bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Applications of Nanoparticle-Antibody Conjugates in Immunoassays and Tumor Imaging
Authors: Lin Xinhao , O’Reilly Beringhs André , Lu Xiuling 
Published: March 2021

AbstractModern diagnostic technologies rely on both in vitro and in vivo modalities to provide a complete understanding of the clinical state of a patient. Nanoparticle-antibody conjugates have emerged as promising systems to confer increased sensitivity and accuracy for in vitro diagnostics (e.g., immunoassays). Meanwhile, in vivo applications have benefited from the targeting ability of nanoparticle-antibody conjugates, as well as payload flexibility and tailored biodistribution. This review provides an encompassing overview of nanoparticle-antibody conjugates, from chemistry to applications in medical immunoassays and tumor imaging, highlighting the underlying principles and unique features of relevant preclinical applications employing commonly used imaging modalities (e.g., optical/photoacoustics, positron-emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray computed tomography).
Repurposing Melt Degradation for the Evaluation of Mixed Amorphous-Crystalline Blends
Authors: Abdul-jabbar Sumayah , Wong Daniel W. , Martin Gary P. , Woodhead Brendon , Royall Paul G. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractMedicine regulators require the melting points for crystalline drugs, as they are a test for chemical and physical quality. Many drugs, especially salt-forms, suffer concomitant degradation during melting; thus, it would be useful to know if the endotherm associated with melt degradation may be used for characterising the crystallinity of a powder blend. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether melt-degradation transitions can detect amorphous content in a blend of crystalline and amorphous salbutamol sulphate. Salbutamol sulphate was rendered amorphous by freeze and spray-drying and blended with crystalline drug, forming standards with a range of amorphous content. Crystalline salbutamol sulphate was observed to have a melt-degradation onset of 198.2±0.2°C, while anhydrous amorphous salbutamol sulphate prepared by either method showed similar glass transition temperatures of 119.4±0.7°C combined. Without the energy barrier provided by the ordered crystal lattice, the degradation endotherm for amorphous salbutamol sulphate occurred 50°C below the melting point, with an onset of 143.6±0.2°C. The enthalpies for this degradation transition showed no significant difference between freeze- and spray-dried samples (p>0.05). Distinct from convention, partial integration of the crystalline melt-degradation endotherm was applied to the region 193–221°C which had no contribution from the degradation of amorphous salbutamol sulphate. The linear correlation of these partial areas with amorphous content, R2=0.994, yielded limits of detection and quantification of 0.13% and 0.44% respectively, independent of drying technique. Melt-degradation transitions may be re-purposed for the measurement of amorphous content in powder blends, and they have potential for evaluating disorder more generally.
Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Cryogel Membranes Loaded with Resveratrol as Potential Active Wound Dressings
Authors: Górska Anna , Krupa Anna , Majda Dorota , Kulinowski Piotr , Kurek Mateusz , Węglarz Władysław P. , Jachowicz Renata 
Published: March 2021

AbstractHydrogel wound dressings are highly effective in the therapy of wounds. Yet, most of them do not contain any active ingredient that could accelerate healing. The aim of this study was to prepare hydrophilic active dressings loaded with an anti-inflammatory compound - trans-resveratrol (RSV) of hydrophobic properties. A special attention was paid to select such a technological strategy that could both reduce the risk of irritation at the application site and ensure the homogeneity of the final hydrogel. RSV dissolved in Labrasol was combined with an aqueous sol of poly(vinyl) alcohol (PVA), containing propylene glycol (PG) as a plasticizer. This sol was transformed into a gel under six consecutive cycles of freezing (-80 °C) and thawing (RT). White, uniform and elastic membranes were successfully produced. Their critical features, namely microstructure, mechanical properties, water uptake and RSV release were studied using SEM, DSC, MRI, texture analyser and Franz-diffusion cells. The cryogels made of 8 % of PVA showed optimal tensile strength (0.22 MPa) and elasticity (0.082 MPa). The application of MRI enabled to elucidate mass transport related phenomena in this complex system at the molecular (detection of PG, confinement effects related to pore size) as well as at the macro level (swelling). The controlled release of RSV from membranes was observed for 48 h with mean dissolution time of 18 h and dissolution efficiency of 35 %. All in all, these cryogels could be considered as a promising new active wound dressings.
The Association of TSH and Thyroid Hormones With Lymphopenia in Bacterial Sepsis and COVID-19
Authors: Grondman Inge , de Nooijer Aline H , Antonakos Nikolaos , Janssen Nico A F , Mouktaroudi Maria , Leventogiannis Konstantinos , Medici Marco , Smit Jan W A , van Herwaarden Antonius E , Joosten Leo A B , van de Veerdonk Frank L , Pickkers Peter , Kox Matthijs , Jaeger Martin , Netea Mihai G , Giamarellos-Bourboulis Evangelos J , Netea-Maier Romana T 
Published: March 2021

