bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Corneal confocal microscopy identifies small fibre damage and progression of diabetic neuropathy
Authors: Dhage Shaishav , Ferdousi Maryam , Adam Safwaan , Ho Jan Hoong , Kalteniece Alise , Azmi Shazli , Alam Uazman , Ponirakis Georgios , Petropoulos Ioannis , Atkinson Andrew J. , Marshall Andrew , Jeziorska Maria , Soran Handrean , Malik Rayaz A. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAccurately quantifying the progression of diabetic peripheral neuropathy is key to identify individuals who will progress to foot ulceration and to power clinical intervention trials. We have undertaken detailed neuropathy phenotyping to assess the longitudinal utility of different measures of neuropathy in patients with diabetes. Nineteen patients with diabetes (age 52.5 ± 14.7 years, duration of diabetes 26.0 ± 13.8 years) and 19 healthy controls underwent assessment of symptoms and signs of neuropathy, quantitative sensory testing, autonomic nerve function, neurophysiology, intra-epidermal nerve fibre density (IENFD) and corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) to quantify corneal nerve fibre density (CNFD), branch density (CNBD) and fibre length (CNFL). Mean follow-up was 6.5 years. Glycated haemoglobin (p = 0.04), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) (p = 0.0009) and urinary albumin creatinine ratio (p < 0.0001) improved. Neuropathy symptom profile (p = 0.03), neuropathy disability score (p = 0.04), vibration perception threshold (p = 0.02), cold perception threshold (p = 0.006), CNFD (p = 0.03), CNBD (p < 0.0001), CNFL (p < 0.0001), IENFD (p = 0.04), sural (p = 0.02) and peroneal motor nerve conduction velocity (p = 0.03) deteriorated significantly. Change (∆) in CNFL correlated with ∆CPT (p = 0.006) and ∆Expiration/Inspiration ratio (p = 0.002) and ∆IENFD correlated with ∆CNFD (p = 0.005), ∆CNBD (p = 0.02) and ∆CNFL (p = 0.01). This study shows worsening of diabetic neuropathy across a range of neuropathy measures, especially CCM, despite an improvement in HbA1c and LDL-C. It further supports the utility of CCM as a rapid, non-invasive surrogate measure of diabetic neuropathy.
Comparative neuroanatomy of the lumbosacral spinal cord of the rat, cat, pig, monkey, and human
Authors: Toossi Amirali , Bergin Bradley , Marefatallah Maedeh , Parhizi Behdad , Tyreman Neil , Everaert Dirk G. , Rezaei Sabereh , Seres Peter , Gatenby J. Christopher , Perlmutter Steve I. , Mushahwar Vivian K. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe overall goal of this work was to create a high-resolution MRI atlas of the lumbosacral enlargement of the spinal cord of the rat (Sprague–Dawley), cat, domestic pig, rhesus monkey, and human. These species were chosen because they are commonly used in basic and translational research in spinal cord injuries and diseases. Six spinal cord specimens from each of the studied species (total of 30 specimens) were fixed, extracted, and imaged. Sizes of the spinal cord segments, cross-sectional dimensions, and locations of the spinal cord gray and white matter were quantified and compared across species. The lumbar enlargement spans spinal cord levels L3-S1 in rats, L4-S1 in cats, L3-S1 in pigs, L2/L3-L7/S1 in monkeys, and T12/L1-S1/S2 in humans. The enlargements in pigs and humans are largest and most similar in size (length and cross-sectional area); followed by monkeys and cats; and followed by rats. The obtained atlas establishes a neuroanatomical reference for the intact lumbosacral spinal cord in these species. It can also be used to guide the planning of surgical procedures of the spinal cord and technology design and development of spinal cord neuroprostheses, as well as precise delivery of cells/drugs into target regions within the spinal cord parenchyma.
