bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cartilaginous Extracellular Matrix Enriched with Human Gingival Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived “Matrix Bound Extracellular Vesicles” Enabled Functional Reconstruction of Tracheal Defect
Authors: Zeng Tian , Yuan Pingping , Liang Lirong , Zhang Xinchi , Zhang Hui , Wu Wei 
Published: November 2021

AbstractStem cells derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) conceive cues essential for tissue repair. Mammalian cartilaginous extracellular matrix (cECM) may not be optimally inductive for tracheal regeneration because of the granulomatous, instead of regenerative, responses in injured adult mammalian tracheas. Given the high regenerative capacity of gingiva, it is hypothesized human gingival mesenchymal stem cells derived EVs (gEVs) can induce mammalian tracheal epithelia regeneration. Coculturing chondrocytes with GMSCs produce abundant “matrix bound gEVs (gMVs)” in forming cartilaginous ECM, which are further preserved in acellular cECM (cACM) following mild, short‐period decellularization. The results show that gMVs‐cACM could be well anchored on polyglycerol sebacate microporous patch thus enforce the surgical suturability and mechanical strength. In rabbit tracheal defect, the gMVs‐cACM patch induces rapid regeneration of vascularized ciliated columnar epithelium, which supports long‐term survival of animals. gMVs‐cACM treated groups exhibit proliferation of tracheal progenitors‐basal epithelial cells, as well as, activation of JAK2/STAT1 pathway in reparative cells. This study departs from conventional focuses on tissue derived ECM and introduces a new approach for tracheal tissue regeneration.
Cellular Features Revealed by Transverse Laser Modes in Frequency Domain
Authors: Qiao Zhen , Xu Hongmei , Zhang Na , Gong Xuerui , Gong Chaoyang , Yang Guang , Chew Sing Yian , Huang Changjin , Chen Yu‐Cheng 
Published: November 2021

AbstractBiological lasers which utilize Fabry–Pérot (FP) cavities have attracted tremendous interest due to their potential in amplifying subtle biological changes. Transverse laser modes generated from cells serve as distinct fingerprints of individual cells; however, most lasing signals lack the ability to provide key information about the cell due to high complexity of transverse modes. The missing key, therefore, hinders it from practical applications in biomedicine. This study reveals the key mechanism governing the frequency distributions of transverse modes in cellular lasers. Spatial information of cells including curvature can be interpreted through spectral information of transverse modes by means of hyperspectral imaging. Theoretical studies are conducted to explore the correlation between the cross‐sectional morphology of a cell and lasing frequencies of transverse modes. Experimentally, the spectral characteristics of transverse modes are investigated in live and fixed cells with different morphological features. By extracting laser modes in frequency domain, the proposed concept is applied for studying cell adhesion process and cell classification from rat cortices. This study expands a new analytical dimension of cell lasers, opening an avenue for subcellular analysis in biophotonic applications.
Heterozygous lipoprotein lipase knockout mice exhibit impaired hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell compartment
Authors: Shi Guiying , Li Xinyue , Li Keya , Huang Yiying , Lei Xuepei , Bai Lin , Qin Chuan 
Published: November 2021