AbstractContextLymphopenia is a key feature of immune dysfunction in patients with bacterial sepsis and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is associated with poor clinical outcomes, but the cause is largely unknown. Severely ill patients may present with thyroid function abnormalities, so-called nonthyroidal illness syndrome, and several studies have linked thyrotropin (thyroid stimulating hormone, TSH) and the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine (T3) to homeostatic regulation and function of lymphocyte populations.ObjectiveThis work aimed to test the hypothesis that abnormal thyroid function correlates with lymphopenia in patients with severe infections.MethodsA retrospective analysis of absolute lymphocyte counts, circulating TSH, T4, free T4 (FT4), T3, albumin, and inflammatory biomarkers was performed in 2 independent hospitalized study populations: bacterial sepsis (n = 224) and COVID-19 patients (n = 161). A subgroup analysis was performed in patients with severe lymphopenia and normal lymphocyte counts.ResultsOnly T3 significantly correlated (ρ = 0.252) with lymphocyte counts in patients with bacterial sepsis, and lower concentrations were found in severe lymphopenic compared to nonlymphopenic patients (n = 56 per group). Severe lymphopenic COVID-19 patients (n = 17) showed significantly lower plasma concentrations of TSH, T4, FT4, and T3 compared to patients without lymphopenia (n = 18), and demonstrated significantly increased values of the inflammatory markers interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and ferritin. Remarkably, after 1 week of follow-up, the majority (12 of 15) of COVID-19 patients showed quantitative recovery of their lymphocyte numbers, whereas TSH and thyroid hormones remained mainly disturbed.ConclusionAbnormal thyroid function correlates with lymphopenia in patients with severe infections, like bacterial sepsis and COVID-19, but future studies need to establish whether a causal relationship is involved.
Radiomics With Ensemble Machine Learning Predicts Dopamine Agonist Response in Patients With Prolactinoma
Authors: Park Yae Won , Eom Jihwan , Kim Sooyon , Kim Hwiyoung , Ahn Sung Soo , Ku Cheol Ryong , Kim Eui Hyun , Lee Eun Jig , Kim Sun Ho , Lee Seung-Koo 
Published: March 2021

