bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Green Tea Infusion Ameliorates Histological Damages in Testis and Epididymis of Diabetic Rats
Authors: Guimarães-Ervilha Luiz Otávio , Ladeira Luiz Carlos Maia , Carvalho Renner Philipe Rodrigues , Bento Isabela Pereira da Silva , Bastos Daniel Silva Sena , Souza Ana Cláudia Ferreira , Santos Eliziária Cardoso , de Oliveira Leandro Licursi , Maldonado Izabel Regina dos Santos Costa , Machado-Neves Mariana 
Published: June 2021

AbstractGreen tea is a popular drink used for therapeutic purposes to mitigate the consequences of diabetes. In this study, we aimed at evaluating the potential of green tea infusion to ameliorate structural and enzymatic damages caused by hyperglycemia in the testis and epididymis of Wistar rats. For that, nondiabetic and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (negative control and diabetes control, respectively) received 0.6 mL of water by gavage. Another set of diabetic animals received 100 mg/kg of green tea infusion diluted in 0.6 mL of water/gavage (diabetes + green tea) daily. After 42 days of treatment, the testes and epididymides were removed and processed for histopathological analysis, micromineral determination, and enzymatic assays. The results showed that treatment with green tea infusion preserved the testicular and epididymal histoarchitecture, improving the seminiferous epithelium and the sperm production previously affected by diabetes. Treatment with green tea reduced tissue damages caused by this metabolic condition. Given the severity of hyperglycemia, there was no efficacy of the green tea infusion in maintaining the testosterone levels, antioxidant enzyme activity, and microminerals content. Thus, our findings indicate a protective effect of this infusion on histological parameters, with possible use as a complementary therapy for diabetes.
Returning to “Asia”: Japanese embraces of Sino–Indian friendship, 1953–1962
Authors: Nasser Yasser Ali 
Published: June 2021

AbstractAs the Cold War prompted anxieties throughout Asia about the status of postcolonial state-building and decolonization, the possibility of friendship and cooperation between China and India despite their differing political and economic systems inspired hope and political repercussions far beyond their borders. This paper reveals how Japanese commenters, in their analysis of Sino–Indian friendship and both countries' respective political trajectories, saw the two countries as providing a rubric for a new type of politics. Utilizing an array of published, unpublished, and archival sources, I will study how diverse individuals, from the historian Uehara Senroku to burakumin activist Jiichirō Matsumoto, believed that Sino–Indian friendship, unlike the failed project of Japanese imperialism, could unite “Asia” in its struggle against imperialism amid the Cold War and accelerating decolonization. In following this model, they also believed that Japan could escape American hegemony and become “Asian” again. Japanese analyses of “China–India” as offering an “Asian” recipe for overcoming imperialism and navigating bloc politics help showcase how ideas of Asia continued to serve as a space for contemplating political possibilities during the early Cold War, transforming Japan from the region's former tutor to its pupil.
Understanding producers' perspectives on rotational grazing benefits across US Great Plains
Authors: Wang Tong , Jin Hailong , Kreuter Urs , Teague Richard 
Published: June 2021

AbstractExperimental findings on rotational grazing (RG) trials have generally differed from producer observations of RG outcomes on commercial scale ranches. Factors such as small plot size, short duration trials and relatively rigid grazing management that lacks responsiveness to the dynamic and complex social-ecological systems in grazing trials could all contribute to this disparity in outcomes. These differences call for a better understanding of producer perceptions of RG benefits. To fill this knowledge gap, we surveyed 4500 producers from the Northern and Southern Great Plains of the USA. Among the 875 respondents, 40.5% reported that they used continuous grazing (CG), 52.7% implemented RG management in an extensive manner, while 6.8% adopted management intensive grazing. Compared with CG users, adopters of RG in its extensive and intensive form reported an average annual increase of grazing season by 7.6 and 39.3 days, respectively. When controlling for producer demographics, ranch management goals and other rancher characteristics, we found soil and climate heterogeneity significantly affected the perceived relative benefits of RGvsCG strategies. Therefore, instead of focusing on whether RG outperforms CGper se, future research could focus on comparison of RG benefits under different management intensity levels and identifying soil and climate conditions where RG benefits are more noticeable.