AbstractBackgroundHematopoietic stem cells (HSC) maintain the hematopoietic system homeostasis through self‐renewal and multilineage differentiation potential. HSC are regulated by the microenvironment, cytokine signaling, and transcription factors. Recent results have shown that lipid pathways play a key role in the regulation of HSC quiescence, proliferation, and division. However, the mechanism by which lipid metabolism regulates HSC proliferation and differentiation remains to be clarified. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is an essential enzyme in the anabolism and catabolism of very low‐density lipoprotein, chylomicrons, and triglyceride‐rich lipoproteins.MethodsThe percentage of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and immune cells were determined by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS). The function and the mechanism of HSCs were analyzed by cell colony forming assay and qPCR analysis. The changes in LPL+/− HSC microenvironment were detected by transplantation assays using red fluorescent protein (RFP) transgenic mice.ResultsTo explore the function of LPL in HSC regulation, heterozygous LPL‐knockout mice (LPL+/−) were established and analyzed by FACS. LPL+/− mice displayed decreased hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell compartments. In vitro single‐cell clonogenic assays and cell‐cycle assays using FACS promoted the cell cycle and increased proliferation ability. qPCR analysis showed the expression of p57KIP2 and p21WAF1/CIP1 in LPL+/− mice was upregulated.ConclusionsLPL+/− mice exhibited HSC compartment impairment due to promotion of HSC proliferation, without any effects on the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment.
Cranial functional morphology of the pseudosuchian Effigia and implications for its ecological role in the Triassic
Authors: Bestwick Jordan , Jones Andrew S. , Nesbitt Sterling J. , Lautenschlager Stephan , Rayfield Emily J. , Cuff Andrew R. , Button David J. , Barrett Paul M. , Porro Laura B. , Butler Richard J. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractPseudosuchians, archosaurian reptiles more closely related to crocodylians than to birds, exhibited high morphological diversity during the Triassic with numerous examples of morphological convergence described between Triassic pseudosuchians and post‐Triassic dinosaurs. One example is the shuvosaurid Effigia okeeffeae which exhibits an “ostrich‐like” bauplan comprising a gracile skeleton with edentulous jaws and large orbits, similar to ornithomimid dinosaurs and extant palaeognaths. This bauplan is regarded as an adaptation for herbivory, but this hypothesis assumes morphological convergence confers functional convergence, and has received little explicit testing. Here, we restore the skull morphology of Effigia, perform myological reconstructions, and apply finite element analysis to quantitatively investigate skull function. We also perform finite element analysis on the crania of the ornithomimid dinosaur Ornithomimus edmontonicus, the extant palaeognath Struthio camelus and the extant pseudosuchian Alligator mississippiensis to assess the degree of functional convergence with a taxon that exhibit “ostrich‐like” bauplans and its closest extant relatives. We find that Effigia possesses a mosaic of mechanically strong and weak features, including a weak mandible that likely restricted feeding to the anterior portion of the jaws. We find limited functional convergence with Ornithomimus and Struthio and limited evidence of phylogenetic constraints with extant pseudosuchians. We infer that Effigia was a specialist herbivore that likely fed on softer plant material, a niche unique among the study taxa and potentially among contemporaneous Triassic herbivores. This study increases the known functional diversity of pseudosuchians and highlights that superficial morphological similarity between unrelated taxa does not always imply functional and ecological convergence.
IR780 loaded gelatin‐PEG coated gold core silica shell nanorods for cancer‐targeted photothermal/photodynamic therapy
Authors: Gonçalves Ariana S. C. , Rodrigues Carolina F. , Fernandes Natanael , de Melo‐Diogo Duarte , Ferreira Paula , Moreira André F. , Correia Ilídio J. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractGold core silica shell (AuMSS) nanorods present excellent physicochemical properties that allow their application as photothermal and drug delivery agents. Herein, AuMSS nanorods were dual‐functionalized with Polyethylene glycol methyl ether (PEG‐CH3) and Gelatin (GEL) to enhance both the colloidal stability and uptake by HeLa cancer cells. Additionally, the AuMSS nanorods were combined for the first time with IR780 (a heptamethine cyanine molecule) and its photothermal and photodynamic capacities were determined. The obtained results reveal that the encapsulation of IR780 (65 µg per AuMSS mg) increases the photothermal conversion efficiency of AuMSS nanorods by 10%, and this enhanced heat generation was maintained even after three irradiation cycles with a NIR (808 nm) laser. Moreover, the IR780‐loaded AuMSS/T‐PEG‐CH3/T‐GEL presented ≈2‐times higher uptake in HeLa cells, when compared to the non‐coated counterparts, and successfully mediated the light‐triggered generation of reactive oxygen species. Overall, the combination of photodynamic and photothermal therapy mediated by IR780‐loaded AuMSS/T‐PEG‐CH3/T‐GEL nanorods effectively promoted the ablation of HeLa cancer cells.
Waiting longer, feeling fatter: Effects of response delay on tactile distance estimation and confidence in females with anorexia nervosa
Authors: Engel Manja M. , Gadsby Stephen , Corcoran Andrew W. , Keizer Anouk , Dijkerman H. Chris , Hohwy Jakob 
Published: November 2021

