bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Genome-wide association studies uncover candidate genes for Zinc, Iron, and Selenium concentration in barley grains
Authors: Thabet Samar G. , Alomari Dalia Z. , Alqudah Ahmad M. 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most important staple food crops worldwide. Mineral concentrations in cereals are important for human health; hence improving Zn, Fe and Se accumulation in grains is an imperative need. This study was designed to understand the genetic architecture of Zn, Fe and Se grain concentrations in barley grains.
Results
We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for grain Zn, Fe and Se concentrations in 216 spring barley accessions, using field data from 2 years. All the accessions were genotyped with a high-density 9K SNPs array from IlluminaTM. The mean values of estimated BLUEs for Zn, Fe and Se were 38.37, 35.56 and 39.45 µg g− 1 dry weight, respectively. High heritability was equaled 75.65% for Fe across the two environments, while moderate heritability values were detected for Zn and Se. Notably, wide genetic variation was found among genotypes for Zn, Fe and Se concentrations. A total of 222 SNPs associated with Zn, Fe and Se were detected on all chromosomes, where the highest significant associations is linked to Fe accumulation. Three genomic regions include newly identified putative candidate genes, which are related to Zn uptake and transport or represent Homeobox leucine zipper protein. Additionally, several significant associations were physically located inside or near genes which are potentially involved in Zn and Fe homoeostasis of which two candidate genes at 5H (502,454,312–502,455,148 bp) and 7H (205,216,091–205,221,133 bp) were found to be involved in Basic helix loop helix (BHLH) family transcription factor and Squamosa promoter binding-like protein, respectively.
Conclusions
These findings provide new insights into the genetic basis of Zn, Fe and Se concentration in barley grains that in turn may help plant breeders to select high Zn, Fe and Se-containing genotypes to improve human consumption and grain quality.
A cross-sectional study for risk factor model predictive for developing ischemic stroke: a clinical pharmacist’s approach
Authors: Sadeq Adel , Elnour Asim Ahmed , Mazrouei Nadia Al , Baraka Mohamed 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
BackgroundThere is a paucity of studies in ischemic stroke in our region.Aim The aim of the current study was to delineate the potentially risk factors for the development of ischemic stroke. MethodsWe have conducted a cross-sectional hospital-based study that has enrolled 210 subjects. The subjects have had presented to the emergency department in a tertiary hospital at the United Arab Emirates. Subjects were diagnosed with ischemic stroke within 24 hours of presentation. Outcome measureThe main outcome measure was the development of ischemic stroke during indexed hospital visit.ResultsThe mean age was 47.5 ±3.2 with higher preponderance of males over females (60.9%) and 48.1% were ≥65 years. The final logistic regression model for the development of ischemic stroke contains seven variables. In descending order the seven predictive risk factors for the development of ischemic stroke were: hypertension (OR 6.1, CI 2.4-9.5; P =0.029), coronary artery disease (OR 4.2, 3.7-9.1; P =0.038), low physical activity (OR 4.2, CI 2.1-9.1; P =0.035), history of previous stroke (OR 4.1, 1.4-3.4; P =0.033), atrial fibrillation (OR 3.2, CI 2.6-8.2; P =0.017), family history of stroke (OR 3.1, 1.3-6.9; P =0.042) and diabetes mellitus (OR 2.7, CI 1.25-6.1; P =0.035). The specificity of the model was 54.2%, the sensitivity was 89.7%, and the overall accuracy was 77.3%.ConclusionIt is prudent to control the modifiable risk factors for the development of stroke such as hypertension, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease and low physical activity.
Single-Pixel Polarimetric Direction of Arrival Estimation Using Programmable Coding Metasurface Aperture
Authors: Hoang The Viet , Fusco Vincent , Abbasi Muhammad Ali Babar , Yurduseven Okan 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
This paper presents a single-pixel polarimetric compressive sensing (CS)-based direction of arrival (DoA) estimation technique using a cavity backed programmable coding metasurface aperture. The single-pixel DoA retrieval technique relies on a dynamically modulated waveform diversity, enabling spatially incoherent radiation masks to encode the incoming plane waves on the radar aperture using a single channel. The polarimetric nature of the wave-chaotic coding metasurface ensures that DOA estimation considers the sensitivity of the structure to the polarization state of the incoming waves. We show that the polarimetric single-pixel DoA concept can be enabled by encoding the polarization information of the incoming waves at the physical layer level within the antenna. A dynamically reconfigurable wave-chaotic metasurface, that possesses a structured sparsity of dual-polarized coded metamaterial elements, is proposed for the proof of concept. It is also shown that by encoding and compressing the source generated far-field incident waves into a single channel using spatio-temporal incoherent measurement modes generated by the coded programmable metasurface, we can retrieve high fidelity polarimetric DoA information from compressed measurements.