Screening and development of monoclonal antibodies for identification of ferret T follicular helper cells
Authors: Jiang Wenbo , Wong Julius , Tan Hyon-Xhi , Kelly Hannah G. , Whitney Paul G. , Barr Ian , Layton Daniel S. , Kent Stephen J. , Wheatley Adam K. , Juno Jennifer A. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe ferret is a key animal model for investigating the pathogenicity and transmissibility of important human viruses, and for the pre‐clinical assessment of vaccines. However, relatively little is known about the ferret immune system, due in part to a paucity of ferret‐reactive reagents. In particular, T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are critical in the generation of effective humoral responses in humans, mice and other animal models but to date it has not been possible to identify Tfh in ferrets. Here, we describe the screening and development of ferret-reactive BCL6, CXCR5 and PD-1 monoclonal antibodies. We found two commercial anti-BCL6 antibodies (clone K112-91 and clone IG191E/A8) had cross-reactivity with lymph node cells from influenza-infected ferrets. We next developed two murine monoclonal antibodies against ferret CXCR5 (clone feX5-C05) and PD-1 (clone fePD-CL1) using a single B cell PCR-based method. We were able to clearly identify Tfh cells in lymph nodes from influenza infected ferrets using these antibodies. The development of ferret Tfh marker antibodies and the identification of ferret Tfh cells will assist the evaluation of vaccine-induced Tfh responses in the ferret model and the design of novel vaccines against the infection of influenza and other viruses, including SARS-CoV2.
A radiomics-based model for predicting prognosis of locally advanced gastric cancer in the preoperative setting
Authors: Shin Jaeseung , Lim Joon Seok , Huh Yong-Min , Kim Jie-Hyun , Hyung Woo Jin , Chung Jae-Joon , Han Kyunghwa , Kim Sungwon 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThis study aims to evaluate the performance of a radiomic signature-based model for predicting recurrence-free survival (RFS) of locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) using preoperative contrast-enhanced CT. This retrospective study included a training cohort (349 patients) and an external validation cohort (61 patients) who underwent curative resection for LAGC in 2010 without neoadjuvant therapies. Available preoperative clinical factors, including conventional CT staging and endoscopic data, and 438 radiomic features from the preoperative CT were obtained. To predict RFS, a radiomic model was developed using penalized Cox regression with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator with ten-fold cross-validation. Internal and external validations were performed using a bootstrapping method. With the final 410 patients (58.2 ± 13.0 years-old; 268 female), the radiomic model consisted of seven selected features. In both of the internal and the external validation, the integrated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values of both the radiomic model (0.714, P < 0.001 [internal validation]; 0.652, P = 0.010 [external validation]) and the merged model (0.719, P < 0.001; 0.651, P = 0.014) were significantly higher than those of the clinical model (0.616; 0.594). The radiomics-based model on preoperative CT images may improve RFS prediction and high-risk stratification in the preoperative setting of LAGC.
Deep learning based prediction of extraction difficulty for mandibular third molars
Authors: Yoo Jeong-Hun , Yeom Han-Gyeol , Shin WooSang , Yun Jong Pil , Lee Jong Hyun , Jeong Seung Hyun , Lim Hun Jun , Lee Jun , Kim Bong Chul 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThis paper proposes a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based deep learning model for predicting the difficulty of extracting a mandibular third molar using a panoramic radiographic image. The applied dataset includes a total of 1053 mandibular third molars from 600 preoperative panoramic radiographic images. The extraction difficulty was evaluated based on the consensus of three human observers using the Pederson difficulty score (PDS). The classification model used a ResNet-34 pretrained on the ImageNet dataset. The correlation between the PDS values determined by the proposed model and those measured by the experts was calculated. The prediction accuracies for C1 (depth), C2 (ramal relationship), and C3 (angulation) were 78.91%, 82.03%, and 90.23%, respectively. The results confirm that the proposed CNN-based deep learning model could be used to predict the difficulty of extracting a mandibular third molar using a panoramic radiographic image.
Acoustotactic response of mosquitoes in untethered flight to incidental sound
Authors: Dou Zhongwang , Madan Aditi , Carlson Jenny S. , Chung Joseph , Spoleti Tyler , Dimopoulos George , Cammarato Anthony , Mittal Rajat 
Published: January 2021

AbstractMosquitoes are vectors for some of the most devastating diseases on the planet. Given the centrality of acoustic sensing in the precopulatory behavior of these vectors, the use of an exogenous acoustic stimulus offers the potential of interfering with the courtship behavior of these insects. Previous research on the acoustotactic response of mosquitoes has been conducted on tethered preparations using low-intensity sound stimuli. To quantify differences in acoustotactic responses between mosquitos of distinct sex and species, we examined the effects of incidental sound stimuli on the flight behavior of free-flying male vs. female Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes. The key variables were sound frequency (100–1000 Hz) and intensity (67–103 dB, measured at 12.5 cm from the source), and the acoustotactic response was measured in terms of the relative increase in flight speed in response to the stimulus. The data show, for the first time, significant sex- and species-specific differences in acoustotactic responses. A. aegypti exhibited a greater response to sound stimulus compared to An. gambiae, and the response also extended over a larger range of frequencies. Furthermore, the males of both species displayed a greater acoustotactic response than females, with An. gambiae females exhibiting minimal response to sound.