AbstractBackgroundResearch suggests that patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) exhibit differences in the perceptual processing of their own bodies. However, some researchers suggest that these differences are better explained with reference to non‐perceptual factors, such as demand characteristics or emotional responses to the task. In this study, we investigated whether overestimation of tactile distances in participants with AN results from differences in tactile processing or non‐perceptual factors, by measuring the role of allowed response time in an adapted version of the tactile distance estimation task (TDE‐D). We further investigated the relationship between allowed response time and participants' confidence in their tactile judgments.MethodOur sample consisted of females: participants with AN (n = 30), recovered (REC) participants (n = 29) and healthy controls (HC) (n = 31). Participants were asked to estimate tactile distances presented on the skin of either a salient (abdomen) or non‐salient (arm) body part, either directly after stimulus presentation (direct condition) or after a 5 s delay (delayed condition). Confidence of estimation accuracy was measured after each response.ResultsResults showed that allowing AN and REC more time to respond caused them to estimate tactile distances as larger. Additionally, participants with AN became less confident when given more time to respond.ConclusionsThese results suggest that non‐perceptual influences cause participants with AN to increase their estimates of tactile distances and become less certain of these estimates. We speculate that previous findings—where participants with AN estimate tactile distances as larger than HC—may be due to non‐perceptual differences.
Highly Stable Univalent Copper of a Cu@Al/SBA‐15 Nanocomposite Catalyzes the Synthesis of Fluorescent Aminobenzotriazoles Derivatives
Authors: Luo Xianghao , Tian Anqi , Pei Mengyu , Yan Jiaying , Liu Xiang , Wang Long 
Published: November 2021

AbstractWith the development of green chemistry, it is still a challenge to maintain the unstable valence state of the metal in heterogeneous catalysts and realize new catalytic synthesis methods. In this paper, it is reported that an univalent copper nanocomposite (Cu@Al/SBA‐15) can efficiently catalyze the formation of novel amino‐containing benzotriazoles with great fluorescence properties in a new synthetic strategy. Subsequently, its application is further verified by an acylation reaction to produce a series of novel benzotriazoles derivatives with high yield. It is worth noting that the Cu@Al/SBA‐15 nanocomposites not only enable the reaction completed with high yield in a short time, but can also be recycled many times without a significant reduction in activity, and the leaching of copper and aluminum species in reaction system is negligible. Finally, the detailed and feasible reaction mechanism is also provided.
Enhanced Desalination Polyamide Membranes Incorporating Pillar[5]arene through in‐Situ Aggregation‐Interfacial Polymerization‐isAGRIP
Authors: Strilets Dmytro , Cerneaux Sophie , Barboiu Mihail 
Published: November 2021

AbstractMembrane‐based desalination have an important role in water purification. Inspired by highly performant biological proteins, artificial water channels (AWC) have been proposed as active components to overcome the permeability/selectivity trade‐off of desalination processes. Promising performances have been reported with Pillararene crystalline phases revealing impressive molecular‐scale separation performances, when used as selective porous materials. Herein, we demonstrate that Pillar[5]arene PA[5] aggregates are in‐situ generated and incorporated during the interfacial polymerization, within industrially relevant reverse osmosis polyamide‐PA membranes. In particular, we explore the best combination between PA[5] aggregates and m‐phenylenediamine (MPD) and trimesoylchloride (TMC) monomers to achieve their seamless incorporation in a defect‐free hybrid polyamide PA[5]‐PA membranes for enhanced desalination. The performances of the reference and hybrid membranes are evaluated by cross‐flow filtration under real reverse osmosis conditions (15.5 bar of applied pressure) by filtration of brackish feed streams. The optimized membranes achieve a ∼40 % improvement, in water permeance of ∼2.76±0.5 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 and high 99.5 % NaCl rejection with respect to the reference TFC membrane and a similar water permeance compared to one of the best commercial BW30 membranes (3.0 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 and 99.5 % NaCl rejection).
Hybrid cuckoo–red deer algorithm for multiobjective localization strategy in wireless sensor network
Authors: Agoramoorthy Moorthy , Praveen Joe Irudaya Raj 
Published: November 2021