Valproic acid Promotes the in Vitro Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Into Spermatogonial Stem Cell-like Cells
Authors: Wang Xiaotong , Qu Mengyuan , Li Zili , Long Yuting , Hong Kai , Li Honggang 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background: Studying human germ cell development and male infertility is heavily relied on mouse models. In vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into spermatogonial stem cell-like cells (SSCLCs) can be used as a model to study human germ cells and infertility. The current study aimed to develop the SSCLC induction protocol and assess the effects of the developed protocol on the SSCLC induction. Methods: We examined the effects of valproic acid (VPA), vitamin C (VC) and the combination of VPA and VC on the SSCLC induction efficiency and determined the expression of spermatogonial genes of differentiated cells. The percentage of haploid cells and cells expressed meiotic and spermatid genes were also detected. RNA-sequencing analysis was performed to compare the transcriptome between cells at 0 and 12 days of differentiation and differently expressed genes were confirmed by RT-qPCR. We further evaluated the alteration in histone marks (H3K9ac and H3K27me3) at 12 days of differentiation. Moreover, the SSCLC induction efficiency of two hiPSC lines of non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients was assessed using different induction protocols.Results: The combination of low concentrations of VPA and VC in the induction medium was most effective to induce SSCLCs expressing several spermatogonial genes from human pluripotent stem cells at 12 days of differentiation. High concentration of VPA was more effective to induce cells expressing meiotic genes and haploid cells. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that the induction of SSCLC involved the upregulated genes in Wnt signaling pathway, and cells at 12 days of differentiation showed increased H3K9ac and decreased H3K27me3. Additionally, two hiPSC lines of NOA patients showed low SSCLC induction efficiency and the expression of genes in Wnt signaling pathway. Conclusions: VPA robustly promotes the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cell lines into SSCLCs, which involved the upregulated genes in Wnt signaling pathway and epigenetic changes. hiPSCs from NOA patients showed decreased SSCLC induction efficiency and Wnt signaling pathway gene expression, suggesting that inactivation of Wnt signaling pathway might be a cause of SSC depletion in azoospermia testes. Our developed SSCLC induction protocol provides a reliable tool and model to study human germ cell development and male infertility.
Chemo-photothermal Therapy Promoting Immunogenic Cell Death Based on NIR-II Light-responsive Drug Delivery Systems
Authors: Hang Lifeng , Li Wuming , Men Dandan , Wen Hua , Tang Xinfeng , Zhou Chunze , Ma Xiaofen , Jiang Guihua 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background Several recent studies have well demonstrated that the chemotherapy or near-infrared-II (NIR-II) photothermal therapy (PTT) can induce immunogenic cell death (ICD). However, single treatment based on the independent chemotherapy or PTT to induce ICD may require high dose of drug, high laser power, or high temperature, which limits their clinical application. We hypothesize that combination of chemotherapy and NIR-II PTT possesses great promise to overcome respective limitations. This manuscript describes the development of polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified hollow CuxS nanoparticles (NPs) for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy to effectively promote ICD.Results Hollow structure CuxS-PEG NPs were prepared under mild condition by using Cu2O NPs as sacrificial templates. CuxS loaded with doxorubicin (Dox) as NDDSs were characterized for hydrate particle size and surface charge. The morphology, photothermal effect, drug loading/releasing abilities, synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy, and ICD from synergistic therapy of CuxS-PEG NPs have been investigated. The in vitro outcomes of ICD and chemo-photothermal therapy were assessed in EMT-6 cells. In vivo therapeutic studies and immunoreaction were performed in EMT-6 bearing mice where therapeutic outcomes were assessed by tumor volume, immunohistochemical staining, and expression of CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. The CuxS-PEG NPs with hollow structure show high drug loading capacity (~255 μg Dox per mg of CuxS NPs) and stimuli-responsive drug release triggered by NIR-II laser irradiation. The chemo-photothermal strategy more effectively induces ICD than that of the single treatment, accompanying with the release of adenosine triphosphate, pre-apoptotic calreticulin, and high mobility group box-1. Finally, the synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy based on the Dox/CuxS-PEG NPs promotes CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocytes infiltration into tumors and achieves ~98.5% tumor elimination.Conclusion Therefore, our study emphasizes that the great potentials of CuxS-PEG NPs can be used as NIR-II light-responsive NDDSs for the applications of biomedicine and immunotherapy.