AbstractContextEarly identification of the response of prolactinoma patients to dopamine agonists (DA) is crucial in treatment planning.ObjectiveTo develop a radiomics model using an ensemble machine learning classifier with conventional magnetic resonance images (MRIs) to predict the DA response in prolactinoma patients.DesignRetrospective study.SettingSeverance Hospital, Seoul, Korea.PatientsA total of 177 prolactinoma patients who underwent baseline MRI (109 DA responders and 68 DA nonresponders) were allocated to the training (n = 141) and test (n = 36) sets. Radiomic features (n = 107) were extracted from coronal T2-weighed MRIs. After feature selection, single models (random forest, light gradient boosting machine, extra-trees, quadratic discrimination analysis, and linear discrimination analysis) with oversampling methods were trained to predict the DA response. A soft voting ensemble classifier was used to achieve the final performance. The performance of the classifier was validated in the test set.ResultsThe ensemble classifier showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.81 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.74–0.87] in the training set. In the test set, the ensemble classifier showed an AUC, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.67-0.96), 77.8%, 78.6%, and 77.3%, respectively. The ensemble classifier achieved the highest performance among all the individual models in the test set.ConclusionsRadiomic features may be useful biomarkers to predict the DA response in prolactinoma patients.
Thy1-Positive Spermatogonia Suppress the Proliferation of Spermatogonial Stem Cells by Extracellular Vesicles In Vitro
Authors: Lin Yu , Fang Qian , He Yue , Gong Xiaowen , Wang Yinjuan , Liang Ajuan , Wang Guishuan , Gong Shengnan , Wu Ji , Sun Fei 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThe self-renewal of mammalian spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) supports spermatogenesis to produce spermatozoa, and this is precisely controlled in a stem niche microenvironment in the seminiferous tubules. Although studies have revealed the role of the surrounding factors in SSCs, little is known about whether the division of SSCs is controlled by extracellular vesicles. Here, extracellular vesicles were found in the basal compartment of seminiferous tubules in mouse, rat, rabbit and human testes. In the mice, the testicular extracellular vesicles are secreted by spermatogonia and are taken up by SSCs. Further, the extracellular vesicles from thy1-positive spermatogonia were purified by anti-Thy1-coupled magnetic beads, which suppress their proliferation of SSCs but do not lead to the apoptosis in vitro.
Melatonin Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis and Bone Loss in Ovariectomized Mice by Regulating PRMT1-Mediated Signaling
Authors: Choi Joo-Hee , Jang Ah-Ra , Park Min-Jung , Kim Dong-il , Park Jong-Hwan 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Melatonin, a pineal gland hormone, has been suggested to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis due to its inhibitory effect on osteoclast differentiation. We previously reported that protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) was an important mediator of receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis. However, the relationship between melatonin and PRMT1 in osteoclast differentiation and estrogen deficiency–induced osteoporosis is unclear. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory mechanisms of melatonin in vitro and in vivo by focusing on PRMT1. Melatonin treatment effectively blocked RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis by inhibiting PRMT1 and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) expression. RANKL-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) and the phosphorylation of JNK were also suppressed by melatonin, and TRAF6 siRNA attenuated RANKL-induced p-JNK and PRMT1 production. Melatonin inhibited the transcriptional activity of NF-κB by interfering with the binding of PRMT1 and NF-κB subunit p65 in RANKL-treated bone marrow–derived macrophages. Our results also revealed that melatonin inhibits RANKL-induced PRMT1 expression through receptors-independent pathway. Thus, the anti-osteoclastogenic effect of melatonin was mediated by a cascade of inhibition of RANKL-induced TRAF6, JNK, PRMT1, and NF-κB signaling in melatonin receptors-independent pathway. In vivo, ovariectomy caused significant decreases in bone mineral density, but melatonin treatment alleviated the ovariectomized (OVX)-induced bone loss by inhibiting bone resorption. Furthermore, the expression PRMT1 and TRAP mRNA was upregulated in OVX-femurs, but effectively suppressed by melatonin injection. These findings suggest that melatonin inhibited osteoclast differentiation and estrogen deficiency–induced osteoporosis by suppressing RANKL-induced TRAF6, JNK, PRMT1, and NF-κB signaling cascades in melatonin receptors-independent pathway.
Ιστορική εξέλιξη του βατήρα αλμάτων από τον 17ο αιώνα μέχρι το τέλος του 19ου αιώνα
Authors: Καϊμακάμης Βασίλειος 
Published: March 2021

Λεπτομερείς πληροφορίες για τον βατήρα αλμάτων (εικόνα και περιγραφή) έχουμε για πρώτη φορά στο βιβλίο που εξέδωσε το 1599 ο Ιταλός ακροβάτης Αρχάγγελο Τουκάρο. Από τότε, μέχρι και τις πρώτες δεκαετίες του 19ου αιώνα, χρησιμοποιούσαν βατήρες κυρίως οι διάφοροι ακροβάτες για την εκτέλεση θεαματικών ασκήσεων. Ως γυμναστικό όργανο για άλματα στον γυμναστικό ίππο, στο μποκ και στο τραπέζιο, ο βατήρας άρχισε να χρησιμοποιείται από τον θεμελιωτή του γερμανικού γυμναστικού συστήματος (Γιάν) και τους διαδόχους του. Από τα μέσα του 19ου αιώνα και μετά άρχισαν να παρατίθενται στη βιβλιογραφία της εποχής με κάθε λεπτομέρεια διάφοροι τύποι βατήρων (μορφή, διαστάσεις, υλικό κατασκευής, ειδική χρήση). Τέτοιους βατήρες παρουσιάζουν οι Γερμανοί Λιον (1866) και Όϊλερ, Κλούκε (1872). Ας σημειωθεί ότι την εποχή αυτή και μέχρι το τέλος του 19ου αιώνα, στα αγωνιστικά συστήματα των γυμναστικών αγωνισμάτων ο βατήρας χρησιμοποιήθηκε λιγότερο για τη διαπέραση του ίππου αλμάτων (μποκ, τραπέζιο, πλινθίο) και περισσότερο για ακροβατικά άλματα ή άλματα σε ύψος και μήκος. Στην ελληνική αθλητική βιβλιογραφία του 19ου αιώνα, παρά το γεγονός ότι γίνεται αρκετή αναφορά στο γυμναστικό ίππο, δεν υπάρχει καμία αναφορά στον βατήρα.
Psychosemantic research of the professional image of law enforcement officers
Authors: Vasil'eva Inna , Vozzhenikova Ol'ga 
Published: March 2021

