bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Role of Gender Power Relations on Women’s Health Outcomes: Evidence from a Maternal Health Coverage Survey in Simiyu Region, Tanzania
Authors: Garrison-Desany Henri , Wilson Emily , Munos Melinda , Sawadogo-Lewis Talata , Maïga Abdoulaye , Ako Onome , Mkuwa Serafina , Hobbs Amy , Morgan Rosemary 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Gender is a crucial consideration of human rights that impacts many priority maternal health outcomes. However, gender is often only reported in relation to sex-disaggregated data in health coverage surveys. Few coverage surveys to date have integrated a more expansive set of gender-related questions and indicators, especially in low- to middle-income countries that have high levels of reported gender inequality. Objective: Using various gender-sensitive indicators, we investigated the role of gender power relations within households on women’s health outcomes in Simiyu region, Tanzania. Methods: We assessed 34 questions around gender dynamics reported by men and women against 18 women’s health outcomes. We created directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to theorize the relationship between indicators, outcomes, and sociodemographic covariates. We grouped gender variables into four categories using an established gender framework: (1) women’s decision-making, (2) household labor-sharing, (3) women’s resource access, and (4) norms/beliefs. Gender indicators that were most proximate to the health outcomes in the DAG were tested using multivariate logistic regression, adjusting for sociodemographic factors.Results: The overall percent agreement of gender-related indicators within couples was 68.6%. The lowest couple concordance was a woman’s autonomy to decide to see family/friends without permission from her husband/partner (40.1%). A number of relationships between gender-related indicators and health outcomes emerged: questions from the decision-making domain were found to play a large role in women’s health outcomes, and condoms and contraceptive outcomes had the most robust relationship with gender indicators. Women who reported being able to make their own health decisions were 1.57 times (95% CI: 1.12, 2.20) more likely to use condoms. Women who reported that they decide how many children they had also reported high contraception use (OR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.34, 2.39). Seeking care at the health facility was also associated with women’s autonomy for making major household purchases (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.62). Conclusions: The association between decision-making and other gender domains with women’s health outcomes highlights the need for heightened attention to gender dimensions of intervention coverage in maternal health. Future studies should integrate and analyze gender-sensitive questions within coverage surveys.
The iAssist Navigation System Demonstrated Superior Radiological Outcomes in Restoring Mechanical Alignment and Component Sagittal Positioning in Total Knee Arthroplasty
Authors: Gao Jiaxiang , Hou Yunfei , Li Zhichang , Li Runjun , Ke Yan , Lin Jianhao 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: This study aimed to determine whether the iAssist navigation system (NAV) could improve the accuracy of restoring mechanical axis (MA), component positioning, and clinical outcomes compared to conventional (CON) total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods: A total of 301 consecutive patients (NAV: 27, CON: 274) were included. A 1:4 propensity score matching (PSM) was performed between the two groups according to preoperative demographic and clinical parameters. The postoperative MA, femoral coronal angle (FCA), femoral sagittal angle (FSA), tibial coronal angle (TCA) and tibial sagittal angle (TSA) were compared. Absolute deviations of aforementioned angles were calculated as the absolute value of difference between the exact and ideal value and defined as appropriate if within 3°, otherwise regarded as outliers. Additional clinical parameters, including the Knee Society knee and function scores (KSKS and KSFS) and range of motion (ROM), were assessed at the final follow-up (mean follow-up time was 21.88 and 21.56 months respectively for NAV and CON group). Results: A total of 98 patients/102 knees were analyzed after the PSM (NAV: 21 patients/24 knees, CON: 77 patients/78 knees). In the NAV group, the mean MA, FCA and TSA were significantly improved (p = 0.019, 0.006, <0.001, respectively). Proportions of TKAs within a ±3°deviation were significantly improved in all the postoperative radiological variables except for TCA (p = 0.003, 0.021, 0,017, 0.013, respectively for MA, FCA, FSA, and TSA). The absolute deviations of FSA and TSA were also significantly lower in the NAV group (p = 0.016, 0.048, respectively). In particular, no significant differences were found in either mean value, absolute deviation or outlier ratio of TCA between two groups. For the clinical outcomes, there were no significant differences between two groups, although KSKS, KSFS and ROM (p<0.01, respectively) dramatically improved compared to baseline. Conclusions: We suggested that the iAssist system could improve the accuracy and precision of mechanical alignment and component positioning without significant improvement of clinical outcomes. Further long-term high-quality studies are necessary to validate the results.
