bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Association Between Late Gadolinium Enhancement by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance and Ventricular Arrhythmia in Patients With Mitral Valve Prolapse: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Tang Xiaofu , Fan Weiguo 
Published: July 2024

ABSTRACTIntroductionMalignant ventricular arrhythmia (VA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) have been reported in patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP); however, effective risk stratification methods are still lacking. Myocardial fibrosis is thought to play an important role in the development of VA; however, observational studies have produced contradictory findings regarding the relationship between VA and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in MVP patients. The aim of this meta‐analysis and systematic review of observational studies was to investigate the association between left ventricular LGE and VA in patients with MVP.MethodsWe searched the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases from 1993 to 2023 to identify case–control, cross‐sectional, and cohort studies that compared the incidence of VA in patients with MVP who had left ventricular LGE and those without left ventricular LGE.ResultsA total of 1464 subjects with MVP from 12 observational studies met the eligibility criteria. Among them, VA episodes were reported in 221 individuals (15.1%). Meta‐analysis demonstrated that the presence of left ventricular LGE was significantly associated with an increased risk of VA (pooled risk ratio 2.96, 95% CI: 2.26−3.88, p for heterogeneity = 0.07, I2 = 40%). However, a meta‐regression analysis of the prevalence of mitral regurgitation (MR) showed that the severity of MR did not significantly affect the association between the occurrence of LGE and VA (p = 0.079).ConclusionThe detection of LGE could be helpful for stratifying the risk of VA in patients with MVP.
Treatment with the SQ tree sublingual immunotherapy tablet is safe and well tolerated in real‐life
Authors: Pfaar Oliver , Wolf Hendrik , Reiber Rainer , Knulst André , Sidenius Kirsten , Mäkelä Mika J. , Steinsvåg Sverre , Janson Christer , van der Zwan Leonard , Uss Elena , Arvidsson Peter , Borchert Kathrin , Himmelhaus Helena , Wüstenberg Eike 
Published: July 2024