Retrospective Analysis of Acute Adverse Reactions of 4 Iodine Contrast Agents
Authors: Zhu Chuanming , Zheng Xiaofeng , Wang Xiaohui , Li Zhen , Li Hao , Wang Jing 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Objective Incidence of acute adverse reactions (ADR) of 4 kinds of iodine contrast agents were retrospective analyzed in 10532 cases of CT enhanced scan and 6130 cases of arteriography in our hospital, and to investigate the safety of these 4 types agents in clinical application.Materials and Methods The occurrence of ADR to Iohexol, Ioversol, Iopromide and Iodixanol (expressed as I1, I2, I3 and I4) were recorded in detail from August,2007. 36 months' data were analyzed by Fisher's `Exact Test. The incidences of ADR were calculated, and medicine information and features of adverse reactions induced by these 4 types agents are analyzed. Results: CT enhanced scan and arteriography was performed in 16662 cases, including body enhanced scan, CTA ，CTU and arteriography. Acute adverse reactions occurred in 25 cases, and the incidence of ADR was 0.15%. Among them, 18 cases had mild ADR (0.10%), 7 cases had moderate ADR (0.04%) and 0 cases had severe acute adverse reaction. There was a difference in the incidence of acute adverse reaction between the 4 contrast agents used (X2=5.854, p=0.022). I4 had the highest incidence of ADR, it was 0.32%, and the lowest incidence of ADR occurred in I2, it`s 0.08%. The incidence of ADR with I1 and I3 was 0.14% and 0.18%, respectively. The incidence of ADR in intravenous administration was significantly higher than that in arterial administration（X2=4.655，p=0.036）. Conclusion In this study, the incidence of acute adverse reaction to Iodixanol was the highest, and Ioversol was the lowest. The incidence of ADR in arteriography was significantly lower than that in patients with intravenous administration enhanced CT.
An Improved Algorithm to Predict the Pose-dependent Cutting Stability in Robot Milling
Authors: Wu Long , Wang Guofeng , Liu Haitao , Huang Tian 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Chattering is one of the most important factors affecting productivity of robot machining. This paper investigates the pose-dependent cutting stability of a 5-DOF hybrid robot. By merging the complete robot structural dynamics with the cutting force at TCP, an effective approach for stability analysis of the robot milling process is proposed using the full-discretization technique. The proposed method enables the computational efficiency to be significantly improved because the system transition matrix can be simply generated using a sparse matrix multiplication. Both simulation and experimental results on a full size prototype machine show that the stability lobes are highly pose-dependent and primarily dominated by the lower-order structural modes.
Role of Fatty Liver in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients' Disease Severity and Hospitalization Length: a Case-control Study
Authors: Ziaee Arash , Azarkar Ghodsiyeh , ziaee masood 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSEFatty liver is one of the most common pre-existing illnesses; it can cause liver injury, leading to further complications for coronavirus disease 2019 patients. Our goal is to determine if pre-existing fatty liver is more prevalent in hospitalized COVID-19 patients compared to patients administrated before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and determine the severity of the disease among fatty liver patients.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHThis retro-perspective study involves a case and a control group consisting of 1162 patients; the case group contains hospitalized COVID-19 patients with positive PCR tests and available CT-scan; the control group contains patients with available imaging data previous to the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients’ data such as liver Hounsfield unit, days of hospitalization, number of affected lobes, and total lungs involvement score were extracted and compared between the patients.RESULTSThe findings indicate that 37.9% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients have a pre-existing fatty liver, which is significantly higher (P < 0.001) than the prevalence of pre-existing fatty liver in control group patients (9.02%). In comparison to hospitalized non-fatty liver COVID-19 patients, data from hospitalized COVID-19 patients with fatty liver indicates longer hospitalization length (6.81 ± 4.76 P = 0.02), a higher total lungs involvement score (8.73 ± 5.28 P < 0.001), and an increased number of affected lobes (4.42 ± 1.2 P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONThe statistical analysis shows fatty liver is much more prevalent among COVID-19 against non-COVID-19 patients, and they develop more severe disease and have to be hospitalized for more extended periods.
