bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Thermography signs of lung inflammation
Authors: Dolgov I. M. , Volovik M. G. 
Published: December 2021

The purpose of the study was to find out if infrared thermography of the thorax is the method to select the patients with lung inflammationMaterial, methods: Thermograms were accumulated and processed in the «TVision» cloud storage («Dignosis», Russia). Special regions of interest (ROI) were automatically created: 1. on the front and back of the thorax roughly in the projection of the upper lobe (ULP) and the lower lobe (LLP) of the lung; 2.e lines on the front surface of the thorax. Two types of temperature gradients were calculated: between ULP and LLP (by subtraction mean temperature in LLP from mean temperature in ULP) (ΔT1); between both ULP and both LLP on the back of the thorax (ΔT2). Approximation confidence value for the polynomial trend line (R²) along the marked lines on the front surface of the thorax also calculated. Totally 489 thermograms, were analyzed, included 337 from healthy patients (group 1) and 152 from patients with confirmed diagnosis of lung inflammation (group 2)Results: R² value was higher in the group 1 compare to group 2 (0.58 ± 0.16 vs 0.3 ± 0.2, p < 0.05). ΔT1 value was negative only in patients from group 2, as well as ΔT1 value greater than 0.4 °C.Conclusion: three independent thermographic criteria suitable for detecting lung inflammation were found, so infrared thermography is the valuable method for screening this pathology.
Realistic Reference for Evaluation of Vehicle Safety Focusing on Pedestrian Head Protection Observed From Kinematic Reconstruction of Real-World Collisions
Authors: Li Guibing , Liu Jinming , Li Kui , Zhao Hui , Shi Liangliang , Zhang Shuai , Nie Jin 
Published: December 2021

Head-to-vehicle contact boundary condition and criteria and corresponding thresholds of head injuries are crucial in evaluation of vehicle safety performance for pedestrian protection, which need a constantly updated understanding of pedestrian head kinematic response and injury risk in real-world collisions. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to investigate the characteristics of pedestrian head-to-vehicle contact boundary condition and pedestrian AIS3+ (Abbreviated Injury Scale) head injury risk as functions of kinematic-based criteria, including HIC (Head Injury Criterion), HIP (Head Impact Power), GAMBIT (Generalized Acceleration Model for Brain Injury Threshold), RIC (Rotational Injury Criterion), and BrIC (Brain Injury Criteria), in real-world collisions. To achieve this, 57 vehicle-to-pedestrian collision cases were employed, and a multi-body modeling approach was applied to reconstruct pedestrian kinematics in these real-world collisions. The results show that head-to-windscreen contacts are dominant in pedestrian collisions of the analysis sample and that head WAD (Wrap Around Distance) floats from 1.5 to 2.3 m, with a mean value of 1.84 m; 80% of cases have a head linear contact velocity below 45 km/h or an angular contact velocity less than 40 rad/s; pedestrian head linear contact velocity is on average 83 ± 23% of the vehicle impact velocity, while the head angular contact velocity (in rad/s) is on average 75 ± 25% of the vehicle impact velocity in km/h; 77% of cases have a head contact time in the range 50–140 ms, and negative and positive linear correlations are observed for the relationships between pedestrian head contact time and WAD/height ratio and vehicle impact velocity, respectively; 70% of cases have a head contact angle floating from 40° to 70°, with an average value of 53°; the pedestrian head contact angles on windscreens (average = 48°) are significantly lower than those on bonnets (average = 60°); the predicted thresholds of HIC, HIP, GAMBIT, RIC, BrIC2011, and BrIC2013 for a 50% probability of AIS3+ head injury risk are 1,300, 60 kW, 0.74, 1,470 × 104, 0.56, and 0.57, respectively. The findings of the current work could provide realistic reference for evaluation of vehicle safety performance focusing on pedestrian protection.
On the Effect of Soft Molecularly Imprinted Nanoparticles Receptors Combined to Nanoplasmonic Probes for Biomedical Applications
Authors: Cennamo Nunzio , Bossi Alessandra Maria , Arcadio Francesco , Maniglio Devid , Zeni Luigi 
Published: December 2021

