts, whereas all additives, particularly LP + S, decreased silage pH and restrained clostridial fermentation. Clostridium perfringens and Clostridium butyricum might act as the main initiators of clostridial fermentation, with Clostridium tyrobutyricum functioning as the promoters of fermentation until the end of ensiling. Clostridium tyrobutyricum (33.5 to 98.0%) dominated the clostridial community in CK from 14 to 56 days, whereas it was below 17.7% in LP + S. Clostridium was negatively correlated with the genus Lactobacillus, but positively correlated with the genera Enterococcus, Lactococcus and Leuconostoc. Insufficient acidification promoted the vigorous growth of C. tyrobutyricum of silage in later stages, which was mainly responsible for the clostridial fermentation of alfalfa silage.
Differences in maternal gene expression in Cesarean section delivery compared with vaginal delivery
Authors: Kothiyal Prachi , Schulkers Keriann , Liu Xinyue , Hazrati Sahel , Vilboux Thierry , Gomez Luis M. , Huddleston Kathi , Wong Wendy S. W. , Niederhuber John E. , Conrads Thomas P. , Maxwell G. Larry , Hourigan Suchitra K. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractCesarean section (CS) is recognized as being a shared environmental risk factor associated with chronic immune disease. A study of maternal gene expression changes between different delivery modes can add to our understanding of how CS contributes to disease patterns later in life. We evaluated the association of delivery mode with postpartum gene expression using a cross-sectional study of 324 mothers who delivered full-term (≥ 37 weeks) singletons. Of these, 181 mothers had a vaginal delivery and 143 had a CS delivery (60 with and 83 without labor). Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) were upregulated in vaginal delivery compared to CS with or without labor. Peptidase inhibitor 3 (PI3), a gene in the antimicrobial peptide pathway and known to be involved in antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities, showed a twofold increase in vaginal delivery compared to CS with or without labor (adjusted p-value 1.57 × 10–11 and 3.70 × 10–13, respectively). This study evaluates differences in gene expression by delivery mode and provides evidence of antimicrobial peptide upregulation in vaginal delivery compared to CS with or without labor. Further exploration is needed to determine if AMP upregulation provides protection against CS-associated diseases later in life.