Mesorhizobium Ciceri as a Biological Tool for Improving Physiological, Biochemical and Antioxidant State of Cicer Aritienum L. by Lowering the Fungicide Induced Oxidative Stress
Authors: Shahid Mohammad , Khan Mohammad 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
The present study demonstrates the interactions of fungicide-tolerant symbiotic bacteria Mesorhizobium ciceri with Cicer arietinum-kitazin (KITZ) in greenhouse conditions. Under both in vitro and soil systems, KITZ imparted deleterious impacts on plants as a function of dose. The three-time KITZ dose detrimentally and maximally reduced germination efficiency, vigor index, dry matter production, symbiosis, leaf pigments and seed attributes of C. arietinum. KITZ- induced morphological alterations in root tips, oxidative damage and cell death in root cells of C. arietinum were shown by SEM. M. ciceri tolerated up to 2400 µgmL− 1 of KITZ, synthesized considerable amounts of bioactive molecules including indole-3-acetic-acid (IAA), 1-aminocyclopropane 1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, siderophores, exopolysaccharides (EPS), HCN and ammonia, and solubilised inorganic phosphate even in fungicide-stressed media. Following application to soil, M. ciceri improved performance of C. arietinum and enhanced dry biomass production, yield, symbiosis and leaf pigments even in a fungicide-polluted environment. At 92 µgKITZkg− 1 soil, M. ciceri maximally and significantly (p ≤ 0.05) augmented whole plant length by 41%, total dry biomass by 18%, carotenoid content by 9%, LHb content by 21%, root N by 9%, shoot P by 11% and pod yield by 15%. Additionally, M. ciceri was associated with decreased levels of stressor molecules (proline and MDA) and antioxidant defence enzymes (APX, GPX, CAT and POD) of C. arietinum plants when inoculated in soil. The symbiotic strain effectively colonized the plant rhizosphere/rhizoplane. In pesticide- contaminated soils, inoculation of M. ciceri may serve as an excellent strategy for augmenting C. arietinum productivity.
Capsaicin Exerts Therapeutic Effects by targeting tNOX-SIRT1 Axis and Augmenting ROS-Dependent Cytotoxic Autophagy in Melanoma Cancer Cells
Authors: Islam Atikul , Hsieh Pei-Fang , Chou Jou-Chun , Liao Jiunn-Wang , Hsieh Ming-Kun , Chueh Pin Ju 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Although considered a rare form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma has steadily increased internationally and is a main cause of cancer-associated death worldwide. The treatment options for malignant melanoma are very limited. Accumulating data suggest that the natural compound, capsaicin, exhibits preferential anticancer properties to act as a nutraceutical agent. Here, we explored the underlying molecular events involved in the inhibitory effects of capsaicin on the growth of melanoma cells.Methods: The cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) and isothermal dose response fingerprint (ITDRFCETSA) were utilized to validate the binding of capsaicin with the tumor-associated NADH oxidase, tNOX (ENOX2) in melanoma cells. We also assessed the cellular impact of capsaicin-targeting of tNOX on A375 cells by flow cytometry and protein analysis. The essential role of tNOX in tumor- and melanoma-growth limiting abilities of capsaicin was evaluated in C57BL/6 mice.Results: Our data show that capsaicin directly targets cellular tNOX to inhibit its enzymatic activity and enhance protein degradation capacity. The inhibition of tNOX by capsaicin is accompanied by the attenuation of SIRT1, a NAD+-dependent deacetylase that enhances ULK1 acetylation to induce ROS-dependent autophagy in melanoma cells. Capsaicin treatment of mice implanted with melanoma cancer cells suppressed tumor growth by down-regulating tNOX and SIRT1, which was also seen in an in vivo xenograft study with tNOX-depleted melanoma cells. Conclusions: Together, our findings suggest that tNOX expression is important for the growth of melanoma cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo, and that inhibition of the tNOX-SIRT1 axis contributes to inducting cytotoxic ROS-dependent autophagy in melanoma cells.