Soft, deformable, molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) were combined to nano-plasmonic sensor chips realized on poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrates to develop highly sensitive bio/chemical sensors. NanoMIPs (dmean &lt; 50 nm), which are tailor-made nanoreceptors prepared by a template assisted synthesis, were made selective to bind Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), and were herein used to functionalize gold optical nanostructures placed on a PMMA substrate, this latter acting as a slab waveguide. We compared nanoMIP-functionalized non-optimized gold nanogratings based on periodic nano-stripes to optimized nanogratings with a deposited ultra-thin MIP layer (&lt;100 nm). The sensors performances were tested by the detection of BSA using the same setup, in which both chips were considered as slab waveguides, with the periodic nano-stripes allocated in a longitudinal orientation with respect to the direction of the input light. Result demonstrated the nanoMIP-non optimized nanogratings showed superior performance with respect to the ultra-thin MIP-optimized nanogratings. The peculiar deformable character of the nano-MIPs enabled to significantly enhance the limit of detection (LOD) of the plasmonic bio/sensor, allowing the detection of the low femtomolar concentration of analyte (LOD ∼ 3 fM), thus outpassing of four orders of magnitude the sensitivies achieved so far on optimized nano-patterned plasmonic platforms functionalized with ultra-thin MIP layers. Thus, deformable nanoMIPs onto non-optimized plasmonic probes permit to attain ultralow detections, down to the quasi-single molecule. As a general consideration, the combination of more plasmonic transducers to different kinds of MIP receptors is discussed as a mean to attain the detection range for the selected application field.
An Immune Panel Signature Predicts Prognosis of Lung Adenocarcinoma Patients and Correlates With Immune Microenvironment
Authors: Zhou Yuan , Tang Lu , Chen Yuqiao , Zhang Youyu , Zhuang Wei 
Published: December 2021

Background: Lung cancer, especially lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) with high incidence, seriously endangers human life. The immune microenvironment is one of the malignant foundations of LUAD, but its impact at the molecular level is incompletely understood.Method: A total of 34 LUAD samples from Xiangya Hospital were collected for immune oncology (IO) profiling. Univariate Cox analysis was performed to profile prognostic immune genes based on our immune panel sequencing data. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm was applied to construct a risk signature. The cut-off threshold of risk score was determined using X-tile software. Kaplan–Meier survival curves and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to examine the performance of this risk signature for predicting prognosis. The immune infiltration was estimated using a single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) algorithm.Result: Thirty-seven immune genes were profiled to be significantly correlated with the progression-free survival (PFS) in our cohort. Among them, BST2, KRT7, LAMP3, MPO, S100A8, and TRIM29 were selected to construct a risk signature. Patients with a higher risk score had a significantly shorter PFS (p = 0.007). Time-dependent ROC curves indicated that our risk signature had a robust performance in accurately predicting survival. Specifically, the 6-, 12-, and 18-month area under curve (AUC) was 0.800, 0.932, and 0.912, respectively. Furthermore, the risk signature was positively related to N stage, tumor stage, and tumor malignancy. These results were validated using two external cohorts. Finally, the risk signature was significantly and uniquely correlated with abundance of neutrophil.Conclusion: Our study revealed an immune panel-based signature that could predict the prognosis of LUAD patients and was associated with the infiltration of neutrophils.
Global Change Modulated Asian Inland Climate Since 7.3 Ma: Carbonate Manganese Records in the Western Qaidam Basin
Authors: Liu Yudong , Yang Yibo , Ye Chengcheng , Yang Rongsheng , Appel Erwin , Fang Xiaomin 
Published: December 2021