Dissolved Organic Matter Dynamics in Reference and Calcium Silicate‐Treated Watersheds at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, NH, USA
Authors: LoRusso N. A. , Bailey S. W. , Zeng T. , Montesdeoca M. , Driscoll C. T. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractDissolved organic matter (DOM) can serve as an indicator of watershed carbon cycling, and links terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems. The extent DOM is microbially processed before it enters aquatic ecosystems is expected to change with soil depth and landscape position, and as some research suggests, in response to recovery from chronic acidification. Here we examined DOM within freely flowing soil pore water and stream water collected from reference and calcium silicate‐treated watersheds at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) concentrations as well as, absorption and fluorescence properties were analyzed to assess patterns in DOM quantity and quality. Parallel factor analysis was used to identify three predominant fluorescing DOM components (C1‐3). All three components were terrestrial in origin, however C3 exhibited spectral properties previously linked to the microbial processing of humic material. Distinct horizonal patterns emerged between genetic soil horizons. DOC quantity decreased with soil depth, so too did, the plant derived lignin‐like fraction (C2), while the C3 fraction increased. High‐elevation coniferous zones with shallow bedrock contributed to higher DOC concentrations in soil and stream water, while high and low‐elevation mineral soils exhibited greater C3 fractions and fluorescence indicators of microbially processed DOM. This pattern suggests these mineral soils are important organic carbon sinks, due to greater rates of microbial DOM processing. DOC in forest floor solutions, C3 fractions, and indicators of smaller molecular size (E2:E3) were all higher in the calcium silicate‐treated watershed, suggesting greater microbial processing of DOM.
Overtopping‐Induced Failure of Non–Cohesive Homogeneous Fluvial Dikes: Effect of Dike Geometry on Breach Discharge and Widening
Authors: Schmitz V. , Erpicum S. , El kadi Abderrezzak K. , Rifai I. , Archambeau P. , Pirotton M. , Dewals B. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractLaboratory experiments were conducted to assess the influence of dike geometry on the breaching of non‐cohesive homogeneous fluvial dikes. Both the channel‐side and floodplain‐side dike slopes and the crest length were varied systematically. The time‐evolution of the breach discharge and breach width was monitored. Dikes having a larger volume per unit width lead to a more gradual increase in breach discharge and in breach width during the first stage of breach expansion (i.e., phase of rapid erosion). In contrast, the later stage of gradual breach widening is less influenced by the dike geometry. The breach hydrographs were observed to follow three distinct patterns, which are explained based on the relative magnitude of two characteristic time scales and of a normalized form of the dike unit volume.
Enduring glucocorticoid-evoked exacerbation of synaptic plasticity disruption in male rats modelling early Alzheimer’s disease amyloidosis
Authors: Qi Yingjie , Klyubin Igor , Ondrejcak Tomas , Hu Neng-Wei , Rowan Michael J. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractSynaptic dysfunction is a likely proximate cause of subtle cognitive impairment in early Alzheimer’s disease. Soluble oligomers are the most synaptotoxic forms of amyloid ß-protein (Aß) and mediate synaptic plasticity disruption in Alzheimer’s disease amyloidosis. Because the presence and extent of cortisol excess in prodromal Alzheimer’s disease predicts the onset of cognitive symptoms we hypothesised that corticosteroids would exacerbate the inhibition of hippocampal synaptic long-term potentiation in a rat model of Alzheimer’s disease amyloidosis. In a longitudinal experimental design using freely behaving pre-plaque McGill-R-Thy1-APP male rats, three injections of corticosterone or the glucocorticoid methylprednisolone profoundly disrupted long-term potentiation induced by strong conditioning stimulation for at least 2 months. The same treatments had a transient or no detectible detrimental effect on synaptic plasticity in wild-type littermates. Moreover, corticosterone-mediated cognitive dysfunction, as assessed in a novel object recognition test, was more persistent in the transgenic animals. Evidence for the involvement of pro-inflammatory mechanisms was provided by the ability of the selective the NOD-leucine rich repeat and pyrin containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome inhibitor Mcc950 to reverse the synaptic plasticity deficit in corticosterone-treated transgenic animals. The marked prolongation of the synaptic plasticity disrupting effects of brief corticosteroid excess substantiates a causal role for hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation in early Alzheimer’s disease.