It is stated that in recent years, in civil society and legal science there has been growing interest regarding the problem of the police officer’s image in the social conscience. Many scientific articles devoted to this theme have been published, where such issues as forming the police officer’s image in the mass media, appreciating the police activity by civil society, searching for ways of forming the positive police officer’s image, etc. are of special interest. This scientific research was aimed at appreciating the peculiarities of perceiving the professional image of law enforcement officers. In the course of the research 92 police officers were interviewed through filling the anonymous questionnaire in google-forms. Trainees of the management faculties and postgraduates of the scientific-pedagogic personnel training faculty of the Academy of Management of the MIA of Russia were the research participants. The data collection was accomplished by means of filling the google-forms. The research was conducted in anonymous format. It was stated that the application of the psychosemantic approach allowed to obtain more reliable information from the respondents than the methods of direct questions. The data were collected over the period from April to June 2020. The semantic field containing 828 words was obtained by means of applying the method of free associations to the incentive “image of law enforcement officers”. The obtained associations were classified into some semantic groups. Such service as https://облакослов.рф was used for selecting the largest semantic units. It allowed to visualize the most frequently used associations (100 of them) in the form of “word cloud”. The research results identifted the key importance of such words as “law”, “responsible”, “honest”, “to protect”, “to help” and others when characterizing both the image and professional activities of police officers.
Conclusions: 1) the application of the psychosemantic approach in the research of the professional image allowed to study the representation of law enforcement officers; 2) the activities of the law enforcement units responsible for moral and psychological training are considered as effective since the professional image of law enforcement officers is formed from the semantic markers of positive connotation, reflecting their functions related to law protecting and ensuring security and social health.
The study was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research within the framework of scientific project No. 20-013-00423.
Real-time detection and motivation of eating activity in elderly people with dementia using Pose Estimation with TensorFlow and OpenCV.
Authors: Nour Mhamed 
Published: March 2021

The objective of this research is to automatically detect the intake of meals for elderly people with dementia living alone by using a Pose Estimation procedure with TensorFlow and OpenCV.
Such service based on an Artificial Intelligence product will require minimum intervention of the caregiver or a person as medical support.

We proposed a method for the automatic eating activity detection. We will use this approach for human activity detection in general, for instance monitoring the security and the protection of the patient, automatic motivation of the patient to eat in case no eating detection has been done.
The choice of appropriate AI assistive technology was done to satisfy both the elderly people with neurodegenerative disorders and the caregiver, to verify the ethical aspect, simplify design, optimize code, and improve user friendly aspects.
The existence of minimizers for an isoperimetric problem with Wasserstein penalty term in unbounded domains
Authors: Xia Qinglan , Zhou Bohan 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
In this article, we consider the (double) minimization problem

min
⁡

{

P
⁢

(
E
;
Ω
)

+

λ
⁢

W
p

⁢

(
E
,
F
)

:

E
⊆
Ω

,

F
⊆

R
d

,

|

E
∩
F

|

=
0

,

|
E
|

=

|
F
|

=
1

}

,

\min\{P(E;\Omega)+\lambda W_{p}(E,F):E\subseteq\Omega,\,F\subseteq\mathbb{R}^{d},\,\lvert E\cap F\rvert=0,\,\lvert E\rvert=\lvert F\rvert=1\},

where

λ
⩾
0

\lambda\geqslant 0

,

p
⩾
1

p\geqslant 1

, Ω is a (possibly unbounded) domain in

R
d

\mathbb{R}^{d}

,

P
⁢

(
E
;
Ω
)

P(E;\Omega)

denotes the relative perimeter of 𝐸 in Ω and

W
p

W_{p}

denotes the 𝑝-Wasserstein distance.
When Ω is unbounded and

d
⩾
3

d\geqslant 3

, it is an open problem proposed by Buttazzo, Carlier and Laborde in the paper On the Wasserstein distance between mutually singular measures.
We prove the existence of minimizers to this problem when the dimension

