bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Novel SCA3 Knock-in Mouse Model Mimics the Human SCA3 Disease Phenotype Including Neuropathological, Behavioral, and Transcriptional Abnormalities Especially in Oligodendrocytes
Authors: Haas Eva , Incebacak Rana D. , Hentrich Thomas , Huridou Chrisovalantou , Schmidt Thorsten , Casadei Nicolas , Maringer Yacine , Bahl Carola , Zimmermann Frank , Mills James D. , Aronica Eleonora , Riess Olaf , Schulze-Hentrich Julia M. , Huebener-Schmid Jeannette 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 is the most common autosomal dominant inherited ataxia worldwide, caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the Ataxin-3 gene resulting in a polyQ-expansion in the corresponding protein. The disease is characterized by neuropathological, phenotypical, and specific transcriptional changes in affected brain regions. So far, there is no mouse model available representing all the different aspects of the disease, yet highly needed for a better understanding of the disease pathomechanisms. Here, we characterized a novel Ataxin-3 knock-in mouse model, expressing a heterozygous or homozygous expansion of 304 CAACAGs in the murine Ataxin-3 locus using biochemical, behavioral, and transcriptomic approaches. We compared neuropathological, and behavioral features of the new knock-in model with the in SCA3 research mostly used YAC84Q mouse model. Further, we compared transcriptional changes found in cerebellar samples of SCA3 the knock-in mice and post-mortem human SCA3 patients. The novel knock-in mouse is characterized by the expression of a polyQ-expansion in the murine Ataxin-3 protein, leading to aggregate formation, especially in brain regions known to be vulnerable in SCA3 patients, and impairment of Purkinje cells. Along these neuropathological changes, the mice showed a reduction in body weight accompanied by gait and balance instability. Transcriptomic analysis of cerebellar tissue revealed age-dependent differential expression, enriched for genes attributed to myelinating oligodendrocytes. Comparing these changes with those found in cerebellar tissue of SCA3 patients, we discovered an overlap of differentially expressed genes pointing towards similar gene expression perturbances in several genes linked to myelin sheaths and myelinating oligodendrocytes.
Impact of Manipulating Quail Eggs with Betaine During Early Embryogenesis on Chick Development, Hatchability, Hematological Variables, and Some Physiological Estimates
Authors: Abuoghaba Ahmed Abdelkareem , Ali Fatma , Abdelwahab Amira Ahmed Mohamed 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
This study evaluated the effect of spraying incubated quail eggs with betaine on chick development, hatchability and some physiological estimates of Japanese quails during early embryogenesis. A total of 750 eggs were equally divided into two groups (2 groups × 5 treatments × 5 replicates × 15 eggs). Eggs in the 1st group were incubated at normal incubation temperature (37.5°C/NIT), while those in the 2nd group were incubated at chronic incubation temperature (39.5 °C/CIT) for 3 hours daily from the 4th up to and 6th day of incubation. Eggs in NIT and CIT groups were subjected to five treatments, T1 (negative control), T2 sprayed distilled water (positive control), while T3, T4, T5 groups sprayed distilled water supplemented with 500, 1000 and 2000mg betaine/L respectively. The chick weight at hatch and slaughter weight and first egg weight was significantly impaired by CIT treatment. CIT group revealed a significant increase in the H/L ratio and a significant decrease in T3 hormone and blood protein levels than the NIT group. Regarding betaine effects, the embryonic mortality rates, hatchability, hatched chick weight, and slaughter weight were significantly improved compared with the control. Also, betaine significantly increased blood protein and T3 hormone levels and significantly decrease the liver enzymes levels and total feed consumption compared with untreated group. The RV/TV ratio of quails in CIT group was significantly increased, while betaine treatment significantly decreased this ratio. Considering these results, it’s strongly suggested that spraying of betaine on eggs at 1000 or 2000 mg//L optimizes Japanese quails performance.
Serum IL-27 Predicts the Severity and Prognosis in Patients With Community-acquired Pneumonia: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Xu Zheng , Liu Hong-Yan , Feng Chun-Mei , Hua Dong-Xu , Cheng Jia-Yi , Fu Lin , Zhao Hui 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Background: The previous studies have revealed that IL-27 was involved in the pathophysiology of pulmonary inflammatory diseases. However, the role of IL-27 in the community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was unclear. The goal of this research was to explore the associations of serum IL-27 with the severity and prognosis among CAP patients through a prospective cohort study.Methods: The whole of 239 healthy population and 239 CAP patients were enrolled. Fasting blood samples were collected. Inflammatory cytokines were detected using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Demographic characteristics and clinical information were analyzed. Results: Serum IL-27 was significantly risen in CAP patients compared with control subjects on admission. Besides, serum IL-27 was gradually increased in line with CAP severity scores among CAP patients. Analysis on relevance suggested that serum IL-27 was associated with blood routine indices, renal function, liver function, myocardial function and inflammatory cytokines. Linear regression and logistic regression revealed that serum IL-27 was positively correlated with CAP severity scores. Logistic regression demonstrated that serum IL-27 on admission was positively correlated with vasoactive agent usage and longer hospital stay during hospitalization among CAPO patients. Conclusions: Serum IL-27 is markedly and positively associated with the severity and poor prognosis among CAP patients, indicating that IL-27 may involve in the pathophysiological process of CAP. Serum IL-27 may be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for CAP patients.