Late Cenozoic drying of the Asian inland has not only exerted a profound impact on the regional environment but also affected global climate as an important source of global atmospheric dust. Continuous and accurately dated sediment records from the Asian interior are pivotal to a better understanding of the evolutionary history of Asian inland drying and the associated driving mechanisms. In this study, we present a continuous record of climate change in the Asian interior spanning the past 7.3 Myr, reconstructed by the redox evolution of a paleolake in the western Qaidam Basin, NE Tibetan Plateau. The paleolake redox conditions are linked to the oxygen concentration of lake bottom water and lake level, and were revealed by the manganese (Mn) concentration in the carbonate fraction (leached by the diluted acetic acid) of the carbonate-rich lacustrine sediments retrieved from two drill-cores (SG-1 and SG-1b). The reconstructed regional climate in the western Qaidam Basin shows long-term fluctuations, consistent with the secular evolution of the coeval global climate, especially the sea surface temperature variation in the high latitude North Atlantic. Three transitions of the paleolake hydrochemical system occurred at 6.2, 5.3, and 2.6 Ma, with a short drying stage at 6.2–5.3 Ma and prolonged Quaternary drying since 2.6 Ma. We argue that drying of the Asia interior has been dominantly forced by global cooling, in particular, the high-latitude cooling of the Northern Hemisphere.
Genetic Contributors of Incident Stroke in 10,700 African Americans With Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis From the Genetics of Hypertension Associated Treatments and Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Studies
Authors: Armstrong Nicole D. , Srinivasasainagendra Vinodh , Patki Amit , Tanner Rikki M. , Hidalgo Bertha A. , Tiwari Hemant K. , Limdi Nita A. , Lange Ethan M. , Lange Leslie A. , Arnett Donna K. , Irvin Marguerite R. 
Published: December 2021

Background: African Americans (AAs) suffer a higher stroke burden due to hypertension. Identifying genetic contributors to stroke among AAs with hypertension is critical to understanding the genetic basis of the disease, as well as detecting at-risk individuals.Methods: In a population comprising over 10,700 AAs treated for hypertension from the Genetics of Hypertension Associated Treatments (GenHAT) and Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) studies, we performed an inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis of incident stroke. Additionally, we tested the predictive accuracy of a polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from a European ancestral population in both GenHAT and REGARDS AAs aiming to evaluate cross-ethnic performance.Results: We identified 10 statistically significant (p &lt; 5.00E-08) and 90 additional suggestive (p &lt; 1.00E-06) variants associated with incident stroke in the meta-analysis. Six of the top 10 variants were located in an intergenic region on chromosome 18 (LINC01443-LOC644669). Additional variants of interest were located in or near the COL12A1, SNTG1, PCDH7, TMTC1, and NTM genes. Replication was conducted in the Warfarin Pharmacogenomics Cohort (WPC), and while none of the variants were directly validated, seven intronic variants of NTM proximal to our target variants, had a p-value &lt;5.00E-04 in the WPC. The inclusion of the PRS did not improve the prediction accuracy compared to a reference model adjusting for age, sex, and genetic ancestry in either study and had lower predictive accuracy compared to models accounting for established stroke risk factors. These results demonstrate the necessity for PRS derivation in AAs, particularly for diseases that affect AAs disproportionately.Conclusion: This study highlights biologically plausible genetic determinants for incident stroke in hypertensive AAs. Ultimately, a better understanding of genetic risk factors for stroke in AAs may give new insight into stroke burden and potential clinical tools for those among the highest at risk.
Whole Genome Methylation Analysis Reveals Role of DNA Methylation in Cow’s Ileal and Ileal Lymph Node Responses to Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis Infection
Authors: Ibeagha-Awemu Eveline M. , Bissonnette Nathalie , Bhattarai Suraj , Wang Mengqi , Dudemaine Pier-Luc , McKay Stephanie , Zhao Xin 
Published: December 2021