SummaryFor the past 5 years, localization has become an emerging area in the field of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), which can be applicable for diverse applications, such as outdoor environments and monitoring of objects located in indoor environments. The major constraint in localization is allocating a location for each node as diverse sensor nodes are employed to retrieve the information in WSN. Recent research works in node localization have generally moved by multihop range‐free localization approaches for achieving high accuracy through reducing the localization error among the actual and estimated position of nodes. The conventional approaches are aimed to improve the localization accuracy without considering efficiency concerned with algorithm's convergence time and energy costs. The main intent of this paper is to model the WSN localization model, which focuses on the localization of anchor nodes concerning the target nodes. The multiobjective function is developed by considering the distance function, received signal strength (RSS), and energy. Here, a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm named hybrid cuckoo–red deer algorithm (HC‐RDA) with the integration of red deer algorithm (RDA) and cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) is adopted for localization of unknown nodes. The fitness function of the developed model is the minimization of the derived multiobjective function. Both simulation studies and theoretical analysis demonstrate that the proposed approach can improve localization performance with a better convergence rate, thus ensuring high localization accuracy compared to conventional metaheuristic models.
Evaluation of microfluidics‐based droplet PCR combined with multiplex STR system in forensic science
Authors: Zhu Qiang , Wang Haoyu , Cao Yueyan , Huang Yuguo , Hu Yuhan , Zhou Yijun , Wei Yifan , Li Xi , Hou Tingyun , Wang Yuting , Shu Panyin , Song Feng , Zhang Ji 
Published: November 2021

AbstractBecause of its excellent monodispersity, high throughput, and low volume, microfluidics‐based droplet PCR has become the core technology of digital PCR, next‐generation sequencing, and other technology platforms. This study constructed a microfluidic water‐in‐oil droplet PCR system and amplified a commercially available forensic 22‐plex short tandem repeat detection system. We analyzed the sensitivity, concordance, amplification efficiency of the droplet PCR, and influence factors of the above aspects. The droplet PCR showed high concordance with conventional bulk PCR and had high sensitivity as 0.125 ng. Furthermore, we observed the performance of droplet PCR in high‐order mixed DNA. As the mixture ratios from 10:1 to 30:1, droplet PCR presented more mixture proportion (Mx) increased loci from 11 (57.89%) to 17 (89.47%). In the mixture ratios 20:1, 25:1, and 30:1, significant Mx differences between droplet PCR and bulk PCR were observed (p < 0.05). The results showed that the droplet PCR could improve the identification of the minor contributor's DNA in a two‐person mixture and alleviate the imbalanced amplification problem. This study provides a reference and basis for the wide application of droplet PCR in forensic science.
Not all respondents use a multiplicative utility function in choice experiments for health state valuations, which should be reflected in the elicitation format (or statistical analysis)
Authors: Jonker Marcel F. , Norman Richard 
Published: November 2021