Expression Profile and Prognostic Values of SMC Family Members in HCC
Authors: Yan Wei , Wang Dan-dan , Zhang He-da , Huang Jinny , Hou Jun-Chen , Yang Sun-Jin , Zhang Jian , Lu Ling , Zhang Qian 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Background: The structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) gene family, comprising 6 members, is involved in a wide spectrum of biological functions in many types of human cancers. However, there is little research on the expression profile and prognostic values of SMC genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Based on updated public resources and integrative bioinformatics analysis, we tried to determine the value of SMC gene expression in predicting the risk of developing HCC. Methods and materials: The expression data of SMC family members were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The prognostic values of SMC members and clinical features were identified. A gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to explore the mechanism underlying the involvement of SMC members in liver cancer. The associations between tumor immune infiltrating cells (TIICs) and the SMC family members were evaluated using the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database. Results: Our analysis demonstrated that mRNA downregulation of SMC genes was common alteration in HCC patients. SMC1A, SMC2, SMC3, SMC4, SMC6 were upregulated in HCC. Upregulation of SMC2, SMC3 and SMC4, along with clinical stage, were associated with a poor HCC prognosis based on the results of univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. SMC2, SMC3 and SMC4 are also related to tumor purity and immune infiltration levels of HCC. The GSEA results indicated that SMC members participate in multiple biological processes underlying tumorigenesis. Conclusion: This study comprehensively analyzed the expression of SMC gene family members in patients with HCC. This can provide insights for further investigation of the SMC family members as potential targets in HCC and suggest that the use of SMC inhibitor targeting SMC2, SMC3 and SMC4 may be an effective strategy for HCC therapy.
A numerical feasibility study on monitoring bone health using microwave tomography: towards a wearable design
Authors: Alkhodari Mohanad , Zakaria Amer , Qaddoumi Nasser 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Background: Osteoporosis is the major cause of bone weakness and fragility in more than 10 million people in the United States. This disease causes bone fractures in the hip or spine, which result in increasing the risk of disabilities or even death. The current gold standard in osteoporosis diagnostics, X-ray, although reliable, it uses ionizing radiations that makes it unfeasible for early and continuous monitoring applications. Recently, microwave tomography (MWT) has been emerging as a biomedical imaging modality that utilizes non-ionizing electromagnetic signals to screen bones' electrical properties. These properties are highly correlated to bones' density, which makes MWT to be an effective and safe alternative for frequent testing in osteoporosis diagnostics. Results: Both of the conventional and wearable simulated systems were successful in localizing the tibia and fibula bones in the enhanced MWT images. Furthermore, structure extraction of the leg’s model from the blind MWT images had a minimal error compared to the original one (L2-norm: 15.60%). Under five sequentially-incremental bone volume fraction (BVF) scenarios simulating bones' treatment procedure, bones were detected successfully and their density were found to be inversely proportional to the real-part of the relative permittivity values. Conclusions: This study paves the way towards implementing a safe and user-friendly MWT system that can be wearable to monitor bone degradation or treatment for osteoporosis cases. Methods: An anatomically-realistic finite-element (FE) model representing the human leg was initially generated and filled with corresponding tissues' (skin, fat, muscles, and bones) dielectric properties. Then, numerically, the forward and inverse MWT problems were solved within the framework of the finite-element method contrast source inversion algorithm (FEM-CSI). Furthermore, image reconstruction enhancements were investigated by utilizing prior information about different tissues as an inhomogeneous background as well as by adjusting the imaging domain and antennas locations based on the prior structural information. In addition, the utilization of a medically-approved matching medium that can be used in wearable applications, namely an ultrasound gel, was suggested. Additionally, an approach based on k-means clustering was developed to extract the prior structural information from blind reconstructions. Lastly. the enhanced images were used to monitor variations in BVF.
