bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
MTHFR promoter methylation might mitigate the effect of smoking at the level of LINE‐1 in cleft lip tissues: A preliminary study
Authors: Khan Mohammad Faisal J. , Little Julian , Mossey Peter A. , Butali Azeez , Autelitano Luca , Meazzini Maria C. , Rubini Michele 
Published: October 2021

AbstractBackgroundThe medial and maxillary aspects of the upper lip originate at separate embryonic stages and therefore may experience different maternal exposure patterns which may affect methylation. Based on this hypothesis, we investigated the level of methylation of the methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase promoter gene (mMTHFR) in tissues from cleft lip, and mMTHFR levels by MTHFR c.677C > T genotype. We further investigated whether mMTHFR mitigates the effect of smoking on long interspersed nuclear element (LINE‐1) methylation in these tissues.MethodsDNA extracted from medial and lateral tissues of 26 infants with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (nsCL/P) was bisulfite converted and mMTHFR was measured on a pyrosequenser. LINE‐1 methylation and MTHFR c.677C > T genotype data were obtained in our previous study.ResultsThere was no substantial difference in mMTHFR (p = .733) and LINE‐1 (p = .148) between the two tissues. mMTHFR was not influenced by MTHFR c.677C > T genotype, but there was suggestive evidence that the difference was larger among infants exposed to maternal smoking compared to nonexposed. LINE‐1 methylation differences were significant (p = .025) in infants born to nonsmoking mothers, but this was not apparent (p = .872) in infants born to mothers who smoked. Our Pearson's correlation analysis suggested a weak inverse association between mMTHFR and LINE‐1 (r = −.179, p = .381).ConclusionOur preliminary observation of differences in patterns of mMTHFR levels in lip tissue suggests the interplay of gene and environment in the establishment of methylation in tissues at both sides of cleft lip. This requires investigation in a larger cohort, integrated with metabolic assessment.
Thematic and textual analysis methods for developing social validity questionnaires in applied behavior analysis
Authors: Anderson Rachel , Taylor Sarah , Taylor Tessa , Virues‐Ortega Javier 
Published: October 2021