Impact of Reentrant Ferroelectric-tetragonal Phase on the Structure, Spectral, Electric, Magnetic and Magnetoelectric Properties of Gd3+-Fe3+ Co-substituted BaTiO3 Ceramics
Authors: P Esther Rubavathi , D Dhayanidhi , N.V. Giridharan , M.T. Rahul , Kalarikkal Nandakumar , B Sundarakannan 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
The tetragonal reentrant phase conversion (P4mm) is obtained from the phase coexistence of the tetragonal and the non-polar hexagonal phases (P63/mmc) as a structural effect due to Gd substitution in Ba1-yGdyTi1-xFexO3(x=0.05; y=0.005, 0.01 and 0.015) ceramics. The diffraction spots in the SAED patterns and the d-spacing of the HREM lattice fringes mainly evidence the coexistence of the structural phase. Rietveld refinement offers the bond length and the other structural data. Ti presents itself as Ti3+ and Ti4+ whereas Fe presents as Fe2+ and Fe3+, revealed by the XPS spectra. The octahedra partly change to pentahedral due to the creation of the charge compensating the oxygen vacancies and therefore the conversion from tetragonal to hexagonal phase occurs. The EPR feature corresponding to Ti3+ decreases progressively as the Gd content increases, which implies a decrease of the oxygen vacancy concentration. This facilitates reentrant tetragonal phase conversion. The observed ferromagnetic nature originated from the Fe3+-O2--Fe3+ super-exchange and Gd3+-O2--Gd3+ interactions. The artificial single tetragonal phase magnetoelectric Ba0.985Gd0.015Ti0.95Fe0.05O3 material has the excellent magnetoelectric coupling coefficient of 3.74mV/cm.Oe.
Analysis of Factors Affecting Academic Career: Clustering of University Students with Dyslexia in Italy
Authors: Ilaria Benedetti , Marcella Barone , Valentina Panetti , Juri Taborri , Tony Urbani , Andrea Zingoni , Calabrò Giuseppe 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
This study was designed to explore learning experiences of university students with dyslexia and factors that could contribute to their success in the university career. Indeed, whereas great efforts have been made to diagnose dyslexia and to mitigate its effects at primary and secondary school, little has been done at the university level in particular in the italian context. In this paper we used bivariate association tests and cluster analysis, in order to identify the most suitable compensatory tools and support strategies that can facilitate the students’ performance. Data were obtained by voluntary participation of university students with dyslexia to an ad-hoc implemented questionnaire Results of our study reveal the importance of an earlier diagnosis and treatment for dyslexia with specific programs, in particular the support from association of dyslexic students has been shown as the most important one. Moreover, from the cluster analysis we identified six groups of students by defining specific support tools and learning strategies for each group. The findings have to be considered as the starting point for the implementation of artificial intelligence-based platform. In fact, the creation of dyslexia profiles can allow us to identify student-specific tools for supporting the academic career of dyslexic students.