Understanding the seasonality of performance resilience to climate volatility in Mediterranean dairy sheep
Authors: Tsartsianidou Valentina , Kapsona Vanessa Varvara , Sánchez-Molano Enrique , Basdagianni Zoitsa , Carabaño Maria Jesús , Chatziplis Dimitrios , Arsenos Georgios , Triantafyllidis Alexandros , Banos Georgios 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAs future climate challenges become increasingly evident, enhancing performance resilience of farm animals may contribute to mitigation against adverse weather and seasonal variation, and underpin livestock farming sustainability. In the present study, we develop novel seasonal resilience phenotypes reflecting milk production changes to fluctuating weather. We evaluate the impact of calendar season (autumn, winter and spring) on animal performance resilience by analysing 420,534 milk records of 36,908 milking ewes of the Chios breed together with relevant meteorological data from eastern Mediterranean. We reveal substantial seasonal effects on resilience and significant heritable trait variation (h2 = 0.03–0.17). Resilience to cold weather (10 °C) of animals that start producing milk in spring was under different genetic control compared to autumn and winter as exemplified by negative genetic correlations (− 0.09 to − 0.27). Animal resilience to hot weather (25 °C) was partially under the same genetic control with genetic correlations between seasons ranging from 0.43 to 0.86. We report both favourable and antagonistic associations between animal resilience and lifetime milk production, depending on calendar season and the desirable direction of genetic selection. Concluding, we emphasise on seasonal adaptation of animals to climate and the need to incorporate the novel seasonal traits in future selective breeding programmes.
Catechin and curcumin interact with S protein of SARS-CoV2 and ACE2 of human cell membrane: insights from computational studies
Authors: Jena Atala B. , Kanungo Namrata , Nayak Vinayak , Chainy G. B. N. , Dandapat Jagneshwar 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe recent outbreak of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) is an unprecedented threat to human health and society across the globe. In this context, development of suitable interventions is the need of the hour. The viral spike protein (S Protein) and the cognate host cell receptor ACE2 can be considered as effective and appropriate targets for interventions. It is evident from the present computational study, that catechin and curcumin, not only exhibit strong binding affinity to viral S Protein and host receptor ACE2 but also to their complex (receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein of SARS-CoV2 and ACE2; RBD/ACE2-complex). The binding affinity values of catechin and curcumin for the S protein, ACE2 and RBD/ACE2-complex are − 10.5 and − 7.9 kcal/mol; − 8.9 and − 7.8 kcal/mol; and − 9.1 and − 7.6 kcal/mol, respectively. Curcumin directly binds to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of viral S Protein. Molecular simulation study over a period of 100 ns further substantiates that such interaction within RBD site of S Protein occurs during 40–100 ns out of 100 ns simulation trajectory. Contrary to this, catechin binds with amino acid residues present near the RBD site of S Protein and causes fluctuation in the amino acid residues of the RBD and its near proximity. Both catechin and curcumin bind the interface of ‘RBD/ACE2-complex’ and intervene in causing fluctuation of the alpha helices and beta-strands of the protein complex. Protein–protein interaction studies in presence of curcumin or catechin also corroborate the above findings suggesting the efficacy of these two polyphenols in hindering the formation of S Protein-ACE2 complex. In conclusion, this computational study for the first time predicts the possibility of above two polyphenols for therapeutic strategy against SARS-CoV2.