AbstractSocial validity is often defined as the degree to which an intervention has value to the community that it effects, but it is seldom reported in the literature. Most social validity questionnaires are purposely created by the authors of the study and often lack a description of scale development process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate methods for the development of a Likert‐type social validity scale. Caregivers of children who took part in a study on behavioral treatments for pediatric feeding disorders were part of an initial interview to inform scale development. We analyzed interviews using thematic (qualitative) analysis and textual (quantitative) analysis, and used the resulting themes to generate items for two social validity questionnaires. We examined the inter‐rater reliability of the questionnaire development process and evaluated the content validity of the questionnaires resulting from each method. Textual analysis had higher inter‐rater reliability for producing themes that could be converted to questionnaire items. The textual analysis method produced a questionnaire with content validity equal to that of the thematic analysis method. The study demonstrates the successful use of a quantitative approach to the development of social validity questionnaires for behavioral interventions.
Transplantation of high fat fed mouse microbiota into zebrafish larvae identifies MyD88‐dependent acceleration of hyperlipidaemia by Gram‐positive cell wall components
Authors: Manuneedhi Cholan Pradeep , Morris Simone , Luo Kaiming , Chen Jinbiao , Boland Jade A. , McCaughan Geoff W. , Britton Warwick J. , Oehlers Stefan H. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractGut dysbiosis is an important modifier of pathologies including cardiovascular disease but our understanding of the role of individual microbes is limited. Here, we have used transplantation of mouse microbiota into microbiota‐deficient zebrafish larvae to study the interaction between members of a mammalian high fat diet‐associated gut microbiota with a lipid rich diet challenge in a tractable model species. We find zebrafish larvae are more susceptible to hyperlipidaemia when exposed to the mouse high fat‐diet‐associated microbiota and that this effect can be driven by two individual bacterial species fractionated from the mouse high fat‐diet‐associated microbiota. We find Stenotrophomonas maltophilia increases the hyperlipidaemic potential of chicken egg yolk to zebrafish larvae independent of direct interaction between S. maltophilia and the zebrafish host. Colonization by live, or exposure to heat‐killed, Enterococcus faecalis accelerates hyperlipidaemia via host MyD88 signaling. The hyperlipidaemic effect is replicated by exposure to the Gram‐positive toll‐like receptor agonists peptidoglycan and lipoteichoic acid in a MyD88‐dependent manner. In this work, we demonstrate the applicability of zebrafish as a tractable host for the identification of gut microbes that can induce conditional host phenotypes via microbiota transplantation and subsequent challenge with a high fat diet.
Tangential flow filtration facilitated fractionation and PEGylation of low and high‐molecular weight polymerized hemoglobins and their biophysical properties
Authors: Gu Xiangming , Savla Chintan , Palmer Andre F. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractVarious types of hemoglobin (Hb)‐based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) have been developed as red blood cell substitutes for treating blood loss when blood is not available. Among those HBOCs, glutaraldehyde polymerized Hbs have attracted significant attention due to their facile synthetic route, and ability to expand the blood volume and deliver oxygen. Hemopure®, Oxyglobin®, and PolyHeme® are the most well‐known commercially developed glutaraldehyde polymerized Hbs. Unfortunately, only Oxyglobin® was approved by the FDA for veterinary use in the United States, while Hemopure® and PolyHeme® failed phase III clinical trials due to their ability to extravasate from the blood volume into the tissue space which facilitated nitric oxide scavenging and tissue deposition of iron, which elicited vasoconstriction, hypertension and oxidative tissue injury. Fortunately, conjugation of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the surface of Hb is capable of reducing the vasoactivity of Hb by creating a hydration layer surrounding the Hb molecule, which increases its hydrodynamic diameter and reduces tissue extravasation. Several commercial PEGylated Hbs (MP4®, Sanguinate®, Euro‐PEG‐Hb) have been developed for clinical use with a longer circulatory half‐life and improved safety compared to Hb. However, all of these commercial products exhibited relatively high oxygen affinity compared to Hb, which limited their clinical use. To dually address the limitations of prior generations of polymerized and PEGylated Hbs, this current study describes the PEGylation of polymerized bovine Hb (PEG‐PolybHb) in both the tense (T) and relaxed (R) quaternary state via thiol‐maleimide chemistry to produce an HBOC with low or high oxygen affinity. The biophysical properties of PEG‐PolybHb were measured and compared with those of commercial polymerized and PEGylated HBOCs. T‐state PEG‐PolybHb possessed higher hydrodynamic volume and P50 than previous generations of commercial PEGylated Hbs. Both T‐ and R‐state PEG‐PolybHb exhibited significantly lower haptoglobin binding rates than the precursor PolybHb, indicating potentially reduced clearance by CD163 + monocytes and macrophages. Thus, T‐state PEG‐PolybHb is expected to function as a promising HBOC due to its low oxygen affinity and enhanced stealth properties afforded by the PEG hydration shell.
A microwave‐assisted synthetic approach to analyzing disubstituted pyrrolo[2,3‐d]pyrimidine diversity via ligand‐free Cu‐catalyzed N‐arylation
Authors: Hong Chang Sung , Park Seung Yeong , Byeon Jeong Seob , Yum Eul Kgun 
Published: October 2021

AbstractFacile introduction of diverse substituents to 2‐ or 4‐chloro‐7H‐pyrrolo[2,3‐d]pyrimidines was examined with microwave‐assisted nucleophilic substitution and Cu‐catalyzed N‐arylation. Microwave‐assisted Cu‐catalyzed N‐arylation of pyrrolo[2,3‐d]pyrimidines with various nucleophiles proceeded very well with diverse heteroaryl halides. Sequential microwave‐assisted substitution provided good to excellent yields of 2,7‐ or 4,7‐disubstituted pyrrolo[2,3‐d]pyrimidines, with short reaction times and energy savings compared with conventional thermal heating. The diverse pyrrolo[2,3‐d]pyrimidine derivatives are useful for screening drug candidates for various diseases.
Nonionic fluorosurfactant as a cathode interfacial layer for organic solar cells
Authors: Lee Jinho 
Published: October 2021