AbstractBackgroundThe SQ tree sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT)‐tablet is authorised for treatment of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis with or without asthma in trees of the birch homologous group in 21 European countries. The primary objective of this study was to explore the safety in real‐life.MethodsIn a prospective, non‐interventional post‐authorisation safety study (EUPAS31470), adverse events (AEs) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) at first administration and follow‐up visits, symptoms, medication use, and pollen food syndrome were recorded by physicians in 6 European countries during the first 4–6 months of treatment.ResultsADRs with the SQ tree SLIT‐tablet were reported in 57.7% of 1069 total patients (median age 36.0 years, 53.7% female) during the entire observation period (severity, mild‐to‐moderate: 70.1%, severe: 4.7%, serious: 0.7%) and in 45.9% after first administration. ADRs were not increased with pollen exposure at first administration. With coadministration of the SQ tree and grass SLIT‐tablet AEs were reported in 73.8% of patients and in 52.8% with the SQ tree SLIT‐tablet alone. Nasal and eye symptoms improved in 86.9% and 80.9% of patients and use of symptomatic medication in 76.0%. PFS with symptoms was reported in 43.0% of patients at baseline and in 4.3% at the individual last visit.ConclusionsThe results of this non‐interventional safety study with the SQ tree SLIT‐tablet confirm the safety profile from placebo‐controlled clinical trials and support effectiveness in real‐life according to the published efficacy data. Safety was not impaired by pollen exposure at first administration or co‐administration with other SLIT‐tablets.
Role of actin‐binding proteins in cataract formation
Authors: Karakosta Christina , Samiotaki Martina , Panayotou George , Papakonstantinou Dimitrios , Moschos Marilita M. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractIntroductionActin has been implicated in lens opacification; however, the specific actin‐related pathways involved in cataracts remain unelucidated. In this study, actin‐related proteome changes and signaling pathways involved in the development of cataracts were evaluated.MethodsThe anterior capsule and phacoemulsification (phaco) cassette contents were collected during cataract surgery from 11 patients with diabetic cataract (DC), 12 patients with age‐related cataract (ARC), and seven patients with post‐vitrectomy cataract (PVC). Untargeted, global identification and quantification of proteins was performed through liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry with the data‐independent acquisition (DIA).ResultsIn phaco cassette samples, proteins with significantly lower expression in ARC than in DC and PVC were involved in various pathways, including actin binding, actin cytoskeleton reorganization, actin filament capping, cortical actin cytoskeleton organization, and small GTPase‐mediated signal transduction pathways. In anterior capsules, proteins with significantly lower expression in ARC than in DC and PVC were involved in actin binding and actin cytoskeleton reorganization pathways.ConclusionActin cytoskeleton and actin‐binding proteins are involved in lens fiber elongation and differentiation. Rho GTPases contribute to actin cytoskeletal reorganization, and their inactivation is linked to abnormal lens fiber migration. These findings link actin binding to lens fiber integrity, lens opacification, and cataracts.
Fourier‐transform mid‐infrared spectroscopy for in vitro protein digestibility measurement of pulse crops
Authors: Madurapperumage Amod , Windsor Nathan , Johnson Nathan , Thavarajah Pushparajah , Tang Leung , Thavarajah Dil 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe standard method of estimating in vitro protein digestibility, the protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) assay, does not support the expected workflow of a pulse breeding program. This is mainly due to its low‐throughput design and long processing time (∼16–24 h) per sample. Fourier‐transform mid‐infrared (FT‐MIR) spectroscopy has been developed as a high‐throughput phenotyping tool to estimate protein digestibility in pulses. The mid‐infrared region representing the amide I band (1756.81–1586.27 cm−1) was utilized to perform chemometric modeling with partial least squares regression (PLSR) to estimate in vitro protein digestibility in dry pea (Pisum sativum L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) flours. The root mean square error of predictions of the developed PLSR models for dry pea, lentil, and chickpea were 0.00039, 0.00024, and 0.00017, respectively. Phenotyping with the FT‐MIR approach is more rapid than with the PDCAAS assay and estimates protein digestibility from the flour of a single seed in a shorter time (∼1–2 min). The FT‐MIR approach is robust as the spectroscopic data are consistent and chemically fingerprint this nutritional trait. Accordingly, FT‐MIR can resolve the phenotypic bottleneck of pulse breeding related to in vitro protein digestibility measurements by enabling a high‐throughput phenotyping workflow.
Model‐Assisted Optimization of Xylose, Arabinose, Glucose, Mannose, Galactose and Real Hemicellulose Streams Dehydration To (Hydroxymethyl)Furfural and Levulinic Acid
Authors: Jakob Ana , Likozar Blaž , Grilc Miha 
Published: July 2024

