bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Titers of IgG and IgA against SARS-CoV-2 proteins and their association with symptoms in mild COVID-19 infection
Authors: Abril Andrés G. , Alejandre Jose , Mariscal Anais , Alserawan Leticia , Rabella Nuria , Roman Eva , Lopez-Contreras Joaquin , Navarro Ferran , Serrano Elena , Nomdedeu Josep F. , Vidal Silvia 
Published: June 2024

AbstractHumoral immunity in COVID-19 includes antibodies (Abs) targeting spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Antibody levels are known to correlate with disease severity, but titers are poorly reported in mild or asymptomatic cases. Here, we analyzed the titers of IgA and IgG against SARS-CoV-2 proteins in samples from 200 unvaccinated Hospital Workers (HWs) with mild COVID-19 at two time points after infection. We analyzed the relationship between Ab titers and patient characteristics, clinical features, and evolution over time. Significant differences in IgG and IgA titers against N, S1 and S2 proteins were found when samples were segregated according to time T1 after infection, seroprevalence at T1, sex and age of HWs and symptoms at infection. We found that IgM + samples had higher titers of IgG against N antigen and IgA against S1 and S2 antigens than IgM − samples. There were significant correlations between anti-S1 and S2 Abs. Interestingly, IgM + patients with dyspnea had lower titers of IgG and IgA against N, S1 and S2 than those without dyspnea. Comparing T1 and T2, we found that IgA against N, S1 and S2 but only IgG against certain Ag decreased significantly. In conclusion, an association was established between Ab titers and the development of infection symptoms.
Automatized self-supervised learning for skin lesion screening
Authors: Useini Vullnet , Tanadini-Lang Stephanie , Lohmeyer Quentin , Meboldt Mirko , Andratschke Nicolaus , Braun Ralph P. , Barranco García Javier 
Published: June 2024

AbstractMelanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has seen a steady increase in incidence rates worldwide, posing a significant challenge to dermatologists. Early detection is crucial for improving patient survival rates. However, performing total body screening (TBS), i.e., identifying suspicious lesions or ugly ducklings (UDs) by visual inspection, can be challenging and often requires sound expertise in pigmented lesions. To assist users of varying expertise levels, an artificial intelligence (AI) decision support tool was developed. Our solution identifies and characterizes UDs from real-world wide-field patient images. It employs a state-of-the-art object detection algorithm to locate and isolate all skin lesions present in a patient’s total body images. These lesions are then sorted based on their level of suspiciousness using a self-supervised AI approach, tailored to the specific context of the patient under examination. A clinical validation study was conducted to evaluate the tool’s performance. The results demonstrated an average sensitivity of 95% for the top-10 AI-identified UDs on skin lesions selected by the majority of experts in pigmented skin lesions. The study also found that the tool increased dermatologists’ confidence when formulating a diagnosis, and the average majority agreement with the top-10 AI-identified UDs reached 100% when assisted by our tool. With the development of this AI-based decision support tool, we aim to address the shortage of specialists, enable faster consultation times for patients, and demonstrate the impact and usability of AI-assisted screening. Future developments will include expanding the dataset to include histologically confirmed melanoma and validating the tool for additional body regions.
Experimental and simulation investigation on suppressing thermal runaway in battery pack
Authors: Ye Zibo , Fu Xingfeng 
Published: June 2024

AbstractIn order to address the issue of suppressing thermal runaway (TR) in power battery, a thermal generation model for power batteries was established and then modified based on experimental data. On the basis of simulation calculations, a scheme was designed to suppress thermal runaway of the battery module and battery pack, and samples were produced for testing. The results of the test and simulation calculations were very consistent, confirming the accuracy of the simulation calculation model. The results of thermal runaway test also demonstrate that the measures designed to suppress thermal runaway are effective and meet the design requirements.
Research on stress field inversion and large deformation level determination of super deep buried soft rock tunnel
Authors: Zhang Baojin , Tan Zhongsheng , Zhao Jinpeng , Wang Fengxi , Lin Ke 
Published: June 2024