AbstractNonionic fluorosurfactants (NFSs) were first used as the cathode interfacial layer (CIL) of organic solar cells (OSCs). Commercially available NFSs, FS‐31, and Zonyl FS‐300 possess both hydrophilic part of ethylene glycol chains and hydrophobic part of fluoroalkyl chains, which endows NFSs with amphiphilic nature and thus significantly improves processability regardless of underlying surface conditions. In addition, NFSs spontaneously forms an interfacial dipole layer at the cathode interface to reduce the energetic barrier between the photoactive layer and cathode. The strength of the dipole moment is affected by the ratio of carbon to fluorine in the molecular structure of NFSs. Benefiting from the improved anode contact properties, the OSCs with high performing fullerene‐based photoactive materials and NFS CILs exhibited high‐power conversion efficiency of 9.1%, which is higher than that of the devices without CIL (6.6%).
Stress, coping, resilience, and sleep during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A representative survey study of US adults
Authors: Gargiulo Andrew T. , Peterson Laurel M. , Grafe Laura A. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractIntroductionThe COVID‐19 pandemic is a global health emergency resulting in widespread death and substantial disruption to daily life. Previous research has shown that novel disease outbreaks are associated with high stress levels and sleep impairments that lead to neuropsychiatric consequences. Therefore, it is vital to study both stress and protective factors such as coping and resilience that may hinder or help sleep quality during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Further, as gender disparities exist in sleep quality, it is important to understand the relationship between pandemic‐related stress, coping strategies, resilience, and sleep in bothgenders during the COVID‐19 pandemic.MethodsOur study examined how gender, stress, coping, and resilience were associated with sleep cross‐sectionally during the COVID‐19 pandemic in a representative sample of US adults (N = 393).ResultsConsistent with many recent studies, we found that worsened sleep quality in women compared to men persisted during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Interestingly, pandemic‐related stress was not significantly associated with sleep quality, but pandemicrelated coping was associated with sleep independent of robust controls and trait resilience.ConclusionsGreater primary control engagement coping was associated with better sleep quality, while involuntary engagement coping was associated with poor sleep quality. Future research should extend the findings with actigraphy and explore ways to enhance beneficial coping and sleep health during pandemics.
Acute porphyrias – A neurological perspective
Authors: Gerischer Lea M. , Scheibe Franziska , Nümann Astrid , Köhnlein Martin , Stölzel Ulrich , Meisel Andreas 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAcute hepatic porphyrias (AHP) can cause severe neurological symptoms involving the central, autonomic, and peripheral nervous system. Due to their relative rarity and their chameleon‐like presentation, delayed diagnosis and misdiagnosis are common. AHPs are genetically inherited disorders that result from heme biosynthesis enzyme deficiencies and comprise four forms: acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), variegate porphyria (VP), hereditary coproporphyria (HCP), and ALA‐dehydratase porphyria (ALADP). Depending on the clinical presentation, the main differential diagnoses are Guillain‐Barré syndrome and autoimmune encephalitis. Red flags that could raise the suspicion of acute porphyria are neurological symptoms starting after severe (abdominal) pain, in association with reddish urine, hyponatremia or photodermatitis, and the presence of encephalopathy and/or axonal neuropathy. We highlight the diagnostic difficulties by presenting three cases from our neurological intensive care unit and give a comprehensive overview about the diagnostic findings in imaging, electrophysiology, and neuropathology.
Linkage of blockchain to enterprise resource planning systems for improving sustainable performance
Authors: Sislian Lucie , Jaegler Anicia 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe present article analyzes the use of enterprise resources planning (ERP) packages to be part of the solution for the main issues related to the blockchain. ERP modules have been listed and tested against seven propositions, to check the ability to better use ERP for solving blockchain concerns. The research is based on the previous study of Saberi et al. (2019; 10.1080/00207543.2018.1533261) about the relationship between sustainable supply chain management and blockchain. We use structural equation modeling (SEM) to check the validity of the propositions. Based on the results, we propose recommendations for companies to sustainably improve their supply chain strategy with the use of blockchain, along with ERP modules. The results show that the selected companies would benefit from ERP and blockchain technology integration, as they both improve their sustainable corporate performance and integrate them more successfully in the supply chain. ERP and blockchain are to be used together to approach today's challenges and better prepare companies for the uncertain future.
High‐dose vitamin D metabolite delivery inhibits breast cancer metastasis
Authors: Liu Jiaye , Shen Junyi , Mu Chunyang , Liu Yang , He Dongsheng , Luo Han , Wu Wenshuang , Zheng Xun , Liu Yi , Chen Sunrui , Pan Qiuwei , Hu Yiguo , Ni Yinyun , Wang Yang , Liu Yong , Li Zhihui 
Published: October 2021