Epinephrine Versus Placebo During Resuscitation After Neonatal Hypoxic Cardiac Arrest: The Effect on ROSC and Markers of CNS Outcome Investigated in a Piglet Model
Authors: Andersen Hannah Brogaard , Andersen Mads , Andelius Ted Carl , Pedersen Mette Vestergård , Løfgren Bo , Pedersen Michael , Ringgaard Steffen , Kyng Kasper Jacobsen , Henriksen Tine Brink 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Background: Epinephrine is an integral component of neonatal resuscitation guidelines, despite sparse evidence. The association between advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poor neurodevelopment is well known, and epinephrine may improve short-term survival but at the cost of poor neurologic outcome. Our objectives were to investigate the effect of epinephrine vs placebo in a piglet model of neonatal hypoxic cardiac arrest (CA) by: 1) return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), 2) time-to-ROSC, 3) markers of CNS outcome by magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging (MRS/MRI), and 4) composite endpoint of death or severe CNS outcome. Methods: Twenty-five newborn piglets under 12 hours of age underwent hypoxia. Hypoxia was induced by clamping the endotracheal tube until CA (mean arterial blood pressure <20 mmHg and heart rate <60 bpm). CPR was commenced five minutes after CA. The animals were randomized to either CPR + intravenous epinephrine or CPR + placebo (saline). MRS/MRI was performed six hours after resuscitation. Results: ROSC was more frequent in animals subjected to epinephrine than placebo; RR = 2.31 (95 % CI: 1.09 to 5.77). We found no difference between groups in time-to-ROSC. Among survivors, we found no difference between groups in brain lactate/N-acetyl-aspartate ratios (Lac/NAA), N-acetyl-aspartate/creatine ratios (NAA/Cr), diffusion-weighted-signal, or oxygenation-dependent-signal. We found a tendency towards reduced risk of the composite endpoint of death or severe CNS outcome in animals resuscitated with epinephrine compared to placebo, RR = 0.7 (95 % CI: 0.37 to 1.19).Conclusions: Resuscitation with epinephrine compared to placebo improved ROSC frequency after neonatal hypoxic CA. Surviving animals after resuscitation with epinephrine compared to placebo showed no difference in MRS/MRI markers of brain damage. These results support that epinephrine improves short-term survival without increasing brain injury measured by early imaging biomarkers.
Modeling of Critical Cutting Speed of White Layer Formation in Hard-Cutting Process
Authors: Fangyuan Zhang , Kai Li , Chunzheng Duan 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
White layer exists on the machined surface of the hard-cutting and affects the surface quality and mechanical properties of a workpiece. Accurate predicting the critical cutting speed of white layer formation is of great significance for controlling the surface quality and selecting appropriate cutting parameters. In this work, an austenite transformation driving force calculation model of the white layer formation was established based on phase transformation thermodynamics theory, in which the influence of cutting temperature, stress and strain on the austenite transformation driving force in the hard-cutting process was taken into account. Second, a finite element (FE) model of the hard-cutting process was built by using hardened AISI52100 steel as cutting material. Then, a prediction model of critical cutting speed of the white layer formation was developed in combination with the austenite transformation driving force model and the hard-cutting FE model. Finally, the critical cutting speeds of the white layer formation at different chip thicknesses, tool rake angles and different levels of flank wear were simulated by using the critical cutting speed prediction model.
The Medical Futility Experience of Nursing Professionals in Greece
Authors: Voultsos Polychronis , Tsompanian Anna , Tsaroucha Alexandra K. 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Background
Providing futile medical care is an ever timely ethical problem in clinical practice. While nursing personnel are very closely involved in providing direct care to patients nearing the end of life, their role in end-of-life decision making remains unclear.
Methods
This is a prospective qualitative study conducted with experienced nursing professionals from December 2020 through May 2021. Individual in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with sixteen participants. We performed a thematic analysis of the data.
Results
Importantly, many participants were half-hearted in their attitude towards accepting or defining futile medical care. Furthermore, interestingly, emerged a list of well-described circumstances, under which the dying process is most likely to be a “bad and undignified” process. These circumstances reflected situations revolving around: a) pain and suffering, b) treating patients with respect, c) the appearance and image of the patient body, and d) the interaction between patients and their relatives. Fear of legal action, lack of regulatory framework, physicians pressured from (mostly uninformed) family members and physicians’ personal motives were reported as important reasons behind providing futile medical care. It is highlighted the nursing professional’s role as participant in decisions on futile care and as mediator between physicians and patients (and family members). Furthermore, it is prioritized the patient’s role in decisions on futile care. It is highlighted the impact of patient’s effort to keep themselves alive on nursing professionals’ willingness to provide care. Providing futile care is a major factor that negatively affects the nursing professionals’ inner attitude towards performing their duties. Finally, the psychological benefits of providing a futile medical care are highlighted, and the importance of the lack of adequately developed end-of-life care facilities in Greece is emphasized.
Conclusions
These findings enforce our opinion that futile medical care should be conceptualized in the strict sense of the term, namely, as caring for a brain-dead individual or a patient in a medical condition whose continuation would most likely go against the patient’s presumed preference (strictly understood). For a great part, our findings were consistent with prior literature. However, we identified some issues that are of clinical importance.
