bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Arabic validation and cross-cultural adaptation of the 5C scale for assessment of COVID-19 vaccines psychological antecedents
Authors: ElHafeez Samar Abd , Shaaban Ramy , Elbarazi Iffat , ElMakhzangy Rony , Aly Maged Ossama , Alnagar Amr , Yacoub Mohamed , Saeh Haider M. El , Eltaweel Nashwa , Alqutub Sulafa T , Ghazy Ramy Mohamed 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBackgroundIn the Arab countries, there has not been yet a specific validated questionnaire that can assess the psychological antecedents of COVID-19 vaccine among the general population. This study, therefore, aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the 5C scale into the Arabic language.MethodsThe 5C scale was translated into Arabic by two independent bilingual co-authors, and then subsequently translated back into English. After reconciling translation disparities, the final Arabic questionnaire was disseminated into four randomly selected Arabic countries (Egypt, Libya, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia). Data from 350 Arabic speaking adults (aged ≥18 years) were included in the final analysis. Convergent, discriminant, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach alpha.ResultsAge of participants ranged between 18 to 73 years; 57.14% were females, 37.43% from Egypt, 36.86%, from UAE, and 30% were healthcare workers. The 5 sub-scales of the questionnaire met the criterion of internal consistency (Cronbach alpha ≥0.7). Convergent validity was identified by the significant inter-item and item-total correlation (P<0.001). Discriminant validity was reported as inter-factor correlation matrix (<0.7). Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the 15 items of the questionnaire could be summarized into five factors. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the hypothesized five-factor model of the 15-item questionnaire was satisfied with adequate psychometric properties and fit with observed data (RMSEA=0.060,GFI=0.924, CFI=0.957, TLI=0.937, SRMR=0.076 & NFI=906).Conclusionthe Arabic version of the 5C scale is a valid and reliable tool to assess the psychological antecedents of COVID-19 vaccine among Arab population.
Estimating vaccine confidence levels among future healthcare workers and their trainers: A quantitative study protocol
Authors: Oduwole Elizabeth O. , Mahomed Hassan , Ayele Birhanu T. , Wiysonge Charles S. 
Published: February 2021

ABSTRACTIntroductionThe outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caught the world off guard in the first quarter of the year 2020. To stem the tide of this pandemic, the development, testing, and pre-licensure approval for emergency use of some COVID 19 vaccine candidates were accelerated. This led to raised public concern about their safety and efficacy, compounding the challenges of vaccine hesitancy which was already declared one of the top ten threats to global health in the year 2019. The onus of managing and administering these vaccines to a skeptical populace when they do become available rests mostly on the shoulders of healthcare workers (HCWs). Therefore, the vaccine confidence levels of HCWs becomes critical to the success of vaccination endeavors, especially COVID 19 vaccination. This proposed study aims to estimate the level of vaccine confidence and the intention to receive a COVID 19 vaccine among future HCWs and their trainers at a specific university in Cape Town, South Africa, and to identify any vaccination concerns early for targeted intervention.Methods and analysisAn online survey will be distributed to current staff and students of an academic institution for HCWs. The survey questionnaire will consist of a demographic questions section consisting of six items and a vaccine confidence section comprising six items in Likert scale format.A multinomial logistic regression model will be employed to identify factors associated with vaccine confidence and intention. The strength of association will be assessed using odds ratio and its 95% confidence interval. Statistical significance will be defined at a p-value <0.05.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been obtained for the study from Stellenbosch University (HREC Reference # S19/01/014 (PhD)). The results will be shared with relevant health authorities, presented at conferences, and published in a peer-reviewed journal.ARTICLE SUMMARYStrengths and limitations of this study▸The proposed study will generate baseline knowledge of the vaccine confidence among future healthcare workers and their trainers in its specific context.▸It will contribute to addressing the knowledge gap about the intention to receive a COVID 19 vaccine among health care workers in Africa.▸It will enable the early identification of vaccine concerns of healthcare workers while they are still in training and assist in informing tailored measures to address them.▸A limitation of the study is the possibility of a low response rate which is an inherent challenge of online surveys.