The Pretreatment Plasma Prognosis Biomarkers for Advanced NSCLC Patients Treated by Bevacizumab Plus Chemotherapy and the Correlation Between Them
Authors: Liu Jingru , Gao Zhenhua , Wang Shasha , Wu Min , Li Jianing , Meng Xue , Liu Jie 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background Bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy is still one of the first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Prior studies have devoted to exploring the possible pretreatment hematological biomarkers for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In this study, we provide valid predictive biomarkers for NSCLC patients before treatment, and reveal the correlation of these serum biomarkers. Methods Clinical characteristics and hematological indicators concentrations in NSCLC patients were collected prospectively before Bevacizumab and chemotherapy from December 2018 and December 2019. Patients were divided into high group and low group according to the means and medians. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was performed to univariate and multivariate analyze. The Pearson Correlation Coefficients were used to identify the correlation between hematological biomarkers.Results 28 patients were enrolled in the study. The average of IL-8 was 7.32 pg/ml, and the average of VEGF-A was 65.41 pg/ml. After 12 months median follow-up time, IL-8 and VEGF-A was independent prognostic factors of OS, and VEGF-A was independent predictive factors of PFS. The death risk in high IL-8 (>7.32 pg/ml) group was 6.361 times than that in low IL-8 (≤7.32 pg/ml) group (HR=6.361, 95%CI: 2.034-19.890, p=0.001). Meanwhile, the death risk in high VEGF-A (>65.41 pg/ml) group was 9.686 times than that in low VEGF-A (≤65.41 pg/ml) group (HR=9.686, 95%CI: 1.906-49.222, p=0.006), and the disease progression or death risk in high VEGF-A group was 5.627 times than that in low VEGF-A group (HR=5.627, 95%CI: 1.322-23.951, p=0.019). There was a highly linear correlation between CTLA-4 with PD-1 and PD-L1 in peritoneal blood samples before treatment. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was 0.984 (p=0.000) and 0.946 (p=0.000). PD-1 (y=-13.91+0.06*x, R2=0.968) and PD-L1 (y=-29.42+0.2*x, R2=0.895) vary with CTLA-4. Besides, VEGF-D, FGF-1 and FGF-2 also has highly linear correlation with each other.Conclusions IL-8 is the independently prognosis biomarker for OS of NSCLC patients treated with bevacizumab plus chemotherapy. VEGF-A is an independently prognosis biomarker of OS and PFS. There is a highly linear correlation between CTLA-4, PD-1 and PD-L1 in baseline blood. VEGF-D, FGF-1 and FGF-2 also has highly linear correlation with each other.
Post-fire Soil Erosion Risk in Portugal– Prediction, Validation and Uncertainties of a Nation-wide MMF Application
Authors: Parente J. , Girona-García A. , Lopes A.R. , Keizer J.J. , Vieira D.C.S. 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Wildfires are a recurrent and increasing threat in mainland Portugal, where over 4,5 million hectares of forests and scrublands have burned over the last 38 years. These fire-affected landscapes have suffered an intensification of soil erosion processes, which can negatively affect soil carbon storage, reduce fertility, forest productivity, and become a source of pollutants. The main objective of the present study is to produce a post-fire soil erosion risk map for the forest and scrubland areas in Mainland Portugal and assess its reliability. To this end, the semi-empirical Morgan–Morgan–Finney erosion model was used to assess the potential post-fire soil erosion according to distinct scenarios (burn severity and climate), and the accuracy of the predictions was verified by an uncertainty analysis and validated against independent field datasets. The proposed approach successfully allowed mapping post-fire soil erosion in Portugal and identified the areas with higher post-fire erosion risk for past and future climate extremes. The outcomes of this study comprise a set of tools to help forest managers in their decision-making for post-fire emergency stabilization, ensuring the adequate selection and implementation of mitigation measures to minimize the economic and environmental losses caused by fire-enhanced soil erosion.
Identification of QTLs for Heat Tolerance at Flowering Stage Using Chromosome Segment Substitution Lines in Rice
Authors: Nguyen Thanhliem , Shen Shijie , Cheng Mengyao , Qingquan Chen 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
High temperature is a major stress in rice production. Although considerable progresses have been made on investigating heat tolerance (HT) in rice, the genetic basis of HT at heading stage remains largely unknown. In this study, a novel set of chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) consisting of 113 lines derived from a heat-resistant indica variety N22 and a heat-sensitive indica variety 9311 was developed and used for the analysis of genetic basis of HT. The heat sensitivity index (HSI) calculated based on seed-setting rates under natural and high temperature environments was used to evaluate the influence of HT at rice heading stage. Totally, five QTLs associated with HT were detected based on seed-setting rate (SSR) evaluation; these were named qSSR6-1, qSSR7-1, qSSR8-1, qSSR9-1 and qSSR11-1 located on chromosomes 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11, respectively. Heat-tolerant alleles of the QTLs were all derived from N22. Among them, qSSR9-1 overlapped with QTLs identified previously, while the remaining QTLs were found novel. Especially, qSSR7-1 explained a high phenotypic variation of 26.35% with a LOD score of 10.75, thus deserved to be further validated. These findings will increase our understanding of the genetic mechanism underlying HT and facilitate the breeding of heat-tolerant rice varieties.