AbstractBesides its well‐known benefits on human health, calcitriol, the hormonally active form of vitamin D3, has been being evaluated in clinical trials as an anticancer agent. However, currently available results are contradictory and not fundamentally deciphered. To the best of our knowledge, hypercalcemia caused by high‐dose calcitriol administration and its low bioavailability limit its anticancer investigations and translations. Here, we show that the one‐step self‐assembly of calcitriol and amphiphilic cholesterol‐based conjugates leads to the formation of a stable minimalist micellar nanosystem. When administered to mice, this nanosystem demonstrates high calcitriol doses in breast tumor cells, significant tumor growth inhibition and antimetastasis capability, as well as good biocompatibility. We further reveal that the underlying molecular antimetastatic mechanisms involve downregulation of proteins facilitating metastasis and upregulation of paxillin, the key protein of focal adhesion, in primary tumors.
A gamification strategy in engineering education—A case study on motivation and engagement
Authors: Gamarra Margarita , Dominguez Anderson , Velazquez Jhonnys , Páez Heyder 
Published: October 2021

AbstractClassical teaching–learning methods have been widely used in higher education. However, current teaching and evaluation methodologies are incorporating dynamic techniques that allow greater student participation in the learning process. It is essential that the classic model of education adapts to the changes in society and uses proper tools to encourage motivation in the education process. Gamification approaches generate motivation in the students and can lead to enhance the learning processes and outcomes. These strategies offer an alternative that is being used increasingly in higher education. Therefore, in this study, we developed a gamification strategy to generate motivation and engagement in engineering students. The strategy is applied in different courses and both in traditional and remote modalities. The validation of the proposal was carried out through a diagnostic tool in the form of a survey applied to the students of the courses where the gamified strategies were implemented. From these results we concluded that the gamified strategy helped to increase the motivation and engagement of the students, generating greater participation in the academic activities.
Refactoring‐based learning for fine‐grained lock in concurrent programming course
Authors: Zhang Yang 
Published: October 2021

AbstractFine‐grained lock is frequently used to mitigate lock contention in the multithreaded program running on a shared‐memory multicore processor. However, a concurrent program based on the fine‐grained lock is hard to write, especially for beginners in the concurrent programming course. How to help participants learn fine‐grained lock has become increasingly important and urgent. To this end, this paper presents a novel refactoring‐based approach to enhance the learning effectiveness of fine‐grained locks. Two refactoring tools are introduced to provide illustrating examples for participants by converting original coarse‐grained locks into fine‐grained ones automatically. Learning effectiveness and limitations are discussed when refactoring tools are applied. We evaluate students' outcomes with two benchmarks and compare their performance in Fall 2018 with those in Fall 2019. We also conduct experiments on students' outcomes by dividing them into two groups (A and B) in a controlled classroom where participants in group A learn the fine‐grained locks with the help of refactoring tools while those in group B do not access these tools. Evaluation of the results when they have been taught with the refactoring‐based approach reveals a significant improvement in the students' learning.
Progression‐free survival assessed per immune‐related or conventional response criteria, which is the better surrogate endpoint for overall survival in trials of immune‐checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Zhu Guang‐Li , Yang Kai‐Bin , Tang Si‐Qi , Peng Liang 
Published: October 2021