AbstractConversion of hemicellulose streams and the constituent monosaccharides, xylose, arabinose, glucose, mannose, and galactose, was conducted to produce value‐added chemicals, including furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), levulinic acid and anhydrosugars. The study aimed at developing a kinetic model relevant for direct post‐Organosolv hemicellulose conversion. Monosaccharides served as a tool to in detail describe the kinetic behavior and segregate contribution of hydrothermal decomposition and acid catalyzed dehydration at the temperature range of 120–190 °C. Catalyst free aqueous media demonstrated enhanced formation of furanics, while elevated temperatures led to significant saccharide isomerization. The introduction of sulfuric and formic acids maximized furfural yield and significantly reduced HMF concentration by facilitating its rehydration into levulinic acid (46 mol%). Formic acid additionally substantially enhanced formation of anhydrosaccharides. An excellent correlation between modeled and experimental data enabled process optimization to maximize furanic yield in two distinct hemicellulose streams. Sulfuric acid‐containing hemicellulose stream achieved the highest furfural yield after 30 minutes at 238 °C, primarily due to the high Ea for pentose dehydration (150–160 kJ mol−1). Contrarily, formic acid‐containing hemicellulose stream enabled maximal furfural yield at more moderate temperature and extended reaction time due to its lower Ea for the same reaction step (115–125 kJ mol−1).
Current evidence of climate‐driven colour change in insects and its impact on sexual signals
Authors: Haque Md Tangigul , Khan Md Kawsar , Herberstein Marie E. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe colours of insects function in intraspecific communication such as sexual signalling, interspecific communication such as protection from predators, and in physiological processes, such as thermoregulation. The expression of melanin‐based colours is temperature‐dependent and thus likely to be impacted by a changing climate. However, it is unclear how climate change drives changes in body and wing colour may impact insect physiology and their interactions with conspecifics (e.g. mates) or heterospecific (e.g. predators or prey). The aim of this review is to synthesise the current knowledge of the consequences of climate‐driven colour change on insects. Here, we discuss the environmental factors that affect insect colours, and then we outline the adaptive mechanisms in terms of phenotypic plasticity and microevolutionary response. Throughout we discuss the impact of climate‐related colour change on insect physiology, and interactions with con‐and‐heterospecifics.
Behavioural changes in the city: The common black garden ant defends aphids more aggressively in urban environments
Authors: Gaber Hannah , Ruland Florian , Jeschke Jonathan M. , Bernard‐Verdier Maud 
Published: July 2024

AbstractUrbanisation alters biodiversity patterns and threatens to disrupt mutualistic interactions. Aside from pollination, however, little is known about how mutualisms change in cities. Our study aimed to assess how urbanisation affects the protective mutualism between ants and aphids, investigating potential behavioural changes in mutualistic ants and their implications for aphids in urban environments. To do so, we studied the protective mutualism between the pink tansy aphid (Metopeurum fuscoviride) and the black garden ant (Lasius niger) along an urbanisation gradient in Berlin, Germany. In nine locations along this gradient, we measured aphid colony dynamics and proxies for parasitism, quantified the investment of ants in tending aphids and conducted behavioural assays to test the aggressiveness of ant responses to a simulated attack on the aphids. We found that aphid colonies flourished and were equally tended by ants across the urbanisation gradient, with a consistent positive density dependence between aphid and ant numbers. However, ants from more urbanised sites responded more aggressively to the simulated attack. Our findings suggest that this protective mutualism is not only maintained in the city, but that ants might even rely more on it and defend it more aggressively, as other food resources may become scarce and more unpredictable with urbanisation. We thereby provide unique insights into this type of mutualism in the city, further diversifying the growing body of work on mutualisms across urbanisation gradients.
The interplay of facilitation and competition drives the emergence of multistability in dryland plant communities
Authors: Pichon Benoît , Gounand Isabelle , Donnet Sophie , Kéfi Sonia 
Published: July 2024

AbstractWithin communities, species are wrapped in a set of feedbacks with each other and with their environment. When such feedbacks are strong enough they can generate alternative stable states. So far, research on alternative stable states has mostly focused on systems with a small number of species and a limited diversity of interaction types. Here, we analyze a spatial model of plant community dynamics in stressed ecosystems such as drylands, where each species is characterized by a strategy, and the different species interact through facilitation and competition for space and resources, such as water. We identify three different types of multistability emerging from the interplay of competition and facilitation. Under low‐stress levels, plant communities organize in small groups of coexisting species, maintained by space, competition and facilitation (“cliques”). Under higher stress levels, positive feedback from facilitation lead to the dominance of a single facilitating species (“mutual exclusion states”). At the highest stress levels, the single facilitating species left in the system coexists with the desert state. By linking community ecology and alternative stable states theory using a spatial plant community model for stressed ecosystems, our study contributes to highlight the importance of positive feedback loops for the stability of ecological communities.
A quantitative analysis of vertebrate environmental DNA degradation in soil in response to time, UV light, and temperature
Authors: Guthrie Austin M. , Cooper Christine E. , Bateman Philip W. , van der Heyde Mieke , Allentoft Morten E. , Nevill Paul 
Published: July 2024