d
⩾
1

d\geqslant 1

,

1
p

+

2
d

>
1

\frac{1}{p}+\frac{2}{d}>1

,

Ω
=

R
d

\Omega=\mathbb{R}^{d}

and 𝜆 is sufficiently small.
Automated cell count in body fluids: a review
Authors: Alcaide Martín María José , Altimira Queral Laura , Sahuquillo Frías Laura , Valiña Amado Laura , Merino Anna , García de Guadiana-Romualdo Luis 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Body fluid cell counting provides valuable information for the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of conditions. Chamber cell count and cellularity analysis by optical microscopy are considered the gold-standard method for cell counting. However, this method has a long turnaround time and limited reproducibility, and requires highly-trained personnel. In the recent decades, specific modes have been developed for the analysis of body fluids. These modes, which perform automated cell counting, are incorporated into hemocytometers and urine analyzers. These innovations have been rapidly incorporated into routine laboratory practice. At present, a variety of analyzers are available that enable automated cell counting for body fluids. Nevertheless, these analyzers have some limitations and can only be operated by highly-qualified laboratory professionals. In this review, we provide an overview of the most relevant automated cell counters currently available for body fluids, the interpretation of the parameters measured by these analyzers, their main analytical features, and the role of optical microscopy as automated cell counters gain ground.
Circ_WWC3 overexpression decelerates the progression of osteosarcoma by regulating miR-421/PDE7B axis
Authors: Liu Sihai , Zhang Jing , Zheng Ting , Mou Xiongneng , Xin Wenwei 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Background
Emerging evidence has shown that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are vital regulators in osteosarcoma (OS) progression. However, the effects of circ_WWC3 in OS have not been explored. In this research, the functions and mechanisms of circ_WWC3 in OS were investigated.

Methods
Quantitative reverse trancription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was adopted to determine the levels of circ_WWC3, WW and WWC3 mRNA, miR-421, and phosphodiesterase 7B (PDE7B) mRNA. RNase R assay was used to determine the characteristic of circ_WWC3. Colony formation assay and 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay were applied for cell growth. Transwell assay was performed for cell migration and invasion. Flow cytometry analysis was utilized for cell apoptosis. Western blot assay was conducted for the levels of apoptosis-related proteins and PDE7B protein. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was carried out to analyze the targeting relationship between miR-421 and circ_WWC3 or PDE7B. The murine xenograft model was established to explore the effect of circ_WWC3 in vivo.

Results
Compared to normal tissues and cells, circ_WWC3 and PDE7B were downregulated in OS tissues and cells. Overexpression of circ_WWC3 or PDE7B suppressed OS cell growth, migration, and invasion and promoted apoptosis in vitro. Regarding the mechanism analysis, circ_WWC3 positively modulated PDE7B expression by targeting miR-421. MiR-421 overexpression restored the impacts of circ_WWC3 on OS cell growth, metastasis, and apoptosis. Inhibition of miR-421 repressed the malignant behaviors of OS cells by targeting PDE7B. In addition, circ_WWC3 inhibited the tumorigenicity of OS in vivo.

Conclusion
Circ_WWC3 overexpression slowed the development of OS by elevating PDE7B via sponging miR-421.
CO2 gas separation using mixed matrix membranes based on polyethersulfone/MIL-100(Al)
Authors: Lestari Witri Wahyu , Al Adawiyah Robiah , Khafidhin Moh Ali , Wijiyanti Rika , Widiastuti Nurul , Handayani Desi Suci 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
The excessive use of natural gas and other fossil fuels by the industrial sector leads to the production of great quantities of gas pollutants, including CO2, SO2, and NO
x
. Consequently, these gases increase the temperature of the earth, producing global warming. Different strategies have been developed to help overcome this problem, including the utilization of separation membrane technology. Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) are hybrid membranes that combine an organic polymer as a matrix and an inorganic compound as a filler. In this study, MMMs were prepared based on polyethersulfone (PES) and a type of metal–organic framework (MOF), Materials of Institute Lavoisier (MIL)-100(Al) [Al3O(H2O)2(OH)(BTC)2] (BTC: benzene 1,3,5-tricarboxylate) using a phase inversion method. The influence on the properties of the produced membranes by addition of 5, 10, 20, and 30% MIL-100(Al) (w/w) to the PES was also investigated. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis indicated that no chemical interactions occurred between PES and MIL-100(Al). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed agglomeration at PES/MIL-100(Al) 30% (w/w) and that the thickness of the dense layer increased up to 3.70 µm. After the addition of MIL-100(Al) of 30% (w/w), the permeability of the MMMs for CO2, O2, and N2 gases was enhanced by approximately 16, 26, and 14 times, respectively, as compared with a neat PES membrane. The addition of MIL-100(Al) to PES increased the thermal stability of the membranes, reaching 40°C as indicated by thermogravimetry analysis (TGA). An addition of 20% MIL-100(Al) (w/w) increased membrane selectivity for CO2/O2 from 2.67 to 4.49 (approximately 68.5%), and the addition of 10% MIL-100(Al) increased membrane selectivity for CO2/N2 from 1.01 to 2.12 (approximately 110.1%).