Johne’s Disease (JD), caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (MAP), is an incurable disease of ruminants and other animal species and is characterized by an imbalance of gut immunity. The role of MAP infection on the epigenetic modeling of gut immunity during the progression of JD is still unknown. This study investigated the DNA methylation patterns in ileal (IL) and ileal lymph node (ILLN) tissues from cows diagnosed with persistent subclinical MAP infection over a one to 4 years period. DNA samples from IL and ILLN tissues from cows negative (MAPneg) (n = 3) or positive for MAP infection (MAPinf) (n = 4) were subjected to whole genome bisulfite sequencing. A total of 11,263 and 62,459 differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs), and 1259 and 8086 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) (FDR&lt;0.1) were found between MAPinf and MAPneg IL and ILLN tissues, respectively. The DMRs were found on 394 genes (denoted DMR genes) in the IL and on 1305 genes in the ILLN. DMR genes with hypermethylated promoters/5′UTR [3 (IL) and 88 (ILLN)] or hypomethylated promoters/5′UTR [10 (IL) and 25 (ILLN)] and having multiple functions including response to stimulus/immune response (BLK, BTC, CCL21, AVPR1A, CHRNG, GABRA4, TDGF1), cellular processes (H2AC20, TEX101, GLA, NCKAP5L, RBM27, SLC18A1, H2AC20BARHL2, NLGN3, SUV39H1, GABRA4, PPA1, UBE2D2) and metabolic processes (GSTO2, H2AC20, SUV39H1, PPA1, UBE2D2) are potential DNA methylation candidate genes of MAP infection. The ILLN DMR genes were enriched for more biological process (BP) gene ontology (GO) terms (n = 374), most of which were related to cellular processes (27.6%), biological regulation (16.6%), metabolic processes (15.4%) and response to stimulus/immune response (8.2%) compared to 75 BP GO terms (related to cellular processes, metabolic processes and transport, and system development) enriched for IL DMR genes. ILLN DMR genes were enriched for more pathways (n = 47) including 13 disease pathways compared with 36 enriched pathways, including 7 disease/immune pathways for IL DMR genes. In conclusion, the results show tissue specific responses to MAP infection with more epigenetic changes (DMCs and DMRs) in the ILLN than in the IL tissue, suggesting that the ILLN and immune processes were more responsive to regulation by methylation of DNA relative to IL tissue. Our data is the first to demonstrate a potential role for DNA methylation in the pathogenesis of MAP infection in dairy cattle.
Glucose-Derived Carbon Nanospheres as Flame Retardant for Polyethylene Terephthalate
Authors: Li Jiaqian , Yang Yaru , Xiao Yunchao , Tang Bolin , Ji Yaming , Liu Shuqiang 
Published: December 2021

To improve the flame retardant properties of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), glucose-derived carbon nanospheres (CNSs) were synthesized and introduced into PET matrix. The thermal property and flame retardancy of CNSs/PET composites were thoroughly investigated. Results showed that CNSs displayed good flame-retardant performance for PET. When blended with only 1.0 wt.% of CNSs, CNSs/PET exhibited a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 26.3 and a vertical combustion class of V-2, and its peak-heat release rate (pk-HRR) was reduced by 41.6%. Importantly, the initial decomposition temperature and the maximum weight loss temperature of CNSs/PET were 52°C and 199°C higher than those of PET, respectively. Furthermore, a condensed phase flame-retardant mechanism appeared in CNSs/PET, which formed a dense and thermally stable protective char layer during combustion. Overall, this study disclosed the flame-retardant potential and possible mechanism of CNSs for polyesters, which would benefit the development of carbon-based materials and flame-retardant polymers.
Case Report: A Case of Cotton-Wool Spots After Intravitreal Injection of Conbercept in an Infant With Incontinentia Pigmenti
Authors: Liang Licong , Yang Yiliu , Bu Shaochong , Lu Fang 
Published: December 2021

Introduction: Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) is a rare X-linked neuroectodermal dysplasia affecting multiple organs. One of its most significant ophthalmic manifestations is retinal neovascularization due to retinal ischemia, which has been traditionally treated with laser photocoagulation or cryotherapy. The application of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been reported for the treatment of retinopathy of IP with beneficial results. However, clinicians should be aware of the possible ocular and systemic side effects of the intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF agents.Case Report: A 4-month-old female infant with IP was treated with intravitreal injection of conbercept in both eyes. However, cotton-wool spots were noticed in the left eye 1 week after the injection. Laser photocoagulation was performed as an adjunct treatment. The cotton-wool spots were absorbed 1 month after the first intravitreal injection and have eventually disappeared.Discussion: The cotton-wool spots, after intravitreal injection of conbercept for the treatment of IP, indicated severe retinal ischemia resulting from the neutralization of excessive VEGF, which was shown on fundus photograph and fluorescent angiography. Anti-VEGF agents could cause retinal arteriolar vasoconstriction and artery occlusion on rare occasions. The administration of anti-VEGF agents in pediatric cases with severe neovascularization and retinal ischemia should be carefully considered.
Workflow Intervals and Outcomes of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Large-Vessel Occlusion During On-Vs. Off-hours in China: The ANGEL-ACT Registry
Authors: Ding Yunlong , Gao Feng , Ji Yong , Zhai Tingting , Tong Xu , Jia Baixue , Wu Jian , Wu Jiaqi , Zhang Yanrong , Wei Can , Wang Wenjuan , Zhou Jue , Niu Jiali , Miao Zhongrong , Liu Yan 
Published: December 2021