AbstractEnvironmental DNA (eDNA) degradation influences the effectiveness of eDNA‐based biodiversity monitoring, but the factors that determine the rate of decay of eDNA in terrestrial environments are poorly understood. We assessed the persistence of vertebrate eDNA from a mock vertebrate community created with soil from zoo enclosures holding 10 target species from different taxonomic classes (reptiles, birds, and mammals) and of different biomass (little penguin and giraffe). We examined species detection rates resulting from eDNA metabarcoding, as well as relative eDNA concentrations via qPCR, from soil samples over eight time points (0–12 weeks), during exposure to three ambient temperatures (10, 25, and 40°C) and three levels of ultraviolet B (UV‐B) radiation (0%, 50%, and 100% intensity). We recorded considerable variation in detectability between species, independent of temperature, and UV‐B effects. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) indicated degradation of eDNA over time for all temperature and UV treatments, although it was still possible to detect eDNA from some species after 12 weeks. Degradation rates were lowest for high UV‐B treatments, presumably due to UV‐B reducing bacterial metabolism. The temperatures investigated did not influence eDNA decay. Our results indicate that eDNA in soil can persist under a range of temperatures and high UV radiation for longer than expected. Sheltered sites with minimal UV‐B radiation, which have previously been considered ideal sites for terrestrial eDNA collection, may not be optimal for eDNA persistence in some cases due to microbial decay. A better understanding of eDNA degradation in terrestrial environments is needed to enhance the accuracy of eDNA metabarcoding for surveying terrestrial vertebrate communities.
Electrocatalytic Properties of meso‐ Perfluorinated Metallo Corroles for the Reduction of CO2
Authors: Zhang Chanjuan , Julliard Paul‐Gabriel , Dragoe Diana , Aukauloo Ally , Canard Gabriel 
Published: July 2024

AbstractTetrapyrrolic containing metal complexes are among the most efficient molecular catalysts for the CO2 reduction. Metalloporphyrins and phthalocyanines are currently under investigations and their catalytic properties are among the best molecular catalysts. Corrole, a contracted tetrapyrrolic macrocycle has been also used to design molecular for the CO2 reduction. The electrochemical activity towards CO2 reduction can rival those of their porphyrin analogues. However, the catalytic activity of the metallocorrole is initiated at the corresponding MII/I couple. Accordingly, a catalytic current in presence of CO2 with cobalt corrole appears when the CoI species is generated. We have designed an electron deficient A2B corrole holding two −CF3 groups and a benzonitrile in the meso positions and its cobalt complex (1). We reasoned that these groups could shuffle the redox potentials to reach the M(I) oxidation states at more positive values thereby lowering the overpotential for the catalytic CO2 reduction. Our results clearly show that catalyst 1 when adsorbed on a carbon electrode, shows the most favourable catalytic performance for CO production, achieving an efficiency of 85 % with a current density of −1.5 mA cm−2 at −1.0 V vs NHE. The current densities of controlled potential electrolysis with increasing amount of KHCO3, were found to increase more than one order of magnitude with the formation of MeOH.
Highly twisted 1,3,4‐oxadiazole based hybrid fluorescent organic materials: Synthesis, characterization, density functional theory calculations, and optoelectronic study
Authors: Heena  , Sharma Deepak , Om Hari , Rana Ravi 
Published: July 2024