The intersectional role of paternal gender-equitable attitudes and maternal empowerment on child undernutrition in India
Authors: Sharma Anupam Joya , Subramanyam Malavika Ambale 
Published: February 2021

AbstractObjectivesUndernutrition is a major global health concern, especially for the low- and middle-income countries. Despite several programmatic efforts by the government, prevalence of undernutrition among Indian children under five years was about 38% in 2015. While studies have extensively investigated the influence of sociodemographic and maternal related factors on child undernutrition, the paternal factors and their interactions with other causal factors are understudied. To fill this gap, we conducted an intersectional analysis to assess the relationship between maternal, paternal, and wealth related factors with stunting and severe stunting among underfives in India.MethodsWe used a sample of 22,867 mother-father-child triads from the fourth round of India’s National Family Health Survey (2015-16). We fitted survey adjusted logistic regression models and further adjusted our models for several sociodemographic variables. Results: Our statistical models revealed that even among children from poorer households, those with either an empowered mother or a father with gender-equitable attitudes versus those with none such parents, had a lower odds of stunting (AOR: 0.92, CI: 0.84, 1.02) and severe stunting (AOR: 0.87, CI:0.77, 0.98), independent of all covariates.ConclusionWe argue that while women’s autonomy could reduce the risk of child undernutrition, focusing on men’s attitudes towards gender equity also holds promise for reducing undernutrition. Our findings not only underscore how patriarchy is embodied in undernourished children, but also suggest programmatic interventions to address this deep-rooted scourge in India.
Network analysis identifies DAPK3 as a potential biomarker for lymphovascular invasion and prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma
Authors: Chen Huey-Miin , MacDonald Justin A. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAdenocarcinoma of the colon is the fourth most common malignancy worldwide with significant rates of mortality. Hence, the identification of novel molecular biomarkers with prognostic significance is of particular importance for improvements in treatment and patient outcome. Clinical traits and RNA-Seq data of 551 patient samples and 18,205 genes in the UCSC Toil Recompute Compendium of TCGA TARGET and GTEx datasets (restricted to |Primary_site| = colon) were obtained from the Xena platform. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis was completed, and 24 unique modules were assembled to specifically examine the association between gene networks and cancer cell invasion. One module, containing 151 genes, was significantly correlated with lymphatic invasion, a histopathological feature of higher-risk colon cancer. Search tool for the retrieval of interacting genes/proteins (STRING) and gene ontology (GO) analyses identified the module to be enriched in genes related to cytoskeletal organization and apoptotic signaling, suggesting involvement in tumor cell survival and migration along with epithelial-mesenchymal transformation. Of genes that were differentially expressed and significant for overall survival, DAPK3 (death-associated protein kinase 3) was revealed as the pseudo-hub of the module. Although DAPK3 expression was reduced in colon cancer patients, survival analysis revealed that high expression of DAPK3 was significantly correlated with greater lymphovascular invasion and poor overall survival.
Slow phase-locked endogenous modulations support selective attention to sound
Authors: Kachlicka Magdalena , Laffere Aeron , Dick Fred , Tierney Adam 
Published: February 2021

AbstractTo make sense of complex soundscapes, listeners must select and attend to task-relevant streams while ignoring uninformative sounds. One possible neural mechanism underlying this process is alignment of endogenous oscillations with the temporal structure of the target sound stream. Such a mechanism has been suggested to mediate attentional modulation of neural phase-locking to the rhythms of attended sounds. However, such modulations are compatible with an alternate framework, where attention acts as a filter that enhances exogenously-driven neural auditory responses. Here we attempted to adjudicate between theoretical accounts by playing two tone steams varying across condition in tone duration and presentation rate; participants attended to one stream or listened passively. Attentional modulation of the evoked waveform was roughly sinusoidal and scaled with rate, while the passive response did not. This suggests that auditory attentional selection is carried out via phase-locking of slow endogenous neural rhythms.