YIV-906 potentiated anti-PD1 action against hepatocellular carcinoma by enhancing adaptive and innate immunity in the tumor microenvironment
Authors: Yang Xiaochen , Lam Wing , Jiang Zaoli , Guan Fulan , Han Xue , Hu Rong , Cai Wei , Cheng William , Liu Shwu-Huey , Cheng Peikwen , Cai Yuping , Rattray Nicholas J. W. , Johnson Caroline H. , Chen Lieping , Cheng Yung-Chi 
Published: June 2021

AbstractYIV-906 (PHY906) is a standardized botanical cancer drug candidate developed with a systems biology approach—inspired by a traditional Chinese herbal formulation, historically used to treat gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. In combination with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, preclinical and clinical results suggest that YIV-906 has the potential to prolong survival and improve quality of life for cancer patients. Here, we demonstrated that YIV-906 plus anti-PD1 could eradicate all Hepa 1–6 tumors in all tumor bearing mice. YIV-906 was found to have multiple mechanisms of action to enhance adaptive and innate immunity. In combination, YIV-906 reduced PD1 or counteracted PD-L1 induction caused by anti-PD1 which led to higher T-cell activation gene expression of the tumor. In addition, YIV-906 could reduce immune tolerance by modulating IDO activity and reducing monocytic MDSC of the tumor. The combination of anti-PD1 and YIV-906 generated acute inflammation in the tumor microenvironment with more M1-like macrophages. YIV-906 could potentiate the action of interferon gamma (IFNg) to increase M1-like macrophage polarization while inhibiting IL4 action to decrease M2 macrophage polarization. Flavonoids from YIV-906 were responsible for modulating IDO activity and potentiating IFNg action in M1-like macrophage polarization. In conclusion, YIV-906 could act as an immunomodulator and enhance the innate and adaptive immune response and potentiate anti-tumor activity for immunotherapies to treat cancer.
Approximation of the Cox survival regression model by MCMC Bayesian Hierarchical Poisson modelling of factors associated with childhood mortality in Nigeria
Authors: Fagbamigbe A. F. , Salawu M. M. , Abatan S. M. , Ajumobi O. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe need for more pragmatic approaches to achieve sustainable development goal on childhood mortality reduction necessitated this study. Simultaneous study of the influence of where the children live and the censoring nature of children survival data is scarce. We identified the compositional and contextual factors associated with under-five (U5M) and infant (INM) mortality in Nigeria from 5 MCMC Bayesian hierarchical Poisson regression models as approximations of the Cox survival regression model. The 2018 DHS data of 33,924 under-five children were used. Life table techniques and the Mlwin 3.05 module for the analysis of hierarchical data were implemented in Stata Version 16. The overall INM rate (INMR) was 70 per 1000 livebirths compared with U5M rate (U5MR) of 131 per 1000 livebirth. The INMR was lowest in Ogun (17 per 1000 live births) and highest in Kaduna (106), Gombe (112) and Kebbi (116) while the lowest U5MR was found in Ogun (29) and highest in Jigawa (212) and Kebbi (248). The risks of INM and U5M were highest among children with none/low maternal education, multiple births, low birthweight, short birth interval, poorer households, when spouses decide on healthcare access, having a big problem getting to a healthcare facility, high community illiteracy level, and from states with a high proportion of the rural population in the fully adjusted model. Compared with the null model, 81% vs 13% and 59% vs 35% of the total variation in INM and U5M were explained by the state- and neighbourhood-level factors respectively. Infant- and under-five mortality in Nigeria is influenced by compositional and contextual factors. The Bayesian hierarchical Poisson regression model used in estimating the factors associated with childhood deaths in Nigeria fitted the survival data.