The 16-Year Periodicity In The Winter Surface Temperature Variations In The Antarctic Peninsula Region
Authors: Evtushevsky Oleksandr , Grytsai Asen , Agapitov Oleksiy , Kravchenko Volodymyr , Milinevsky Gennadi 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
The aim of this work is a comprehensive study of the 16-year periodicity of winter surface temperature in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) region, described earlier, and its possible source based on weather station records over the 1952–2019 period making use of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Reference Antarctic Data for Environmental Research (READER) database, as well as Fourier and wavelet analysis methods. It is shown that interdecadal oscillation with a period of about 16 years dominates in the northern AP (Esperanza and Orcadas), which is consistent with previous results. The 16-year periodicity is found to closely correlate with the sea level pressure anomaly in the southwestern Atlantic associated with the zonal wave-3 and the Southern Annular Mode patterns. The correlation maximum in the southwestern Atlantic, having the characteristic features of the anticyclonic circulation, affects the surface temperature in the northern AP through the related structure of the zonal and meridional wind anomalies. This effect is weaker to the south, where the Vernadsky station data do not show a regular interdecadal periodicity. Due to the correlated variability in the wave-3 ridges, the pronounced 16-year periods exist also in the surface temperature of southern Australia–New Zealand region, as well as in the zonal mean sea level pressure at 30–50°S. The sea surface temperatures are much less involved in the 16-year oscillation suggesting that atmospheric rather than oceanic processes appear to be more important for its occurrence.
Virulence-Associated Genes and Genetic Diversity of Avian Pathogenic (APEC) and Fecal (AFEC) E. Coli Isolates from Chickens
Authors: Zhu Zhen , Cao Mingze , Wang Weiwei , Zhu Qiqi , Wang Chengye , Zhang Yongying , Shi Yuxiang , Zhou Xuzheng , Cui Guangbin , Zhang Jiyu 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Background: Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) is the etiologic agent of serious colibacillosis and causes extensive economic losses. To examine the genetic background of APEC, we characterized the serotypes, virulence genes, phylogenetic classification and MLST of 392 APEC and 586 AFEC strains isolated from infected chickens. Results: The results showed that the most predominant serotypes were O78 (13.47%), O2 (9.16%), O18 (5.39%), O20 (4.42%) and O25 (4.09%). The major serotypes O78 (13.47%) and O2 (9.16%) were significantly higher in the APEC isolates than in the AFEC isolates. Among the 16 analyzed virulence-associated genes (VAGs), iroN (100%), ompT (100%), fimC (92.46%), iss (77.91%) and irp2 (71.98%) were the most frequently identified. Over half (54.85%) of the strains possessed > 8–13 VAGs, and 85.23% of the strains carried iroN-ompT-fimC-iss/irp2 VAG patterns. According to the phylogenetic analysis, phylogroups A (32.11%) and B2 (31.36%) proved to be the most prevalent phylogenetic groups in the AFEC and APEC isolates, respectively. The strains that belonged to phylogroup B2 were associated with more VAGs. Based on MLST, 46 STs belonging to 15 different clonal complexes were identified, and 4 were novel. ST88 (10.67%) was found to be the most dominant ST, and it possessed at least 9 VAGs and belonged to phylogroups B2 or D. Furthermore, the isolates belonging to B2-O78/O2-ST88 were the most likely APEC isolates to be associated with epidemics, and they carried more VAGs than the other strains. Conclusions: Our findings have enriched our knowledge of the molecular characteristics of APEC isolates from chickens, which will be important for the prevention and control of avian colibacillosis.
Design and Optimization of Variable Pitch End Mills Based on Dynamic Balance Accuracy
Authors: Nie Wanying , Zheng Minli , Xu Shicheng , Liu Yuexiu , Yu Haibin 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Variable pitch end mills are widely used in the high-speed milling process due to having better vibration reduction properties. However, because of the unequal pitch angles and the asymmetrical structure of end mills, there are principle error, poor dynamic balance accuracy, and serious tool vibration problems in the milling process. In order to improve the dynamic balance accuracy of variable pitch end mills, the structure of the end mill is designed and optimized based on the minimum eccentricity criterion in this paper. Firstly, by analyzing the dynamic balance of variable pitch end mills, the relationship between it and eccentricity is defined, and the end section model and the centroid equation are developed through the structure design of end mills. Then, the optimization method of variable pitch end mills is analyzed, the eccentricity decreases from e0= 150um to e'0 = 3um based on this method. the structure of the end mill is optimized to meet the design criteria, which improves the balance accuracy level of end mills. Finally, through the modal analysis for the optimized structure of the variable pitch end mill, the maximum relative displacement in the mode is reduced by about 17%, it is verified that the optimized end mills have better dynamic performances, which is of great significance for alleviating the cutting vibration and improving the cutting stability.