Systematic measurement of combination drug landscapes to predictin vivotreatment outcomes for tuberculosis
Authors: Larkins-Ford Jonah , Greenstein Talia , Van Nhi , Degefu Yonatan N. , Olson Michaela C. , Sokolov Artem , Aldridge Bree B. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractA lengthy multidrug chemotherapy is required to achieve a durable cure in tuberculosis. Variation inMycobacterium tuberculosisdrug response is created by the differing microenvironments in lesions, which generate different bacterial drug susceptibilities. To better realize the potential of combination therapy to shorten treatment duration, multidrug therapy design should deliberately explore the vast combination space. We face a significant scaling challenge in making systematic drug combination measurements because it is not practical to use animal models for comprehensive drug combination studies, nor are there well-validated high-throughputin vitromodels that predict animal outcomes. We hypothesized that we could both prioritize combination therapies and quantify the predictive power of variousin vitromodels for drug development using a dataset of drug combination dose responses measured in multiplein vitromodels. We systematically measuredM. tuberculosisresponse to all 2- and 3-drug combinations among ten antibiotics in eight conditions that reproduce lesion microenvironments. Applying machine learning to this comprehensive dataset, we developed classifiers predictive of multidrug treatment outcome in a mouse model of disease relapse. We trained classifiers on multiple mouse models and identified ensembles ofin vitromodels that best describein vivotreatment outcomes. Furthermore, we found that combination synergies are less important for predicting outcome than metrics of potency. Here, we map a path forward to rationally prioritize combinations for animal and clinical studies using systematic drug combination measurements with validatedin vitromodels. Our pipeline is generalizable to other difficult-to-treat diseases requiring combination therapies.One Sentence SummarySignatures ofin vitropotency and drug interaction measurements predict combination therapy outcomes in mouse models of tuberculosis.
Site-specific O-glycosylation analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein produced in insect and human cells
Authors: Bagdonaite Ieva , Thompson Andrew J. , Wang Xiaoning , Søgaard Max , Fougeroux Cyrielle , Frank Martin , Diedrich Jolene K. , Yates John R. , Salanti Ali , Vakhrushev Sergey Y. , Paulson James C. , Wandall Hans H. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractEnveloped viruses hijack not only the host translation processes, but also its glycosylation machinery, and to a variable extent cover viral surface proteins with tolerogenic host-like structures. SARS-CoV-2 surface protein S presents as a trimer on the viral surface and is covered by a dense shield of N-linked glycans, and a few O-glycosites have been reported. The location of O-glycans is controlled by a large family of initiating enzymes with variable expression in cells and tissues and hence difficult to predict. Here, we used our well-established O-glycoproteomic workflows to map the precise positions of O-linked glycosylation sites on three different entities of protein S – insect cell or human cell-produced ectodomains, or insect cell derived receptor binding domain (RBD). In total 25 O-glycosites were identified, with similar patterns in the two ectodomains of different cell origin, and a distinct pattern of the monomeric RBD. Strikingly, 16 out of 25 O-glycosites were located within three amino acids from known N-glycosites. However, O-glycosylation was primarily found on peptides that were unoccupied by N-glycans, and otherwise had low overall occupancy. This suggests possible complementary functions of O-glycans in immune shielding and negligible effects of O-glycosylation on subunit vaccine design for SARS-CoV-2.