Hyperglycemia-induced VEGF and ROS production in retinal cells is inhibited by the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin
Authors: Kida Teruyo , Oku Hidehiro , Osuka Sho , Horie Taeko , Ikeda Tsunehiko 
Published: January 2021

AbstractDetermine the impact of the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, on the hyperglycemia-induced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in retinal cells. Rats made hyperglycemic for 8 weeks by streptozotocin, as well as control rats, received i.p. rapamycin (1 mg/kg) for 3 days prior to immunostaining of their retinas with anti-VEGF and anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and measuring retinal protein levels of VEGF and GFAP by Western blotting. In other experiments, flow cytometry analysis of ethidium fluorescence determined intracellular ROS levels in the absence or presence of rapamycin (1 μM) under normoglycemic (5.5 mM) and hyperglycemic (25 mM) conditions in a rat retinal Müller cell line (TR-MUL5) and primary human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs). In the diabetic retina, VEGF was elevated and colocalized with the glial marker, GFAP, whose level was also elevated. Treatment with rapamycin inhibited the diabetes-induced VEGF and GFAP increases. We also found that raising extracellular glucose from 5.5 mM to 25 mM resulted in significant rapamycin-sensitive increases in the ROS levels of TR-MUL5 cells and HRMECs. In rat retina, rapamycin attenuates the diabetes-induced VEGF overexpression, and in cultured Müller cells and HRMECs, inhibits the hyperglycemia-induced boost ROS.
Mobile and immobile boundaries in ferroelectric films
Authors: Yudin P. , Shapovalov K. , Sluka T. , Peräntie J. , Jantunen H. , Dejneka A. , Tyunina M. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe intrinsic mobile interfaces in ferroelectrics—the domain walls can drive and enhance diverse ferroelectric properties, essential for modern applications. Control over the motion of domain walls is of high practical importance. Here we analyse theoretically and show experimentally epitaxial ferroelectric films, where mobile domain walls coexist and interact with immobile growth-induced interfaces—columnar boundaries. Whereas these boundaries do not disturb the long-range crystal order, they affect the behaviour of domain walls in a peculiar selective manner. The columnar boundaries substantially modify the behaviour of non-ferroelastic domains walls, but have negligible impact on the ferroelastic ones. The results suggest that introduction of immobile boundaries into ferroelectric films is a viable method to modify domain structures and dynamic responses at nano-scale that may serve to functionalization of a broader range of ferroelectric films where columnar boundaries naturally appear as a result of the 3D growth.
Self-organized wavy infection curve of COVID-19
Authors: Odagaki Takashi 
Published: January 2021

AbstractExploiting the SIQR model for COVID-19, I show that the wavy infection curve in Japan is the result of fluctuation of policy on isolation measure imposed by the government and obeyed by citizens. Assuming the infection coefficient be a two-valued function of the number of daily confirmed new cases, I show that when the removal rate of infected individuals is between these two values, the wavy infection curve is self-organized. On the basis of the infection curve, I classify the outbreak of COVID-19 into five types and show that these differences can be related to the relative magnitude of the transmission coefficient and the quarantine rate of infected individuals.
Experimental study on thermal effect and gas release laws of coal-polyurethane cooperative spontaneous combustion
Authors: Wang Haiyan , Tian Yao , Li Jinglei , Chen Xiao 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThis paper presents a research on the kinetics and gas release laws of the cooperative spontaneous combustion of coal-polyurethane binary system by means of thermogravimetric analysis and spontaneous combustion simulation experiments. The coal-polyurethane binary system is more prone than individual samples to combustion. The polyurethane mass fraction has a great influence on the cooperative spontaneous combustion process. As the polyurethane mass fraction rises, the activation energies of oxygen absorption stage and pyrolysis stage decrease. The combustion residues of coal-polyurethane binary system scorches into lumps and the surfaces of the particles become rougher. During spontaneous combustion, the initial release temperatures of the four gases CO2, CO, C2H6and C2H4drop as the polyurethane mass fraction increases. The gas release amount of them increases with increasing polyurethane mass fraction. And the amount of CH4decreases as the polyurethane mass fraction increases. The CO/CO2ratio with temperature for different polyurethane mass fraction have the same trends. The results of this study have implications concerning polyurethane materials application and fire protection in coal mine.