AbstractProgression‐free survival (PFS) has been used as a surrogate endpoint for overall survival (OS) in lung cancer trials. The pattern of response to immune‐checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) differs from that to conventional chemotherapy, so immune‐related response evaluation criteria were proposed. This study aims at determining which PFS measure, PFS assessed per immune‐related response evaluation criteria (iPFS), or conventional criteria (cPFS), is the better surrogate endpoint for OS in trials of ICIs in lung cancer. We selected clinical trials in lung cancer that administered ICIs to at least one arm and reported both median OS and median PFS from PubMed, Embase, and The Cochrane Library. We compared the correlation between treatment effect (hazard ratio) on OS and cPFS or iPFS and the correlation between median OS and median cPFS or iPFS using weighted linear regression at trial level. We analyzed 78 ICI arms (13,438 patients) from 54 studies, including 66 arms with cPFS, seven arms with iPFS, and five arms with both kinds of PFS. We demonstrated an excellent correlation between treatment effect (hazard ratio) on OS and iPFS (RWLS2 = 0.91), while the correlation was moderate for cPFS (RWLS2 = 0.38). Similarly, the correlation between median OS and median iPFS was also strong (RWLS2 ranging from 0.86 to 0.96) across different phases of trials and different types of lung cancer, ICI, and treatment modalities, while it was much weaker for median cPFS (RWLS2 ranging from 0.28 to 0.88). In conclusion, iPFS provides better trial‐level surrogacy for OS than cPFS in trials of ICIs in lung cancer.
Prognostic impact of hepatitis B virus infection in patients with primary cervical cancer
Authors: Feng Xiaoyan , Lu Huaiwu , Wei Yuan , Guan Meimei , Wang Junyi , Liu Changhao , Shen Tianran , Chen Qingsong , Rao Qunxian 
Published: October 2021

AbstractBackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been associated with an increased risk of a few malignancies. However, the prognostic impact of HBV infection remains unclear in cervical cancer.ObjectiveTo explore the association between HBV infection and survival outcomes of patients with primary cervical cancer, using overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS) as primary endpoints.MethodsThis analysis was performed retrospectively with newly diagnosed cervical cancer patients admitted to the Department of Gynecologic Oncology at the Sun Yat‐sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat‐sen University from June 2013 to October 2019, who were enrolled and followed up. The Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazard analysis were used to examine the performance of HBV infection in predicting OS and DFS.ResultsPatients were followed up for a median of 37.17 months (95% CI, 34.69–39.65). Among the 695 patients, 87 (12.5%) were serologically positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and 276 (39.7%) had a prior history of HBV infection. There was no significant difference between HBsAg‐positive group and HBsAg‐negative patients concerning OS or DFS. Multivariate analysis showed prior HBV infection was an independent favorable prognosticator for OS (HR, 0.335; 95% CI, 0.153–0.0.734; p = 0.006) and DFS (HR, 0.398; 95% CI, 0.208–0.691; p = 0.002).ConclusionWe provide the first clinical evidence that suggests prior HBV infection as an independent favorable prognostic factor for patients with primary cervical cancer.
The difference in prolonged continuous and intermittent Pringle maneuver during complex hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with chronic liver disease: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Liu Jianwei , Wang Wei , Shi Chunchao , Li Chenqi , Xue Feng , Hu Lei , Wang Yi , Ge Ruiliang 
Published: October 2021

AbstractPurposeTo explore the differences between prolonged continuous Pringle maneuver (CPM) and prolonged intermittent Pringle maneuver (IPM) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), who underwent complex hepatectomy.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study performed between June 2014 and May 2016 included 142 patients who underwent complex hepatectomy for HCC and concomitant chronic liver disease but with good liver function. Patients were categorized into CPM (n = 69) and IPM groups (n = 73). The differences in these aspects were compared between the two groups which include operation time, intraoperative bleeding, perioperative transfusion, postoperative complications, liver function injury, postoperative overall survival (OS), and tumor recurrence.ResultsThe cumulative clamping time, operation time, intraoperative bleeding, and perioperative transfusion rates were 38.0, 132 min, 300 ml, and 17.4% in CPM and 40.0, 145 min, 400 ml, and 32.9% in IPM, respectively. There were significant intergroup differences in operation time (p = 0.018), intraoperative bleeding (p < 0.001), and perioperative transfusion rates (p = 0.034). Besides, the postoperative complications and postoperative liver function injury of the CPM group were better than those of IPM. There was no significant intergroup difference in OS (p = 0.908) and tumor recurrence (p = 0.671) between two groups.ConclusionCompared with IPM, CPM with a cumulative clamping time between 30 and 50 min can shorten operation time, reduce intraoperative bleeding and perioperative transfusion, and reduce postoperative complications and postoperative liver function injury in patients who underwent complex hepatectomy for HCC and concomitant liver disease but with good liver function. There was no significant difference in OS and tumor recurrence between two groups.