AbstractDiscrete choice experiments (DCEs) that include health states and duration are becoming a common method for estimating quality‐adjusted life year (QALY) tariffs. These DCEs need to be analyzed under the assumption that respondents treat health and duration multiplicatively. However, in the most commonly used DCE duration format there is no guarantee that respondents actually do so; in fact, respondents can easily simplify the choice tasks by considering health and duration separately. This would result in valid DCE responses but preclude subsequent QALY tariff calculations. Using a Bayesian latent class model and data from two existing valuation studies, our analyses confirm that in both datasets the majority of respondents do not appear to have used a multiplicative utility function. Moreover, a statistical correction for respondents who used an incorrect function changes the range of the QALY weights. Hence our results imply that one can neither assume that respondents use the theoretically required multiplicative utility function nor assume that the type of utility function that respondents use does not affect the estimated QALY weights. As a solution, we advise researchers to use an alternative, more constrained DCE elicitation format that avoids these behavioral problems.
Hippocampal–prefrontal interactions during spatial decision‐making
Authors: Tavares Lucas C. S. , Tort Adriano B. L. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe hippocampus has been linked to memory encoding and spatial navigation, while the prefrontal cortex is associated with cognitive functions such as decision‐making. These regions are hypothesized to communicate in tasks that demand both spatial navigation and decision‐making processes. However, the electrophysiological signatures underlying this communication remain to be better elucidated. To investigate the dynamics of the hippocampal–prefrontal interactions, we have analyzed their local field potentials and spiking activity recorded from rats performing a spatial alternation task on a figure eight‐shaped maze. We found that the phase coherence of theta peaked around the choice point area of the maze. Moreover, Granger causality revealed a hippocampus → prefrontal cortex directionality of information flow at theta frequency, peaking at starting areas of the maze, and on the reverse direction at delta frequency, peaking near the turn onset. Additionally, the patterns of phase‐amplitude cross‐frequency coupling within and between the regions also showed spatial selectivity, and hippocampal theta and prefrontal delta modulated not only gamma amplitude but also inter‐regional gamma synchrony. Finally, we found that the theta rhythm dynamically modulated neurons in both regions, with the highest modulation at the choice area; interestingly, prefrontal cortex neurons were more strongly modulated by the hippocampal theta rhythm than by their local field rhythm. In all, our results reveal maximum electrophysiological interactions between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex near the decision‐making period of the spatial alternation task, corroborating the hypothesis that a dynamic interplay between these regions takes place during spatial decisions.
Fipronil use and associated effects on hematological and biochemical parameters of blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi Latreille): Ecological implication
Authors: Onwubiko Grace N. , Anorue Eleazar C. , Onwubiko Henry A. , Joshua Parker E. , Eze Fabian I. , Amah Christian C. , Onah Blessing E. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractFipronil is used to control pests to improve farm yield, however, indiscriminate use of fipronil has been reported to endanger crabs leading to their extinction. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of fipronil on several hematological and biochemical parameters of blue land crabs. We exposed blue land crabs to either fipronil or to a control treatment; fipronil reduced the protein content of the crab and also led to hematological and oxidative damages to the crabs' oxy‐hemocyanin. Based on our results, there is need for guided use of agrochemicals such as fipronil to avoid/reduce their adverse effects on economically important species such as crabs.
Is there added value in the EURO‐CORDEX hindcast temperature simulations? Assessing the added value using climate distributions in Europe
Authors: Cardoso Rita M. , Soares Pedro M. M. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractRegional climate simulations with high horizontal resolutions are becoming increasingly common and although model development has continually enhanced the representation of atmospheric phenomena, the model improvements are variable, region and time scale‐dependant. The high computational costs of increasingly smaller grid‐spacing underline the need for a robust assessment of the benefits or losses associated to the dynamical downscaling of coarser resolution models (reanalysis, global climate models or ~tenths km runs), that is, quantitative added value evaluation. In the current study, a probability density function (PDF) matching score is used to determine the distribution added value (DAV) of the EURO‐CORDEX maximum and minimum temperatures from the hindcast simulations at 0.44° and 0.11° resolutions. The gridded maximum and minimum temperatures from European Climate Assessment & Dataset (E‐Obs) were used as benchmarks for the matching scores and DAVs were determined for the 0.44° and 0.11° simulations individually against ERA‐Interim as well as against each other. Temperature added value against ERA‐Interim is difficult to find due to the assimilation of surface temperatures in the reanalysis. Nonetheless, there is positive added value in Tmax for half of the models at the yearly time scale, and the increase in resolution also implies positive DAV in half of the models, with DAVs between 0.1 and 3.8%. More importantly, the benefits of downscaling are significantly visible in the extreme end tail of Tmax, where all models have high added value at all resolutions and seasons except in summer (from ~1 to ~21%). In minimum temperature there is added value in winter and autumn at both resolutions. The Mediterranean and the British Isles are the regions where larger positive DAV values for both variables and resolutions are identified. In Tmax, added value is also associated to the increase in resolution (from 50 to 10 km) for half of the models in all regions. Scandinavia, the Alps, and eastern Europe are regions where negative added value is clearly linked with the highest mountain peaks for both variables.