Holistic processing of Chinese characters in college students with dyslexia
Authors: Tso Ricky Van-yip , Chan Ronald Tsz-chung , Chan Yin-fei , Lin Dan 
Published: January 2021

AbstractExpert face recognition has long been marked by holistic processing. Hence, due to the many visual properties shared between face perception and Chinese characters, it has been suggested that Chinese character recognition may induce stronger holistic processing in expert readers than in novices. However, there have been different viewpoints presented about Chinese character recognition, one of which suggests that expertise in this skill involved reduced holistic processing which may be modulated by writing experiences/performances. In this study we examined holistic processing in Chinese character recognition in adults with and without dyslexia, using the complete composite paradigm. Our results showed that the adults with dyslexia recognized Chinese characters with a stronger holistic processing effect than the typical controls. It seems that those with dyslexia relied overly on the visual spatial information of characters and showed deficits in attending selectively to their components when processing Chinese characters, which hindered the development of expert reading and writing skills. This effect was in contrast to previous perceptual expertise studies in which reduced holistic processing marked deficits in face/visual object recognition. This study is also the first to show that Chinese adults with dyslexia had persistent below average performances in Chinese literacy.
Supercontinuum generation in dispersion engineered AlGaAs-on-insulator waveguides
Authors: May Stuart , Clerici Matteo , Sorel Marc 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe effect of engineering the dispersion of AlGaAs-on-insulator (AlGaAs-OI) waveguides on supercontinuum generation is investigated at telecom wavelengths. The pronounced effect the waveguide width has on the nonlinear dynamics governing the supercontinua is systematically analyzed and the coherence of the spectra verified with numerical simulations. Using dispersion engineered AlGaAs-OI waveguides, broadband supercontinua were readily obtained for pulse energies of $$\sim \text {3 pJ}$$

∼
3 pJ

and a device length of only 3 mm. The results presented here, further understanding of the design and fabrication of this novel platform and describe the soliton and dispersive wave dynamics responsible for supercontinuum generation. This study showcases the potential of AlGaAs-OI for exploring fundamental physics and realizing highly efficient, compact, nonlinear devices.
A theoretical design of evanescent wave biosensors based on gate-controlled graphene surface plasmon resonance
Authors: Hwang Ruey-Bing 
Published: January 2021

AbstractA surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on gate-controlled periodic graphene ribbons array is reported. Different from the conventional methods by monitoring reflectivity variations with respect to incident angle or wavelength, this approach measures the change in SPR curve against the variation of graphene chemical potential (via dynamically tuning the gate voltage) at both fixed incident angle and wavelength without the need of rotating mirror, tunable filter or spectrometer for angular or wavelength interrogation. Theoretical calculations show that the sensitivities are 36,401.1 mV/RIU, 40,676.5 mV/RIU, 40,918.2 mV/RIU, and 41,160 mV/RIU for analyte refractive index (RI) equal to 1.33, 1.34, 1.35 and 1.36; their figure of merit (1/RIU) are 21.84, 24, 23.74 and 23.69, respectively. Significantly, the enhancement in the non-uniform local field due to the subwavelength graphene ribbon resonator can facilitate the detection in redistribution of protein monolayers modeled as dielectric bricks.
Rhizobia use a pathogenic-like effector to hijack leguminous nodulation signalling
Authors: Ratu Safirah Tasa Nerves , Teulet Albin , Miwa Hiroki , Masuda Sachiko , Nguyen Hien P. , Yasuda Michiko , Sato Shusei , Kaneko Takakazu , Hayashi Makoto , Giraud Eric , Okazaki Shin 
Published: January 2021

AbstractLegume plants form a root-nodule symbiosis with rhizobia. This symbiosis establishment generally relies on rhizobium-produced Nod factors (NFs) and their perception by leguminous receptors (NFRs) that trigger nodulation. However, certain rhizobia hijack leguminous nodulation signalling via their type III secretion system, which functions in pathogenic bacteria to deliver effector proteins into host cells. Here, we report that rhizobia use pathogenic-like effectors to hijack legume nodulation signalling. The rhizobial effector Bel2-5 resembles the XopD effector of the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris and could induce nitrogen-fixing nodules on soybean nfr mutant. The soybean root transcriptome revealed that Bel2-5 induces expression of cytokinin-related genes, which are important for nodule organogenesis and represses ethylene- and defense-related genes that are deleterious to nodulation. Remarkably, Bel2-5 introduction into a strain unable to nodulate soybean mutant affected in NF perception conferred nodulation ability. Our findings show that rhizobia employ and have customized pathogenic effectors to promote leguminous nodulation signalling.