Improvement of Binocular Summation in Intermittent Exotropia Following Successful Postoperative Alignment
Authors: LI YUEPING , Ding Juan , Zhang Wei 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the improvement of binocular summation (BiS) for the high (100%) contrast and different low contrasts (10%, 5%, 2.5%) and the relationship of BiS with stereopsis and central fusion in patients with intermittent exotropia (IXT) after strabismic surgeries.Design: Prospective studyParticipants: Seventy-six patients with IXT aging 9 to 40 years with poor control at distance before strabismus surgeries. Methods: To analyze preoperative and postoperative BiS records and the proportions of patients with different BiS for the high (100%) contrast and the low contrasts (10%, 5%, 2.5%). The score of visual acuity (log Mar) was recorded when patient recognizing the full line with full refraction correction. BiS was classified into three situations depending on whether binocular visual acuity (BVA) was better, worse or equal to that of the better-seeing eye . The results of distant random dots stereograph(RDS) were grouped into A, unable to recognize; B, moderate, 200”≤RDS≤400” and C, good, RDS<200”.Results: The patients with binocular summation were increased from 9.2% to 40.8% for 100%contrast, from 17.1% to 53.9% for 10% contrast, from 21.1% to 76.1% for 5% contrast, from 21.1% to 72.4% for 2.5% contrast after surgeries, respectively. Tested using 2.5% contrast, (1) more patients presented binocular summation in the groups B and C ; (2) postoperative improvements of BVA in group B(1.5±1.03 lines) and group C (1.57±1.26 lines) differed significantly with that in the group A (0.74±1.00 line); (3)more patients presented binocular summation and the improvement of BVA was 1.43±1.16 lines in the group with central fusion after surgeries.Conclusions: BiS for high contrast and different low contrasts can be improved in IXT after successful surgical treatment. It may be associated with obtaining central fusion, recovering stereopsis at distance and good alignment after the surgeries. BiS for 2.5% contrast was improved significantly and sensitive to the good stereopsis and central fusion. Improvement of BiS, particularly for low contrast, has benefit for the daily activities in the real environment. BiS could be as supplementary assessment of binocular function for the patients with IXT before and after treatment.
Outdoor personal heating and cooling by a Janus textile
Authors: Luo Hao , Zhu Yining , Li Qiang , Xu Ziquan , Hong Yu , Ghosh Pintu , Kaur Sandeep , Wu Mingbang , Yang Chenying , Qiu Min 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Enhancing the personal thermal comfort in outdoor environment is of substantial significance to ameliorate the health conditions of pedestrian and outdoor laborer. However, the uncontrollable sunlight, substantial radiative loss, and intense temperature change in the outdoor environment present majestic challenges to outdoor personal thermal management. To date, a wearable device with optional passive heating and cooling abilities to abet people combat extreme temperatures in outdoor spaces, is lacking. Here, we report an eco-friendly passive textile which converts the challenges into opportunities and harvests energy from the sun and the outer space for optional localized heating and cooling. Compared to conventional heating/cooling textiles like black/white cotton, its heating/cooling mode enables a skin simulator temperature increase/decrease of 11.3 ℃/14.5 ℃ respectively under sunlight exposure. Meanwhile, the temperature gradient created between the textile and skin simulator allows a continuous electricity generation with thermoelectric modules. Owing to the exceptional outdoor thermoregulation ability, this Janus textile is promising to help maintain a comfortable microclimate for individuals in outdoor environment and provide a platform for pervasive power generation.