Development of a highly sensitive bioanalytical assay for the quantification of favipiravir
Authors: Curley Paul , Neary Megan , Arshad Usman , Tatham Lee , Pertinez Henry , Box Helen , Rajoli Rajith KR , Valentijn Anthony , Sharp Joanne , Rannard Steve P , Owen Andrew 
Published: February 2021

AbstractFavipiravir (FAV; T-705) has been approved for use as an anti-influenza therapeutic and has reports against a wide range of viruses (e.g., Ebola virus, rabies and norovirus). Most recently FAV has been reported to demonstrate activity against SARS-CoV-2. Repurposing opportunities have been intensively studied with only limited success to date. If successful, repurposing will allow interventions to become more rapidly available than development of new chemical entities. Pre-clinical and clinical investigations of FAV require robust, reproducible and sensitive bioanalytical assay. Here, a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry assay is presented which was linear from 0.78-200 ng/mL Accuracy and precision ranged between 89% and 110%, 101% and 106%, respectively. The presented assay here has applications in both pre-clinical and clinical research and may be used to facilitate further investigations into the application of FAV against SARS-CoV-2.
De-novointer-regional coactivations of pre-configured local ensembles support memory
Authors: Miyawaki Hiroyuki , Mizuseki Kenji 
Published: February 2021

SummaryNeuronal ensembles in the amygdala, ventral hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex are involved in fear memory; however, how the inter-regional ensemble interactions support memory remains elusive. Using multi-regional large-scale electrophysiology in the afore-mentioned structures of fear-conditioned rats, we demonstrated that local ensembles activated during fear memory acquisition were inter-regionally coactivated during subsequent sleep, which relied on brief bouts of fast network oscillations. During memory retrieval, coactivations reappeared, accompanying fast oscillations. Ensembles contributing to inter-regional coactivation were configured prior to memory acquisition in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex but developed through experience in the hippocampus. Our observation suggests that elements of a given memory are instantly encoded within various brain regions in a pre-configured manner, whereas hippocampal ensembles and the network for inter-regional integration of the distributed information develop in an experience-dependent manner to form a new memory, which is consistent with hippocampal memory index hypothesis.
Transcriptomic profiling of canine atrial fibrillation models after one week of sustained arrhythmia
Authors: Leblanc Francis J.A. , Hassani Faezeh Vahdati , Liesinger Laura , Qi Xiaoyan , Naud Patrice , Birner-Gruenberger Ruth , Lettre Guillaume , Nattel Stanley 
Published: February 2021

ABSTRACTBackgroundAtrial fibrillation (AF), the most common sustained arrhythmia, is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and health-care costs. AF develops over many years and is often related to substantial atrial structural and electrophysiological remodeling. AF may lack symptoms at onset and atrial biopsy samples are generally obtained in subjects with advanced disease, so it is difficult to study earlier-stage pathophysiology in humans.MethodsHere, we characterized comprehensively the transcriptomic (miRNAseq and mRNAseq) changes in the left atria of two robust canine AF-models after one week of electrically-maintained AF, without or with ventricular rate-control via atrioventricular node-ablation/ventricular pacing.ResultsOur RNA-sequencing experiments identified thousands of genes that are differentially expressed, including a majority that have never before been implicated in AF. Gene-set enrichment analyses highlighted known (e.g. extracellular matrix structure organization) but also many novel pathways (e.g. muscle structure development, striated muscle cell differentiation) that may play a role in tissue remodeling and/or cellular transdifferentiation. Of interest, we found dysregulation of a cluster of non-coding RNAs, including many microRNAs but also theMEG3long non-coding RNA orthologue, located in the syntenic region of the imprinted humanDLK1-DIO3locus. Interestingly (in the light of other recent observations), our analysis identified gene-targets of differentially expressed microRNAs at theDLK1-DIO3locus implicating glutamate signaling in AF pathophysiology.ConclusionsOur results capture molecular events that occur at an early stage of disease development using well-characterized animal models, and may therefore inform future studies that aim to further dissect the causes of AF in humans.