Neu1 deficiency induces abnormal emotional behavior in zebrafish
Authors: Ikeda Asami , Komamizu Mayu , Hayashi Akito , Yamasaki Chiharu , Okada Keiji , Kawabe Momoko , Komatsu Masaharu , Shiozaki Kazuhiro 
Published: June 2021

AbstractNEU1 sialidase hydrolyzes sialic acids from glycoconjugates in lysosomes. Deficiency of NEU1 causes sialidosis with symptoms including facial dysmorphism, bone dysplasia, and neurodegeneration. However, the effects of NEU1 deficiency on emotional activity have not been explored. Here, we conducted the behavioral analysis using Neu1-knockout zebrafish (Neu1-KO). Neu1-KO zebrafish showed normal swimming similar to wild-type zebrafish (WT), whereas shoaling was decreased and accompanied by greater inter-fish distance than WT zebrafish. The aggression test showed a reduced aggressive behavior in Neu1-KO zebrafish than in WT zebrafish. In the mirror and 3-chambers test, Neu1-KO zebrafish showed more interest toward the opponent in the mirror and multiple unfamiliar zebrafish, respectively, than WT zebrafish. Furthermore, Neu1-KO zebrafish also showed increased interaction with different fish species, whereas WT zebrafish avoided them. In the black–white preference test, Neu1-KO zebrafish showed an abnormal preference for the white region, whereas WT zebrafish preferred the black region. Neu1-KO zebrafish were characterized by a downregulation of the anxiety-related genes of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and upregulation of lamp1a, an activator of lysosomal exocytosis, with their brains accumulating several sphingoglycolipids. This study revealed that Neu1 deficiency caused abnormal emotional behavior in zebrafish, possibly due to neuronal dysfunction induced by lysosomal exocytosis.
Development of a bioavailable Hg(II) sensing system based on MerR-regulated visual pigment biosynthesis
Authors: Guo Yan , Hui Chang-ye , Liu Lisa , Chen Min-peng , Huang Hong-ying 
Published: June 2021

AbstractEngineered microorganisms have proven to be a highly effective and robust tool to specifically detect heavy metals in the environment. In this study, a highly specific pigment-based whole-cell biosensor has been investigated for the detection of bioavailable Hg(II) based on an artificial heavy metal resistance operon. The basic working principle of biosensors is based on the violacein biosynthesis under the control of mercury resistance (mer) promoter and mercury resistance regulator (MerR). Engineered biosensor cells have been demonstrated to selectively respond to Hg(II), and the specific response was not influenced by interfering metal ions. The response of violacein could be recognized by the naked eye, and the time required for the maximum response of violacein (5 h) was less than that of enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP) (8 h) in the single-signal output constructs. The response of violacein was almost unaffected by the eGFP in a double-promoter controlled dual-signals output construct. However, the response strength of eGFP was significantly decreased in this genetic construct. Exponentially growing violacein-based biosensor detected concentrations as low as 0.39 μM Hg(II) in a colorimetric method, and the linear relationship was observed in the concentration range of 0.78–12.5 μM. Non-growing biosensor cells responded to concentrations as low as 0.006 μM Hg(II) in a colorimetric method and in a Hg(II) containing plate sensitive assay, and the linear relationship was demonstrated in a very narrow concentration range. The developed biosensor was finally validated for the detection of spiked bioavailable Hg(II) in environmental water samples.