Decoupling of temperature and pH gradients along the equatorial Pacific during the Pliocene
Authors: Hull Pincelli , Shankle Madison , Burls Natalie , Fedorov Alexey , Thomas Matthew , Penman Donald , Ford Heather , Jacobs Peter , Planavsky Noah 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Equatorial Pacific dynamics drive tropical climate patterns such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and provide nutrients for one of the world’s most productive marine ecosystems. How this region will respond to global warming remains an important area of study with profound implications for both human wellbeing and economic and ecosystem stability. In light of this, numerous studies have investigated equatorial Pacific dynamics during the Pliocene epoch (5.3-2.6 million years ago) as an analogue for future behavior of the region under global warming (1–12). Current paleoceanographic records from the Pliocene tropical Pacific present an apparent paradox, with proxy evidence of a reduced east-west sea surface temperature gradient along the equator(1,5,6,11)– indicative of reduced wind-driven upwelling – conflicting with evidence of enhanced biological productivity in the region (13–15) which is typically driven by upwelling. Here we reconcile these observations by providing new evidence for older, more acidic, and nutrient-rich water reaching the equatorial Pacific by way of a Pacific meridional overturning cell during the Pliocene (16). This provides a mechanism by which enhanced productivity could have existed alongside a reduced east-west sea surface temperature gradient in the Pliocene equatorial Pacific. Furthermore, these results challenge the current paradigm of a decline in biological productivity in warmer worlds due to enhanced thermal stratification (17). Our findings shed a new light on equatorial Pacific dynamics and help constrain potential changes to them in the near-future, given that the Earth is expected to reach Pliocene-like temperatures by the end of the century. The equatorial Pacific is a region of great significance as it hosts one of the most important climate phenomena on the planet, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (18), and supports massively productive fisheries that provide key ecosystem services to numerous communities (19,20), and our results provide novel insight on how it might change as the oceans adjust to a warming world.
A Hybrid Design Technique to Improve the Structure and Performance of Microstrip Components
Authors: Jamshidi Mohammad (Behdad) , Roshani Saeed , Talla Jakub , Roshani Sobhan , Peroutka Zdenek 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
A hybrid approach to improving the structures of microstrip devices is presented in this study. The proposed technique includes a combination of simple series inductor (L) and capacitor (C) circuits with microstrip-based structures and transmission lines. In this method, the LC circuits are replaced with those parts of the microstrip components that need to act like a bandpass filter. Not only does this simple modification lead to a 100% size reduction, an infinite number of harmonics suppression and high frequency selectivity theoretically, but it will also result in a noticeable performance practically compared to the conventional arrangements of microstrip lines. To show the capability of the proposed method, two quarter-wavelength branches of a Wilkinson Power Divider (WPD) have been rectified and implemented using the LC circuit, which is called LC branches in this paper. Extreme size reduction and harmonic suppression in this implementation of the Filtering Power Divider (FPD) can be considered two important outcomes of this design technique. Furthermore, by tuning the LC circuit, the arbitrary numbers of unwanted harmonics can be blocked, and the operating frequency, the stopband bandwidth and the operating bandwidth could be opted optionally. The experimental result has verified the theoretical and simulated results of the proposed technique. The results clearly demonstrate the considerable potential of this technique to improve the design process of the microstrip devices with desirable specifications.
Homopeptide and Homocodon Levels are Coupled to GC/AT Bias Levels, Intrinsic Disorder Propensity and other Factors Across Diverse Fungi
Authors: Wang Yue , Harrison Paul 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Homopeptides (consecutive runs of one amino-acid type) are suggested to play important roles in proteome evolution, since they are prone to expand/contract during DNA replication, recombination and repair. It is currently not clear how homopeptide frequencies vary as organisms evolve, and which genomic/proteomic traits drive variation. Thus, to gain insight, we analyzed how homopeptides and homocodons (which are pure codon repeats) vary across 405 Dikarya, and probed how this variation is linked to GC/AT bias amongst other factors. We observe that amino-acid homopeptide frequencies vary diversely between clades (even close relatives), with the AT-rich Saccharomycotina trending distinctly. As organisms evolve, homocodon and homopeptide numbers are majorly coupled to GC/AT-bias, with medium GC/AT genomes having markedly fewer. Despite this, homopeptides tend to be more GC-rich than other proteome areas, even in AT-rich organisms, indicating they absorb AT bias less or are inherently more GC-rich. Furthermore, the purity of homopeptides (i.e., the degree one codon type predominates in them) varies least for amino acids with GC/AT-balanced codon repertoires, with most variation for arginine since it has only one AT-rich codon (out of six). The most frequent and most variable homopeptide amino acids have greater intrinsic disorder propensity, and annotated intrinsic disorder fractions are strongly correlated with homopeptide levels (unlike structured domain fractions, which are anti-correlated). Poly-glutamine uniquely behaves as an evolutionarily very variable homopeptide with a codon repertoire unbiased for GC/AT. In summary, homopeptide/homocodon levels are coupled to or influenced by several factors, including GC/AT bias and amino-acid intrinsic disorder propensity.