Electrocommunication signals indicate motivation to compete during dyadic interactions of an electric fish
Authors: Raab Till , Bayezit Sercan , Erdle Saskia , Benda Jan 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAnimals across species compete for limited resources. While in some species competition behavior is solely based on own abilities, others assess their opponents to facilitate these interactions. Using cues and communication signals, contestants gather information about their opponent, adjust their behavior accordingly, and can thereby avoid high costs of escalating fights. We tracked electrocommunication signals, in particular “rises”, and agonistic behaviors of the gymnotiform electric fishApteronotus leptorhynchusin staged competition experiments. A larger body size relative to the opponent was the sole significant predictor for winners. Sex and the frequency of the continuously emitted electric field were only mildly influencing competition outcome. In males, correlations of body-size and winning were stronger than in females and, especially when losing against females, communication and agonistic interactions were enhanced, hinting towards males being more motivated to compete. Fish that lost competitions emitted the majority of rises in dependence on the competitors’ relative size and sex. The emission of rises was costly since it provoked ritualized biting or chasing behaviors by the other fish. Despite winners being accurately predictable based on rise numbers already after the initial 25 minutes, losers continued to emit rises. The number of rises emitted by losers and the duration of chasing behaviors depended in similar ways on physical attributes of contestants. The detailed evaluation of these correlations hint towardsA. leptorhynchusadjusting their competition behavior according to mutual assessment, where rises could signal a loser’s motivation to continue assessment through ritualized fighting.
Individual variability in structural brain development from late childhood to young adulthood
Authors: Mills Kathryn L. , Siegmund Kimberly D. , Tamnes Christian K. , Ferschmann Lia , Wierenga Lara M. , Bos Marieke G. N. , Luna Beatriz , Herting Megan M. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractA fundamental task in neuroscience is to characterize the brain’s developmental course. While replicable group-level models of structural brain development from childhood to adulthood have recently been identified, we have yet to quantify and understand individual differences in structural brain development. The present study examined individual variability and sex differences in changes in brain structure, as assessed by anatomical MRI, across ages 8.0–26.0 years in 269 participants (149 females) with three time points of data (807 scans), drawn from three longitudinal datasets collected in the Netherlands, Norway, and USA. We further investigated the relationship between overall brain size and developmental changes, as well as how females and males differed in change variability across development. There was considerable individual variability in the magnitude of changes observed for all included brain measures. However, distinct developmental patterns of change were observed for total brain and cortical gray matter, cortical thickness, and white matter surface area, with individuals demonstrating either stability or decreases in early adolescence, then almost universal decreases during mid-to-late adolescence, before returning to more variable patterns in early adulthood. White matter volume demonstrated a similar developmental pattern of variability, but with individuals shifting from increases to a majority stabilizing during mid-to-late adolescence. We observed sex differences in these patterns, and also an association between an individual’s brain size and their overall rate of change. The present study provides new insight as to the amount of individual variance in changes in structural morphometrics from late childhood to early adulthood in order to obtain a more nuanced picture of brain development. The observed individual- and sex-differences in brain changes also highlight the importance of further studying individual variation in developmental patterns in healthy, at-risk, and clinical populations.
A protein-based biosensor for detecting calcium by magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Ozbakir Harun F. , Miller Austin D.C. , Fishman Kiara B. , Martins André F. , Kippin Tod E. , Mukherjee Arnab 
Published: February 2021

ABSTRACTCalcium-responsive contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offer an attractive approach to noninvasively image neural activity with wide coverage in deep brain regions. However, current MRI sensors for calcium are based on synthetic architectures fundamentally incompatible with genetic technologies forin vivodelivery and targeting. Here, we present a protein-based MRI sensor for calcium, derived from a calcium-binding protein known as calprotectin. Calcium-binding causes calprotectin to sequester manganese. We demonstrate that this mechanism allows calprotectin to alter T1and T2weighted contrast in response to biologically relevant calcium concentrations. Corresponding changes in relaxation times are comparable to synthetic calcium sensors and exceed those of previous protein-based MRI sensors for other neurochemical targets. The biological applicability of calprotectin was established by detecting calcium in lysates prepared from a neuronal cell line. Calprotectin thus represents a promising path towards imaging neural activity by combining the benefits of MRI and protein sensors.