AbstractUnderstanding the characteristics and distribution patterns of the initial geo-stress field in tunnels is of great significance for studying the problem of large deformation of tunnels under high geo-stress conditions. This article proposes a ground stress field inversion method and large deformation level determination based on the GS-XGBoost algorithm and the Haba Snow Mountain Tunnel of the Lixiang Railway. Firstly, the hydraulic fracturing method is used to conduct on-site testing of tunnel ground stress and obtain tunnel ground stress data. Then, a three-dimensional model of the Haba Snow Mountain Tunnel will be established, and it will be combined with the GS-XGBoost regression algorithm model to obtain the optimal boundary conditions of the model. Finally, the optimal boundary condition parameters are substituted into the three-dimensional finite-difference calculation model for stress calculation, and the distribution of the in-situ stress field of the entire calculation model is obtained. Finally, the level of large deformation of the Haba Snow Mountain Tunnel will be determined. The results show that the ground stress of the tunnel increases with the increase of burial depth, with the maximum horizontal principal stress of 38.03 MPa and the minimum horizontal principal stress of 26.07 MPa. The Haba Snow Mountain Tunnel has large deformation problems of levels I, II, III, and IV. Level III and IV large deformations are generally accompanied by higher ground stress (above 28 MPa) and smaller surrounding rock strength. The distribution of surrounding rock strength along the tunnel axis shows a clear "W" shape, opposite to the surface elevation "M" shape. It is inferred that the mountain may be affected by geological structures on both sides of the north and south, causing more severe compression of the tunnel surrounding rock at the peak.
MALDI glycotyping of O-antigens from a single colony of gram-negative bacteria
Authors: Urakami Shogo , Hinou Hiroshi 
Published: June 2024

AbstractPolypeptide-targeted MALDI-TOF MS for microbial species identification has revolutionized microbiology. However, no practical MALDI-TOF MS identification method for O-antigen polysaccharides, a major indicator for epidemiological classification within a species of gram-negative bacteria, is available. We describe a simple MALDI glycotyping method for O-antigens that simultaneously identifies the molecular mass of the repeating units and the monosaccharide composition of the O-antigen. We analyzed the Escherichia coli O1, O6, and O157-type strains. Conventional species identification based on polypeptide patterns and O-antigen polysaccharide typing can be performed in parallel from a single colony using our MALDI-TOF MS workflow. Moreover, subtyping within the same O-antigen and parallel colony-specific O-antigen determination from mixed strains, including the simultaneous identification of multiple strains-derived O-antigens within selected colony, were performed. In MALDI glycotyping of two Enterobacteriaceae strains, a Citrobacter freundii strain serologically cross-reactive with E. coli O157 gave a MALDI spectral pattern identical to E. coli O157. On the other hand, an Edwardsiella tarda strain with no reported O-antigen cross-reactivity gave a MALDI spectral pattern of unknown O-antigen repeating units. The method described in this study allows the parallel and rapid identification of microbial genera, species, and serotypes of surface polysaccharides using a single MALDI-TOF MS instrument.
Crocin's role in modulating MMP2/TIMP1 and mitigating hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice
Authors: Deng Jing , Wei Rui-Qi , Zhang Wen-Mei , Shi Chang-Yu , Yang Rui , Jin Ming , Piao Chunmei 
Published: June 2024