Knowledge about cervical cancer and awareness about human Papillomavirus vaccination amid Medical students in Jordan
Authors: Alsous Mervat , Ali Ahlam , Al-Azzam Sayer , Karasneh Reema , Amawi Haneen 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
BackgroundCervical cancer (CC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy worldwide and the fourth most common cancer in women. Most cases of cervical cancer are attributed to Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Assessment of knowledge about cervical cancer and HPV vaccination is needed.Results504 students took part in the study. 42.3% of males and 57.7% of females. The mean knowledge score of students in our survey 21.4 ± 4.4 out of 34, which was categorized as a moderate level of knowledge regarding cervical cancer and HPV. Only 40.5% knew about the availability of HPV vaccine in Jordan, and 65.9% accept the idea that it is necessary to introduce HPV vaccine in schoolgirls in Jordan.ConclusionsThis study highlights inadequate knowledge about cervical cancer and its screening among medical students in Jordan. Despite the limited awareness about HPV vaccine among the study’s participants, there is a favorable opinion towards the introduction of the vaccine in school girls in Jordan. The data provide a benchmark on the level of knowledge about cervical cancer and awareness about HPV, which can be used to formulate an effective awareness program.
Key Biomarkers Within the Colorectal Cancer Related Inflammatory Microenvironment
Authors: Calu Valentin , Ionescu Adriana , Stanca Loredana , Geicu Ovidiu , Iordache Florin , Pisoschi Aurelia , Serban Andreea , Bilteanu Liviu 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
The necessity of therapeutic approaches focused on the inflammatory microenvironment of colorectal cancer (CRC) is becoming more and more apparent, both in order to improve post-surgical care and subsequent therapeutic strategies, and also for better quality of life for the patients. We have investigated a panel of 39 inflammatory factors using a multiplex magnetic bead-based immunoassay, in relation with CEA and CA19-9, classical tumor markers and the expression levels of pErk, occludin, and STAT1 and STAT3 transcriptional factors. Within the tumor and paired normal tissue samples collected during tumor resection surgery, we have identified 32 biomarkers displaying statistically significant differences. Several relevant correlations have been observed in a combined multi-type correlation matrix. Chitinase 3-like 1 seems to be a trigger for activation pathways for tumor growth and metastasis. Through IL-22 and IL1β, IL-8 correlates indirectly with CA19-9 and CEA, respectively. We also emphasize the diminished APRIL and high BAFF levels in colon cancer tumor tissue, which is quite unique. The strong correlation between APRIL, BAFF, IL-8 and MMP2 recommends these as combined targets in immunotherapies for colon cancer treatment, and indicates the marker quartet may serve as a starting point in colon cancer screening.
Engineering self-organized criticality in living cells
Authors: Vidiella Blai , Guillamon Antoni , Sardanyes Josep , Maull Victor , Conde Nuria , Solé Ricard V. 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Complex dynamical fluctuations, from molecular noise within cells, collective intelligence, brain dynamics or computer traffic have been shown to display noisy behaviour consistent with a critical state between order and disorder. Living close to the critical point can have a number of adaptive advantages and it has been conjectured that evolution could select (and even tend to) these critical states. One way of approaching such state is by means of so called self-organized criticality (SOC) where the system poises itself close to the critical point. Is this the case of living cells? It is difficult to test this idea given the enormous dimensionality associated with gene and metabolic webs. In this paper we present an alternative approach: to engineer synthetic gene networks displaying SOC behaviour. This is achieved by exploiting the presence of a saturation (congestion) phenomenon of the ClpXP protein degradation machinery in E. coli cells. Using a feedback design that detects and then reduces ClpXP congestion, a critical motif is built from a two-gene network system, where SOC can be successfully implemented. Both deterministic and stochastic models are used, consistently supporting the presence of criticality in intracellular traffic. The potential implications for both cellular dynamics and designed intracellular noise are discussed.