Background: There may be a delay in or a poor outcome of endovascular treatment (EVT) among acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with large-vessel occlusion (LVO) during off-hours. By using a prospective, nationwide registry, we compared the workflow intervals and radiological/clinical outcomes between patients with acute LVO treated with EVT presenting during off- and on-hours.Methods: We analyzed prospectively collected Endovascular Treatment Key Technique and Emergency Work Flow Improvement of Acute Ischemic Stroke (ANGEL-ACT) data. Patients presenting during off-hours were defined as those presenting to the emergency department from Monday to Friday between 17:30 and 08:00, on weekends (from 17:30 on Friday to 08:00 on Monday), and on national holidays. We used logistic regression models with adjustment for potential confounders to determine independent associations between the time of presentation and outcomes.Results: Among 1,788 patients, 1,079 (60.3%) presented during off-hours. The median onset-to-door time and onset-to-reperfusion time were significantly longer during off-hours than during on-hours (165 vs. 125 min, P = 0.002 and 410 vs. 392 min, P = 0.027). The rates of successful reperfusion and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage were similar in both groups. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for the 90-day modified Rankin Scale score was 0.892 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.748–1.064]. The adjusted OR for the occurrence of functional independence was 0.892 (95% CI, 0.724–1.098), and the adjusted OR for mortality was 1.214 (95% CI, 0.919–1.603).Conclusions: Off-hours presentation in the nationwide real-world registry was associated with a delay in the visit and reperfusion time of EVT in patients with AIS. However, this delay was not associated with worse functional outcomes or higher mortality rates.Clinical Trial Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT03370939.
“How Long Have I Got?” in Stage IV NSCLC Patients With at Least 3 Months Up to 10 Years Survival, Accuracy of Long-, Intermediate-, and Short-Term Survival Prediction Is Not Good Enough to Answer This Question
Authors: Guo Huiru , Li Hegen , Zhu Lihua , Feng Jiali , Huang Xiange , Baak Jan P. A. 
Published: December 2021

BackgroundMost lung cancer patients worldwide [stage IV nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC)] have a poor survival: 25%–30% die &lt;3 months. Yet, of those surviving &gt;3 months, 10%–15% (70,000–105,000 new patients worldwide per year) survive (very) long. Surprisingly, little scientific attention has been paid to the question, which factors cause the good prognosis in these NSCLC stage IV long survivors. Therefore, “How long do I still have?” currently cannot be accurately answered. We evaluated in a large group of 737 stage IV NSCLC patients surviving 3.2–120.0 months, the accuracies of short- and long-term survival predictive values of baseline factors, radiotherapy (RT), platinum-based chemotherapy (PBT), and tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeted therapy (TKI-TT).MethodsThis is a noninterventional study of 998 consecutive first-onset stage IV NSCLC patients. A total of 737 (74%) survived 3.2–120.0 months, 47 refused RT, PBT, and TKI-TT. Single and multivariate survival analysis and receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis were used with dead of disease (DOD) or alive with disease (AWD) as endpoints.ResultsThe median survival (16.1 months) of 47 patients who refused PBT, RT, and TKI-TT was significantly worse than those with RT, PBT, and/or TKI-TT (23.3 months, HR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.06–2.42, p = 0.04). Of these latter 690 patients, 42% were females, 58% males, median age 63 years (range 27–85), 1-, 2-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates were 74%, 49%, 16%, and 5%. In total, 16% were alive with disease (AWD) at the last follow-up. Pathology subtype (adenocarcinoma vs. all others), performance score, TNM substage, the number of PBT cycles and TKI-TT had independent predictive value. However, with the multivariate combination of these features, identification results of short-term nonsurvivors and long-term survivors were poor.ConclusionsIn stage IV NSCLC patients with &gt;3 months survival, baseline features, and systemic therapeutic modalities have strong survival predictive value but do not accurately identify short- and long-term survivors. The predictive value of other features and interventions discussed should be investigated in the worldwide very large group of stage IV NSCLC patients with &gt;3 months survival.