AbstractTo explore the molecular pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and identify potential therapeutic targets, we performed transcriptome sequencing of lung tissue from mice with hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Our Gene Ontology analysis revealed that “extracellular matrix organization” ranked high in the biological process category, and matrix metallopeptidases (MMPs) and other proteases also played important roles in it. Moreover, compared with those in the normoxia group, we confirmed that MMPs expression was upregulated in the hypoxia group, while the hub gene Timp1 was downregulated. Crocin, a natural MMP inhibitor, was found to reduce inflammation, decrease MMPs levels, increase Timp1 expression levels, and attenuate hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice. In addition, analysis of the cell distribution of MMPs and Timp1 in the human lung cell atlas using single-cell RNAseq datasets revealed that MMPs and Timp1 are mainly expressed in a population of fibroblasts. Moreover, in vitro experiments revealed that crocin significantly inhibited myofibroblast proliferation, migration, and extracellular matrix deposition. Furthermore, we demonstrated that crocin inhibited TGF-β1-induced fibroblast activation and regulated the pulmonary arterial fibroblast MMP2/TIMP1 balance by inhibiting the TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway. In summary, our results indicate that crocin attenuates hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice by inhibiting TGF-β1-induced myofibroblast activation.
SPA inhibits hBMSC osteogenic differentiation and M1 macrophage polarization by suppressing SETD2 in acute suppurative osteomyelitis
Authors: Zhu Dongsheng , Chen Feng , Qiang Hongjia , Qi Han 
Published: June 2024

AbstractTo clarify the impact of SETD2 on macrophage function in pediatric patients with acute suppurative osteomyelitis and to elucidate the precise underlying mechanism. To gain insights into the potential functions of SETD2, a comprehensive study was conducted utilizing a co-culture model of human bone mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) and bone marrow-derived macrophages (THP-1). A range of techniques were employed, including quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, ELISA, alkaline phosphatase activity assays, alizarin red S staining, luciferase reporter gene assays, and chromatin immunoprecipitation, to unravel the intricate interactions and molecular mechanisms involving SETD2 in this system. It was observed that SETD2 expression was reduced in THP-1 cells stimulated by staphylococcal protein A (SPA). Furthermore, the downregulation of SETD2 resulted in elevated M1 macrophage polarization and glycolysis, effects that were mitigated by SPA stimulation. Notably, SPA-stimulated THP-1 cells exhibited an increase in HIF-1α expression, which exhibited an inverse correlation with SETD2 levels. Moreover, it was discovered that SETD2 functioned as a catalyst for H3K36me3 and bound to the HIF-1α gene, which, in turn, regulated HIF-1α expression. Furthermore, the suppression of HIF-1α abrogated the consequences of SETD2 downregulation on glycolysis and M1 macrophage polarization. Lastly, the study demonstrated that M1 macrophage polarization serves as a mediator for BMP4’s inhibitory effect on osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. This research has uncovered a previously unknown role of SETD2 in macrophages during osteomyelitis, revealing its significance in the pathogenesis of this condition. These findings suggest SETD2 as a novel target for the treatment of osteomyelitis.
A resilient type-III broken gap Ga2O3/SiC van der Waals heterogeneous bilayer with band-to-band tunneling effect and tunable electronic property
Authors: Ferdous Naim , Islam Md. Sherajul , Park Jeongwon 
Published: June 2024

AbstractThe potential of van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure to incorporate the outstanding features of stacked materials to meet a variety of application requirements has drawn considerable attention. Due to the unique quantum tunneling mechanisms, a type-III broken-gap obtained from vdW heterostructure is a promising design strategy for tunneling field-effect transistors. Herein, a unique Ga2O3/SiC vdW bilayer heterostructure with inherent type-III broken gap band alignment has been revealed through first-principles calculation. The underlying physical mechanism to form the broken gap band alignment is thoroughly studied. Due to the overlapping band structures, a tunneling window of 0.609 eV has been created, which enables the charges to tunnel from the VBM of the SiC layer to the CBM of the Ga2O3 layer and fulfills the required condition for band-to-band tunneling. External electric field and strain can be applied to tailor the electronic behavior of the bilayer heterostructure. Positive external electric field and compressive vertical strain enlarge the tunneling window and enhance the band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) scheme while negative electric field and tensile vertical strain shorten the BTBT window. Under external electric field as well as vertical and biaxial strain, the Ga2O3/SiC vdW hetero-bilayer maintains the type-III band alignment, revealing its capability to tolerate the external electric field and strain with resilience. All these results provide a compelling platform of the Ga2O3/SiC vdW bilayer to design high performance tunneling field effect transistor.
Impact of metabolic phenotype and alcohol consumption on mortality risk in metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease: a population-based cohort study
Authors: Charatcharoenwitthaya Phunchai , Karaketklang Khemajira , Aekplakorn Wichai 
Published: June 2024