Public mobility data enables COVID-19 forecasting and management at local and global scales
Authors: Ilin Cornelia , Annan-Phan Sébastien , Tai Xiao Hui , Mehra Shikhar , Hsiang Solomon , Blumenstock Joshua E. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractPolicymakers everywhere are working to determine the set of restrictions that will effectively contain the spread of COVID-19 without excessively stifling economic activity. We show that publicly available data on human mobility—collected by Google, Facebook, and other providers—can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and forecast the spread of COVID-19. This approach uses simple and transparent statistical models to estimate the effect of NPIs on mobility, and basic machine learning methods to generate 10-day forecasts of COVID-19 cases. An advantage of the approach is that it involves minimal assumptions about disease dynamics, and requires only publicly-available data. We evaluate this approach using local and regional data from China, France, Italy, South Korea, and the United States, as well as national data from 80 countries around the world. We find that NPIs are associated with significant reductions in human mobility, and that changes in mobility can be used to forecast COVID-19 infections.
Medical imaging deep learning with differential privacy
Authors: Ziller Alexander , Usynin Dmitrii , Braren Rickmer , Makowski Marcus , Rueckert Daniel , Kaissis Georgios 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe successful training of deep learning models for diagnostic deployment in medical imaging applications requires large volumes of data. Such data cannot be procured without consideration for patient privacy, mandated both by legal regulations and ethical requirements of the medical profession. Differential privacy (DP) enables the provision of information-theoretic privacy guarantees to patients and can be implemented in the setting of deep neural network training through the differentially private stochastic gradient descent (DP-SGD) algorithm. We here present deepee, a free-and-open-source framework for differentially private deep learning for use with the PyTorch deep learning framework. Our framework is based on parallelised execution of neural network operations to obtain and modify the per-sample gradients. The process is efficiently abstracted via a data structure maintaining shared memory references to neural network weights to maintain memory efficiency. We furthermore offer specialised data loading procedures and privacy budget accounting based on the Gaussian Differential Privacy framework, as well as automated modification of the user-supplied neural network architectures to ensure DP-conformity of its layers. We benchmark our framework’s computational performance against other open-source DP frameworks and evaluate its application on the paediatric pneumonia dataset, an image classification task and on the Medical Segmentation Decathlon Liver dataset in the task of medical image segmentation. We find that neural network training with rigorous privacy guarantees is possible while maintaining acceptable classification performance and excellent segmentation performance. Our framework compares favourably to related work with respect to memory consumption and computational performance. Our work presents an open-source software framework for differentially private deep learning, which we demonstrate in medical imaging analysis tasks. It serves to further the utilisation of privacy-enhancing techniques in medicine and beyond in order to assist researchers and practitioners in addressing the numerous outstanding challenges towards their widespread implementation.
Clinical predictors of the presence of obstructive sleep apnea in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Authors: Xu Haobo , Wang Juan , Yuan Jiansong , Guo Chao , Hu Fenghuan , Yang Weixian , Song Lei , Luo Xiaoliang , Liu Rong , Cui Jingang , Liu Shengwen , Chun Yushi , Song Yunhu , Qiao Shubin 
Published: June 2021

AbstractObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is much common and associated with worse clinical outcomes in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), however, the diagnosis of OSA in HCM is still insufficient. We aim to investigate the clinical predictors of OSA in a large series of patients with HCM. A total of 589 patients with HCM who underwent sleep evaluations were retrospectively enrolled. Data from clinical characteristics and polysomnography studies were recorded. OSA was present in 346 patients (58.7%). Patients who had OSA were older, more likely to be male and had more clinical comorbidities such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation and cardiac remodeling. Multivariate logistic analyses showed that male, age, body mass index, hypertension and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction were significant factors associated with OSA. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.78 (95% CI 0.74–0.82; P < 0.001). These factors were also able to identify moderate to severe OSA with an AUC of 0.77 (95% CI 0.73–0.81; P < 0.001). These findings suggest that identifying HCM patients with high risk for OSA is feasible using characteristics from clinical practices and clinicians should have no hesitate to conduct sleep test in these patients.