AbstractHeterocyclic compounds based on 1,3,4‐oxadiazole (ODA) have attracted considerable attention in the field of pharmacy, drug discovery, and in the field of material sciences. This article reports a series of new highly twisted blue‐ and green‐emitting ODA‐based materials 4(a–e) utilizing a simple and efficient synthetic approach, resulting in high yield. The formation of multiple CN bonds unfolds via a simple nucleophilic method that does not need costly metal catalysts. The derivative structures were validated using analytical methods such as 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Using fluorescence spectroscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and fluorescence lifetime measurements, a thorough investigation was carried out on the photophysical characteristics of the newly synthesized derivatives. A deeper understanding of intramolecular charge transfer was uncovered via solvent‐dependent spectroscopy. Specifically, these materials show a large stock shift of up to 153 nm and long fluorescence decay value between 8 and 8.6 ns. Computational methods pinned on density functional theory (DFT) were used to determine the highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps. The optical band gaps derived from absorption peaks and the band gaps computed by DFT computations are highly correlated. Using cyclic voltammetry study, the compounds' redox potentials were further investigated. These results indicate that the ODAs 4(a–e) are promising organic materials and could play an important role in the field of optoelectronic devices, bioimaging, and photo‐redox reactions.
Chondrocranial anatomy of Testudo hermanni (Testudinidae, Testudines) with a comparison to other turtles
Authors: Mauel Carola , Leicht Luca , Broshko Yevhenii , Yaryhin Oleksandr , Werneburg Ingmar 
Published: July 2024

AbstractUsing histological cross‐sections, the chondrocranium anatomy was reconstructed for two developmental stages of Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni). The morphology differs from the chondrocrania of most other turtles by a process above the ectochoanal cartilage with Pelodiscus sinensis being the only other known species with such a structure. The anterior and posterior processes of the tectum synoticum are better developed than in most other turtles and an ascending process of the palatoquadrate is missing, which is otherwise only the case in pleurodiran turtles. The nasal region gets proportionally larger during development. We interpret the enlargement of the nasal capsules as an adaption to increase the surface area of the olfactory epithelium for better perception of volant odors. Elongation of the nasal capsules in trionychids, in contrast, is unlikely to be related to olfaction, while it is ambiguous in the case of Sternotherus odoratus. However, we have to conclude that research on chondrocranium anatomy is still at its beginning and more comprehensive detailed descriptions in relation to other parts of the anatomy are needed before providing broad‐scale ecological and phylogenetic interpretations.
Morphology of the scaphotrapeziotrapezoid joint: A multi‐domain statistical shape modeling approach
Authors: Trentadue Taylor P. , Thoreson Andrew , Lopez Cesar , Breighner Ryan E. , Leng Shuai , Holmes David R. , Kakar Sanjeev , Rizzo Marco , Zhao Kristin D. 
Published: July 2024

AbstractThe scaphotrapeziotrapezoid (STT) joint is involved in load transmission between the wrist and thumb. A quantitative description of baseline STT joint morphometrics is needed to capture the variation of normal anatomy as well as to guide staging of osteoarthritis. Statistical shape modeling (SSM) techniques quantify variations in three‐dimensional shapes and relative positions. The objectives of this study are to describe the morphology of the STT joint using a multi‐domain SSM. We asked: (1) What are the dominant modes of variation that impact bone and articulation morphology at the STT joint, and (2) what are the morphometrics of SSM‐generated STT joints? Thirty adult participants were recruited to a computed tomography study of normal wrist imaging and biomechanics. Segmentations of the carpus were converted to three‐dimensional triangular surface meshes. A multi‐domain, particle‐based entropy system SSM was used to quantify variation in carpal bone shape and position as well as articulation morphology. Articular surface areas and interosseous proximity distributions were calculated between mesh vertex pairs on adjacent bones within distance (2.0 mm) and surface‐normal angular (35°) thresholds. In the SSM, the first five modes of variation captured 76.2% of shape variation and contributed to factors such as bone scale, articular geometries, and carpal tilt. Median interosseous proximities—a proxy for joint space—were 1.39 mm (scaphotrapezium), 1.42 mm (scaphotrapezoid), and 0.61 mm (trapeziotrapezoid). This study quantifies morphological and articular variations at the STT joint, presenting a range of normative anatomy. The range of estimated interosseous proximities may guide interpretation of imaging‐derived STT joint space.