AbstractPatients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) often present with concomitant metabolic dysregulation and alcohol consumption, potentially leading to distinct clinical outcomes. We analyzed data from 8043 participants with MAFLD in the Thai National Health Examination Survey with linked mortality records. According to the MAFLD criteria, 1432 individuals (17.2%) were categorized as having the diabetes phenotype, 5894 (71.0%) as the overweight/obesity phenotype, and 978 (11.8%) as the lean metabolic phenotype. Over 71,145 person-years, 916 participants died. Using Cox proportional hazard models adjusting for physiological, lifestyle, and comorbid factors, both diabetes (adjusted hazards ratio [aHR] 1.59, 95% CI 1.18–2.13) and lean metabolic phenotypes (aHR 1.28, 95% CI 1.01–1.64) exhibited significantly higher mortality risk compared to the overweight/obesity phenotype. A J-shaped relationship was observed between daily alcohol consumption and the risk of all-cause mortality. Daily alcohol intake exceeding 50 g for women and 60 g for men increased the all-cause mortality risk among MAFLD individuals with the lean metabolic phenotype (aHR 3.39, 95% CI 1.02–11.29). Our study found that metabolic phenotype and alcohol consumption have interactive effects on the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with MAFLD, indicating that evaluating both factors is crucial for determining prognostic outcomes and management strategies.
Knowledge, attitude, practices and treatment-seeking behaviour concerning cutaneous leishmaniasis among rural hyperendemic communities in western Yemen
Authors: Al-Ashwal Manal A. , Al-Adhroey Abdulelah H. , Atroosh Wahib M. , Alshoteri Sheikh Abdulhafed , Al-Subbary Assia Abdullah , Alharazi Talal H. , Sady Hany , Azzani Meram , Lau Yee-Ling , Al-Mekhlafi Hesham M. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractCutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a neglected tropical disease (NTD), is a major public health problem in Yemen with widespread distribution in rural areas. Evaluating the knowledge and understanding of people’s beliefs towards the disease is essential to the implementation of effective control measures. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP) and treatment-seeking behaviour concerning CL among rural populations in the western highlands of Yemen. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 289 household heads in four rural areas of the Utmah District. Data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. All the participants had heard about the disease; however, only 9.3% attributed it to sandflies. Nearly half (48.1%) of the participants could not mention any preventive measures for CL, and nearly two-thirds (65.4%) could not do so for sandflies. The overall ‘good’ knowledge about CL was found to be 51.2%, and it was 33.9% for sandflies. The participants’ attitude and prevention practices towards CL were not satisfactory, as only 38.1% and 16.3% had a positive attitude and good CL-related prevention practices, respectively. Moreover, 45.7% believed CL to be a stigmatising disease, and 50% had used traditional remedies to treat suspected CL lesions. Multivariate analyses showed that age, sex, presence of CL-confirmed cases in the same household, residency, occupation and monthly household income were the significant predictors associated with KAP concerning CL among the participants. The findings support an urgent need for integrated health education and community mobilisation interventions to improve awareness of these vulnerable populations about this devastating disease.
MADR-Net: multi-level attention dilated residual neural network for segmentation of medical images
Authors: Balraj Keerthiveena , Ramteke Manojkumar , Mittal Shachi , Bhargava Rohit , Rathore Anurag S. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractMedical image segmentation has made a significant contribution towards delivering affordable healthcare by facilitating the automatic identification of anatomical structures and other regions of interest. Although convolution neural networks have become prominent in the field of medical image segmentation, they suffer from certain limitations. In this study, we present a reliable framework for producing performant outcomes for the segmentation of pathological structures of 2D medical images. Our framework consists of a novel deep learning architecture, called deep multi-level attention dilated residual neural network (MADR-Net), designed to improve the performance of medical image segmentation. MADR-Net uses a U-Net encoder/decoder backbone in combination with multi-level residual blocks and atrous pyramid scene parsing pooling. To improve the segmentation results, channel-spatial attention blocks were added in the skip connection to capture both the global and local features and superseded the bottleneck layer with an ASPP block. Furthermore, we introduce a hybrid loss function that has an excellent convergence property and enhances the performance of the medical image segmentation task. We extensively validated the proposed MADR-Net on four typical yet challenging medical image segmentation tasks: (1) Left ventricle, left atrium, and myocardial wall segmentation from Echocardiogram images in the CAMUS dataset, (2) Skin cancer segmentation from dermoscopy images in ISIC 2017 dataset, (3) Electron microscopy in FIB-SEM dataset, and (4) Fluid attenuated inversion recovery abnormality from MR images in LGG segmentation dataset. The proposed algorithm yielded significant results when compared to state-of-the-art architectures such as U-Net, Residual U-Net, and Attention U-Net. The proposed MADR-Net consistently outperformed the classical U-Net by 5.43%, 3.43%, and 3.92% relative improvement in terms of dice coefficient, respectively, for electron microscopy, dermoscopy, and MRI. The experimental results demonstrate superior performance on single and multi-class datasets and that the proposed MADR-Net can be utilized as a baseline for the assessment of cross-dataset and segmentation tasks.
Classification of short and long term mild traumatic brain injury using computerized eye tracking
Authors: Cade Alice , Turnbull Philip R. K. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractAccurate, and objective diagnosis of brain injury remains challenging. This study evaluated useability and reliability of computerized eye-tracker assessments (CEAs) designed to assess oculomotor function, visual attention/processing, and selective attention in recent mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), persistent post-concussion syndrome (PPCS), and controls. Tests included egocentric localisation, fixation-stability, smooth-pursuit, saccades, Stroop, and the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). Thirty-five healthy adults performed the CEA battery twice to assess useability and test–retest reliability. In separate experiments, CEA data from 55 healthy, 20 mTBI, and 40 PPCS adults were used to train a machine learning model to categorize participants into control, mTBI, or PPCS classes. Intraclass correlation coefficients demonstrated moderate (ICC > .50) to excellent (ICC > .98) reliability (p < .05) and satisfactory CEA compliance. Machine learning modelling categorizing participants into groups of control, mTBI, and PPCS performed reasonably (balanced accuracy control: 0.83, mTBI: 0.66, and PPCS: 0.76, AUC-ROC: 0.82). Key outcomes were the VOR (gaze stability), fixation (vertical error), and pursuit (total error, vertical gain, and number of saccades). The CEA battery was reliable and able to differentiate healthy, mTBI, and PPCS patients reasonably well. While promising, the diagnostic model accuracy should be improved with a larger training dataset before use in clinical environments.
Anoplophora glabripennis, an invasive longhorned beetle, has the potential to damage fruit trees in Japan
Authors: Yasui Hiroe , Fujiwara-Tsujii Nao , Kugimiya Soichi , Shibuya Kazuki , Mishiro Koji , Uechi Nami 
Published: June 2024

AbstractInvasive Anoplophora glabripennis recently became established in Japan and has caused heavy damage to several street-tree species. Overseas, A. glabripennis infests trees of the genera Acer and Populus as common host plants, and Malus, Pyrus, and Prunus (Rosaceae), including apple, pear, and plum trees; it therefore poses a potential risk to the production of economically valuable fruits in Japan. Fruit farms in areas already invaded by A. glabripennis are now threatened with tree infestation. We aimed to determine the potential damage to major fruit species in Japan. In the laboratory, we determined if the adult beetle is attracted to the odor of each of these tree species’ branches; two confirmed host plant species and five Rosaceae fruit species, as well as its feeding preferences among branches of one host plant and the five fruit trees and its oviposition preferences among them. Among the fruit species, cherry branch had the highest rate of odor orientation by males. The feeding-preference assay showed that, besides the host plant, Japanese pear was the most consumed among the fruit trees. The potential risk of A. glabripennis laying eggs on fruit-tree branches was high for Japanese pear and above zero for plum, apple, and cherry branches.